TWI694739B - Method for performing a random-access channel procedure and user equipment thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided to reduce access latency in a random-access channel (RACH) procedure. A user equipment (UE) can transmit multiple Msg1 on multiple RACH transmission occasions before the end of a random-access response (RAR) window. The UE receives one or more RARs in response to the multiple transmitted Msg1. The one or more RARs can be carried in a single RAR window or multiple RAR windows. The UE determines the detected Msg1 based on explicit signals, implicit indications, or both. The explicit signals can be carried in the one or more RARs received by the UE. The implicit indications can be one or more signatures being associated with the multiple RACH transmission occasions.

Description

Method for executing random access channel process and its user equipment

This application relates generally to wireless network communications and, more specifically, to reducing access delays in the process of random-access channels (RACH).

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication; for example, voice and/or data can be provided via such wireless communication systems. The fifth generation wireless system (5G) aims to provide a user experience that matches the fixed network through increased data rates, improved spectrum efficiency, reduced latency, and better mobility support. 5G can not only enhance mobile broadband, but also provide wireless connectivity to any type of device or application that may benefit from such a connection.

Some embodiments relate to a method for performing random-access channel (RACH) processes. The method includes the user equipment (UE) sending a plurality of physical random access channels (physical random-access channels) on a plurality of RACH transmission opportunities before the end of the first random-access response (RAR) window access channel (PRACH) preamble (or called "Message 1 (Msg1)"), and based on the dominant signal carried in one or more RARs received by the UE, and/or based on the association with multiple RACH transmission opportunities One or more signatures to determine which one or more of Msg1 is detected.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include an RA-RNTI value, where the RA-RNTI value is associated with the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities to send the plurality of Msg1.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include one or more RAR windows, during which the one or more RARs are sent.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include a control region of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configured for scheduling RAR. The control area contains a control resource set (CORESET) and a search space. The CORESET and/or the search space are associated with the multiple RACH transmission opportunities.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include PRACH preamble or preamble index. The PRACH preamble or preamble index is completely or partially associated with the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities through higher layer signaling.

Some embodiments are related to UEs. The UE includes multiple antennas and a processor that communicates with the memory. The processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, which causes the processor to be used to: send on multiple RACH transmission opportunities through one or more of the plurality of antennas before the end of the first RAR window Plural Msg1, and based on the explicit signal carried in one or plural RARs received by the UE, and/or based on one or plural signatures associated with the plural RACH transmission opportunities, determine the plural messages 1 Which one or more are detected.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include a PRACH preamble or preamble index, RA-RNTI value, RAR window, and a control region of the PDCCH configured to schedule RAR.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include an RA-RNTI value, where the RA-RNTI value is associated with the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities to send the plurality of Msg1.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include one or more RAR windows, during which the one or more RARs are sent.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include the control region of the PDCCH configured for scheduling RAR. The control area contains CORESET and search space. The CORESET and/or the search space are associated with the multiple RACH transmission opportunities.

In some embodiments, the one or more signatures include PRACH preamble or preamble index. The PRACH preamble or preamble index is completely or partially associated with the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities through higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments, if the one or a plurality of RARs is a single RAR or corresponds to a single Msg1 in the plurality of Msg1, the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory, which causes the The processor determines which of the plurality of antennas to use for the next based on the antenna index explicitly carried in the one or more RARs, or based on the detected Msg1 indicated by the one or more RARs Uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, if the one or more RARs are more than one RAR or correspond to more than one Msg1 in the plurality of Msg1, the processor is further configured to execute the stored in the memory An instruction that causes the processor to: determine which of the plurality of antennas to use for the next uplink transmission based on the performance indicators carried in the received plurality of RARs.

In some embodiments, if the one or more RARs are more than one RAR or correspond to more than one Msg1 in the plurality of Msg1s, the processor is further configured to execute the one stored in the memory Instruction, the instruction causes the processor to: if the network specification permits and is configured by the base station sending the one or more RARs, use one or more of the RARs scheduled through the corresponding antenna of the UE or A plurality of uplink resources are used for the next uplink transmission.

Some embodiments are related to UEs. The UE includes multiple antennas and a processor that communicates with the memory. The processor is configured to execute an instruction stored in the memory, the instruction causes the processor to: before the end of the first RAR window, through one or more of the plurality of antennas on a plurality of RACH transmission opportunities Sending a plurality of Msg1s, and determining which one or more of the plurality of Msg1s are detected based on one or a plurality of RARs received by the UE during one or a plurality of RAR windows configured by the network.

In some embodiments, the one or more RAR windows are the first RAR window. The first RAR window starts after a predetermined duration after one of the plurality of Msg1 is sent.

In some embodiments, the size of the first RAR window is configured by the network via high-level signaling, or is configured to be the same size as the RAR window used for a single Msg1 transmission.

In some embodiments, the first RAR window is started after the predetermined duration after the first Msg1 of the plurality of Msg1 is sent or after the last Msg1 of the plurality of Msg1 is sent.

In some embodiments, the one or more RAR windows are a plurality of RAR windows. Each of the plurality of RAR windows starts after a predetermined duration after one of the plurality of Msg1 is sent and each RAR window has the same duration.

In some embodiments, determining which one or more of the plurality of Msg1 is detected includes: reading the explicit signal carried in the one or more RARs, or carrying one of the one or more RARs Or export from multiple signatures.

The present invention proposes a method for performing a random access channel process and its user equipment. By sending a plurality of PRACH preambles ("Msg1"), the beneficial effect of reducing access delay time is achieved.

The foregoing summary of the invention is provided by way of illustration and is not intended to be limiting.

The inventor has realized and realized that sending multiple PRACH preambles (or "Msg1") can reduce the access delay time in the RACH process. For example, if the UE has a plurality of antennas that can be used as transmitter (TX) beams, the UE can transmit a plurality of Msg1 using one or a plurality of TX beams, which allows the UE to test a plurality of TX beams in RACH. This process therefore speeds up the process of matching the beam and scheduling the communication between the UE and the base station.

The inventor has realized and realized that the detected Msg1 can be sent explicitly in the RAR, or by sending the RACH timing and one or more signatures (including, for example, RA-RNTI value, PRACH preamble or preamble The index, the RAR window, and the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH control area) used for scheduling RAR are correlated to be implicitly transmitted. The UE may determine the TX beam to be used in the next uplink transmission based on the detected indication of Msg1.

The inventor has also realized and realized that the UE can monitor a single RAR window starting at a fixed duration after one of the plurality of Msg1 is transmitted. Alternatively, the UE may monitor a plurality of RAR windows, and each RAR window starts at a fixed duration after one of the plurality of Msg1s is sent.

In the following description, many specific details about the systems and methods of the disclosed subject matter and the environment in which such systems and methods can operate are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. In addition, it should be understood that the examples provided below are exemplary, and that other systems and methods are expected to be within the scope of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 (eg, 3G, 4G, and/or 5G NR system) according to some embodiments. The wireless communication system 100 may include a UE 102 and a base station (BS) 104. For example, the UE 102 may be a mobile phone, smart phone, laptop, and/or any other device configured to communicate with the BS 104. The BS 104 may be, for example, a base station (for example, a cellular base station) such as an evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), and so on. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, UE 102 has two antennas, antennas 106A and 106B, collectively referred to as antenna 106 herein. The BS 104 has three antennas, antennas 108A, 108B, and 108C, collectively referred to as antenna 108 herein. The UE 102 and the BS 104 communicate via the wireless communication channel 110. The transmission from the UE 102 to the BS 104 is commonly referred to as uplink (UL) communication, as shown at 112. Either of the antennas 106 and 108 can be dedicated to the transmitter beam or the receiver beam, or, as a transceiver beam. The transmission from BS 104 to UE 102 is commonly referred to as downlink (DL) communication, as shown in 114. Figure 1 is a simplified example, which is not intended to be limiting. For example, the UE 102 and/or BS 104 may have different numbers of antennas. As another example, UE 102 and BS 104 may communicate through a plurality of different frequencies and/or channels, which are not shown in FIG. 1. In addition, the BS 104 usually communicates with a plurality of UEs, although it is not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity.

Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of UE 102 according to some embodiments. The UE 102 may include a memory 211, a processor 212, a radio frequency (RF) module 213 coupled to the antennas 106A and 106B, a baseband module 215, and support various protocol layers (including a non-access layer (non-access layer) stratum, NAS 225, access stratum (AS)/radio-resource control (RRC) 224, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)/radio link control , RLC) 223, medium access control (MAC) 222 and physical layer (PHY) 221) communication protocol stack module 226, transmission control protocol (transmission control protocol (TCP)/Internet protocol ( Internet protocol (IP) protocol stack module 227, application (APP) module 228, and management module 230 including configuration and control module 231 and service continuity module 232. The PHY may further include three levels (not shown): a transmission channel processor, a physical channel processor, and an analog processor.

When executed by the processor 212 via program instructions contained in the memory 211, the functional modules and circuits can communicate with each other. For example, applications can create data packets that are processed by protocols such as TCP and IP. The RRC protocol can write signaling messages exchanged between the base station and the UE. In both cases, before the information is transferred to the physical layer for transmission, the information can be processed by PDCP, RLC agreement, and MAC agreement. In some embodiments, each functional module or circuit may include a processor and corresponding program code.

Information flowing between different agreements can be called channels and signals. There can be physical data channels between PHYs at different levels, for example, PRACH, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). PRACH can carry random access transmissions from random access channels. The PUSCH can carry data and signaling messages from the uplink shared channel, and sometimes can carry uplink control information (uplink control information, UCI). The PDSCH can carry data and signaling messages from the downlink shared channel and paging messages from the paging channel. There may also be physical control channels in the PHY, for example, PDCCH and PUCCH. The PDCCH can carry downlink control information. PUCCH can carry uplink control information.

There may also be a transmission channel between the MAC and the PHY, for example, RACH, through which the UE can contact the base station without any previous scheduling. For example, if the UE wishes to transmit on the PUSCH but has no resources to do so, the UE may send a scheduling request on the PUCCH. If the UE does not have the resources to send the scheduling request, the UE may initiate the RACH process. This may happen in several different situations, for example, during the establishment of an RRC connection, during a handover, or if the UE has lost timing synchronization with the base station.

The configuration and control module 231 may configure the UE with a handover service interruption reduction feature, monitor the radio resource status, and thereby determine whether a radio bearer for RRC connection has been established for data transmission. The handover process may be between base stations of the same radio access technology (Radio Access Technology, RAT) or between different RATs (inter-RAT). When a handover event occurs, the radio resource is first released in the serving radio network, and then the radio resource is established in the target radio network. The service continuity module 232 may determine whether to release the NAS signaling connection after completing the NAS signaling process based on whether the radio bearer system has been established or is being established.

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a contention-free RACH process 300 according to some embodiments. If the base station can reserve the preamble sequence for the UE, it can ensure that no other UE will use the sequence in the same set of resource blocks. This is the basis of the contention-free random access process. The contention-free RACH process can be used as part of the handover.

When the base station 304 sends the random-access (RA) preamble allocation and resource allocation including the preamble index to the UE 302, the contention-free RACH process 300 starts from act 306. The UE 302 reads the RA preamble allocation and reconfigures itself according to the instructions. However, the UE 302 has not timing synchronization. In act 308, before the end of the RAR window, the UE 302 sends a plurality of PRACH preambles (or Msg1) through one or a plurality of antennas of the UE 302 on a plurality of RACH transmission occasions, where the RAR window can be configured by the network. The RACH transmission timing can be defined as the time-frequency resource on which the PRACH preamble (or Msg1) is sent using a single specific TX beam using the configured PRACH preamble format. In NR, in frequency-division duplex (FDD) mode and time-division duplex (TDD) mode, there may be division multiplexed (FDM) at the same time One or more RACH transmission opportunities. The transmission time and frequency can together determine the action identity called RA-RNTI.

In act 310, if the base station 304 detects at least one of the plurality of Msg1, the base station 304 uses a PDCCH scheduling command to reply, and the PDCCH scheduling command is addressed to the RA-RNTI of the detected Msg1. The base station 304 also sends one or more RARs, which can identify the UE 302 to use the previous pilot sequence, and give the UE 302 one or more uplink scheduling resources and initial values for uplink timing advance.

In some embodiments, the UE 302 may monitor a single RAR window (eg, the first RAR window) starting at a fixed duration (eg, a predetermined duration) after one of the plurality of Msg1 is transmitted. The fixed duration can be zero time or several symbols in FDD and TDD, respectively. The fixed duration can be calculated from the last symbol at the end of the preamble before transmission. The single RAR window is started after the first Msg1 of the plurality of Msg1 is sent or after a predetermined duration after the last Msg1 of the plurality of Msg1 is sent. The size of the RAR window can be in units of symbols. The size of the RAR window can be configured by the network via high-level signaling (for example, the layer above the PHY in the protocol stack module 226 in Figure 2), or it can be the same size as the RAR window used for a single Msg1 transmission No additional signaling is required. For example, after sending the preamble, the RAR window may start with a fixed duration of X symbols. If multi-beam operation is considered, the fixed duration of X symbols can be the same for all DL synchronization signal (SS) blocks. FIG. 5C shows an exemplary configuration of a single RAR window for multiple Msg1 transmissions.

In some embodiments, the UE 302 may monitor multiple RAR windows. After sending one of the multiple Msg1, each RAR window can start with a fixed duration. Each RAR window may have the same size (for example, time duration). It should be understood that the present application is not limited to that multiple RAR windows start simultaneously and/or have the same size. The UE can monitor any RAR window configured by the network. FIGS. 5A-5B show exemplary configurations of multiple RAR windows for multiple Msg1 transmissions.

In some embodiments, an indication of which one or more of the transmitted Msg1 is detected by the base station 304 may be explicitly carried in the RAR. For example, the configuration of the detected RACH transmission timing of Msg1 may be explicitly sent in RAR. However, explicit signaling may require additional fields in the RAR content for contention-free RACH.

Alternatively or additionally, the indication of which one or more of the plurality of transmitted Msg1 is detected by the base station 304 may also be implied by one or more signatures associated with the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities. The one or more signatures may include at least one of the RA-RNTI value, the RAR window, and the control region of the PDCCH used for scheduling RAR.

In some embodiments, if the multiple Msg1 transmissions are sent on different RACH occasions, the UE 302 can derive which Msg1 was detected by the RA-RNTI value used to detect the RAR, where the different RACH timings are -Frequency resources and are associated with different RA-RNTI values. For example, if the RA-RNTI value is determined in units of symbols, as long as the multiple RACH transmission timings are in different symbols, the UE may determine which Msg1 the base station detects based on the RA-RNTI value associated with the received RAR.

In some embodiments, the UE 302 can detect which Msg1 is derived by monitoring different RAR windows in response to the Msg1 sent at different RACH transmission occasions. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the UE has two beams (ie, beam 1 and beam 2), and each beam transmits Msg1 during two different RACH transmission opportunities. Each of the two beams is associated with a corresponding RAR window. Therefore, the UE can derive which Msg1 is detected by monitoring the RAR window associated with the two beams. In some embodiments, during the time when the base station 304 sends one or more RARs, the UE 302 may determine which Msg1 or which are detected based on one or more RAR windows associated with one or more RACH transmission opportunities .

In some embodiments, the control region of the PDCCH may include CORESET and search space. CORESET can specify the frequency position and symbol duration of the control area. The search space can specify the timing and period of the control area. In some embodiments, CORESET may be associated with RACH transmission opportunities. For example, as shown in Figure 7A, if the UE has selected RACH transmission occasion #1 (RACH transmission occasion #1, RO #1) for Msg1 transmission, it will be configured in the control resource set #1 (CORESET) according to the network #1) The PDCCH of the RAR corresponding to the monitoring schedule. If RO#2 is selected for Msg1 transmission, it will use CORESET#2 to monitor the corresponding RAR. In this way, the UE can determine which preamble is detected on which RACH transmission occasion. Alternatively or additionally, the search space may be associated with RACH transmission opportunities. For example, as shown in Figure 7B, the timing of the search spaces associated with these two ROs does not overlap. Therefore, if the UE detects the PDDCH of the scheduled RAR, the UE can determine which preamble on which RACH transmission timing the network has detected.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a RACH process 400 based on contention according to some embodiments. If the UE is not assigned a preamble index, the UE uses a contention-based random access process. This usually occurs as part of a process called RRC connection establishment.

For example, the UE 402 wishes to send an RRC message called RRC Connection Request to the base station 404, which requests action from RRC idle (RRC_IDLE) to RRC connection (RRC_CONNECTED). The UE 402 has no PUSCH resources on which to send the message, and no PUCCH resources on which to send a scheduling request, so it triggers the RACH process 400.

In act 406, the base station 404 sends to the UE 402 the DL SS including the cell search and the DL beam pair identification and the master information block (MIB) and remaining minimum system information (RMSI) Read and carry the system information (SI) of RACH configuration carried in RMSI.

In act 408, the UE 402 randomly selects one or a plurality of preamble sequences from those that can be used in the contention-based process, and then passes one or more of the UE 402 at the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities before the RAR window ends. Multiple antennas send multiple PRACH preambles (or Msg1), where the RAR window can be configured by the network. If other UEs choose to use the same preamble sequence to send on the same resource block, there is a risk of competition. In act 410, the base station 404 sends a scheduling command to the UE 402 via the PDCCH, and then sends one or more RARs (Msg2) via the PDSCH, which can address the PRACH preamble or preamble index of the detected Msg1. In act 412, the UE 402 transmits its RRC message (RRC connection request (Msg3)) via the PUSCH using uplink resources. In act 414, the base station 404 sends a contention resolution (Msg4). In act 416, the UE 402 sends the RRC connection completion to the base station 404.

Similar to the contention-free RACH process, the indication of which one or more of the multiple Msg1 sent by the base station 404 can be sent explicitly in the RAR, and/or by one or more associated with the multiple RACH transmission opportunities or Multiple signature hints. In addition to the possible signatures described for the contention-free RACH process 300, the contention-based RACH process 400 may contain signatures such as the PRACH preamble or preamble index, which may be used by the base station to reserve specific resources for PRACH Block.

The UE 402 may determine which Msg1 or Msg1 was detected by reading the detected previous pilot index in one or more received RARs. The PRACH preamble or preamble index can be associated with multiple RACH transmission opportunities through higher layer signaling (eg, a handover command). For example, the reserved preamble index of the kth dedicated RACH opportunity is k0 + k, the reserved preamble index of the (k + 1) dedicated RACH opportunity is k0 + k + 1, and so on. When the received RAR contains k0 + k preamble index, the UE knows that Msg1 sent at the kth RACH transmission opportunity has been detected. Alternatively, the correlation information between the multiple RACH transmission opportunities and the PRACH preamble or preamble index may be partially given by higher layer signaling and partially pre-defined in the network specification.

The UE 402 may also determine which TX beam or beams to use in the next UL transmission, for example, Msg3 in act 412. If one or more received RARs are a single RAR, or correspond to a single Msg1 that has been sent by UE 402, if the Msg1 is detected from the received RAR, if the preamble index and/or RACH transmission timing information is It is indicated explicitly that the UE 402 can determine which UL TX beam to use by reading the preamble index and/or the RACH transmission timing information. For example, when multiple Msg1 transmissions are performed at multiple RACH transmission opportunities, the UE 402 may apply different TX beam indexes. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 402 may determine which UL TX beam to use based on the detected Msg1 indicated by one or a plurality of received RARs, which may carry an indication that the detected The explicit or implicit signal of Msg1 and the association information between the TX beam of the UE and the detected Msg1.

If multiple RARs are received or the received RARs correspond to multiple Msg1s that the UE 402 has sent, the UE 402 may determine which UL TX beam or beams to use based on the performance indicator (eg, the detected power level of Msg1) In the next UL transmission. The performance indicator can be carried in the received RAR. For example, the UE 402 may compare the performance indicators carried in the RAR sent by the base station 404 and select one or more TX beams with the highest performance indicators. Alternatively or additionally, if the network specification permits and is configured by the base station 404 sending one or more RARs, the UE 402 may use one or more UL resources scheduled in one or more received RARs and The corresponding one or multiple TX beams of the UE are used together for the next UL transmission.

FIG. 6 shows a method for sending a plurality of Msg1 by a UE (eg, UE 102, UE 302, and UE 402) in a RACH process (eg, contention-free RACH process 300, contention-based RACH process 400) according to some embodiments. Exemplary method 600. In act 602, before the end of the first RAR window, the UE may send a plurality of Msg1 on a plurality of RACH transmission occasions. In act 604, the UE may monitor one or more received RARs during one or more RAR windows configured by the network. In act 606, the UE may determine which one or more of the plurality of Msg1s based on the explicit signal carried in one or more RARs, and/or based on one or more signatures associated with the multiple RACH transmission opportunities Detected. The one or more signatures may include at least one of a PRACH preamble or preamble index, RA-RNTI value, RAR window, and a control region of a PDCCH configured for scheduling RAR. In act 608, the UE may determine which of the plurality of antennas should be used based on the antenna index explicitly carried in one or more RARs, or based on the detected Msg1 indicated by one or more RARs The next uplink transmission. It should be understood that the UE does not have to perform every action in method 600 to send a plurality of Msg1. In some embodiments, the UE may perform part of the actions in method 600 to send a plurality of Msg1. For example, the UE 302 may perform actions 602-606 in the contention-free RACH process 300. In some embodiments, in addition to actions 602-608, the UE may perform other actions to send a plurality of Msg1. For example, when the RAR does not carry an explicit signal indicating which one or more of the plurality of Msg1 are detected, the UE may associate the plurality of RACH transmission opportunities with one or more of the above-mentioned signatures. Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5A-Figure 5C describe examples of how the UE associates the signature with multiple RACH transmission opportunities.

Techniques that operate according to the principles described herein can be implemented in any suitable way. The flow and decision block of the above flowchart represent the steps and actions that can be included in the algorithms that perform these various flows. Algorithms derived from these processes can be implemented as software that integrates and guides the operation of one or more single-purpose or multi-purpose processors, and can be implemented as functionally equivalent circuits, such as digital signal processing (Digital Signal Processing) , DSP) circuit or Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or can be implemented in any other suitable way. It should be understood that the flowcharts contained herein do not depict the syntax or operation of any particular circuit or any particular programming language or type of programming language. Rather, the flowchart shows functional information that can be used by those of ordinary skill in the art to manufacture circuits or implement computer software algorithms to perform the processing of specific devices of the type of technology described herein. It should also be understood that unless otherwise indicated herein, the specific steps and/or sequence of actions described in each flowchart is merely an illustration of an algorithm that can be implemented, and may be included in the embodiments and examples of principles described herein Variety.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the techniques described herein may be embodied as computer-executable instructions implemented as software that includes application software, system software, firmware, middleware, embedded code, or any other suitable type of computer code. Such computer executable instructions can be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programs or scripting tools, and can also be compiled into executable machine language code or intermediate code executed on a framework or virtual machine.

When the technology described herein is embodied as computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions may be implemented in any suitable manner, including as a plurality of functional facilities, each of which provides one or more operations to complete Implementation of operational algorithms. However, the "functional facilities" of the generating entity are the structural components of the computer system. When integrated with and executed by one or more computers, the one or more computers perform a specific operational role. The functional facility may be a part of the software element or the entire software element. For example, the functional facility may be implemented as a process function, or as a discrete process, or as any other suitable unit process. If the technology described herein is implemented in multiple functional facilities, each functional facility may be implemented in its own way; all such functional facility implementations need not be implemented in the same way. In addition, these functional facilities can be properly executed in parallel and/or serially, and can use shared memory on the computer they are running on, use messaging protocols, or transfer information between each other in any other suitable way .

Generally, functional facilities include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. Generally, the functions of functional facilities can be combined or dispersed in the system in which they operate as needed. In some embodiments, one or more functional facilities that perform the techniques herein can together form a complete software package. In alternative embodiments, these functional facilities may be adapted to interact with other unrelated functional facilities and/or processes to implement software program applications.

This article describes some exemplary functional facilities for performing one or more tasks. However, it should be understood that the described functional facilities and task divisions are merely illustrations of types of functional facilities that can implement the exemplary technologies described herein, and the embodiments are not limited to implementation with any specific number, division, or type of functional facilities. In some embodiments, all functions may be implemented in a single functional facility. It should also be understood that in some embodiments, some of the functional facilities described herein may be implemented together with or separate from other functional facilities (ie, as a single unit or a separate unit), or some of the functional facilities may not Implementation.

In some embodiments, computer-executable instructions that implement the techniques described herein (when implemented in one or more functional facilities or in any other way) may be encoded on one or more computer-readable media to direct the media Provide functionality. Computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disk drives, optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs), persistent or non-persistent solid-state memories (eg, Flash memory, magnetic RAM, etc.) or any other suitable storage medium. Such computer-readable media can be implemented in any suitable manner. As used herein, "computer-readable medium" (also referred to as "computer-readable storage medium") refers to a tangible storage medium. Tangible storage media are non-transitory and have at least one physical, structural component. In "computer-readable media" as used herein, at least one physical, structural component has at least one physical characteristic that can be used in the process of creating a medium with embedded information, the process of recording information on it, or using The information encoding medium changes in some way during any other process. For example, the magnetization state of a part of the physical structure of the computer-readable medium can be changed during the recording process.

In addition, some of the above technologies include actions that store information (eg, data and/or instructions) in certain ways for use by these technologies. In some implementations of these techniques-such as implementations of such techniques as computer-executable instructions-the information may be encoded on a computer-readable storage medium. Where specific structures are described in this article as a beneficial format for storing the information, these structures can be used to inform the physical organization of the information when encoding on the storage medium. These advantageous structures can then provide functions to the storage medium by affecting the operation of one or more processors interacting with information; for example, by increasing the efficiency of computer operations performed by the processors.

In some, but not all embodiments, the technology may be embodied as computer-executable instructions, which may be executed on or operated on one or more suitable computing devices of any suitable computer system (or , One or more processors of one or more computing devices) can be programmed to execute computer-executable instructions. When instructions are stored in a manner accessible by the computing device or processor, the computing device or processor can be programmed to execute the instructions, for example, in data memory (eg, on-chip cache memory or instruction registers, via the bus) Accessible computer-readable storage media, computer-readable storage media accessible via one or more networks, and accessible via devices/processors, etc.). Functional facilities containing such computer-executable instructions can be coordinated with a single multi-purpose programmable digital computing device, share processing power, and coordinate a system of two or more multi-purpose computing devices that perform the techniques described herein, dedicated to performing A single computing device or a coordinated system of computing devices (co-located or geographically distributed) of the described technology, one or more Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for performing the technology described in this article, Or any other suitable system operation integration and guide its operation.

The computing device includes at least one processor, network adapter, and computer-readable storage medium. The computing device may be, for example, a desktop or laptop personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart mobile phone, a server, or any other suitable computing device. The network adapter may be in any suitable computing network to enable the computing device to communicate with any other suitable computing device in wired and/or wireless communication with any suitable hardware and/or software. The computing network may include wireless access points, switches, routers, gateways, and/or other network equipment, as well as any suitable wired and/or wired for exchanging data between two or more computers (including the Internet) Or wireless communication media or media. The computer-readable medium may be suitable for storing data to be processed and/or instructions to be executed by the processor. The processor can process data and execute instructions. The materials and instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

In addition, the computing device may have one or more components and peripheral devices, including input and output devices. Among other things, these devices can be used to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens for output presentation and speakers or other sound generating devices for output audio presentation. Examples of input devices that can be used for user interfaces include keyboards and pointing devices such as mice, touch pads, and digital tablets. As another example, the computing device may receive input information through speech recognition or other audio formats.

Embodiments have been described that implement these techniques in circuit and/or computer executable instructions. It should be understood that some embodiments may be in the form of methods, where at least one example has been provided. The actions performed as part of the method can be sequenced in any suitable way. Therefore, an embodiment may be constructed in which actions are performed in a different order than shown, which may include performing some actions at the same time, even if shown as sequential actions in the exemplary embodiment.

The various aspects of the above embodiments can be used alone, in combination, or in various arrangements not specifically discussed in the previously described embodiments, so their application is not limited to the components described in the foregoing description or shown in the drawings Details and layout. For example, aspects described in one embodiment can be combined with aspects described in other embodiments in any way.

The use of ordinal terms such as "first", "second", and "third" in the scope of patent application to modify the elements of the patent scope does not mean that one element of the patent scope is compared to another element of the patent scope Has any priority, priority order or order, or temporary order of actions to perform the method, is only used as a label to combine one patent scope element with a specific name and another element with the same name (but used to use the ordinal number Terminology) to distinguish between the elements of the scope of patent application.

Moreover, the wording and terminology used here are for descriptive purposes and should not be considered limiting. The use of "comprising", "including", "having", "containing", "including" and their variations in this document is intended to cover the items listed thereafter and equivalents as well as additional items.

The term "exemplary" used herein means used as an example, embodiment, or illustration. Therefore, any embodiments, implementations, processes, features, etc. described herein as exemplary should be understood as illustrative examples, and unless otherwise indicated, should not be understood as preferred or beneficial examples.

Having thus described a certain number of aspects of at least one embodiment, it should be understood that various changes, modifications, and improvements will be readily conceived by those having ordinary knowledge in the art. Such changes, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of the present invention, and are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the principles described herein. Therefore, the foregoing description and drawings are only exemplary.

100~Wireless communication system; 102, 302, 402 ~ user equipment; 104, 304, 404~ base station; 106A, 106B, 108A, 108B, 108C ~ antenna; 110~Wireless communication channel; 112~uplink; 114~downlink; 211~Memory; 212~ processor; 213~RF module; 215~Baseband module; 230~Management module; 231~Configuration and control module; 232~Service continuity module; 228~Application module; 227~TCP/IP protocol stack module; 226~ Communication protocol stacking module; 225~NAS; 224~AS/RRC; 223~PDCP/RLC; 222~MAC; 221~PHY; 306, 308, 310, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 602, 604, 606, 608 ~ action; Process ~300, 400; Method ~600.

In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component shown in each drawing is represented by the same numeral. For clarity, not every component is labeled in every drawing. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, but the focus is on illustrating various aspects of the technology and equipment described herein. Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments. Figure 2 shows an exemplary UE according to some embodiments. Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a contention-free RACH process according to some embodiments. Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the RACH process based on contention according to some embodiments. FIGS. 5A-5C are timing diagrams illustrating alternative configurations of RAR windows for transmission of multiple PRACH preambles (or Msg1) according to some embodiments. FIG. 6 shows an exemplary method for the UE to send a plurality of Msg1 in the RACH process according to some embodiments. FIG. 7A shows a schematic diagram of a control resource set of a PDCCH associated with different RACH transmission opportunities according to some embodiments. FIG. 7B shows a schematic diagram of the search space of the PDCCH associated with different RACH transmission opportunities according to some embodiments.

400~process; 402~User equipment; 404~Base station; 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416 ~ action.

Claims (20)

A method for executing a random access channel process, the method includes: Before the end of a first random access response window, a user equipment sends a plurality of messages 1 on a plurality of random access channel transmission opportunities; and Determine the plurality based on the explicit signal carried in one or more random access responses received by the user equipment, and/or based on one or more signatures associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels Which one or more of message 1 was detected. The method for executing a random access channel process as described in item 1 of the patent scope, wherein the one or more signatures include a random access radio network temporary identifier value, wherein the random access radio network temporary The identifier value is associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels that sent the plurality of messages 1. The method for executing a random access channel process as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or more signatures include one or more random access response windows, in which the one or more random accesses One or more random access responses are sent during the response window. The method for executing a random access channel process as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein, The one or more signatures include the control area of the physical downlink control channel configured for scheduling random access responses, The control area contains the control resource set and search space, and The control resource set and/or the search space are associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels. The method for executing a random access channel process as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein, The one or more signatures include the physical random access channel preamble or preamble index, and The physical random access channel preamble or preamble index is completely or partially associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels through higher layer signaling. A user equipment for performing a random access channel process, which includes: Plural antennas; and A processor in communication with a memory configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, which causes the processor to: Before the end of a first random access response window, send a plurality of messages 1 on the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels through one or more of the plurality of antennas; and Determine the plurality based on the explicit signal carried in one or more random access responses received by the user equipment, and/or based on one or more signatures associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels Which one or more of message 1 was detected. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or more signatures include physical random access channel preamble or preamble index, random access radio network temporary identifier value, random access response At least one of a window and a control area of a physical downlink control channel configured to schedule random access responses. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or more signatures include a random access radio network temporary identifier value, wherein the random access radio network temporary identifier value and the transmitted The transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels of the transmission of the plurality of messages 1 is related. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or more signatures include a plurality of random access response windows during the period during which the one or more random access responses are sent. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, in which The one or more signatures include the control area of the physical downlink control channel configured for scheduling random access responses, The control area contains the control resource set and search space, and The control resource set and/or the search space are associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, in which The one or more signatures include the physical random access channel preamble or preamble index, and The physical random access channel preamble or preamble index is completely or partially associated with the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels through higher layer signaling. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein, if the one or more random access responses are a single random access response or correspond to a single message 1 of the plurality of messages 1, the processor It is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory, which causes the processor to: Determine which of the plurality of antennas based on the antenna index explicitly carried in the one or more random access responses, or based on the detected message 1 indicated by the one or more random access responses Used for the next uplink transmission. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein if the one or more random access responses are more than one random access response or correspond to more than one message 1 in the plurality of messages 1 , The processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory, which causes the processor to: Based on the performance indicator carried in the received multiple random access responses, it is determined which of the multiple antennas is used for the next uplink transmission. The user equipment as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein if the one or more random access responses are more than one random access response or correspond to more than one message 1 of the plurality of messages 1 , The processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory, which causes the processor to: If the network specification permits and is configured by the base station that sent the one or more random access responses, use one or more of the scheduled ones in the one or more random access responses through the corresponding antenna of the user equipment The uplink resource is used for the next uplink transmission. A user equipment for performing a random access channel process, which includes: Plural antennas; and A processor in communication with a memory configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, which causes the processor to: Before the end of a first random access response window, send a plurality of messages 1 on the transmission timing of the plurality of random access channels through one or more of the plurality of antennas, and Based on one or more random access responses received by the user equipment during one or more random access response windows configured by the network, it is determined which one or more of the plurality of messages 1 are detected. The user equipment as described in item 15 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or more random access response windows are the first random access response window, and the first random access response window is in the plurality of messages 1 After one of them is sent, it starts after a predetermined duration. The user equipment as described in item 16 of the patent application scope, wherein the size of the first random access response window is configured by the network via high-level signaling, or is configured to be randomly stored with a single message 1 transmission The size of the response window is the same. The user equipment as described in item 16 of the patent application scope, wherein the predetermined duration after the first message 1 of the plurality of messages 1 or the last message 1 of the plurality of messages 1 is sent After that, the first random access response window is started. The user equipment as described in item 15 of the patent application scope, wherein the one or a plurality of random access response windows are a plurality of random access response windows, and each random access response window is in the plurality of messages 1 A predetermined duration starts after one is sent and each random access response window has the same duration. The user equipment as described in item 15 of the patent application scope, wherein determining which one or more of the plurality of messages 1 is detected, including reading the dominant carried in the one or more random access responses The signal, or derived from the one or more signatures carried in the one or more random access responses.

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