Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/02—Power saving arrangements
  • H04W52/0203—Power saving arrangements in the radio access network or backbone network of wireless communication networks
  • H04W52/0206—Power saving arrangements in the radio access network or backbone network of wireless communication networks in access points, e.g. base stations
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/02—Power saving arrangements
  • H04W52/0209—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices
  • H04W52/0225—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
  • H04W52/0229—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal where the received signal is a wanted signal
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W76/00—Connection management
  • H04W76/10—Connection setup
  • H04W76/18—Management of setup rejection or failure
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W76/00—Connection management
  • H04W76/30—Connection release

Definitions

• Embodiments of the present application generally relate to wireless communication technology, especially to methods and apparatuses for a radio link failure (RLF) processing procedure and a power headroom report (PHR) procedure in a deactivated secondary node (SN) case in a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) scenario.
• RLF radio link failure
• PHR power headroom report
• Next generation radio access network supports a MR-DC scenario.
• a user equipment (UE) with multiple transceivers may be configured to utilize resources provided by two different nodes connected via non-ideal backhauls.
• one node may provide new radio (NR) access and the other one node may provide either evolved-universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (UTRA) (E-UTRA) or NR access.
• UMTS new radio
• UTRA evolved-universal mobile telecommunication system
• E-UTRA evolved-universal mobile telecommunication system
• One node may act as a master node (MN) and the other node may act as a secondary node (SN) .
• MN and SN are connected via a network interface (for example, a Xn interface as specified in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard documents) , and at least the MN is connected to the core network.
• 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
• a deactivated state refers to the same state of a SN.
• a deactivated state and a dormant state refer to the same state of a SN.
• Some embodiments of the present application provide a method for wireless communications.
• the method may be performed by a UE.
• the method includes: receiving configuration information from a network, wherein the configuration information relates to a MN and a SN; receiving a deactivation indication from the network, wherein the deactivation indication is associated with the SN; and in response to receiving the deactivation indication, setting a SN state of the UE as a deactivated state.
• Some embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus for wireless communications.
• the apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-mentioned method performed by a UE.
• Some embodiments of the present application provide a further method for wireless communications.
• the further method may be performed by a UE.
• the method includes: receiving a deactivation indication from a network, wherein the deactivation indication is associated with a SN; and determining whether a timer for fast master cell group (MCG) link recovery is running.
• MCG fast master cell group
• Some embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus for wireless communications.
• the apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-mentioned further method performed by a UE.
• Some embodiments of the present application provide a method for wireless communications.
• the method may be performed by a base station (BS) .
• the method includes: transmitting, to a UE, configuration information relating to a MN and a SN; and transmitting, to the UE, a deactivation indication associated with the SN, wherein the deactivation indication is used for setting a SN state of the UE as a deactivated state.
• BS base station
• Some embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus for wireless communications.
• the apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-mentioned method performed by a BS.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present application
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary timeline of a RLF with a fast MCG link recovery procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present application
• FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate two exemplary format diagrams of a PHR MAC CE in accordance with 3GPP standard document TS38.321;
• FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for setting a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application
• FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method for receiving an indication to deactivate a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application
• FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method for transmitting an indication to deactivate a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the wireless communication system 100 may be a dual connectivity system 100, including at least one UE 101, at least one MN 102, and at least one SN 103.
• the dual connectivity system 100 in FIG. 1 includes one shown UE 101, one shown MN 102, and one shown SN 103 for illustrative purpose.
• a specific number of UEs 101, MNs 102, and SNs 103 are depicted in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that any number of UEs 101, MNs 102, and SNs 103 may be included in the wireless communication system 100.
• UE 101 may be connected to MN 102 and SN 103 via a network interface, for example, the Uu interface as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• MN 102 and SN 103 may be connected with each other via a network interface, for example, the Xn interface as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• MN 102 may be connected to the core network via a network interface (not shown in FIG. 1) .
• UE 102 may be configured to utilize resources provided by MN 102 and SN 103 to perform data transmission.
• MN 102 may refer to a radio access node that provides a control plane connection to the core network.
• MN 102 in the E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) scenario, MN 102 may be an eNB.
• MN 102 in the next generation E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (NGEN-DC) scenario, MN 102 may be an ng-eNB.
• NGEN-DC next generation E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity
• MN 102 may be an ng-eNB.
• MN 102 in the NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) scenario or the NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) scenario, MN 102 may be a gNB.
• MN 102 may be associated with a master cell group (MCG) .
• MCG may refer to a group of serving cells associated with MN 102, and may include a primary cell (PCell) and optionally one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the MCG.
• PCell primary cell
• SCells secondary cells
• the PCell may provide a control plane connection to UE 101.
• SN 103 may refer to a radio access node without a control plane connection to the core network but providing additional resources to UE 101.
• SN 103 in the EN-DC scenario, may be an en-gNB.
• SN 103 in the NE-DC scenario, may be a ng-eNB.
• SN 103 in the NR-DC scenario or the NGEN-DC scenario, may be a gNB.
• the SN 103 may be associated with a secondary cell group (SCG) .
• SCG may refer to a group of serving cells associated with SN 103, and may include a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and optionally one or more SCells.
• PSCell primary secondary cell
• SCell SCell
• the PCell of the MCG and the PSCell of the SCG may also be referred to as a special cell (SpCell) .
• UE 101 may include computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet) , set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras) , vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems) , or the like.
• computing devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet) , set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras) , vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems) , or the like.
• UE 101 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a flip phone, a device having a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiving circuitry, or any other device that is capable of sending and receiving communication signals on a wireless network.
• UE 101 may include wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, or the like. Moreover, UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art.
• wearable devices such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, or the like.
• UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art.
• a possible general name for timer T310 may be “a timer associated with a physical layer problem” or the like.
• a possible general name for timer T311 may be “a timer for RRC connection re-establishment” or the like.
• a possible general name for timer T312 may be “a timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report” or the like.
• a possible general name for timer T316 may be “a timer for fast MCG link recovery” or the like.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary timeline of a RLF with a fast MCG link recovery procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the embodiments of FIG. 2 may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) .
• a UE firstly performs a data transmission at a stage of a normal operation.
• the UE detects a radio link problem if, for example, a MAC layer of the UE receives the N310 consecutive out-of-sync indication from a physical layer of the UE, which means a radio link problem occurs.
• the UE then starts a timer, e.g., timer T310 as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• timer T310 e.g., timer T310 as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• the UE may stop timer T310.
• the UE When timer T310 expires, which means no recovery during timer T310, the UE initiates a fast MCG link recovery procedure. Specifically, as specified in 3GPP standard documents, the UE transmits MCG failure information to a MN (e.g., MN 102 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) via a SN (e.g., SN 103 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) and starts timer T316 as shown in FIG. 2. If the UE receives a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message from the MN via the SN, the UE stops timer T316, which means that the fast MCG link recovery procedure is terminated. Otherwise, in response to timer T316 expiry, which means no recovery during timer T316, the UE performs a RRC re-establishment procedure and starts timer T311 as specified in 3GPP standard documents for a cell selection.
• RRC radio resource control
• timer T311 expires, which means no recovery during timer T311, the UE goes back to an idle state, e.g., a RRC_IDLE state. Before timer T311 expires, the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED state as shown in FIG. 2. After timer T311 expires, the UE enters into in the RRC_IDLE state as shown in FIG. 2.
• timer T312 As specified in 3GPP standard documents is configured.
• the UE will start timer T312, if timer T310 is running and a measurement report for a measurement identity for which timer T312 has been configured is triggered. After timer T312 expires, the UE may declare a failure and trigger a failure recovery procedure, e.g., a fast MCG link recovery procedure which has been configured.
• a failure recovery procedure e.g., a fast MCG link recovery procedure which has been configured.
• a SN activation or deactivation procedure can be triggered by a MN, a SN, or a UE.
• MN a MN
• SN a SN
• UE a UE
• a SN may be activated or deactivated upon SCell configuration.
• a MN may configure a UE to set a SN’s state in SN relevant configuration information in the UE as an activated or deactivated state, and then, the MN informs the SN.
• a SN may configure a UE.
• the SN transmits (de) activation indication to the UE directly; and if SRB3 is not configured and if the SN transmits an (de) activation indication to the UE for setting a SN’s state in SN relevant configuration information in the UE as an activated state, the SN needs to transmit RRC Reconfiguration message contained in a DLInformationTransferMRDC message via the MN.
• a SN may be activated or deactivated via a SN activation MAC CE or a SN deactivation MAC CE.
• a SN activation MAC CE is only transmitted by a MN.
• a SN deactivation MAC CE can be transmitted by a MN and a SN.
• a SN may be deactivated upon an expiry of a timer for a deactivated or dormant SN.
• a power headroom report is needed to provide a support for power-aware packet scheduling.
• PHR power headroom report
• three types of reporting are supported: a first one for physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission, a second one for PUSCH and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission in an LTE cell group in EN-DC and a third one for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on SCells configured with SRS only.
• PUSCH physical uplink share channel
• PUCCH physical uplink control channel
• SRS sounding reference signal
• Type 1 power headroom the difference between the nominal UE maximum transmit power and the estimated power for UL-SCH transmission per activated serving cell
• Type 2 power headroom the difference between the nominal UE maximum transmit power and the estimated power for UL-SCH and PUCCH transmission on SpCell of the other MAC entity (i.e., E-UTRA MAC entity in EN-DC, NE-DC, and NGEN-DC cases) ;
• Type 3 power headroom the difference between the nominal UE maximum transmit power and the estimated power for SRS transmission per activated Serving Cell.
• CA carrier aggregation
• a BS can allocate uplink resources for the initial hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmissions and HARQ retransmissions to UE (s) .
• HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request
• Two types of configured uplink grants are defined:
• RRC signalling directly provides the configured uplink grant (including the periodicity) .
• RRC signalling defines the periodicity of the configured uplink grant while physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) addressed to a configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI) can either signal and activate the configured uplink grant, or deactivate it; i.e., a PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI indicates that the uplink grant can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC signalling, until deactivated.
• PDCCH physical downlink control channel addressed to CS-RNTI
• CS-RNTI radio network temporary identifier
• a BS can allocate downlink resources for the initial HARQ transmissions to UE (s) :
• RRC signalling defines the periodicity of the configured downlink assignments while PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it. That is, a PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI indicates that the downlink assignment can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC signalling, until deactivated.
• a UE may be configured with up to 8 active configured downlink assignments for a given BWP of a serving cell. When more than one active configured downlink assignments are configured to the UE:
• the network decides which of these configured downlink assignments are active at a time (including all of them) ;
• each configured downlink assignment is activated separately using a downlink control information (DCI) command and deactivation of configured downlink assignments is done using a DCI command, which can either deactivate a single configured downlink assignment or multiple configured downlink assignments jointly.
• DCI downlink control information
• Some embodiments of the present application provide mechanisms for a UE’s behaviour, e.g., handling the legacy timer T310 or T312 upon a SN state in the UE side entering a deactivated state. Some further embodiments of the present application provide mechanisms for handling timer T312 at a deactivated SN state in a UE side. Some additional embodiments of the present application provide mechanisms for a UE’s behaviour considering both a deactivated SN state in the UE side and a fast MCG link recovery.
• Some additional embodiments of the present application handle an enhanced PHR mechanism at a deactivated SN state in a UE side, for example, introducing new trigger condition (s) upon setting a deactivated SN state or an activated state in the UE side.
• Some further embodiments of the present application provide mechanisms for reallocating UE power to a MN when a SN state in a UE side is deactivated.
• MCG Master Cell Group
• SCG Secondary Cell Group
• Secondary node in a MR-DC scenario, the radio access node, with no control plane connection to the core network, providing additional resources to a UE. It may be an en-gNB (in EN-DC) , a Secondary ng-eNB (in NE-DC) or a Secondary gNB (in NR-DC and NGEN-DC) .
• SCG bearer in a MR-DC scenario, a radio bearer with an RLC bearer (or two RLC bearers, in case of CA packet duplication in an E-UTRAN cell group, or up to four RLC bearers in case of CA packet duplication in a NR cell group) only in the SCG.
• SpCell a primary cell of a master or secondary cell group.
• SRB 3 in EN-DC, NGEN-DC and NR-DC, a direct SRB between the SN and the UE.
• FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate two exemplary format diagrams of a PHR MAC CE in accordance with 3GPP standard document TS38.321.
• fields in a single entry PHR MAC CE as defined in TS38.321 are as follows:
• P if mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured and the serving cell operates on FR2, the MAC entity shall set this field to 0 if the applied P-MPR value, to meet MPE requirements, as specified in TS38.101-2 [15] , is less than P-MPR_00 as specified in TS38.133 [11] and to 1 otherwise. If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is not configured or the serving cell operates on FR1, this field indicates whether power backoff is applied due to power management (as allowed by P-MPR c as specified in TS38.101-1 [14] , TS38.101-2 [15] , and TS38.101-3 [16] ) . The MAC entity shall set the P field to 1 if the corresponding P CMAX, f, c field would have had a different value if no power backoff due to power management had been applied.
• R this field is a reserved bit, and it is set to 0.
• Power Headroom this field indicates the power headroom level.
• the length of the field is 6 bits.
• the reported PH and the corresponding power headroom levels are shown in Table 6.1.3.8-1 specified in TS38.321.
• MPE if mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured, and the serving cell operates on FR2, and if the P field is set to 1, this field indicates the applied power backoff to meet MPE requirements, as specified in TS38.101-2 [15] . This field indicates an index to Table 6.1.3.8-3 and the corresponding measured values of P-MPR levels in dB are specified in TS38.133 [11] . The length of the field is 2 bits. If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is not configured, or if the Serving Cell operates on FR1, or if the P field is set to 0, R bits are present instead.
• P CMAX, f, c this field indicates the P CMAX, f, c (as specified in TS38.213 [6] ) used for calculation of the preceding PH field.
• the reported P CMAX, f, c and the corresponding nominal UE transmit power levels are shown in Table 6.1.3.8-2 in TS38.321 (the corresponding measured values in dBm are specified in TS38.133 [11] ) .
• fields in a multiple entry PHR MAC CE as defined in TS38.321 are as follows:
• C i this field indicates the presence of a PH field for the Serving Cell with ServCellIndex i as specified in TS38.331 [5] .
• the C i field set to 1 indicates that a PH field for the Serving Cell with ServCellIndex i is reported.
• the C i field set to 0 indicates that a PH field for the Serving Cell with ServCellIndex i is not reported.
• V this field indicates if the PH value is based on a real transmission or a reference format.
• the V field set to 0 indicates real transmission on PUSCH and the V field set to 1 indicates that a PUSCH reference format is used.
• the V field set to 0 indicates real transmission on PUCCH and the V field set to 1 indicates that a PUCCH reference format is used.
• the V field set to 0 indicates real transmission on SRS and the V field set to 1 indicates that an SRS reference format is used.
• the V field set to 0 indicates the presence of the octet containing the associated P CMAX, f, c field and the MPE field
• the V field set to 1 indicates that the octet containing the associated P CMAX, f, c field and the MPE field is omitted.
• Power Headroom this field indicates the power headroom level.
• the length of the field is 6 bits.
• the reported PH and the corresponding power headroom levels are shown in Table 6.1.3.8-1 in TS38.321 (the corresponding measured values in dB for the NR serving cell are specified in TS38.133 [11] while the corresponding measured values in dB for the E-UTRA serving cell are specified in TS36.133 [12] ) .
• P if mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured and the serving cell operates on FR2, the MAC entity shall set this field to 0 if the applied P-MPR value, to meet MPE requirements, as specified in TS38.101-2 [15] , is less than P-MPR_00 as specified in TS38.133 [11] and to 1 otherwise. If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is not configured or the serving cell operates on FR1, this field indicates whether power backoff is applied due to power management (as allowed by P-MPR c as specified in TS38.101-1 [14] , TS38.101-2 [15] , and TS38.101-3 [16] ) . The MAC entity shall set the P field to 1 if the corresponding P CMAX, f, c field would have had a different value if no power backoff due to power management had been applied.
• P CMAX, f, c if present, this field indicates the P CMAX, f, c (as specified in TS38.213 [6] ) for the NR serving cell and the P CMAX, c or (as specified in TS36.213 [17] ) for the E-UTRA serving cell used for calculation of the preceding PH field.
• the reported P CMAX, f, c and the corresponding nominal UE transmit power levels are shown in Table 6.1.3.8-2 in TS38.321 (the corresponding measured values in dBm for the NR serving cell are specified in TS38.133 [11] while the corresponding measured values in dBm for the E-UTRA serving cell are specified in TS36.133 [12] ) .
• MPE If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured, and the serving cell operates on FR2, and if the P field is set to 1, this field indicates the applied power backoff to meet MPE requirements, as specified in TS38.101-2 [15] . This field indicates an index to Table 6.1.3.8-3 and the corresponding measured values of P-MPR levels in dB are specified in TS38.133 [11] . The length of the field is 2 bits. If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is not configured, or if the serving cell operates on FR1, or if the P field is set to 0, R bits are present instead.
• FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for setting a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the exemplary method 400 in the embodiments of FIG. 4 may be performed by a UE, e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1. Although described with respect to a UE, it should be understood that other device (s) may be configured to perform the method as shown and illustrated in FIG. 4.
• the embodiments of FIG. 4 assume that a MN and a SN in a MR-DC scenario in these embodiments may be combined in any one of EN-DC, NGEN-DC, NE-DC, and NR-DC scenarios.
• a UE receives configuration information from a network.
• the configuration information relates to at least one of a MN and a SN.
• the UE receives the configuration information from the MN and/or the SN.
• the UE receives a deactivation indication from the network.
• the UE receives the deactivation indication from the MN and/or the SN.
• the deactivation indication is associated with the SN.
• the deactivation indication may also be named as a deactivation indication for deactivating a SN, a SN deactivation indication, or the like.
• the deactivation indication may be included in a RRC message and/or a deactivation MAC CE.
• the RRC message may be a RRCreconfiguration message as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• a deactivation MAC CE may also be named as a MAC CE for deactivation, a dormancy MAC CE, a MAC CE for dormancy, a dormant MAC CE, or the like.
• a SN state of a UE may also be named as a SN state in a UE side, a SN in a UE side, a SN of a UE, or the like.
• a SN state of a UE which is set as a deactivated state may also be named as “a deactivated SN state in a UE side” , “a deactivated SN state of a UE” , “a deactivated SN in a UE side” , “a deactivated SN of a UE” , or the like.
• a SN state of a UE which is set as an activated state may also be named as “an activated SN state in a UE side” , “an activated SN state of a UE” , “an activated SN in a UE side” , “an activated SN of a UE” , or the like.
• Specific examples of the embodiments of FIG. 4 are described in Embodiments 1-3 and 5 as below.
• a timer for a beam failure detection (e.g., beamFailureDetectionTimer) is running when the UE receives the deactivation indication in operation 402, the UE may stop the timer for a beam failure detection.
• a timer associated with a physical layer problem (e.g., timer T310) is running when the UE receives the deactivation indication in operation 402, the UE may stop the timer associated with a physical layer problem.
• a timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report (e.g., timer T312) is running when the UE receives the deactivation indication in operation 402, the UE may stop the timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report.
• the UE may suspend any configured uplink grant type 1 associated with the SN and/or clear any configured downlink assignment and any configured uplink grant Type 2 associated with the SN.
• the UE may:
• timer T310 stop a timer associated with a physical layer problem (e.g., timer T310) , if this timer is running;
• the UE may set an information element (IE) , that is associated with a usage of a timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report (e.g., timer T312) , as false.
• the IE may be configured in a RRC reconfiguration message. For example, the UE may set the IE “useT312” in a RRC reconfiguration message as “false” when the SN of the UE is deactivated.
• the UE if the SN state of the UE is in the deactivated state, the UE disables a timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report (e.g., timer T312) .
• the UE may further set the SN state of the UE as an activated state. If the UE sets the SN state of the UE as the activated state, the timer for initiating failure recovery based on triggering a measurement report is allowed to be started.
• a timer for fast MCG link recovery (e.g., timer T316) is not running when the UE receives the deactivation indication in operation 402, the UE sets the SN state of the UE as the deactivated state.
• a timer for deactivating the SN state of the UE expires while a timer for fast MCG link recovery (e.g., timer T316) is not running, the UE sets the SN state of the UE as the deactivated state.
• a timer for fast MCG link recovery e.g., timer T316
• the UE in response to setting the SN state of the UE as the deactivated state, transmits a power headroom report (PHR) to the network.
• the PHR may be transmitted to the network by a PHR MAC CE.
• the PHR MAC CE may use a multiple entry format (e.g., a multiple entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3A) or a single entry format (e.g., a single entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3B) .
• the UE further sets the SN state of the UE as an activated state; and in response to setting the SN state of the UE as the activated state, the UE transmits a PHR to the network.
• the PHR may be transmitted to the network by a PHR MAC CE.
• the PHR MAC CE may use a multiple entry format (e.g., a multiple entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3A) or a single entry format (e.g., a single entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3B) .
• the UE in response to setting the SN state of the UE as the deactivated state, may consider an information element (IE) of PHR Type 2 for a cell of other MAC entity as “false” .
• the UE may consider an IE “phr-Type2OtherCell” as “false” , and the IE represents a presence of a PH field for a special cell (SpCell) of a MAC entity as specified in 3GPP standard documents.
• IE information element
• FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method for receiving an indication to deactivate a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the exemplary method 500 in the embodiments of FIG. 5 may be performed by a UE, e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1. Although described with respect to a UE, it should be understood that other device (s) may be configured to perform the method as shown and illustrated in FIG. 5.
• the embodiments of FIG. 5 assume that a MN and a SN in a MR-DC scenario in these embodiments may be combined in any one of EN-DC, NGEN-DC, NE-DC, and NR-DC scenarios.
• a UE receives a deactivation indication from a network.
• the deactivation indication is associated with a SN.
• the UE receives the deactivation indication from the MN and/or the SN.
• the UE determines whether a timer for fast MCG link recovery is running.
• a timer for fast MCG link recovery is running.
• the UE may ignore the deactivation indication if the timer for fast MCG link recovery is running when the deactivation indication is received.
• the UE in response to initiating a fast MCG link recovery procedure, may stop a timer for deactivating a SN state of the UE.
• FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method for transmitting an indication to deactivate a SN state of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the exemplary method 600 in the embodiments of FIG. 6 may be performed by a BS, e.g., a MN or a SN in a MR-DC scenario.
• a BS e.g., a MN or a SN in a MR-DC scenario.
• other device s
• FIG. 6 assume that a MN and a SN in a MR-DC scenario in these embodiments may be combined in any one of EN-DC, NGEN-DC, NE-DC, and NR-DC scenarios.
• a BS e.g., MN 102 or SN 103 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 transmits configuration information, which relates to at least one of a MN and a SN, to a UE (e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) .
• the MN and/or the SN transmit the deactivation indication to the UE.
• the BS transmits a deactivation indication, which is associated with the SN, to the UE.
• the deactivation indication is used for setting a SN state of the UE as a deactivated state.
• the BS transmits configuration information, which relates to a format of a PHR MAC CE, to the UE.
• the BS transmits RRC signalling including this configuration information to the UE.
• the format of a PHR MAC CE may be a multiple entry format (e.g., a multiple entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3A) or a single entry format (e.g., a single entry PHR MAC CE as illustrated in FIG. 3B) .
• the BS further transmits, to the UE, configuration information relating to an IE of PHR Type 2 for a cell of other MAC entity, e.g., an IE “phr-Type2OtherCell” .
• the BS transmits RRC signalling including this configuration information to the UE.
• the configuration information may indicate that the IE of PHR Type 2 for the cell of other MAC entity (e.g., “phr-Type2OtherCell” ) is set as false.
• the BS may transmit one single RRC message, which includes the deactivation indication, the configuration information relating to a format of a PHR MAC CE, and/or the configuration information relating to an IE of PHR Type 2 for a cell of other MAC entity.
• RRC message which includes the deactivation indication, the configuration information relating to a format of a PHR MAC CE, and/or the configuration information relating to an IE of PHR Type 2 for a cell of other MAC entity.
• a UE and a BS may perform following operations.
• the UE may be UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1.
• the MN may be MN 102 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1.
• the SN may be SN 103 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1.
• Embodiment 1 this embodiment handles a case that a RLM or a BFD procedure is not performed when a SN state of a UE (i.e., a SN state in the UE side) is a deactivated state.
• Step 1 A UE accesses a BS.
• a MN and a SN are configured to the UE.
• Timer T312 may be configured to the UE.
• Step 2 The UE receives an indication to deactivate SN (i.e., a deactivation indication associated with the SN) from a network.
• an indication to deactivate SN i.e., a deactivation indication associated with the SN
• the deactivation indication may be received from the MN or the SN.
• the deactivation indication could be included in a RRC message or a MAC CE.
• Step 3 Upon receiving the deactivation indication, a SN state of the UE is set as deactivated.
• the UE may:
• Stop a timer for a beam failure detection e.g., beamFailureDetectionTimer
• Embodiment 2 this embodiment handles a case that a RLM or a BFD procedure is performed when a SN state of a UE (i.e., a SN state in the UE side) is in a deactivated state.
• Step 1 A UE accesses a BS.
• a MN and a SN are configured to the UE.
• Timer T312 may be configured to the UE.
• Step 2 The UE receives “a deactivation indication associated with the SN” from a network.
• the deactivation indication may be received from the MN or the SN.
• the deactivation indication could be included in a RRC message or a MAC CE.
• Step 3 Upon receiving the deactivation indication, a SN state of the UE is set as deactivated.
• the UE may:
• Stop a timer for a beam failure detection e.g., beamFailureDetectionTimer
• Embodiment 3 this embodiment handles a case that a RLM procedure is performed when a SN state of a UE (i.e., a SN state in the UE side) is in a deactivated state.
• Step 1 A UE accesses a BS.
• a MN and a SN are configured to the UE.
• Timer T312 may be configured to the UE.
• Step 2 The UE may receive “a deactivation indication associated with the SN” from a network (e.g., the MN or the SN) .
• a network e.g., the MN or the SN
• the deactivation indication received from the MN or the SN could be included in a RRC message or a MAC CE.
• Step 3 Upon receiving the deactivation indication, a SN state of the UE is set as deactivated.
• Step 4 The UE may adopt following Case A-1 or Case A-2 according to different scenarios or implementations.
• Case A-1 The UE sets an IE “useT312” as FALSE when the SN state of the UE is set as deactivated.
• Case A-2 If the IE “useT312” is still set as TRUE, upon triggering a measurement report for a measurement identity for which timer T312 has been configured, while timer T310 in PSCell is running, the UE may disable timer T312 if the SN state of the UE is set as deactivated.
• the UE further sets the SN state of the UE as an activated state.
• timer T312 is allowed to be started.
• Embodiment 4 this embodiment handles a timer for deactivating a SN state of a UE (this timer may be named as “a timer for deactivated SN” ) when a UE is performing a fast MCG link recovery procedure.
• Step 1 A UE accesses a BS.
• a MN and a SN are configured to the UE.
• Timer T316 for fast MCG link recovery may be configured to the UE.
• Step 2 The UE may declare a RLF on a MCG.
• the UE initiates a fast MCG link recovery procedure (e.g., starting timer T316) .
• the UE may adopt following Case B-1 or Case B-2 according to different scenarios or implementations.
• Case B-1 The UE stops a timer for deactivated SN when the UE initiates the fast MCG link recovery procedure.
• Step 3 If the UE receives, from the SN, a MAC CE to deactivate SN when T316 is running, the UE may ignore the MAC CE to deactivate SN and keep a SN state of the UE as activated.
• the MAC CE to deactivate SN represents an MAC CE including a deactivation indication associated with the SN.
• Step 4 The UE transmits a MCGfailureinformation message to the SN via the MN.
• the MCGfailureinformation message may include an IE “failureType” to set a MCG failure type.
• the IE “failureType” may be set as t310-Expiry, randomAccessProblem, or rlc-MaxNumRetx according to different cases.
• Step 5 The UE may receive a response, e.g., a handover command, from the MN via the SN.
• a response e.g., a handover command
• Embodiment 5 this embodiment handles a PHR when a SN state of the UE is a deactivated state and provides two trigger conditions to transmit a PHR.
• Step 1 A UE accesses a BS.
• a MN and a SN are configured to the UE.
• Step 2 The UE receives a deactivation indication associated with the SN from a network, e.g., the MN or the SN.
• the deactivation indication from the MN or the SN could be included in a RRC message or a MAC CE.
• a SN state in the UE side is set as a deactivated state.
• a PHR may be triggered upon setting the SN state in the UE side as a deactivated state.
• Step 3 The UE may adopt following Case C-1 or Case C-2 according to different scenarios or implementations.
• Case C-1 Upon setting the SN state in the UE side as a deactivated state, the UE may:
• Case C-2 The above configurations in Case C-1 can also be configured by the MN or the SN via RRC signalling.
• the MN or the SN may transmit one single RRC message, which includes the above configurations together with the deactivation indication, to the UE.
• Step 4 The UE receives, from the network (e.g., the MN or the SN) , an indication to activate the SN state of the UE.
• the network e.g., the MN or the SN
• a PHR may be triggered.
• FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present application.
• the apparatus 700 may be a UE or a BS, which can at least perform any of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 4-6.
• the apparatus 700 may include at least one receiver 702, at least one transmitter 704, at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium 706, and at least one processor 708 coupled to the at least one receiver 702, the at least one transmitter 704, and the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium 706.
• the at least one receiver 702 and the at least one transmitter 704 are combined into a single device, such as a transceiver.
• the apparatus 700 may further include an input device, a memory, and/or other components.
• the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium 706 may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions which are programmed to implement the operations of a method, for example as described in view of any of FIGS. 4-6, with the at least one receiver 702, the at least one transmitter 704, and the at least one processor 708.
• a software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art.
• the operations of a method may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.
• the terms “includes, “ “including, “ or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
• An element proceeded by “a, “ “an, “ or the like does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element.
• the term “another” is defined as at least a second or more.
• the term “having” and the like, as used herein, are defined as “including. "

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• 2021
  • 2021-03-16 EP EP21930724.6A patent/EP4309461A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-03-16 WO PCT/CN2021/081072 patent/WO2022193128A1/en active Application Filing
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