CN117716747A

CN117716747A - Method for defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy

Info

Publication number: CN117716747A
Application number: CN202280052472.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: M·N·伊斯兰; P·夏尔马; 雷静; M·梅农
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2021-08-04
Filing date: 2022-07-20
Publication date: 2024-03-15

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE). The UE detects at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) or a second type RS within an active bandwidth portion (BWP). The UE then derives Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected. The UE then transmits an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Description

Method for defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No.17/813,245, filed on 7.18 of 2022, which claims the benefit and priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.63/229,367, filed on 8.4 of 2021, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy based on the presence of a Reference Signal (RS) in an active bandwidth portion (BWP).

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access techniques that are capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources) with the users. The multiple access technique may rely on any of code division, time division, frequency division orthogonal frequency division, single carrier frequency division, or time division synchronous code division, to name a few. These and other multiple access techniques have been employed in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global levels.

Although wireless communication systems have made tremendous technological progress over many years, challenges remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments may still attenuate or block signals between the wireless transmitter and the wireless receiver, destroying various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms that are used to manage and optimize the use of limited wireless channel resources. Accordingly, there is a need for further improvements in wireless communication systems to overcome various challenges.

Disclosure of Invention

One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), comprising: detecting at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) and a second type reference signal within an active bandwidth portion (BWP); deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected; and transmitting an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: when both a first type RS and a second type RS are present within the active BWP, sending an indication to the UE to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and receiving, from the UE, an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a UE, comprising: transmitting signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting an RS outside the active BWP to the network entity; receiving an indication of the measurement gap from the network entity; detecting the RS outside the active BWP based on the measurement gap; and deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS.

Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: receiving, from a UE, signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap to be used by the UE to detect an RS outside of active BWP; transmitting, to the UE, an indication of the measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure the RSs outside of the active BWP and derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and receiving, from the UE, an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Other aspects provide: an apparatus operable, configured, or otherwise adapted to perform the above-described methods and methods described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the above-described method and the methods described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the above-described method and the methods described elsewhere herein; and an apparatus comprising means for performing the above method, as well as methods described elsewhere herein. For example, an apparatus may comprise a processing system, a device with a processing system, or a processing system cooperating over one or more networks.

For purposes of illustration, the following description and the annexed drawings set forth certain features.

Drawings

The drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered limiting of the scope of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless communication network.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating aspects of an example of a Base Station (BS) and a User Equipment (UE).

Fig. 3A-3D depict various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network.

Fig. 4 shows an example function of a reduced capability (RedCap) device.

Fig. 5 shows an example timing error limit table.

Fig. 6 depicts a flowchart that shows example operations for wireless communication by a UE.

Fig. 7 depicts a flowchart that shows example operations for wireless communication by a network entity.

Fig. 8 depicts a call flow diagram illustrating example signaling for deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements when at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) or a second type reference signal is within an active bandwidth portion (BWP).

Fig. 9 depicts a call flow diagram illustrating example signaling for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements when there are first and second type RSs within an active BWP.

Fig. 10 depicts a flowchart that shows example operations for wireless communication by a UE.

Fig. 11 depicts a flowchart that shows example operations for wireless communication by a network entity.

Fig. 12 depicts a call flow diagram illustrating example communications between a UE and a network entity.

Fig. 13 depicts aspects of an example communication device.

Fig. 14 depicts aspects of an example communication device.

Fig. 15 depicts aspects of an example communication device.

Fig. 16 depicts aspects of an example communication device.

Detailed Description

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatuses, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy for a User Equipment (UE) based on the presence of a Reference Signal (RS) in an active bandwidth portion (BWP).

Different types of RSs may allow the UE to track timing with different levels of accuracy. Thus, UL transmission timing accuracy may be determined based on one or more types of RSs that the UE is able to detect (and that the UE has available for time tracking). For example, the UE may detect a first type RS (e.g., a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)), a second type RS (e.g., a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) and/or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), or both the first type RS and the second type RS within the active BWP. The UE may then derive UL transmission timing (and corresponding accuracy requirements) based on which type(s) of RS are detected. The UE then transmits an UL signal to the network entity based on the derived UL transmission timing.

Introduction to wireless communication networks

Fig. 1 depicts an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which aspects described herein may be implemented.

For example, the wireless communication network 100 may include a Reference Signal (RS) component 199, which may be configured to perform or cause the Base Station (BS) 102 to perform the operations 700 of fig. 7. The wireless communication network 100 may also include an RS component 198 that may be configured to perform or cause a User Equipment (UE) 104 to perform the operation 600 of fig. 6.

In general, the wireless communication network 100 includes a BS 102, a UE 104, one or more core networks (such as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and a 5G core (5 GC) network 190) that interoperate to provide wireless communication services.

BS 102 may provide an access point for UE 104 to EPC 160 and/or 5gc 190 and may perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio Access Network (RAN) sharing, multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, delivery of warning messages, and other functions. In various contexts, BS 102 may include and/or be referred to as a gNB, a node B, an eNB, a ng-eNB (e.g., an eNB that has been enhanced to provide connectivity to both EPC 160 and 5gc 190), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, or a transceiver function, or a transmit receive point.

BS 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120. Each of BS 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110, in some cases these geographic coverage areas 110 may overlap. For example, a small cell 102 '(e.g., a low power BS) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cells (e.g., high power BSs).

The communication link 120 between the BS 102 and the UE 104 may include Uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the BS 102 and/or Downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the BS 102 to the UE 104. In various aspects, communication link 120 may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna techniques including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity.

Examples of UEs 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player, a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electricity meter, an air pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or other similar devices. Some of the UEs 104 may be internet of things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking timers, air pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. More generally, the UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, or client.

Communications using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter distances than communications at lower frequencies. Thus, some BSs 102 may utilize beamforming 182 with UEs 104 to improve path loss and distance. For example, BS 102 and UE 104 can each include multiple antennas (e.g., antenna elements, antenna panels, and/or antenna arrays) to facilitate beamforming.

In some cases, BS 102 may transmit the beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. The UE 104 may receive the beamformed signals from the BS 102 in one or more receive directions 182 ". The UE 104 may also transmit the beamformed signals to the BS 102 in one or more transmit directions 182 ". BS 102 can also receive beamformed signals from UEs 104 in one or more receive directions 182'. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may then perform beam training to determine the best reception direction and the best transmission direction for each of the BS 102 and the UE 104. It is noted that the transmit direction and the receive direction for BS 102 may be the same or may be different. Similarly, the transmit direction and the receive direction for the UE 104 may be the same or may be different.

Fig. 2 depicts aspects of an example BS 102 and UE 104.

In general, BS 102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a-t (collectively 234), transceivers 232a-t (collectively 232) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects, that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., sink 239). For example, BS 102 may transmit and receive data between itself and UE 104.

BS 102 includes a controller/processor 240 that can be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communications. In the depicted example, controller/processor 240 includes an RS component 241, which may represent RS component 199 of fig. 1. Notably, while depicted as one aspect of controller/processor 240, in other implementations RS component 241 may additionally or alternatively be implemented in various other aspects of BS 102.

In general, the UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), antennas 252a-r (collectively 252), transceivers 254a-r (collectively 254) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects, that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

The UE 104 includes a controller/processor 280 that may be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communications. In the depicted example, controller/processor 280 includes an RS component 281, which may represent RS component 198 of fig. 1. Notably, while depicted as one aspect of the controller/processor 280, in other implementations, the RS component 281 may additionally or alternatively be implemented in various other aspects of the UE 104.

Fig. 3A-3D depict aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network, such as wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1. Specifically, fig. 3A is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, fig. 3B is a diagram 330 illustrating an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe, fig. 3C is a diagram 350 illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and fig. 3D is a diagram 380 illustrating an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

Further discussion regarding fig. 1, 2, and 3A-3D is provided later in this disclosure.

Introduction to reduced capability (RedCAP) devices

In wireless communications, the electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, or other features. Such subdivision is typically provided on the basis of wavelength and frequency, which may also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, frequency channel, tone or subband.

In 5G, two initial operating frequency bands have been identified by frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). The frequency between FR1 and FR2 is commonly referred to as the mid-band frequency. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, FR1 is commonly referred to in various documents and articles as the (interchangeably) "sub-6GHz" band. Similar naming problems sometimes occur with respect to FR2, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to in documents and articles as the "millimeter wave" ("mmW" or "mmWave") frequency band, although it is different from the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) frequency band (30 GHz-300 GHz) which is identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the "millimeter wave" frequency band (because the wavelengths at these frequencies are between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters). The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmWave can extend down to a frequency of 3GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The ultra-high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, also known as centimeter waves.

In view of the above, unless specifically stated otherwise, it is to be understood that the term "sub-6GHz" or the like (if used herein) may broadly represent frequencies that may be below 6GHz, frequencies that may be within FR1, or frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term "millimeter wave" or the like (if used herein) may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, frequencies that may be within FR2, or frequencies that may be within the EHF band.

Communications using the mmWave/near mmWave radio frequency band (e.g., 3GHz-300 GHz) may have higher path loss and shorter range than lower frequency communications. Thus, in fig. 1, mmWave Base Station (BS) 102 can utilize beamforming 182 with UE 104 to improve path loss and range. To this end, the base station 102 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and/or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

Introduction to reduced capability (RedCAP) devices

Various technologies may be the focus of current wireless communication standards. For example, rel-15 and/or Rel-16 may focus on advanced smart phones (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (emmbb)) and other vertical communications, such as ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. In some wireless communication standards, such as Rel-17 and above, there may be a strong desire for New Radios (NRs) to expand and deploy in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. Accordingly, new User Equipment (UE) types (RedCap) with reduced capabilities have been introduced.

The RedCap UE may exhibit relaxation of peak throughput (e.g., 20 MHz) and lower latency and/or reliability requirements. Furthermore, the RedCap UE may involve lower device cost (and complexity) and improved efficiency (e.g., power consumption, overhead, and cost improvements) compared to high-end devices such as high-end eMBB and URLCC devices (e.g., high-end smartphones) of 5G NR Rel-15/16.

Some design goals of NR RedCap UEs may include scalable resource allocation, coverage enhancements for Downlink (DL) and/or Uplink (UL), power savings in all Radio Resource Control (RRC) states, and/or coexistence with NR advanced UEs. As shown in fig. 4, the NR-RedCap UE may be a smart wearable device, a sensor (e.g., an industrial wireless sensor network), a camera (e.g., a surveillance camera), a low-end smart phone, or any other device configured for relaxed internet of things (IoT) communications. Furthermore, the RedCap UE functionality and/or capabilities may overlap with the functionality and/or capabilities of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or fifth generation (5G) devices (e.g., advanced 5G devices). For example, the functionality of the relaxed IoT device may overlap with the functionality of the URLLC device, the functionality of the smart wearable device may overlap with the functionality of the Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) large-scale machine type communication (mctc) device, and/or the functionality of the sensor/camera may overlap with the functionality of the eMBB device.

Introduction to UE transmit timing

In a 5G New Radio (NR), a User Equipment (UE) may have (and be expected to) follow (track) a frame timing change of a reference cell in a connected state. Uplink (UL) frame transmission may occur before the first detected path (in time) of the corresponding Downlink (DL) frame is received from the reference cell.

For a serving cell in a primary timing advance group (pTAG), a UE may use a special cell (SpCell) as a reference cell to derive UE transmit timing for the cells in the pTAG. For the serving cell in the secondary timing advance group (sTAG), the UE may derive the UE transmit timing for the cell in the sTAG using any active secondary cell (SCell) as a reference cell.

The UE may be expected to meet UL transmit timing accuracy requirements (e.g., when at least one Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is available at the UE during the last 160 ms). Based on UL transmission timing error limitations, the UE can be expected to meet UL transmission timing accuracy requirements.

UL transmission timing error limits may depend on SSB and subcarrier spacing (SCS) of UL signals. According to UL transmission timing error limits, the UE's initial transmission timing error must be less than or equal to a timing error limit value (Te) (e.g., te specified in the table shown in fig. 5). This may apply to the first transmission for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and the Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, or it is a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission, or it is an msgA transmission (e.g., PRACH preamble and PUSCH transmission). When at least one SSB is available at the UE during the last 160ms, the UE may need to meet Te requirements for the initial transmission.

The UE (e.g., rel-17 RedCap UE) may support some features (e.g., bandwidth limitations), which may reduce UE complexity. For example, the maximum bandwidth of the FR1 RedCap UE during and after the initial access will be 20MHz, and the maximum bandwidth of the FR2 RedCap UE during and after the initial access will be 100MHz. The UE (e.g., rel-18 RedCap UE) may support a maximum bandwidth limit of 5 MHz. The UE may achieve the desired data rate with a smaller bandwidth (e.g., less than 20MHz for FR1 and less than 100MHz for FR 2).

In some cases, to save power consumption, the UE may switch into a narrower active BWP. Furthermore, to avoid in a congested initial BWP, the UE may switch to a different active BWP.

One potential problem that may affect timing accuracy is that in these non-initial active BWP, the SSB may not be visible to the UE. For example, after initial access, the UE may be placed in an active BWP without SSB.

As described above, in order to meet UL transmission timing accuracy expectations, the UE may search for SSBs a predetermined time (e.g., 160 ms) before UL transmission. However, when the UE is placed in an active BWP, it may not be possible for the UE to monitor SSBs that may not be present.

Thus, the UE may implement different techniques to monitor and measure SSB (outside of active BWP). In one example, the UE may perform BWP handover to measure SSB. In another example, the UE may perform Radio Frequency (RF) retuning to measure SSB. RF retuning may take more time (e.g., 0.5ms ramp up time and 0.5ms ramp down time) and is undesirable. Further, when the UE may perform BWP handover and/or RF retuning, the UE may consume more power and reduce throughput due to the operation interruption.

In some cases, the UE may implement a frequency hopping mechanism in an effort to achieve diversity gain across a wider channel bandwidth. However, such hopping may make it difficult to schedule SSBs in active BWP hops.

In some cases, SSBs for reference cell timing may not be available at the UE when the UE is operating on frequencies in the unlicensed spectrum. The SSB may be unavailable, for example, due to a DL Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) failure at the network entity (because it will not transmit the SSB because it did not gain channel access). When SSB is not available at the UE, the UE may rely on outdated SSB measurements, which is undesirable.

Further, in typical DRX operation, the UE may wake up just before the ON duration of the DRX cycle to measure SSB ON the reference cell. However, given the uncertainty about the availability of SSBs due to DL CCA failure, the UE may need to wake up earlier in order to increase the chance of receiving SSBs. As the UE wakes up for more time, it causes more power consumption by the UE.

Aspects related to defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may allow a User Equipment (UE) to derive Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy based on one or more types of Reference Signals (RSs) detected. Thus, even when the UE cannot detect a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), the UE may still be able to derive UL transmission timing based on other types of RSs that it can detect. For example, as described above, the UE may be able to derive UL transmission timing based on the detected presence of a first type of RS (e.g., SSB), a second type of RS (e.g., tracking Reference Signal (TRS) and/or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), or both the first and second types of RSs.

Fig. 6 depicts a flowchart illustrating example operations 600 for wireless communications. The operations 600 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., such as the UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1). The operations 600 may be implemented as software components executing and running on one or more processors (e.g., the controller/processor 280 of fig. 2). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 600 may be implemented, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 of fig. 2). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor 280) that obtain and/or output the signals.

Operation 600 begins at 610 with: at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS is detected within the active BWP. For example, the UE may detect at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS within the active BWP using a processor, antenna, and/or transceiver component of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 13.

At 620, the UE derives UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected. The UE may use the processor, antenna, and/or transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 13 to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

At 630, the UE transmits an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement. The UE transmits UL signals using the antenna and/or transmitter/transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 13.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating example operations 700 for wireless communication. The operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a network entity (e.g., such as BS 102 in the wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1). The operations 700 may be implemented as software components executing and running on one or more processors (e.g., the controller/processor 240 of fig. 2). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 700 may be implemented, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 234 of fig. 2). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the network entity may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor 240) that obtain and/or output the signals.

The operations 700 begin at 710 with: when both the first type RS and the second type RS are present within the active BWP, an indication is sent to the UE to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. For example, the network entity may use the antennas and/or transmitter/transceiver components of BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 14 to send an indication to the UE to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS.

At 720, the network entity receives an UL signal from the UE based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement. For example, the network entity may receive UL signals from UEs using antennas and/or transmitter/transceiver components of BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 14.

The operations shown in fig. 6 and 7 may be understood with reference to the call flow diagrams of fig. 8 and 9.

As shown in fig. 8, at 802, a BS (e.g., BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or 2) transmits one or more RSs to a UE (e.g., UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or 2). The one or more RSs may include a first type RS and a second type RS. The first type of RS may include SSB. The second type of RS may include TRS and/or CSI-RS. The BS may transmit the first type RS, the second type RS, or both the first and second type RSs.

At 804, the UE detects at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS within the active BWP. In other words, the UE may detect only the first type of RS within the active BWP, the second type of RS within the active BWP, or both the first type of RS and the second type of RS within the active BWP, depending on which type or types of RSs the BS transmits.

At 806, the UE derives UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type (or types) of RSs are detected within the active BWP.

In certain aspects, when the UE detects a first type of RS within the active BWP, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the first type of RS.

In some aspects, when the first type of RS is not present within the active BWP, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on availability of the second type of RS within the active BWP. In some cases, the second type RS may be always available within the active BWP. In such cases, the UE may not have to perform BWP handover (or Radio Frequency (RF) handover) and suffer from throughput degradation in order to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. In one non-limiting example, the UE may use CSI-RS/TRS to acquire the reference cell timing when the UE may operate in DL BWP without a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration of control resource set (CORESET) or SSB.

In certain aspects, when the UE is performing frequency hopping across different bwtps, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements in each BWP based on availability of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS in the corresponding BWP.

For example, the UE may hop from the first BWP to the second BWP. For the first BWP, the UE may detect the first type RS within the first BWP. The UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the first type of RS detected within the first BWP. For the second BWP, the UE may detect the second type RS within the second BWP. The UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the second type of RS detected within the second BWP.

In certain aspects, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based at least in part on subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the RS and/or UL signals detected by the UE within the active BWP. In one example, when the UE may detect the first type of RS within the active BWP, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on SCS of the first type of RS and/or UL signals. In another example, when the UE may detect the second type of RS within the active BWP, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on SCS of the second type of RS and/or UL signals.

In certain aspects, the UE may arrive at UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based at least in part on availability of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS during the last period. In some cases, the duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS may be the same. In some cases, the duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS may be different. In one example, the duration of the period for the first type RS (e.g., SSB) may be 160ms. In another example, the duration of the period for the second type of RS (e.g., CSI-RS) may be 40ms, 80ms, or 320ms.

In certain aspects, the UE may send signaling to the BS indicating the UE's capabilities via a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and/or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). In certain aspects, the duration of the period between the first type of RS and the second type of RS may be based on the capabilities of the UE. In one example, the capability of the UE may indicate the number of Receiver (RX) branches. In another example, the capability of the UE may indicate the antenna efficiency of the UE.

In certain aspects, the UE may send signaling to the BS indicating a request for measurement gaps for measuring RSs that may be outside of the active BWP to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. The UE may then receive (in response to the request) an indication of the measurement gap from the BS. Based on the indicated measurement gap, the UE may measure the RS (e.g., the type of RS that may not be present in the active BWP) to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

In some aspects, the UE may measure intra-frequency RSs outside of the active BWP using the same requirements for measurement gaps. The UE may then measure a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and/or a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the intra-frequency RS. In one example, the UE may use intra-frequency measurement gaps to measure SSBs that may exist outside of active BWP for cell mobility.

In certain aspects, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the number of tones and Reference Blocks (RBs) used by RSs (e.g., first type RSs and/or second type RSs) detected within the active BWP. In some cases, the UE may use SSB as a source for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. For example, SSBs may have a fixed sequence length. In some cases, CSI-RS may be configured with different sequence lengths and RBs. In such a case, the UE may derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements (e.g., higher UL transmission timing accuracy) based on the wider CSI-RS resources.

At 808, the UE transmits an UL signal to the BS based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

As shown in fig. 9, in some cases, the BS may indicate which type of RS the UE is to use to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy expectation.

At 902, the BS transmits a first type RS (e.g., SSB) to a UE.

At 904, the BS transmits a second type of RS (e.g., TRS/CSI-RS) to the UE. The second type RS and the first type RS may exist within the active BWP.

At 906, the BS transmits an indication of a selection of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements (e.g., when both the first type RS and the second type RS are present within the active BWP).

At 908, the UE selects an RS (e.g., a first type of RS and/or a second type of RS) based on the received indication and then derives UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the selected RS.

At 910, the UE transmits an UL signal to the BS based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

In one example, the BS may send an indication to the UE that selects a first type of RS for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. In another example, the BS may send an indication to the UE that both the first type RS and the second type RS are selected for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

In one example, the BS transmits an indication to the UE via System Information (SI). In another example, the BS sends the indication to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In another example, the BS transmits an indication to the UE via a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). In another example, the BS sends an indication to the UE via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

Fig. 10 depicts a flowchart illustrating example operations 1000 for wireless communications. The operations 1000 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., such as the UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1). The operations 1000 may be implemented as software components executing and running on one or more processors (e.g., the controller/processor 280 of fig. 2). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 1000 may be implemented, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 of fig. 2). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor 280) that obtain and/or output the signals.

Operation 1000 begins at 1010 with: signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting RSs outside of the active BWP is sent to the network entity. For example, the UE may send signaling indicating a request for measurement gaps using antennas and/or transmitter/transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 15.

At 1020, the UE receives an indication of a measurement gap from a network entity. For example, the UE may receive an indication of the measurement gap using an antenna and/or a transmitter/transceiver component of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 15.

At 1030, the UE detects RSs outside of the active BWP based on the measurement gap. For example, the UE may detect RSs outside of the active BWP using the processor, antenna, and/or transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 15.

At 1040, the UE derives UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS. For example, the UE may use the processor, antenna, and/or transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 15 to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

Fig. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an example operation 1100 for wireless communication. Operation 1100 may be performed, for example, by a network entity (e.g., such as BS 102 in wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1). The operations 1100 may be implemented as software components executing and running on one or more processors (e.g., the controller/processor 240 of fig. 2). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 1100 may be implemented, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 234 of fig. 2). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the network entity may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor 240) that obtain and/or output the signals.

Operation 1100 begins at 1110 with: signaling is received from the UE indicating a request for measurement gaps to be used by the UE to detect RSs outside of the active BWP. For example, the network entity may use the antennas and/or receiver/transceiver components of BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 16 to receive signaling from the UE indicating a request for measurement gaps.

At 1120, the network entity sends an indication to the UE of a measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure RSs outside of the active BWP and derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements. For example, the network entity may use the antennas and/or transmitter/transceiver components of BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 16 to send an indication of the measurement gap.

At 1130, the network entity receives an UL signal from the UE based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement. For example, the network entity may receive UL signals from UEs using antennas and/or transmitter/transceiver components of BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and/or the apparatus shown in fig. 16.

The operations shown in fig. 10 and 11 can be understood with reference to the call flow diagram of fig. 12.

As shown in fig. 12, at 1202, a UE (e.g., UE 104 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2) sends signaling to a network entity (e.g., BS 102 shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2) indicating a requirement/request for a measurement gap for detecting RSs outside of active BWP. The RS may be a first type RS and/or a second type RS. The first type of RS may include SSB. The second type of RS may include TRS and/or CSI-RS. The measurement gaps may be a set of time instances in which the UE measures RSs outside of the active BWP and does not receive anything within the active BWP (i.e., these time instances may look like gaps from the perspective of communications within the active BWP).

At 1204, the UE receives an indication of a measurement gap from a network entity.

At 1206, the UE detects RSs outside of active BWP based on the measurement gap. In some aspects, the UE may use the intra-frequency measurement gap to detect and measure RSs outside of the active BWP. Intra-frequency measurement gaps may be a gap instance/pattern in which the UE is measuring an intra-frequency object. The intra-frequency object may be a serving cell measurement object or all neighbor cell measurement objects whose RS center frequency and subcarrier spacing (SCS) are aligned with the RS center frequency and SCS of the serving cell measurement object.

At 1208, the UE derives UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS.

At 1210, the UE sends an UL signal to a network entity based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Example Wireless communication device

Fig. 13 depicts an example communication device 1300 that includes various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations depicted and described with respect to fig. 6. In some examples, the communication device 1300 may be a User Equipment (UE) 104 such as described with respect to fig. 1 and 2.

The communication device 1300 includes a processing system 1302 coupled to a transceiver 1308 (e.g., a transmitter and/or receiver). The transceiver 1308 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1300, such as the various signals described herein, via the antenna 1310. The processing system 1302 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1300, including processing signals received by and/or to be transmitted by the communication device 1300.

The processing system 1302 includes one or more processors 1320 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1330 via a bus 1306. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1330 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1320, cause the one or more processors 1320 to perform the operations shown in fig. 6, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

In the depicted example, computer-readable medium/memory 1330 stores: code 1331 for detecting at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) or a second type RS within an active bandwidth portion (BWP); code 1332 for deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected; and code 1333 for transmitting an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

In the depicted example, the one or more processors 1320 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1330, including circuitry 1321 for detecting at least one of a first type of RS or a second type of RS within an active BWP, circuitry 1322 for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected, and circuitry 1323 for transmitting UL signals based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

The various components of the communications device 1300 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including the methods related to fig. 6.

In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 254 and/or antenna 252 of the UE 104 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1308 and antenna 1310 of the communication device 1300 in fig. 13.

In some examples, the means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may include the transceiver 254 and/or the antenna 252 of the UE 104 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1308 and the antenna 1310 of the communication device 1300 in fig. 13.

In some examples, the means for detecting at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS within the active BWP, the means for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected, and the means for transmitting UL signals based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements may include various processing system components, such as: one or more processors 1320 in fig. 13, or aspects of UE 104 depicted in fig. 2, include a receive processor 258, a transmit processor 264, a TX MIMO processor 266, and/or a controller/processor 280 (including an RS component 281).

It is noted that fig. 13 is merely an example of use, and that many other examples and configurations of communication device 1300 are possible.

Fig. 14 depicts an example communication device 1400 that includes various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations depicted and described with respect to fig. 7. In some examples, the communication device 1400 may be a Base Station (BS) 102 as described, for example, with respect to fig. 1 and 2.

The communication device 1400 includes a processing system 1402 coupled to a transceiver 1408 (e.g., transmitter and/or receiver). The transceiver 1408 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1400, such as the various signals as described herein, via the antenna 1410. The processing system 1402 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1400, including processing signals received by and/or to be transmitted by the communication device 1400.

The processing system 1402 includes one or more processors 1420 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1430 via a bus 1406. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1430 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1420, cause the one or more processors 1420 to perform the operations shown in fig. 7 or other operations for performing various techniques discussed herein.

In the depicted example, computer-readable medium/memory 1430 stores: code 1431 for sending an indication to the UE to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements when both the first type RS and the second type RS are present within the active BWP; and code 1432 for receiving an UL signal from the UE based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

In the depicted example, the one or more processors 1420 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1430, including: circuitry 1421 for sending an indication to the UE to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements when both the first type RS and the second type RS are present within the active BWP; and circuitry 1422 for receiving an UL signal from the UE based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

The various components of the communication device 1400 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including the methods related to fig. 7.

In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or the means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 232 and/or the antenna 234 of the BS 102 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1408 and the antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400 in fig. 14.

In some examples, the means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may include the transceiver 232 and/or the antenna 234 of the BS 102 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1408 and the antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400 in fig. 14.

In some examples, the means for transmitting, to the UE, an indication to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements when both the first type RS and the second type RS are present within the active BWP and the means for receiving, from the UE, UL signals based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements may include various processing system components such as: one or more processors 1420 in fig. 14, or aspects of BS 102 depicted in fig. 2, include receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, and/or controller/processor 240 (including RS component 241).

It is noted that fig. 14 is merely an example of use, and that many other examples and configurations of communication device 1400 are possible.

Fig. 15 depicts an example communication device 1500 that includes various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations depicted and described with respect to fig. 10. In some examples, the communication device 1500 may be, for example, the UE 104 described with respect to fig. 1 and 2.

The communication device 1500 includes a processing system 1502 that is coupled to a transceiver 1508 (e.g., a transmitter and/or receiver). The transceiver 1508 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1500, such as the various signals as described herein, via the antenna 1510. The processing system 1502 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1500, including processing signals received by and/or to be transmitted by the communication device 1500.

The processing system 1502 includes one or more processors 1520 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1530 via a bus 1506. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1530 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1520, cause the one or more processors 1520 to perform the operations shown in fig. 10 or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

In the depicted example, computer-readable medium/memory 1530 stores: code 1531 for sending signaling to the network entity indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting an RS outside of active BWP; code 1532 for receiving an indication of a measurement gap from a network entity; code 1533 for detecting an RS outside of active BWP based on the measurement gap; and code 1534 for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS.

In the depicted example, the one or more processors 1520 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1530, including circuitry 1521 for transmitting signaling to a network entity indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting an RS outside of an active BWP, circuitry 1522 for receiving an indication of the measurement gap from the network entity, circuitry 1523 for detecting an RS outside of an active BWP based on the measurement gap, and circuitry 1524 for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS.

The various components of the communication device 1500 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including the methods related to fig. 10.

In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 254 and/or antenna 252 of the UE 104 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1508 and antenna 1510 of the communication device 1500 in fig. 15.

In some examples, the means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may include the transceiver 254 and/or the antenna 252 of the UE 104 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1508 and the antenna 1510 of the communication device 1500 in fig. 15.

In some examples, the means for transmitting signaling to the network entity indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting an RS outside of the active BWP, the means for receiving from the network entity an indication of the measurement gap, the means for detecting an RS outside of the active BWP based on the measurement gap, the means for deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS may include various processing system components such as: one or more processors 1520 in fig. 15, or aspects of UE 104 depicted in fig. 2, include a receive processor 258, a transmit processor 264, a TX MIMO processor 266, and/or a controller/processor 280 (including an RS component 281).

It is noted that fig. 15 is merely an example of use, and that many other examples and configurations of communication device 1500 are possible.

Fig. 16 depicts an example communication device 1600 that includes various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations depicted and described with respect to fig. 11. In some examples, communication device 1600 may be BS 102 as described, for example, with respect to fig. 1 and 2.

The communication device 1600 includes a processing system 1602 coupled to a transceiver 1608 (e.g., a transmitter and/or receiver). The transceiver 1608 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1600, such as the various signals as described herein, via the antenna 1610. The processing system 1602 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1600, including processing signals received by and/or to be transmitted by the communication device 1600.

The processing system 1602 includes one or more processors 1620 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1630 via a bus 1606. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1630 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1620, cause the one or more processors 1620 to perform the operations shown in fig. 11 or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

In the depicted example, computer-readable medium/memory 1630 stores: code 1631 for receiving signaling from the UE indicating a request for measurement gaps to be used by the UE to detect RSs outside of active BWP; code 1632 for sending to the UE an indication of a measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure RSs outside of the active BWP and derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and code 1633 for receiving an UL signal from the UE based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

In the depicted example, the one or more processors 1620 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1630, including: a circuit 1621 for receiving signaling from the UE indicating a request for a measurement gap to be used by the UE to detect an RS outside the active BWP, a circuit 1622 for sending to the UE an indication of a measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure an RS outside the active BWP and to derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements, and a circuit 1623 for receiving from the UE an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

The various components of the communication device 1600 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including the methods related to fig. 11.

In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or means for outputting for transmission) may include transceiver 232 and/or antenna 234 of BS 102 shown in fig. 2, and/or transceiver 1608 and antenna 1610 of communication device 1600 in fig. 16.

In some examples, the means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may include the transceiver 232 and/or the antenna 234 of the BS 102 shown in fig. 2, and/or the transceiver 1608 and the antenna 1610 of the communication device 1600 in fig. 16.

In some examples, the means for receiving signaling from the UE indicating a request for measurement gaps to be used by the UE to detect RSs outside of active BWP, the means for sending to the UE an indication of measurement gaps to be used by the UE to measure RSs outside of active BWP and derive UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements, and the means for receiving from the UE UL signals based on the derived UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements may include various processing system components such as: one or more processors 1620 in fig. 16, or aspects of BS 102 depicted in fig. 2, include receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, and/or controller/processor 240 (including RS component 241).

It is noted that fig. 16 is merely an example of use, and that many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1600 are possible.

Example clauses

Implementation examples are described in the numbered clauses below.

Clause 1: a method for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), comprising: detecting at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) and a second type RS within an active bandwidth portion (BWP); deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected; and transmitting an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 2: the method alone or in combination with the first clause, wherein: the first type RS includes a synchronization signal block SSB; and the second type of RS includes at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Clause 3: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second clauses, wherein when a first type of RS is detected, deriving UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the first type of RS.

Clause 4: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third clauses, further comprises: when both the first type RS and the second type RS are within the active BWP, an indication is received from a network entity to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 5: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth clauses, wherein the indication is received via at least one of: system Information (SI), radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), or Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

Clause 6: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are derived based on availability of the second type RS when the first type RS is absent from within the active BWP.

Clause 7: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the UL signal and an RS detected by the UE.

Clause 8: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on availability of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for a last period of time.

Clause 9: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth clauses, wherein the duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS is different.

Clause 10: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth clauses, wherein a duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate a number of Receiver (RX) branches.

Clause 11: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through tenth clauses, wherein a duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate antenna efficiency of the UE.

Clause 12: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eleventh clauses, further comprises: transmitting signaling indicating the capability of the UE to a network entity via at least one of: a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

Clause 13: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twelfth clauses, further comprises: transmitting signaling to a network entity indicating requirements for measurement gaps for measuring RSs outside the active BWP; and receiving an indication of the measurement gap from a network entity to measure the RS outside the active BWP for deriving the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 14: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirteenth clauses, wherein the UE employs the same requirements for the measurement interval to measure intra-frequency RSs outside the active BWP.

Clause 15: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourteenth clauses, further comprises: measuring at least one of: the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the intra-frequency RS.

Clause 16: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifteenth clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on a number of tones and Reference Blocks (RBs) used by at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS.

Clause 17: a method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: when both a first type Reference Signal (RS) and a second type RS are present in an active bandwidth portion (BWP), sending an indication to a User Equipment (UE) selecting at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS to derive Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and receiving, from the UE, an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 18: the method alone or in combination with the seventeenth clause, wherein: the first type RS includes a synchronization signal block SSB; and the second type of RS includes at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Clause 19: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth and eighteenth clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on availability of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for a last period of time.

Clause 20: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through nineteenth clauses, wherein a duration of a period between the first type RS and the second type RS is different.

Clause 21: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through twentieth clauses, wherein a duration of the period between the first type RS and the second type RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate a number of Receiver (RX) branches.

Clause 22: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through twenty-first clauses, wherein a duration of the period between the first type of RS and the second type of RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate antenna efficiency of the UE.

Clause 23: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through twenty-second clauses, further comprises: receiving signaling from the UE indicating the capability of the UE via at least one of: a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

Clause 24: the method, alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through twenty-third clauses, further comprises: receiving signaling from the UE indicating a requirement for a measurement gap for measuring RSs outside the active BWP; and sending an indication of the measurement gap to the UE to measure the RS outside the active BWP for deriving the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 25: the method alone or in combination with one or more of the seventeenth through twenty-fourth clauses, wherein the UL transmission timing is based on a number of tones and Reference Blocks (RBs) used by at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS.

Clause 26: a method for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting a Reference Signal (RS) outside an active bandwidth portion (BWP) to a network entity; receiving an indication of the measurement gap from the network entity; detecting the RS outside the active BWP based on the measurement gap; and deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on the detected RS.

Clause 27: the method alone or in combination with the twenty-sixth clause, wherein: the RS is a first type RS, and wherein the first type RS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB).

Clause 28: the method alone or in combination with the twenty-sixth clause, wherein the RS is a second type of RS, and wherein the second type of RS comprises at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Clause 29: the method alone or in combination with the twenty-sixth clause, wherein the detecting comprises measuring the RS to derive the UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

Clause 30: the method, alone or in combination with the twenty-sixth clause, further comprises: the RS outside the active BWP is detected and measured using an intra-frequency measurement gap.

Clause 31: a method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: receiving, from a User Equipment (UE), signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap to be used by the UE to detect Reference Signals (RSs) outside an active bandwidth portion (BWP); transmitting, to the UE, an indication of the measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure the RSs outside of the active BWP and derive Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and receiving, from the UE, an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

Clause 32: the method alone or in combination with the thirty-first clause, wherein the RS is a first type of RS, and wherein the first type of RS comprises a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB).

Clause 33: the method alone or in combination with the thirty-first clause, wherein the RS is a second type of RS, and wherein the second type of RS comprises at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Clause 34: an apparatus, comprising: a memory comprising executable instructions; one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of clauses 1-33.

Clause 35: an apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any of clauses 1-33.

Clause 36: a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of clauses 1-33.

Clause 37: a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the method of any of clauses 1-33.

Additional wireless communication network considerations

The techniques and methods described herein may be used for various wireless communication networks (or Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs)) and Radio Access Technologies (RATs). Although aspects may be described herein using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and/or 5G (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

The 5G wireless communication network may support various advanced wireless communication services such as enhanced mobile broadband (emmbb), millimeter wave (mmWave), machine Type Communication (MTC), and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). These services and other services may include latency and reliability requirements.

Returning to fig. 1, various aspects of the present disclosure may be performed within an example wireless communication network 100.

In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a NodeB and/or a narrowband subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In an NR system, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation NodeB (gNB or gndeb), access Point (AP), distributed Unit (DU), carrier wave, or transmission-reception point may be used interchangeably. The BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, and/or other types of cells.

A macro cell may typically cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a gym) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may allow restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) and UEs for users in the residence). The BS for the macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. The BS for the pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. The BS for the femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS, a home BS, or a home NodeB.

BS 102 configured for 4G LTE, commonly referred to as evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), may interface with EPC 160 over a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). BS 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or next generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with 5gc 190 over second backhaul link 184 BS 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., over EPC 160 or 5gc 190) over third backhaul link 134 (e.g., an X2 interface).

The small cell 102' may operate in licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by Wi-Fi AP 150. Small cells 102' employing NRs in unlicensed spectrum may improve access network coverage and/or increase access network capacity.

Some BSs, such as the gNB 180, may operate in the conventional sub-6GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, and/or near mmWave frequencies to communicate with the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in mmWave or near mmWave frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as a mmWave base station.

The communication link 120 between the BS 102 and, for example, the UE 104 may be over one or more carriers. For example, BS 102 and UE 104 may use a spectrum allocated in carrier aggregation up to a total of yxmhz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, and other MHz) bandwidth per carrier. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

The wireless communication network 100 also includes a Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) 150 that communicates with Wi-Fi Stations (STAs) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, the 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, STA 152/AP 150 may perform Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use the DL/UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels such as a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be over a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, flashLinQ, wiMedia, bluetooth, zigBee, wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), to name a few options.

EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway 172.MME 162 may communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, MME 162 provides bearer and connection management.

Typically, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 166, which serving gateway 166 itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176, and the IP services 176 may include, for example, the internet, intranets, IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS), PS streaming services, and/or other IP services.

The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may act as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to BSs 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service and may be responsible for session management (start/stop) and collecting charging information related to eMBMS.

The 5gc 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

The AMF 192 is typically a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the 5gc 190. In general, AMF 192 provides QoS flows and session management.

All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the UPF 195, the UPF 195 being connected to the IP service 197 and providing IP address assignment for the UE as well as other functions for the 5gc 190. The IP services 197 may include, for example, the internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and/or other IP services.

Returning to fig. 2, various example components of BS 102 and UE 104 (e.g., wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1) are depicted that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure.

At BS 102, transmit processor 220 may receive data from data sources 212 and control information from controller/processor 240. The control information may be for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and the like. In some examples, the data may be for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

A Medium Access Control (MAC) -control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE may be carried in a shared channel such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a physical side-shared channel (PSSCH).

Processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information, respectively, to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), a PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

A Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to Modulators (MODs) in the transceivers 232a-232 t. Each modulator in transceivers 232a-232t may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators in transceivers 232a-232t may be transmitted through antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

At the UE 104, antennas 252a-252r may receive the downlink signals from BS 102 and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 254a-254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain received symbols.

MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at the UE 104, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and control information from a controller/processor 280 (e.g., for a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for Sounding Reference Signals (SRS)). The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS 102.

At BS 102, uplink signals from UEs 104 may be received by antennas 234a-t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a-232t, detected by a MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UEs 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller/processor 240.

Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 102 and UE 104, respectively.

The scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

The 5G may utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with Cyclic Prefix (CP) on uplink and downlink. 5G may also use Time Division Duplexing (TDD) to support half duplex operation. OFDM and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones and bins. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. The modulation symbols may be transmitted with OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The interval between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed and the total number of subcarriers may depend on the system bandwidth. In some examples, the minimum resource allocation, referred to as a Resource Block (RB), may be 12 consecutive subcarriers. The system bandwidth may also be divided into sub-bands. For example, a subband may cover multiple RBs. The NR may support a basic subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15kHz and may define other SCSs (e.g., 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz, etc.) with respect to the basic SCS.

As above, fig. 3A-3D depict various example aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network, such as wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1.

In various aspects, the 5G frame structure may be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to DL or UL. The 5G frame structure may also be Time Division Duplex (TDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In the example provided by fig. 3A and 3C, the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexibly used between DL/UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (most of which are UL). Although subframes 3, 4 are shown as having slot formats 34, 28, respectively, any particular subframe may be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. The slot formats 0, 1 are full DL, full UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mix of DL symbols, UL symbols, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically configured by DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically/statically configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling) through a received Slot Format Indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to a 5G frame structure that is TDD.

Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and/or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or more slots. The subframe may also include a minislot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the slot configuration.

For example, for slot configuration 0, each slot may include 14 symbols, and for slot configuration 1, each slot may include 7 symbols. The symbols on DL may be Cyclic Prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) -spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission).

The number of slots within a subframe is based on slot configuration and digital scheme (numerology). For slot configuration 0, different digital schemes (μ) 0 through 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different digital schemes 0 through 2 allow 2, 4 and 8 times per subframe, respectively A gap. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and digital scheme μ, there are 14 symbols/slot and 2 μ slots/subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length/duration are functions of the digital scheme. The subcarrier spacing may be equal to 2 ^μ X 15kHz, where μ is the number schemes 0 to 5. Thus, the digital scheme μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, and the digital scheme μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length/duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Fig. 3A-3D provide examples of a slot configuration 0 having 14 symbols per slot and a digital scheme μ=2 having 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60kHz and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 mus.

The resource grid may be used to represent a frame structure. Each slot includes Resource Blocks (RBs) (also referred to as Physical RBs (PRBs)), which include 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into a plurality of Resource Elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

As shown in fig. 3A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RSs) for UEs (e.g., UE 104 of fig. 1 and 2). The RSs may include demodulation RSs (DM-RSs) (indicated as Rx for one particular configuration, where 100x is a port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) for channel estimation at the UE. The RSs may also include beam measurement RSs (BRSs), beam Refinement RSs (BRRSs), and phase tracking RSs (PT-RSs).

Fig. 3B shows an example of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame. A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., 104 of fig. 1 and 2) to determine subframe/symbol timing and physical layer identification.

The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and radio frame timing.

Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS as described above. A Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying a Master Information Block (MIB) may be logically grouped with PSS and SSS to form a Synchronization Signal (SS)/PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and a System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (e.g., system Information Blocks (SIBs)) not transmitted over the PBCH, and paging messages.

As shown in fig. 3C, some of the REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RS for a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the previous or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations according to whether the short PUCCH or the long PUCCH is transmitted and according to a specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS in one of the combs. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

Fig. 3D shows examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries Uplink Control Information (UCI) such as a scheduling request, a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry Buffer Status Reports (BSR), power Headroom Reports (PHR), and/or UCI.

Additional precautions

The previous description provided examples of defining Uplink (UL) transmission timing accuracy in a communication system. The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein are not limited in scope, applicability, or aspect to the description set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects as well. For example, changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, replace, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described with respect to some examples may be combined into some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method that is practiced using other structure, function, or both in addition to and other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication techniques such as 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are generally used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, and the like. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-a are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-a and GSM are described in documents provided from an organization named "third generation partnership project" (3 GPP), and cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3 GPP 2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology being developed.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable Logic Device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link together various circuits including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter or the like to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a user device (see fig. 1), a user interface (e.g., keyboard, display, mouse, joystick, touch screen, biometric sensor, proximity sensor, light emitting element, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose processors and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terminology, should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general-purpose processing, including the execution of software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, machine-readable media may comprise a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and/or a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by a processor through a bus interface. Alternatively or additionally, the machine-readable medium, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as may be the case with a cache and/or general purpose register file. By way of example, a machine-readable storage medium may comprise RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read only memory), PROM (programmable read only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory), registers, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard drive, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer readable medium may include several software modules. The software modules include instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, when a trigger event occurs, the software module may be loaded from the hard disk drive into RAM. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into the cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general purpose register file for execution by the processor. When reference is made hereinafter to the function of a software module, it will be understood that such function is carried out by the processor upon execution of instructions from the software module.

As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one item in a list of items" refers to any combination of these items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term "determining" may include a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and so forth. Further, "determining" may include parsing, selecting, establishing, and so forth.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the respective method. Method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable unit capable of performing the corresponding functions. The units may include various hardware and/or software components and/or modules including, but not limited to, circuits, application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding paired functional unit components with like numbers.

The appended claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within the claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more. The term "some" refers to one or more unless specifically stated otherwise. No claim element is to be construed in accordance with the specification of 35u.s.c. ≡112 (f) unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "unit for … …" or, in the case of method claims, the element is recited using the phrase "step for … …". All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, the disclosures herein are not intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosures are explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

Transmitting signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap for detecting a Reference Signal (RS) outside an active bandwidth portion (BWP) to a network entity;

receiving an indication of the measurement gap from the network entity;

detecting the RS outside the active BWP based on the measurement gap; and

uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements are derived based on the detected RS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS is a first type of RS, and wherein the first type of RS comprises a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS is a second type of RS, and wherein the second type of RS comprises at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting comprises measuring the RS to derive the UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the RS outside the active BWP is detected and measured using an intra-frequency measurement gap.

6. A method for wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

Detecting at least one of a first type Reference Signal (RS) and a second type RS within an active bandwidth portion (BWP);

deriving Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements based on which type of RS is detected; and

UL signals are transmitted based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirements.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein:

the first type RS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB); and

the second type of RS includes at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the deriving comprises: when the first type of RS is detected, the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are derived based on the first type of RS.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: when both the first type RS and the second type RS are within the active BWP, an indication is received from a network entity to select at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for deriving the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication is received via at least one of: system Information (SI), radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), or Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the deriving comprises: when the first type RS is not present within the active BWP, the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are derived based on the availability of the second type RS.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the UL signal and an RS detected by the UE.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on availability of at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS for a last period of time.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a duration of a period between the first type of RS and the second type of RS is different.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a duration of the period between the first type of RS and the second type of RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate a number of Receiver (RX) branches.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein a duration of the period between the first type of RS and the second type of RS is based on a capability of the UE to indicate antenna efficiency of the UE.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting signaling indicating the capability of the UE to a network entity via at least one of: a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

18. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting signaling to a network entity indicating requirements for measurement gaps for measuring RSs outside the active BWP; and

an indication of the measurement gap is received from a network entity to measure the RS outside the active BWP for deriving the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: the intra-frequency RS outside the active BWP is measured using the measurement gap.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: measuring at least one of: the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the intra-frequency RS.

21. The method of claim 6, wherein the UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement are based on a number of tones and Reference Blocks (RBs) used by at least one of the first type RS or the second type RS.

22. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising:

receiving, from a User Equipment (UE), signaling indicating a request for a measurement gap to be used by the UE to detect Reference Signals (RSs) outside an active bandwidth portion (BWP);

transmitting, to the UE, an indication of the measurement gap to be used by the UE to measure the RSs outside of the active BWP and derive Uplink (UL) transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements; and

an UL signal based on the derived UL transmission timing and the corresponding accuracy requirement is received from the UE.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the RS is a first type of RS, and wherein the first type of RS comprises a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB).

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the RS is a second type of RS, and wherein the second type of RS comprises at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

25. A User Equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory including computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the UE to:

receiving an indication of the measurement gap from the network entity;

detecting the RS outside the active BWP based on the measurement gap; and

26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the RS is a first type of RS, and wherein the first type of RS comprises a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB).

27. The UE of claim 25, wherein the RS is a second type of RS, and wherein the second type of RS comprises at least one of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

28. The UE of claim 25, wherein the detecting comprises measuring the RS to derive the UL transmission timing and corresponding accuracy requirements.

29. The UE of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the UE to: the RS outside the active BWP is detected and measured using an intra-frequency measurement gap.