EP4677938A1

EP4677938A1 - Uplink transmission using a sub-band full duplex (sbfd) resource in non-uplink symbols

Info

Publication number: EP4677938A1
Application number: EP24875762.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Chunhai Yao; Dawei Zhang; Ankit Bhamri; Chunxuan Ye; Seyed Ali Akbar Fakoorian; Haitong Sun; Wei Zeng; Oghenekome Oteri; Weidong Yang
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2024-05-06
Filing date: 2024-05-06
Publication date: 2026-01-14
Also published as: WO2025231590A1

Abstract

The present application relates to uplink transmission using a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource in a downlink channel. A UE can store configuration information indicating a configuration of an SBFD sub-band. The configuration information can indicate a purpose of the SBFD sub-band, such as whether the SBFD sub-band (or, equivalently, the SBFD resources) is configured for a random access (RACH), a data transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, and/or or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission. The UE can use a configured SBFD resource for an uplink transmission when this uplink transmission is in line with the purpose.

Description

UPLINK TRANSMISSION USING A SUB-BAND FULL DUPLEX (SBFD) RESOURCE IN NON-UPLINK SYMBOLS

BACKGROUND

Cellular communications can be defined in various standards to enable communications between a user equipment and a cellular network. For example, Fifth generation mobile network (5G) is a wireless standard that aims to improve upon data transmission speed, reliability, availability, and more. Efficient use of uplink and downlink resources can improve the overall cellular network throughput.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a connection setup procedure that can use an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an SBFD configuration of a user equipment (UE) , in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission followed by a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a PUSCH transmission followed by a PUSCH re-transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a PUSCH transmission followed by a PUSCH repetition using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment feedback transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a PRACH re-transmission following a PRACH transmission failure, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 10 illustrates an example of repetition modes usable for a PUSCH repetition, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a slot selection for a PUSCH repetition, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure for configuring and using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure implemented by a UE as part of using an SBFD sub-band for an uplink transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure implemented by a network as part of configuring an SBFD sub-band for an uplink transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of receive components, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a UE, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a base station, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A network (e.g., a base station thereof) can configure sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resources in -non-uplink symbols for a user equipment (UE) . For example, an SBFD resource can include, in the time domain, one or more symbols (referred to herein as SBFD symbols, which may be downlink symbols and/or flexible symbols) that, in the frequency domain, are in an SBFD sub-band within a downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) . The configuration can indicate a purpose of the SBFD sub-band, such as whether the SBFD sub-band (or, equivalently, the SBFD resources) is configured for a random access (RACH) preamble, a data transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, and/or or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission. The UE can use a configured SBFD resource for an uplink transmission when this uplink transmission is in line with the purpose. For example, if the configuration indicates that the SBFD sub-band is usable for RACH, the UE can send a PRACH preamble (e.g., in a Message 1 (Msg1) ) using the configured SBFD resource. These and other aspects of configuring and using the SBFD sub-band in the downlink channel for uplink transmissions are further described herein below.
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the present disclosure, that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase “A or B” means (A) , (B) , or (A and B) .
The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.
The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components, such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) , an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) , a programmable logic device (PLD) , a complex PLD (CPLD) , a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD) , a structured ASIC, a programmable system-on-a-chip (SoC) ) , digital signal processors (DSPs) , etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.
The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, or transferring digital data. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to an application processor, baseband processor, a central processing unit (CPU) , a graphics processing unit, a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes.
The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, or the like.
The term “device” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities, one or more processors, and one or more memory. The device may be configured as a UE that supports one or more configurations.
The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, device, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface. The UE may have a primary function of communication with another UE or a network and the UE may be integrated with other devices and/or systems (e.g., in a vehicle) .
The term “base station” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities, that is a device of a communications network (or, more briefly, network) , and that may be configured as an access node in the communications network. A UE’s access to the communications network may be managed at least in part by the base station, whereby the UE connects with the base station to access the communications network. Depending on the radio access technology (RAT) , the base station can be referred to as a gNodeB (gNB) , eNodeB (eNB) , access point, repeater on a communications satellite, etc.
The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing or networking resources.
The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, or network resources provided by physical hardware element (s) . A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services and may include computing or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.
The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with or equivalent to “communications channel, ” “data communications channel, ” “transmission channel, ” “data transmission channel, ” “access channel, ” “data access channel, ” “link, ” “data link, ” “carrier, ” “radio-frequency carrier, ” or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.
The term “connected” may mean that two or more elements, at a common communication protocol layer, have an established signaling relationship with one another over a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.
The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, or the like.
The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.
FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment 100, in accordance with some embodiments. The network environment 100 may include a UE 104 and a gNB 108. The gNB 108 may be a base station (or a set of transmission and reception points (TRPs) thereof) that provides a wireless access cell; for example, a Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) cell, through which the UE 104 may communicate with the gNB 108. The UE 104 and the gNB 108 may communicate over an interface compatible with 3GPP technical specifications, such as those that define Fifth-Generation (5G) NR system standards.
The gNB 108 may transmit information (for example, data and control signaling) in the downlink direction by mapping logical channels on the transport channels, then transport channels onto physical channels. The logical channels may transfer data between a radio link control (RLC) and media access control (MAC) layers; the transport channels may transfer data between the MAC and PHY layers; and the physical channels may transfer information across the air interface. The physical channels may include a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) ; a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) ; and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .
The PBCH may be used to broadcast system information that the UE 104 may use for initial access to a serving cell. The PBCH may be transmitted along with physical synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS) in a synchronization signal (SS) /PBCH block. The SS/PBCH blocks (SSBs) may be used by the UE 104 during a cell search procedure and for beam selection.
The PDSCH may be used to transfer end-user application data, signaling radio bearer (SRB) messages, system information messages (other than, for example, MIB) , and paging messages.
The PDCCH may transfer downlink control information (DCI) that is used by a scheduler of the gNB 108 to allocate both uplink and downlink resources. The DCI may also be used to provide uplink power control commands, configure a slot format, or indicate that preemption has occurred.
The gNB 108 may also transmit various reference signals to the UE 104. The reference signals may include demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) for the PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH. The UE 104 may compare a received version of the DMRS with a known DMRS sequence that was transmitted to estimate an impact of the propagation channel. The UE 104 may then apply an inverse of the propagation channel during a demodulation process of a corresponding physical channel transmission.
The reference signals may also include CSI-RS. The CSI-RS may be a multi-purpose downlink transmission that may be used for CSI reporting, beam management, connected mode mobility, radio link failure detection, beam failure detection and recovery, and fine-tuning of time and frequency synchronization.
The reference signals and information from the physical channels may be mapped to resources of a resource grid. There is one resource grid for a given antenna port, subcarrier spacing configuration, and transmission direction (for example, downlink or uplink) . The basic unit of an NR downlink resource grid may be a resource element, which may be defined by one subcarrier in the frequency domain, and one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time domain. Twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain may compose a physical resource block (PRB) . A resource element group (REG) may include one PRB in the frequency domain, and one OFDM symbol in the time domain, for example, twelve resource elements. A control channel element (CCE) may represent a group of resources used to transmit PDCCH. One CCE may be mapped to a number of REGs; for example, six REGs.
Transmissions that use different antenna ports may experience different radio channels. However, in some situations, different antenna ports may share common radio channel characteristics. For example, different antenna ports may have similar Doppler shifts, Doppler spreads, average delay, delay spread, or spatial receive parameters (for example, properties associated with a downlink received signal angle of arrival at a UE) . Antenna ports that share one or more of these large-scale radio channel characteristics may be said to be quasi co-located (QCL) with one another. 3GPP has specified four types of QCL to indicate which particular channel characteristics are shared. In QCL Type A, antenna ports share Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread. In QCL Type B, antenna ports share Doppler shift and Doppler spread. In QCL Type C, antenna ports share Doppler shift and average delay. In QCL Type D, antenna ports share spatial receiver parameters.
The gNB 108 may provide transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state information to the UE 104 to indicate QCL relationships between antenna ports used for reference signals (for example, synchronization signal/PBCH or CSI-RS) and downlink data or control signaling (for example, PDSCH or PDCCH) . The gNB 108 may use a combination of RRC signaling, MAC control element signaling, and DCI, to inform the UE 104 of these QCL relationships.
The UE 104 may transmit data and control information to the gNB 108 using physical uplink channels. Different types of physical uplink channels are possible, including a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) . Whereas the PUCCH carries control information from the UE 104 to the gNB 108, such as uplink control information (UCI) , the PUSCH carries data traffic (e.g., end-user application data) and can carry UCI.
In an example, communications with the gNB 108 and/or the base station can use channels in the frequency range 1 (FR1) band and/or frequency range 2 (FR2) band, although other frequency ranges are possible. The FR1 band includes a licensed band and an unlicensed band. The NR unlicensed band (NR-U) includes a frequency spectrum that is shared with other types of radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., LTE-LAA, WiFi, etc. ) . A listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure can be used to avoid or minimize collision between the different RATs in the NR-U, whereby a device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check before using the channel.
The UE 104 can be located within a network coverage. In particular, the gNB 108 may provide the network coverage with signaling (e.g., which may be carried by one or more beams) . The network coverage may represent a cell or a portion of the cell that the gNB 108 provides. The network coverage may provide network connections to multiple UEs, similar to the UE 104. These UEs may communicate with the gNB 108 on both the uplink and the downlink based on channels available to them when the UEs are in the network coverage.
In an example, the UE 104 supports carrier aggregation (CA) , whereby the UE 104 can connect and exchange data simultaneously over multiple component carriers (CCs) with the gNB 108. The CCs can belong to the same frequency band, in which case they are referred to as intra-band CCs. Intra-band CCs can be contiguous or non-contiguous. The CCs can also belong to different frequency bands, in which case they are referred to as inter-band CCs. A serving cell can be configured for the UE 104 to use a CC. A serving cell can be a primary (PCell) , a primary secondary cell (PSCell) , or a secondary cell (SCell) . Multiple SCells can be activated via an SCell activation procedures where the component carriers of these serving cells can be intra-band contiguous, intra-band noon-contiguous, or inter-band. The serving cells can be collocated or non-collocated.
The UE 104 can also support dual connectivity (DC) , where it can simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple CCs from two serving nodes or cell groups (amaster node (MN) and a secondary node (SN) ) . DC capability can be used with two serving nodes operating in the same RAT or in different RATs (e.g., an MN operating in NR, while an SN operates in LTE) . These different DC modes include, for instance, evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (EN) -DC, NR-DC, and NE-DC (the MN is a NR gNB and the SN is an LTE eNB) .
As further described in the next figures, the gNB 108 can send SBFD configuration information 120 to the UE 104. The SBFD configuration information 120 can indicate a configuration for an SBFD sub-band within a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) . The UE 104 can use the SBFD for uplink transmissions. In other words, within the downlink BWP, the UE 104 can use configured SBFD resources for uplink transmission. An example of the SBFD configuration information 120 is further described in the next figures.
The UE 104 can also indicate to the gNB 108 its SBFD capability 110. The SBFD capability 110 can correspond to the UE 104 supporting the use of an SBFD sub-band for uplink transmission. Explicit and implicit procedures can be used to indicate the SBFD capability 110.
In an example of an explicit procedure, the UE 104 can report UE capability information to the gNB 108, where the UE capability information describes the UE’s SBFD support. For instance, the UE 104 can report the capability of physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in SBFD sub-band, including any or all of: supporting random access in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode, RRC idle mode, and/or RRC inactive mode, signaling indication of PRACH resource in an SBFD sub-band, PUSCH transmission (e.g., using Message 3 (Msg3) ) and re-transmission in an SBFD sub-band, and/or hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) feedback in and SBFD sub-band. The UE capability report can have different granularity levels. For instance, the UE capability can be reported per band, per frequency range (e.g., including all bands of that frequency range) , and/or per UE (e.g., including all frequency ranges) . The UE capability can be reported prior to the gNB 108 sending the SBFD configuration information 120. Particularly, the gNB 108 configures a use of an SBFD sub-band for the UE 104 according to the UE reported capability.
In an example of an implicit procedure, the UE 104 can transmit a PRACH preamble in an SBFD sub-band to the gNB 108. Here, the used SBFD resources can be configured via one or more system information block (SIB) messages broadcasted by the gNB 108. Upon receiving the PRACH preamble, the gNB 108 can assume that the UE has the capability of performing one or more SBFD operations. The gNB 108 can then send the entire SBFD configuration information 120 (or can inquire the UE 104 to report its SBFD capability 110 before sending the SBFD configuration information 120) . The GNB 108 can also schedule uplink transmission of the UE 110 (e.g., a Msg3 PUSCH transmission) in the SBFD sub-band based on the PRACH preamble being received in the SBFD sub-band.
As such, whether explicitly or implicitly reported, and assuming that the UE 104 is capable of SBFD operation (s) , the UE 104 sends an SBFD-based transmission 130 to the gNB 108. The SBFD-based transmission 130 can be an uplink transmission that uses one or more SBFD resources. For example, the uplink transmission can be a PRACH preamble transmission, a Msg3 PUSCH transmission, a Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission, a PUSCH repetition, a short data transmission (SDT) , a reduced capability (RedCap) data transmission (in case the UE 104 is a RedCap UE) , and the like. The type of the uplink transmission can depend on the SBFD capability 110 and the purpose indicated in the SBFD configuration 120.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example 200 of an SBFD resource, in accordance with some embodiments. In the example 200, the horizontal axis represents the time domain, whereas the vertical axis represents the frequency domain. A downlink channel can include a downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) 210. The DL BWP 210 can represent a portion of the overall carrier bandwidth corresponding to a subset of the available spectrum.
An SBFD sub-band 220 can be defined within the DL BWP 210. In particular, the SBFD sub-band 210 is a subset of the DL BWP 210 (e.g., a subset of frequency carriers, which may be contiguous in the frequency domain) . Generally, SBFD allows simultaneous co-existence of downlink and uplink transmissions within a sub-band by dividing the spectrum into sub-bands, where each sub-band can be used for either downlink or uplink transmission at a given time. SBFD can be useful in time division duplex (TDD) networks. In particular, the SBFD sub-band 220 can be used for uplink transmission, while another portion of the DL BWP 210 can be used for simultaneous downlink transmission.
To reduce interference from the uplink transmission on the downlink transmission and vice versa, a first guard band 230 and a second guard band 232 can surround the SBFD sub-band 220 in the frequency domain. For instance, the first guard band 230 can include one or more frequency carriers that, in the frequency domain, end where there SBFD sub-band 220 starts. Conversely, the second guard band 232 can include one or more frequency carriers that, in the frequency domain, start where there SBFD sub-band 220 ends.
An SBFD resource 222 can be configured within the SBFD sub-band 220 and within a slot 240. Particularly, the SBFD resource 222 can include one or more resource elements, where each resource element includes a subcarrier in the frequency domain and a symbol in the time domain. As such, the smallest possible SBFD resource 222 can be a resource element configured for uplink transmission within the DL BWP 210 (in the frequency domain) and the slot 240 (in the time domain) . Conversely, the largest SBFD resource 222 can span the entire SBFD sub-band 220 (in the frequency domain) and all the symbols of the slot 240 (in the time domain) . As used herein, the SBFD resource includes, in the time domain, at least one SBFD symbol. The SBFD symbol can be configured in a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, but not an uplink symbol. In other words, the SBFD symbol can be thought of as or represent a non-uplink symbol. Conversely, an uplink symbol can be thought of as or represent a non-SBFD symbol.
Generally, for SBFD operation at the base station side within a TDD carrier, semi-static indication of time location of SBFD sub-bands may be specified to UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode. Indication of time location of SBFD sub-bands in SIB may not be precluded for the UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode. Further, semi-static indication of frequency domain location of SBFD sub-bands may be specified to UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode. Here also, indication of frequency domain location of SBFD sub-bands in SIB may not be precluded for the UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode. SBFD operations may also be specified to support random access in SBFD symbols by UEs in RRC CONNECTED mode. Also, SBFD operations may be supported for UEs in RRC_IDLE mode or RRC_INACTIVE mode for random access.
UE transmission, reception and measurement behavior and procedures in SBFD symbols and/or non-SBFD symbols for SBFD aware UE may be specified. For example, transmission and reception behaviors on SBFD sub-bands configured in downlink (DL) and/or flexible symbols may be specified, where such DL and/or flexible symbols may be indicated by TDD-UL-DLConfigCommon. Typically, the TDD-UL-DLConfigCommon may indicate uplink (UL) transmissions within UL sub-band only and/or DL receptions within DL sub-band (s) only (except for cross link interference (CLI) measurement by the UE outside of the DL sub-bands) . When flexible symbols are used, it is not expected that any legacy uplink symbol is converted to downlink/SBFD symbols. Enhancement on resource allocation in frequency domain in SBFD symbols can be specified, including resource allocation in frequency domain for PDSCH/CSI-RS across two DL sub-bands in SBFD symbols, and handling of unaligned boundaries between SBFD sub-band (s) and resource block group (s) , CSI reporting sub-band (s) , CSI-RS resource (s) , and/or physical resource block group (s) .
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a connection setup procedure 300 that can use an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. The connection setup procedure 300 can involve a UE 310 (an example of the UE 104) and a base station 320 (an example of the gNB 108) . The UE 310 can be in an RRC_IDLE mode and can sent an initial access request in a Msg1. This request can include a PRACH preamble for a contention free random access (CFRA) or a contention-based random access (CBRA) . The base station 320 can then send a random access response (RAR) in a Message 2 (Msg2) . This message may assign a temporary identifier (RA-RNTI) to the UE 310 and provide timing adjustments for synchronization. The RAR may also indicate resources to use for a RACH procedure. Next, the UE can send an RRC setup request in a Msg3. The Msg3 may be sent using the resources indicated by the RAR. In some examples, the Msg3 can also include some data (in which case, the Msg3 can correspond to an RRC early data request) . In CBRA, the base station 320 can responds with an RRC setup message (e.g., Message 4 (Msg4) ) providing information about the resolution of contention. Msg4 can also which contain information needed for establishing the RRC connection, including RRC establishment cause, security configuration, and RRC establishment reason. Here, the UE 310 may send HARQ-ACK feedback about the reception of Msg4 to the base station 320.
After receiving Msg4, the UE 310 can send an RRC connection setup complete message (e.g., Message 5 (Msg5) ) . This message can confirm the successful establishment of the RRC connection. This message also acknowledges the receipt of RRC configuration information. Once the RRC connection is established, the base station 320 may send a UE capability enquiry to the UE 310 requesting the UE 310 to report its capabilities (including its SBFD capability) . The UE 310 may response with UE capability information indicating its capabilities. Subsequently, the base station 310 may need to reconfigure the connection for various reasons such as handover or resource allocation changes. As such, the base station 320 can send an RRC reconfiguration message containing the new RRC configuration parameters. The UE 320 may response with an RRC reconfiguration complete message to acknowledge the completion of the reconfiguration process.
SBFD can be used with the connection setup procedure 300 (or similar procedures where the UE may request access or perform uplink transmission based on a configured access) . In a first example, random access can be supported in SBFD symbols by the UE 310 in the RRC_CONNETED mode. Particularly, a PRACH transmission (Msg1) , a Msg3 PUSCH transmission, a Msg3 PUSCH repetition and/or Msg3 re-transmission and related frequency hopping can be carried out in an SBFD sub-band.
In a second example, random access procedure for RRC_IDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE UE can be performed in an SBFD sub-band. Here, a PRACH resource configuration can be defined in association with a SBFD sub-band for an IDLE UE. A Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback can also be sent in the SBFD sub-band.
In a third example, a PUSCH repetition in an SBFD sub-band can be supported. The PUSCH repetition can correspond to Type A, time block processing over multiple slots (TBoMS) , or Type B. Slot counting can be supported in the SBFD sub-band (including slot-based counting and/or available-slot based counting) . A fallback operation may be defined when random access in the SBFD sub-band fails.
The next figures describe techniques that enable the above three examples of SBFD usages. Particularly, FIGS. 4-11 address challenges with each of the three examples.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example 400 of an SBFD configuration of a UE 404, in accordance with some embodiments. As illustrated, the UE 404 (e.g., an example of the UE 104) can store SBD configuration information 410. The configuration information 410 can indicate one or more a purpose 420, a measurement threshold 430, a set of candidate RACH preambles 440, and a PRACH frequency domain starting point 450. The SBFD configuration information 410, or at least parts thereof, can be received from a base station (e.g., the gNB 108) via RRC signaling (e.g., when the UE 404 is in an RRC connected state) or one or more SIB messages (e.g., when the UE 404 is in an RRC idle state) .
The purpose 420 can represent a constraint on or a specification of how an SBFD sub-band (or, equivalently, an SBFD resource) can be used. For example, the purpose 420 can be associated with RACH occasions (ROs) in an SBFD sub-band and indicate whether such ROs can be used for random access (including random access preamble) , SDT, Msg3 PUSCH repetition, PRACH repetition, two-step RACH, or RedCap.
The measurement threshold 430 can be used in a comparison with a measurement on a refence signal sent in a downlink channel (e.g., or a DL BWP) that includes the SBFD sub-band. Depending on the outcome of the comparison, the UE 404 can perform an uplink transmission that satisfies the purpose 420. It is possible that multiple measurement thresholds can be defined, where each one can be associated with one or more purpose types (e.g., a first measurement threshold associated with random access, a second different measurement threshold associated with SDT) . In a particular example, the measurement threshold 430 can be a synchronization signal block (SSB) reference signal received power threshold configured by SIB or RRC signaling. When the UE 404 measures an SSB-RSRP (e.g., the RSRP of an SSB sent in the DL BWP) that is smaller or larger than the SSB-RSRP threshold, the UE 404 can transmit a PRACH preamble in the SBFD sub-band. The SSB-RSRP being larger than the SSB-RSRP threshold may be used to help with reducing the interference between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception.
The set of candidate RACH preambles 440 can be configured for CFRA. Particularly, to support CFRA, some preambles for CFRA can be reserved in a RO configured in SBFD symbols. The UE 404 can select one of such preambles and include it in a Msg1 sent using the SBFD symbols of the RO to the base station.
PRACH frequency domain starting point 450 can indicate a location in the frequency domain where an RO usable for sending a PRACH preamble starts. In an example, the PRACH frequency domain starting point 450 can be set as a parameter (e.g., msg1-FrequencyStart) in an information element (IE, such as RACH-ConfigGenric) . To reduce the signaling overhead, the lowest RO is determined by frequency offset relative to a predefined physical resource block (PRB) . As such, it may be sufficient for the frequency domain starting point 450 to indicate this relative offset. Different options exist for the predefined PRB. In a first option, the predefined PRB is lowest PRB (in the frequency domain) of the SBFD sub-band. In a second option, the predefined PRB is lowest PRB (in the frequency domain) of the initial UL BWP. In a third option, the predefined PRB is lowest PRB (in the frequency domain) of the initial DL BWP. In yet a fourth option, the PRB is lowest PRB (in the frequency domain) of a predefined control resource set (CORESET, such as CORESET#0) . Other options also exist, such as using Point A (which is predefined reference point in the frequency domain) , or a carrier’s starting resource block (RB) configured by a frequency domain offset between the point a and the lowest usable carrier of the carrier (e.g., configured by an OffsetToCarrier parameter) . To use SBFD symbols of a configured RO for an uplink transmission (e.g., for a PRACH transmission) , the UE 404 can check whether the configured RO (or, equivalently, its SBFD symbols) falls, in the frequency domain, in the SBFD sub-band.
Upon the SBFD configuration information 410 indicating that an SBFD sub-band is configured for a random access purpose, and upon a comparison of a configured SSB RSRP threshold with an RSRP measurement of an SSB received in a DLW BWP that includes the SBFD sub-band, the UE 404 can determine an RO based on the PRACH frequency domain starting point 450. Upon determining that the RO falls in SBFD sub-band, the UE 404 can send a RACH preamble (which may be one of the set of candidate PRACH preamble 440) in SBFD symbols of the RO. This uplink transmission is illustrated as a Msg1 in SBFD resource 460.
In an example, SBFD configuration information can be specific to an RRC_INACTIVE model and/or an RRC_IDLE mode. In other words, an SBFD sub-band configuration for RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE UE can be defined. Here, the time location and frequency location of SBFD sub-band is configured in SIB (e.g., one or more SIB1 messages) . The SBFD sub-band can be configured within an initial DL BWP or a predefined CORESET (e.g., CORESET#0) . Random access in the SBFD sub-band can be implicitly disabled for the RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE UE by using different options. A first option corresponds to configured ROs in SBFD symbols that are not fully falling into the initial UL BWP or initial DL BWP. In other words, if an RO configured with one or more SBFD symbols corresponds to, in the frequency domain, a frequency subcarrier outside the initial UL BWP or initial DL BWP, the RO cannot be used for sending a PRACH preamble. A second option corresponds to a configured SBFD sub-band that is not fully falling into the initial UL BWP or initial DL BWP. Conversely relative to both options, the random access is enabled in the SBFD sub-band based on the SBFD sub-band being included in the initial uplink or downlink BWP and the SBFD symbols of the RO are included in the initial uplink or downlink BWP. If the UE transmits the PRACH preamble in the SBFD sub-band, then base station can assume that the UE has the capability of SBFD operations. Accordingly, the base station can schedule Msg3 in the SBFD sub-band.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example 500 of a PRACH transmission followed by a PUSCH transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. Continuing with the example 400 of FIG. 4, a base station can respond to the Msg1 in SBFD resource 460 with a Msg2 RAR. A next uplink transmission can be a Msg3 PUSCH transmission. Example 500 illustrates this scenario. On the left side of FIG. 5, the uplink transmission of a Msg1 in SBFD resource 510 (equivalent to the Msg1 in SBFD resource 460) is shown. On the right hand side, options for the Msg3 PUSCH transmission are shown. The Msg3 PUSCH transmission can use the SBFD sub-band (e.g., the Msg3 can be sent in an SBFD resource of this sub-band) or can use an uplink resource in an uplink channel (e.g., the PUSCH) that does not overlap, in the frequency domain, with the DL BWP containing the SBFD sub-band. The former option is shown as Msg3 in SBFD resource 520, whereas the latter option is shown as Msg3 in uplink resource 530.
In an example, the Msg3 PUSCH transmission can be scheduled via the RAR (or an uplink grant) . The Msg3 PUSCH transmission in UL symbols or SBFD symbols, in only uplink symbols, or in inly SBFD symbols. For example, a PUSCH frequency resource allocation and a PUSCH time resource allocation can indicate an UL resource to use or an SBFD resource to use. The usable resource (s) can be predefined in a technical specification with which the base station and the UE comply. Alternatively, a set of rules can be predefined in such a technical specification. For example, the set of rules can indicate that if the UE is in an RRC_INACTIVE mode or RRC_IDLE mode and transmits the PRACH preamble in RO in SBFD symbols (e.g. Msg1 is transmitted using an SBFD resource) , the random access procedure is the same as RRC_ACTIVE UE behavior in SBFD symbols (e.g., Msg3 is transmitted in SBFD symbols) .
FIG. 6 illustrates an example 600 of a PUSCH transmission followed by a PUSCH re-transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. Continuing with the example 500 of FIG. 5, after a Msg3 PUSCH transmission, a Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission can be performed. Example 600 illustrates this scenario. On the left side of FIG. 6, the uplink transmission of a Msg3 in an SBFD resource 610 (equivalent to the Msg3 in SBFD resource 520) is shown, although the uplink transmission can be for a Msg3 in an uplink resource. On the right hand side, options for the Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission are shown. The Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission can use an SBFD sub-band without frequency hopping (e.g., the Msg3 transmission in SBFD and the Msg3 re-transmission in SBFD use the same frequency) or can use SBFD sub-band with frequency hopping within the SBFD sub-band (e.g., the Msg3 transmission in SBFD and the Msg3 re-transmission in SBFD use different frequencies according to a frequency hopping pattern) . The former option is shown as Msg3 in SBFD resource without frequency hopping 620, whereas the latter option is shown as Msg3 in SBFD resource with frequency hopping 630. It is possible that, while the Msg3 PUSCH transmission uses an SBFD resource, the Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission uses an uplink resource (in which case frequency hopping occurs) . Further, if the Msg3 PUSCH transmission uses both an SBFD resource and an uplink resource the Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission can also use one of or both an SBFD resource and an uplink resource with or without frequency hopping.
In an example, frequency hopping for a Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission using SBFD symbols in an SBFD sub-band is disabled. Here, the RAR can indicate a frequency hopping flag. Nonetheless, the UE can ignore (or forego using) this frequency hopping flag.
In an example, frequency hopping for a Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission using SBFD symbols in an SBFD sub-band is enabled. Here, different options exist to determine the frequency offset for the next frequency hop. In one option, the frequency offset is determined based on the initial UL BWP (e.g., based on its size) . For instance, the hopping pattern of Table 8.3-1 in 3GPP TS 38.213, V18.2.0 (2024-03) , the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, can be used if the size of the SBFD sub-band is equal to lor larger than the size of the initial UL BWP. Table 8.3-1 is reproduced herein as Table 1 for ease of reference.
Table 1.
In a second option, the frequency offset is determined based on the SBFD sub-band (e.g., based on its size) . BWP. For instance, the offset can be defined in Table 2 below, where refers to the size of the SBFD sub-band.
Table 2.
FIG. 7 illustrates an example 700 of a PUSCH transmission followed by a PUSCH repetition using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. Although a Msg3 PUSCH repetition is shown, the example 700 equivalently apply to a Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission with repetition. Continuing with the example 600 of FIG. 6, after a Msg3 PUSCH transmission, a Msg3 PUSCH repetition can be performed. Example 700 illustrates this scenario. On the left side of FIG. 7, the uplink transmission of a Msg3 in an SBFD resource 710 (equivalent to the Msg3 in SBFD resource 620) is shown, although the uplink transmission can be for a Msg3 in an uplink resource. On the right hand side, options for the Msg3 PUSCH repetition are shown. The Msg3 PUSCH repetition use an SBFD sub-band without frequency hopping (e.g., the Msg3 transmission in SBFD and the Msg3 repetition in SBFD use the same frequency) or can use SBFD sub-band with frequency hopping within the SBFD sub-band (e.g., the Msg3 transmission in SBFD and the Msg3 repetition in SBFD use different frequencies according to a frequency hopping pattern) . The former option is shown as Msg3 in SBFD resource, repetition without frequency hopping 720, whereas the latter option is shown as Msg3 in SBFD resource, repetition with frequency hopping 730. It is possible that, while the Msg3 PUSCH transmission uses an SBFD resource, the Msg3 PUSCH repetition uses an uplink resource (in which case frequency hopping occurs) . Further, if the Msg3 PUSCH transmission uses both an SBFD resource and an uplink resource the Msg3 PUSCH repetition can also use one of or both an SBFD resource and an uplink resource with or without frequency hopping.
Different options exist for Msg3 PUSCH frequency hopping with Msg3 PUSCH repetitions. In a first option, the hopping pattern is the same as a single MsgPUSCH transmission. In a second option, frequency hopping is only applied in the UL slots. Here, an SFBD-aware UE (e.g., a UE capable of SBFD operations) can transmit Msg3 PUSCH without hopping in SBFD symbols. The hopping pattern in UL slots re-uses a hopping pattern defined per Table 1 above. In this option, a PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH repetition can be performed by using either an uplink resource of a PUSCH and frequency hopping in the PUSCH, or an SBFD resource without frequency hopping in an SBFD sub-band.
As further illustrated in FIG. 7, a Msg3 PUSCH repetition (with or without frequency hopping) can occur, in the time domain, after a number of slots 740 from the Msg3 transmission and can be repeated in multiple slots. FIG. 7 illustrates a slot 742 as being one of these slots. Particularly, slot 742 can be configured to include one or more downlink symbols and one or more SBFD symbols (e.g., it is a hybrid slot) or with only SBFD symbols (e.g., it is an SBFD slot) . An available-slot counting procedure can be used to determine the slot 742. This available-slot counting procedure counts a configured slot with SBFD symbols (e.g., as long as the slot includes at least one SBFD symbol, with remaining symbols that may be downlink symbols and/or SBFD symbols, the slot is counted) . The available-slot counting procedure can be similar to the available slot counting described in 3GPP TS 38.214, V18.2.0 (2024-03) , the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, except that a hybrid slot is counted, as well as an SBFD slot. A further example of this procedure is described in FIG. 11.
For a Msg3 re-transmission, a Msg3 PUSCH transmission is scheduled by RAR UL grant, whereas the Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission is scrambled by TC-RNTI. The available-slot counting procedure can be used for the Msg3 PUSCH re-transmission.
FIG. 8 illustrates an example 800 of a HARQ-ACK feedback transmission using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. Continuing with the example 600 or 700 of FIG. 7, after a Msg3 PUSCH transmission, re-transmission, or repetition by a UE to a base station, the UE can receive a Msg4 from the base station. The UE can send HARQ-ACK feedback to the base station to indicate whether the Msg4 was successfully received or not. Different options exist for sending the HARQ-ACK feedback. On the left side of FIG. 8, the reception of a Msg4 810 is shown. On the right hand side, options for the HARQ-ACK feedback are shown.
One option is to use an UL resource rather than an SBFD resource. This option is shown in FIG. 8 as HAR-ACK in an UL resource 830. Here, the UE does not expect the HARQ-ACK for Msg4 to be scheduled in SBFD symbols. Instead, the UE expects the scheduling to be in uplink symbols.
Another option is to use an SBFD resource in an SBFD sub-band. For example, common PUCCH resources in the SBFD sub-band (e.g., configured for multiple UEs) can be defined for the UE when operation in an RRC_INACTIVE state or an RRC_IDLE state, or even when operating in an RRC_CONNECTED state. The UE need not be configured with dedicated PUCCH resources for the HARQ-ACK feedback. The common PUCCH resource set in SBFD symbols can be defined according to Table 3 below, whererepresents the PRB offset of the SBFD sub-band.
Table 3.
FIG. 9 illustrates an example 900 of a PRACH re-transmission following a PRACH transmission failure, in accordance with some embodiments. Continuing with the example 400 of FIG. 4, a UE can re-transmit a Msg 1 (e.g., the Msg 1 in SBFD resource 460) upon a random access failure 920. Example 900 illustrates this scenario. On the left side of FIG. 9, the uplink transmission of a Msg1 in SBFD resource 910 of an SBFD sub-band (equivalent to the Msg1 in SBFD resource 460) is shown. The right hand side illustrates a re-transmission of the Msg1 in a different SBFD resource of the SBFD sub-band (shown as Msg 1 in SBFD resource 930) after the random access failure 920. The Msg1 in SBFD resource 910 can be transmitted using a first transmission power level. Because of the random access failure 920, the Msg1 in SBFD resource 930 can be transmitted at a second transmission power level. The second transmission power level can be greater than the first transmission power level. As such, the UE performs a random access in SBFD symbols. However, if the random access is failed, then the UE tries another RACH attempt in SBFD symbols with power ramping. If the configured attempt number is reached, the UE can fall back to the using UL and/or flexible symbols to perform the random access (at the first transmission power level, the second transmission power level, or a different transmission power level) . Alternatively, whether to re-transmit a PRACH preamble in an RO in SBFD symbols or UL symbols can be a UE implementation.
FIG. 10 illustrates an example 1000 of repetition modes usable for a PUSCH repetition, in accordance with some embodiments. A UE can complete a PUSCH transmission (which may need not be a Msg3 PUSCH transmission) . The PUSCH transmission can, but need not, use one or more SBFD resources of an SBFD sub-band. The UE can also complete a PUSCH repetition thereafter. Different options of the PUSCH repetition exist and are illustrated on the right hand side of FIG. 10. A first option is for a PUSCH repetition in SBFD symbols 1020. A second option is for a PUSCH repetition in uplink symbols 1030 in a PUSCH channel. A third option is a PUSCH repetition across SBFD symbols and uplink symbols 1040. Each of these options corresponds to a particular repetition mode. The UE can select a repetition mode 1050 to use from the available repetition modes based on a number of factors. These factors can include, among other things, whether the PUSCH transmission used a time domain resource allocation or a frequency domain resource allocation associated with the SBFD sub-band. Additionally, alternatively, these factors can include a network configuration for the repetition across the SBFD symbols and the uplink symbols or using only one of the SBFD symbols or the uplink symbols.
As such, for an SBFD-aware UE and a dynamically scheduled or configured grant PUSCH with repetition, the repetition can be classified into three repetition modes: repetition only within the SBFD symbols, repetition only within the UL symbols, repetition across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols. The repetition mode can be determined using different options.
In a first option, if the first PUSCH transmission is within the SBFD symbols, the repetition is only within other SBFD symbols or across other SBFD symbols and UL symbols based on a network configuration or predefined technical specification with which the UE complies. If the first slot of PUSCH is within the UL symbols, the repetition may be only within the UL symbols.
In a second option, the PUSCH repetition is across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols. Different sub-options can exist here. In a first sub-option, the UE considers it an error case if the configured SBFD symbols are not aligned with or are not a sub-set of the time domain resource allocation (e.g., this allocation can be indicated by a startSymbolAndLength in PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation) . The UE can also determine an error case if the frequency resources allocated by the frequency domain resource allocation are not within the SBFD UL sub-band. In a second sub-option, if the configured SBFD symbols are not aligned with the time domain resource allocation (e.g., startSymbolAndLength in PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation) or if the frequency resources allocated by the frequency domain resource allocation are not within the SBFD UL sub-band, the repetition may be only within UL symbols. Otherwise, the PUSCH repetition may be across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols.
In a third option, the repetition type is implicitly derived by the allocated frequency resources for PUSCH transmission. In particular, if the allocated frequency resources are within the SBFD sub-band and the configured SBFD symbols are subset of the time domain resource allocation, the repetition is within SBFD symbols only or across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols based on a network configuration or predefined technical specification with which the UE complies. Otherwise, the PUSCH repetitions are within UL symbols.
In a fourth option, the network configures the PUSCH repetition within SBFD symbols, or UL symbols, or across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols. If the network configures the repetitions across the SBFD symbols and UL symbols, frequency resources allocated by the frequency domain resource allocation should be within the SBFD sub-band.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example 1100 of a slot selection for a PUSCH repetition, in accordance with some embodiments. A UE can complete a PUSCH transmission 1110 (which may need not be a Msg3 PUSCH transmission) . The PUSCH transmission 1110 can, but need not, use one or more SBFD resources of an SBFD sub-band. The UE can also complete a PUSCH repetition 11120 thereafter. Different types of the PUSCH repletion can be supported including Type A, Type B, and TBoMS. Different options for determining the slot (s) for the PUSCH repetition 1120 exist.
Generally, the PUSCH repetition 11120 may occur after a number of slots 1140 and can be carried in one or more slots (such as a slot 1142) . Slot 1142 can be a hybrid slot (e.g., includes at least one configured SBFD symbols, where the remaining configured SBFD symbols can be downlink symbols, flexible symbols, uplink symbols, and/or SBFD symbols) . Alternatively, the slot 1142 can be an SBFD slot only (e.g., all of its configured symbols are SBFD symbols) . The slot 1142 can be determined according to a counting procedure which can depend on the repetition type.
For example, for PUSCH repetition Type A or TBoMS, the slot 1142 can be determined using a slot-based counting or an available-slot based counting, where a hybrid slot and an SBFD slot are counted.
More specifically, an SBFD-aware UE can be configured with slot-based counting for PUSCH repetition Type A. No restriction for PUSCH repetition type A in a DL symbol can be applied. The repetition can be across uplink symbols, flexible symbols, and SBFD symbols. If at least one symbol from a set of symbols where the UE is scheduled for PUSCH transmission in the slot is a downlink symbol, the UE may not transmit the PUSCH in the slot if UE does not support or is not configured for SBFD operations. If at least one symbol from a set of symbols where the UE is scheduled for PUSCH transmission in the slot is not SBFD symbol, UL symbol, or flexible symbol, the UE does not transmit the PUSCH in the slot if the UE is configured with SBFD operation.
If an SBFD-aware UE is configured with available-slot based counting for PUSCH repetition Type A or TBoMS, different options exist. In a first option, the available-slot based counting for PUSCH repetition Type A or TBoMS is not supported in SBFD symbols.
In a second option, available-slot based counting for PUSCH repetition Type A or TBoMS is supported in SBFD symbols. When the determination of available slot, except the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, tdd-ULDL ConfigurationDedicated and ssb-PositionsInBurst, the SBFD sub-band configuration and SBFD symbol configuration are applied. In this case, if a DL symbol is configured as an SBFD symbol, and the number of SBFD symbols can transmit the whole PUSCH message or data, then this slot is valid or an available slot. Alternatively, only the SBFD symbol configuration is applied. Here, the SBFD sub-band configuration is considered (e.g., if the frequency resources allocation is beyond the SBFD UL sub-band, the transmissions in the SBFD symbols are dropped) .
If an SBFD-aware UE is configured with PUSCH repetition Type B, no restriction for PUSCH repetition Type B in the DL symbol may be applied. A symbol that is indicated as downlink by tdd-UL-DLConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated can be considered as an invalid symbol for PUSCH repetition Type B transmission for UE not supporting or configured with SBFD operations. A symbol that is indicated as downlink by tdd-UL-DLConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and not configured as SBFD symbol is considered as an invalid symbol for PUSCH repetition Type B transmission for UE configured with SBFD operations.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 for configuring and using an SBFD sub-band, in accordance with some embodiments. The operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 can be implemented in part by a base station (e.g., the gNB 108) and in part by a UE (e.g., the UE 104) .
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1202, the base station indicating a sub-band configuration and PRACH resource in SBFD sub-band via SIB. SIB can be used when the UE is in an RRC_IDLE mode. RRC signaling can be used when the UE is in an RRC_CONNECTED mode. The base station can configure the SBFD sub-band in the initial DL BWP or CORESET#0 via SIB1 and can indicate a PRACH configuration in the SBFD sub-band.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1204, the UE selecting and transmitting a PRACH preamble (e.g., Msg1) in the SBFD sub-band. The UE selects the PRACH preamble depending on whether CBRA or CFRA is used.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1206, the base station sending a RAR (e.g., Msg2) . The RAR can indicate uplink resources to use. The RAR can include a scheduling grant.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1208, the UE determining the frequency resource for a Msg3 PUSCH if scheduled in the SBFD sub-band. Based on the RAR UL grant, the UE can determine that the frequency domain location of the Msg3 PUSCH is in UL BWP or DL BWP according to whether the Msg3 is scheduled in SBFD sub-band. The UE can send the Msg3 accordingly.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1210, the base station sending a Msg4 with contention resolution. The Msg4 is sent after successfully receiving the Msg3.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1200 includes, at 1212, the UE sending the msg4 HARQ-ACK in the indicated resources. These resources may include common PUCH resources in the SBFD sub-band according to indication.
FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 implemented by a UE as part of using an SBFD sub-band for an uplink transmission, in accordance with some embodiments. The operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 can be performed by components of the UE including, for example, processors thereof. The UE can be any of the UEs described herein (e.g., the UE 104) . The UE can be any of the UEs described herein (e.g., the UE 104) . In some embodiments, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, such as a memory of the UE. While the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be omitted or not performed altogether.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 includes, at 1302, determining, based on configuration information, an SBFD resource having a frequency within a downlink BWP and including one or more SBFD symbols (or non-uplink symbols) . The configuration information can be received from a base station via SIB (e.g., in case the UE is in an RRC_IDLE mode) or RRC signaling. The SBFD or non-uplink symbol (s) can include at least one of a downlink symbol and/or a flexible symbol.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 includes, at 1304, determining that the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission (e.g., SDT) , a PUSCH repetition, a PRACH repetition, a two-step RACH procedure, or a RedCap based transmission. The configuration information can indicate other parameters such as a measurement threshold, candidate RACH preambles, a PRACH frequency domain starting point, and the like.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1300 includes, at 1306, performing an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type by at least using the SBFD resource. The uplink transmission can be a Msg1 transmission, a Msg1 re-transmission, a Msg3 transmission, a Msg3 re-transmission, a Msg3 repetition, a Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, a PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission, or a PUSCH repetition.
FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 implemented by a network as part of configuring an SBFD sub-band for an uplink transmission, in accordance with some embodiments. The operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 can be implemented by one or more components of the network (e.g., by a base station thereof and/or processors of the base station) . The network can be any of the networks described herein. In some embodiments, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, such as a memory of the base station. While the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be omitted or not performed altogether.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 includes, at 1402, sending, to a UE, configuration information for at least an SBFD resource having a frequency within a downlink BWP and including one or more SBFD symbols (or non-uplink symbols) , wherein the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission (e.g., SDT) , a PUSCH repetition, a PRACH repetition, a two-step RACH procedure, or a RedCap based transmission. The SBFD or non-uplink symbol (s) can include at least one of a downlink symbol and/or a flexible symbol. The configuration information can be sent via SIB or RRC signaling. The configuration information can indicate other parameters such as a measurement threshold, candidate RACH preambles, a PRACH frequency domain starting point, and the like.
In an example, the operational flow/algorithmic structure 1400 includes, at 1404, receiving, from the UE, an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission using the SBFD resource. The uplink transmission can be a Msg1 transmission, a Msg1 re-transmission, a Msg3 transmission, a Msg3 re-transmission, a Msg3 repetition, a Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, a PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission, or a PUSCH repetition.
FIG. 15 illustrates receive components 1500 of a UE (e.g., the UE 104) , in accordance with some embodiments. The receive components 1500 may include an antenna panel 1504 that includes a number of antenna elements. The panel 1504 is shown with four antenna elements, but other embodiments may include other numbers.
The antenna panel 1504 may be coupled to analog beamforming (BF) components that include a number of phase shifters 1508 (1) –1508 (4) . The phase shifters 1508 (1) –1508 (4) may be coupled with a radio-frequency (RF) chain 1512. The RF chain 1512 may amplify a receive analog RF signal, down-convert the RF signal to baseband, and convert the analog baseband signal to a digital baseband signal that may be provided to a baseband processor for further processing.
In various embodiments, control circuitry, which may reside in a baseband processor, may provide BF weights (for example W1 –W4) , which may represent phase shift values, to the phase shifters 1508 (1) –1508 (4) to provide a receive beam at the antenna panel 1504. These BF weights may be determined based on the channel-based beamforming.
FIG. 16 illustrates a UE 1600, in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 1600 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with UE 104 of FIG. 1. Particularly, the UE 1600 can receive and store configuration information that indicates a configuration of an SBFD sub-band. Based on the configuration information, the UE can perform an uplink transmission using an SBFD resource of the SBFD sub-band. The uplink transmission can be a Msg1 transmission, a Msg1 re-transmission, a Msg3 transmission, a Msg3 re-transmission, a Msg3 repetition, a Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, a PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission, or a PUSCH repetition.
Similar to that described above with respect to UE 104, the UE 1600 may be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as mobile phones, computers, tablets, industrial wireless sensors (for example, microphones, carbon dioxide sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, thermometers, motion sensors, accelerometers, laser scanners, fluid level sensors, inventory sensors, electric voltage/current meters, actuators, etc. ) , video surveillance/monitoring devices (for example, cameras, video cameras, etc. ) , wearable devices, IoT devices, NB-IoT devices, or relaxed-IoT devices. In some embodiments, the UE may be a reduced capacity UE or NR-Light UE.
The UE 1600 may include processors 1604, RF interface circuitry 1608, memory/storage 1612, user interface 1616, sensors 1620, driver circuitry 1622, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1624, and battery 1628. The components of the UE 1600 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs) , portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. The block diagram of FIG. 16 is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 1600. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.
The components of the UE 1600 may be coupled with various other components over one or more interconnects 1632, which may represent any type of interface, input/output, bus (local, system, or expansion) , transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc. that allows various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with one another.
The processors 1604 may include processor circuitry, such as baseband processor circuitry (BB) 1604A, central processor unit circuitry (CPU) 1604B, and graphics processor unit circuitry (GPU) 1604C. The processors 1604 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory/storage 1612 to cause the UE 1600 to perform operations as described herein.
In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuitry 1604A may access a communication protocol stack 1636 in the memory/storage 1612 to communicate over a 3GPP compatible network. In general, the baseband processor circuitry 1604A may access the communication protocol stack to: perform user plane functions at a PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and PDU layer; and perform control plane functions at a PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and a non-access stratum “NAS” layer. In some embodiments, the PHY layer operations may additionally/alternatively be performed by the components of the RF interface circuitry 1608.
The baseband processor circuitry 1604A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in 3GPP-compatible networks. In some embodiments, the waveforms for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.
The baseband processor circuitry 1604A may also access group information from memory/storage 1612 to determine search space groups in which a number of repetitions of a PDCCH may be transmitted.
The memory/storage 1612 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 1600. In some embodiments, some of the memory/storage 1612 may be located on the processors 1604 themselves (for example, L1 and L2 cache) , while other memory/storage 1612 is external to the processors 1604 but accessible thereto via a memory interface. The memory/storage 1612 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) , static random-access memory (SRAM) , erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) , Flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.
The RF interface circuitry 1608 may include transceiver circuitry and a radio frequency front module (RFEM) that allows the UE 1600 to communicate with other devices over a radio access network. The RF interface circuitry 1608 may include various elements arranged in transmit or receive paths. These elements may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.
In the receive path, the RFEM may receive a radiated signal from an air interface via an antenna 1650 and proceed to filter and amplify (with a low-noise amplifier) the signal. The signal may be provided to a receiver of the transceiver that down-converts the RF signal into a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of the processors 1604.
In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier prior to the signal being radiated across the air interface via the antenna 1650.
In various embodiments, the RF interface circuitry 1608 may be configured to transmit/receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technologies.
The antenna 1650 may include a number of antenna elements that each convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and to convert received radio waves into electrical signals. The antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. The antenna 1650 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to enable beamforming and multiple input, multiple output communications. The antenna 1650 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. The antenna 1650 may have one or more panels designed for specific frequency bands including bands in FR1 or FR2.
The user interface circuitry 1616 includes various input/output (I/O) devices designed to enable user interaction with the UE 1600. The user interface 1616 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or more physical or virtual buttons (for example, a reset button) , a physical keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset, or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for showing information or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator position (s) , or other like information. Output device circuitry may include any number or combinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one or more simple visual outputs/indicators (for example, binary status indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touchscreens (for example, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) , LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc. ) , with the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation of the UE 1600.
The sensors 1620 may include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information (sensor data) about the detected events to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, inter alia, inertia measurement units comprising accelerometers; gyroscopes; or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems or nanoelectromechanical systems comprising 3-axis accelerometers; 3-axis gyroscopes; or magnetometers; level sensors; flow sensors; temperature sensors (for example, thermistors) ; pressure sensors; barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (for example; cameras or lensless apertures) ; light detection and ranging sensors; proximity sensors (for example, infrared radiation detector and the like) ; depth sensors; ambient light sensors; ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.
The driver circuitry 1622 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control particular devices that are embedded in the UE 1600, attached to the UE 1600, or otherwise communicatively coupled with the UE 1600. The driver circuitry 1622 may include individual drivers allowing other components to interact with or control various input/output (I/O) devices that may be present within, or connected to, the UE 1600. For example, driver circuitry 1622 may include a display driver to control and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver to control and allow access to a touchscreen interface, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 1620 and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 1620, drivers to obtain actuator positions of electro-mechanic components or control and allow access to the electro-mechanic components, a camera driver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.
The PMIC 1624 may manage power provided to various components of the UE 1600. In particular, with respect to the processors 1604, the PMIC 1624 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.
In some embodiments, the PMIC 1624 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the UE 1600. For example, if the platform UE is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the UE 1600 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the UE 1600 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations, such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The UE 1600 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The UE 1600 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours) . During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.
A battery 1628 may power the UE 1600, although in some examples the UE 1600 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location and may have a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 1628 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 1628 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.
FIG. 17 illustrates a gNB 1700, in accordance with some embodiments. The gNB 1700 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the gNB 108 of FIG. 1 and/or any other base station described herein. Particularly, the gNB 1700 can send, to a UE, configuration information that indicates a configuration of an SBFD sub-band. Based on the configuration information, the gNB 1700 can receive, from the UE, an uplink transmission using an SBFD resource of the SBFD sub-band. The uplink transmission can be a Msg1 transmission, a Msg1 re-transmission, a Msg3 transmission, a Msg3 re-transmission, a Msg3 repetition, a Msg4 HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, a PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission, or a PUSCH repetition.
The gNB 1700 may include processors 1704, RAN interface circuitry 1708, core network (CN) interface circuitry 1712, and memory/storage circuitry 1716.
The components of the gNB 1700 may be coupled with various other components over one or more interconnects 1728.
The processors 1704, RAN interface circuitry 1708, memory/storage circuitry 1716 (including communication protocol stack 1710) , antenna 1750, and interconnects 1728 may be similar to like-named elements shown and described with respect to FIG. 16.
The CN interface circuitry 1712 may provide connectivity to a core network, for example, a Fifth Generation Core network (5GC) using a 5GC-compatible network interface protocol, such as carrier Ethernet protocols, or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to/from the gNB 1700 via a fiber optic or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 1712 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 1712 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.
It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.
For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.
Examples
In the following sections, further exemplary embodiments are provided.
Example 1 includes a method comprising: determining, based on configuration information, a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource having a frequency within a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) and including one or more non-uplink symbols; determining that the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission; and performing an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type by at least using the SBFD resource.
Example 2 includes a method comprising: sending, to a user equipment (UE) , configuration information for at least a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource having a frequency within a downlink bandwidth part and including one or more non-uplink symbols, wherein the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission (SDT) , a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission; and receiving, from the UE, an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission using the SBFD resource.
Example 3 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2, further comprising: determining, based on the configuration information, or sending, in the configuration information, a measurement threshold; and comparing, or causing a comparison of, a measurement of a reference signal received in the downlink channel and the measurement threshold, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble and is performed using the SBFD resource based on a result of the comparing.
Example 4 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 3, further comprising: determining or causing a determination of, based on the configuration information, a PRACH preamble from a set of candidate PRACH preambles for contention free random access (CFRA) or for contention base random access (CBRA) in a RACH occasion (RO) configured in SBFD symbols, wherein the uplink transmission includes the PRACH preamble and is performed using the SBFD symbols.
Example 5 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 4, further comprising: determining, based on an offset relative to a reference point, or configuring the offset and causing a determination of a PRACH frequency domain starting point for a RACH occasion (RO) , wherein the reference point includes at least one of: the lowest physical resource block (PRB) of SBFD resources, an initial uplink BWP, an initial downlink BWP, a CORESET#0, a Point A, or a carrier’s starting resource block (RB) configured by a frequency domain offset between the point a and the lowest usable carrier of the carrier; and determining or causing a determination that the RO is configured with SBFD symbols that are within the SBFD resource, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble and uses the SBFD symbols.
Example 6 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 5, further comprising: performing or receiving, after the uplink transmission, a PUSCH transmission by using a different SBFD resource or an uplink resource of a PUSCH, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble, and wherein the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a RACH response (RAR) .
Example 7 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource and that is performed based on a RACH response (RAR) , and wherein the method further comprises: performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource and foregoing frequency hopping in a SBFD sub-band, wherein the RAR indicates the frequency hopping.
Example 8 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises: performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission and based on frequency hopping in a SBFD sub-band, a PUSCH re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource, wherein the frequency hopping is based on a size of the SBFD sub-band.
Example 9 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises: determining or causing a determination of, based on an available-slot counting procedure, a slot for the PUSCH repetition or a PUSCH re-transmission, wherein the available-slot counting procedure counts a configured slot with SBFD symbols; and performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition or the PUSCH re-transmission by using the slot.
Example 10 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises: performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using either (i) an uplink resource of a PUSCH and frequency hopping in the PUSCH, or (ii) another SBFD resource without frequency hopping in an SBFD sub-band.
Example 11 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2 or 7 to 10, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises: processing or sending a message received in the downlink channel in response to the PUSCH transmission; optionally, generating a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback based on the message; and performing or receiving a transmission of the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback by using -non-SBFD symbols or a common physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource in an SBFD sub-band.
Example 12 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 11, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble transmission at a first transmission power level, and wherein the method further comprises: performing or causing, after a failure of the PRACH preamble transmission, a PRACH preamble re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource and a second transmission power level; and performing or causing, after failures of PRACH preamble transmissions according to a configured number in SBFD resources, a PRACH preamble transmission by using a random access channel occasion (RO) in uplink symbols or flexible symbols.
Example 13 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 12, wherein a time location and a frequency location of the SBFD resource in an SBFD sub-band are configured for a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state based on a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the random access is enabled in the SBFD sub-band based on the SBFD sub-band being included in an initial uplink or downlink bandwidth part (BWP) or CORESET#0 and SBFD symbols of a configured RACH occasion (RO) being included in the initial uplink or downlink BWP or CORESET#0.
Example 14 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2 or 7 to 13, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, wherein a PUSCH repetition is supported using a repetition mode of a plurality of repetition modes corresponding to first repetition only with SBFD symbols, second repetition only with uplink symbols, and third repetition across the SBFD symbols and the uplink symbols, and wherein the repetition mode is selected from the plurality of repetition modes based on whether the PUSCH transmission used a time domain resource allocation or a frequency domain resource allocation associated with an SBFD sub-band or based on a network configuration for the repetition across the SBFD symbols and the uplink symbols.
Example 15 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2 or 7 to 13, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the method further comprises: determining or causing a determination of, based on a slot-based counting procedure for PUSCH repetition Type A, a slot for the PUSCH repetition, wherein the slot-based counting procedure counts a configured slot with uplink symbols or SBFD symbols; and performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the slot.
Example 16 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2 or 7 to 13, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the method further comprises: determining or causing a determination of , based on an available-slot counting procedure or a slot counting procedure for PUSCH repetition Type A or PUSCH repetition for time block processing over multiple slots (TBoMS) , a slot for the PUSCH repetition, wherein the available-slot counting procedure counts a first configured slot with first uplink symbols or first SBFD symbols, and wherein the slot counting procedure counts a second configured slot with second uplink symbols or second SBFD symbols in the SBFD sub-band; and performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the slot.
Example 17 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 2 or 7 to 13, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the method further comprises: determining or causing a determination of, a symbol for the PUSCH repetition associated with PUSCH repetition Type B, wherein the symbol is configured with a uplink symbol or an SBFD symbol; and performing or receiving, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the symbol.
Example 18 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 17, further comprising: determining or indication that a capability of performing SBFD operations is supported by the UE based on receiving a PRACH preamble in an SBFD sub-band; and scheduling or receiving a PUSCH transmission for the UE in the SBFD sub-band based on the capability.
Example 19 includes the method of any preceding example 1 to 17, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, or sending, by the UE, capability information indicating a capability of PRACH transmission in an SBFD sub-band, the capability indicated for at least one of the UE, a frequency range (FR) , or a band within the FR, the capability including at least one of: supporting random access in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, an RRC inactive state, or an RRC idle state, signaling indication of a PRACH resource in the SBFD sub-band, PUSCH transmission and re-transmission in the SBFD sub-band, or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback in the SBFDS sub-band.
Example 20 includes a user equipment (UE) or an apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memory storing instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors, configure the UE or the apparatus to perform a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Example 21 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed on a user equipment (UE) or an apparatus, cause the UE or the apparatus to perform operations comprising those of a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Example 22 includes an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Example 23 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an apparatus, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the apparatus, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Example 24 includes an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or processing circuitry configured to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Example 25 includes an apparatus, a network, a base station, or a system comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the preceding examples.
Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples) , unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.
Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

A method comprising:

determining, based on configuration information, a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource having a frequency within a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) and including one or more SBFD symbols;

determining that the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission; and

performing an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type by at least using the SBFD resource.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the configuration information, a measurement threshold; and

comparing a measurement of a reference signal received in the downlink channel and the measurement threshold, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble and is performed using the SBFD resource based on a result of the comparing.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the configuration information, a PRACH preamble from a set of candidate PRACH preambles for contention free random access (CFRA) or for contention base random access (CBRA) in a RACH occasion (RO) configured in SBFD symbols, wherein the uplink transmission includes the PRACH preamble and is performed using the SBFD symbols.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on an offset relative to a reference point, a PRACH frequency domain starting point for a RACH occasion (RO) , wherein the reference point includes at least one of: the lowest physical resource block (PRB) of SBFD resources, an initial uplink BWP, an initial downlink BWP, a CORESET#0, a Point A, or a carrier’s starting resource block (RB) configured by a frequency domain offset between the point a and the lowest usable carrier of the carrier; and

determining that the RO is configured with SBFD symbols that are within the SBFD resource, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble and uses the SBFD symbols.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, after the uplink transmission, a PUSCH transmission by using a different SBFD resource or an uplink resource of a PUSCH, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble, and wherein the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a RACH response (RAR) .
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource and that is performed based on a RACH response (RAR) , and wherein the method further comprises:

performing, after the PUSCH transmission, a PUSCH re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource and foregoing frequency hopping in a SBFD sub-band, wherein the RAR indicates the frequency hopping.
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises:

performing, after the PUSCH transmission and based on frequency hopping in a SBFD sub-band, a PUSCH re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource, wherein the frequency hopping is based on a size of the SBFD sub-band.
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining, based on an available-slot counting procedure, a slot for the PUSCH repetition or a PUSCH re-transmission, wherein the available-slot counting procedure counts a configured slot with SBFD symbols; and

performing, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition or the PUSCH re-transmission by using the slot.
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises:

performing, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using either (i) an uplink resource of a PUSCH and frequency hopping in the PUSCH, or (ii) another SBFD resource without frequency hopping in an SBFD sub-band.
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission that uses the SBFD resource, and wherein the method further comprises:

processing a message received in the downlink channel in response to the PUSCH transmission;

generating a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback based on the message; and

performing a transmission of the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback by using -non-SBFD symbols or a common physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource in an SBFD sub-band.
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PRACH preamble transmission at a first transmission power level, and wherein the method further comprises:

performing, after a failure of the PRACH preamble transmission, a PRACH preamble re-transmission by using a different SBFD resource and a second transmission power level; and

performing, after failures of PRACH preamble transmissions according to a configured number in SBFD resources, a PRACH preamble transmission by using a random access channel occasion (RO) in uplink symbols or flexible symbols.
An apparatus comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter; and

processing circuitry communicatively coupled with the receiver and the transmitter and configured to:

determine, based on configuration information, a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource having a frequency within a downlink bandwidth part and including one or more SBFD symbols;

determine that the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access, a data transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission; and

perform an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type by at least using the SBFD resource.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein a time location and a frequency location of the SBFD resource in an SBFD sub-band are configured for a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state based on a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the random access is enabled in the SBFD sub-band based on the SBFD sub-band being included in an initial uplink or downlink bandwidth part (BWP) or CORESET#0 and SBFD symbols of a configured RACH occasion (RO) being included in the initial uplink or downlink BWP or CORESET#0.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, wherein a PUSCH repetition is supported using a repetition mode of a plurality of repetition modes corresponding to first repetition only with SBFD symbols, second repetition only with uplink symbols, and third repetition across the SBFD symbols and the uplink symbols, and wherein the repetition mode is selected from the plurality of repetition modes based on whether the PUSCH transmission used a time domain resource allocation or a frequency domain resource allocation associated with an SBFD sub-band or based on a network configuration for the repetition across the SBFD symbols and the uplink symbols.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine, based on a slot-based counting procedure for PUSCH repetition Type A, a slot for the PUSCH repetition, wherein the slot-based counting procedure counts a configured slot with uplink symbols or SBFD symbols; and

perform, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the slot.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine, based on an available-slot counting procedure or a slot counting procedure for PUSCH repetition Type A or PUSCH repetition for time block processing over multiple slots (TBoMS) , a slot for the PUSCH repetition, wherein the available-slot counting procedure counts a first configured slot with first uplink symbols or first SBFD symbols, and wherein the slot counting procedure counts a second configured slot with second uplink symbols or second SBFD symbols in the SBFD sub-band; and

perform, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the slot.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the uplink transmission includes a PUSCH transmission, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine, a symbol for the PUSCH repetition associated with PUSCH repetition Type B, wherein the symbol is configured with a uplink symbol or an SBFD symbol; and

perform, after the PUSCH transmission, the PUSCH repetition by using the symbol.
A method comprising:

sending, to a user equipment (UE) , configuration information for at least a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) resource having a frequency within a downlink bandwidth part and including one or more SBFD symbols, wherein the configuration information indicates the SBFD resource is configured for an uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission type corresponding to at least one of: a random access preamble, a data transmission (SDT) , a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetition, a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, or a reduced capability (RedCap) based transmission; and

receiving, from the UE, an uplink transmission of the uplink transmission type, the uplink transmission using the SBFD resource.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining that a capability of performing SBFD operations is supported by the UE based on receiving a PRACH preamble in an SBFD sub-band; and

scheduling a PUSCH transmission for the UE in the SBFD sub-band based on the capability.
The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, from the UE, capability information indicating a capability of PRACH transmission in an SBFD sub-band, the capability indicated for at least one of the UE, a frequency range (FR) , or a band within the FR, the capability including at least one of: supporting random access in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, an RRC inactive state, or an RRC idle state, signaling indication of a PRACH resource in the SBFD sub-band, PUSCH transmission and re-transmission in the SBFD sub-band, or hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement feedback in the SBFDS sub-band.