WO2023079324A1

WO2023079324A1 - Apparatus and method of wireless communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023079324A1
Application number: PCT/IB2021/000759
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hao Lin
Original assignee: Orope France Sarl
Priority date: 2021-11-04
Filing date: 2021-11-04
Publication date: 2023-05-11

Abstract

An apparatus and a method of wireless communication are provided. The method by a user equipment (UE) includes applying a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance includes a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method of wireless communication, which can provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

[0002] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) refer to networks, or segments of networks, using a spacebome vehicle or an airborne vehicle for transmission. Spaceborne vehicles include satellites including low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbiting (MEO) satellites, geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) satellites, and highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellites. Airborne vehicles include high altitude platforms (HAPs) encompassing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) including lighter than air (LTA) unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and heavier than air (HTA) UAS, all operating in altitudes typically between 8 and 50 km, quasi-stationary.

[0003] Communication via a satellite is an interesting means thanks to its well-known coverage, which can bring the coverage to locations that normally cellular operators are not willing to deploy either due to non-stable crowd potential client, e.g., extremely rural, or due to high deployment cost, e.g., middle of ocean or mountain peak. Nowadays, the satellite communication is a separate technology to a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) cellular technology. Coming to 5G era, these two technologies can merge together, i.e., we can imagine having a 5G terminal that can access to a cellular network and a satellite network. The NTN can be good candidate technology for this purpose. It is to be designed based on 3GPP new radio (NR) with necessary enhancement.

[0004] In NTN, different satellite deployment scenarios can be used. When LEO satellite is deployed, satellite velocity can augment up to more than 7 km/s, which is greatly beyond a maximum mobility speed experienced in a terrestrial network, e.g., high-speed train has a maximum speed of 500 km/h. For this reason, a transmitter as well as a receiver will face a much wider range of frequency offset and/or Doppler offset (shift). This frequency offset and/or Doppler offset (shift), due to high velocity of satellite motion, will become a severe issue to be addressed in the NTN network. However, in legacy terrestrial, there is no specified work on the frequency offset and/or Doppler offset (shift) mitigation.

[0005] Internet of things (loT) operation is critical in remote areas with low/no cellular connectivity for many different industries, including e.g., transportation (maritime, road, rail, air) & logistics, solar, oil & gas harvesting, utilities, farming, environment monitoring, and mining etc. The capabilities of narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) are a good fit to the above but will require satellite connectivity to provide coverage beyond terrestrial deployments, where loT connectivity is required. There is an urgent need for a standardized solution allowing global loT operation anywhere on Earth, in view of other solutions already available. It is important that satellite NB-IoT be defined in a complementary manner to terrestrial deployments.

[0006] In NTN, due to a high velocity of a satellite as well as a half-duplex of loT device, there is a need for designing a gap in which a user equipment (UE) may perform a synchronization, a timing advance adjustment, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus (such as a user equipment (UE) and/or a base station) and a method of wireless communication, which can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

SUMMARY

[0008] An object of the present disclosure is to propose an apparatus (such as a user equipment (UE) and/or a base station) and a method of wireless communication, which can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

[0009] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) comprises applying a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

[0010] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication by a base station comprises controlling a user equipment (UE) to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

[0011] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

[0012] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a base station comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to control a UE to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

[0013] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the above method.

[0014] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a chip includes a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the above method.

[0015] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, causes a computer to execute the above method.

[0016] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product includes a computer program, and the computer program causes a computer to execute the above method. [0017] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program causes a computer to execute the above method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art more clearly, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

[0019] FIG. 1A is a block diagram of one or more user equipments (UEs) and a base station (e.g., gNB or eNB) of communication in a communication network system (e.g., non-terrestrial network (NTN) or a terrestrial network) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. IB is a block diagram of one or more user equipments (UEs) and a base station (e.g., gNB or eNB) of communication in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of wireless communication performed by a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system including a base station (BS) and a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating that a BS transmits 3 beams to the ground forming 3 footprints according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an uplink-downlink timing relation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a timing advance calculation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a timing advance calculation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0029] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Specifically, the terminologies in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for describing the purpose of the certain embodiment, but not to limit the disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 1A illustrates that, in some embodiments, one or more user equipments (UEs) 10 and a base station (e.g., gNB or eNB) 20 for transmission adjustment in a communication network system 30 (e.g., nonterrestrial network (NTN) or terrestrial network) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are provided. The communication network system 30 includes the one or more UEs 10 and the base station 20. The one or more UEs 10 may include a memory 12, a transceiver 13, and a processor 11 coupled to the memory 12 and the transceiver 13. The base station 20 may include a memory 22, a transceiver 23, and a processor 21 coupled to the memory 22 and the transceiver 23. The processor 11 or 21 may be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures and/or methods described in this description. Layers of radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 11 or 21. The transceiver 13 or 23 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21, and the transceiver 13 or 23 transmits and/or receives a radio signal.

[0031] The processor 11 or 21 may include application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The memory 12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/or other storage device. The transceiver 13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in the memory 12 or 22 and executed by the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 can be implemented within the processor 11 or 21 or external to the processor 11 or 21 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 via various means as is known in the art.

[0032] In some embodiments, the communication between the UE 10 and the BS 20 comprises non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication. In some embodiments, the base station 20 comprises spacebome platform or airborne platform or high altitude platform station. The base station 20 can communicate with the UE 10 via a spacebome platform or airborne platform, e.g., NTN satellite 40, as illustrated in FIG. IB.

[0033] FIG. IB illustrates a system which includes a base station 20 and one or more UEs 10. Optionally, the system may include more than one base station 20, and each of the base stations 20 may connect to one or more UEs 10. In this disclosure, there is no limit. As an example, the base station 20 as illustrated in FIG. IB may be a moving base station, e.g., spacebome vehicle (satellite) or airborne vehicle (drone). The UE 10 can transmit transmissions to the base station 20 and the UE 10 can also receive the transmission from the base station 20. Optionally, not shown in FIG. IB, the moving base station can also serve as a relay which relays the received transmission from the UE 10 to a ground base station or vice versa. Optionally, a satellite 40 may be seen as a relay point which relays the communications between a UE 10 and a base station 20, e.g. gNB/eNB. Spacebome platform includes satellite 40 and the satellite 40 includes LEO satellite, MEO satellite, and GEO satellite. While the satellite 40 is moving, the LEO satellite and MEO satellite are moving with regard to a given location on earth. However, for GEO satellite, the GEO satellite is relatively static with regard to a given location on earth. In some embodiments of this disclosure, some embodiments focus on the LEO satellite type or MEO satellite type, for which some embodiments of the disclosure aim at resolving an issue of wider range of frequency offset and/or Doppler offset (shift).

[0034] Spacebome platform includes satellite and the satellite includes low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite, medium earth orbiting (MEO) satellite and geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) satellite. While the satellite is moving, the LEO and MEO satellite is moving with regard to a given location on earth. However, for GEO satellite, the GEO satellite is relatively static with regard to a given location on earth. [0035] In an NTN system, a user equipment (UE) needs to pre -compensate a propagation delay for a service link and a feeder link by using a timing advance. The timing advance (TA) at least includes a first component NTA,uE_s_Pecific and a second component NTA, common- The first component refers to the timing advance (TA) for compensating a service link delay, i.e., between a satellite and the UE. The second component refers to the TA for compensating a feeder link delay, i.e., between satellite and a reference point, or the gateway (GW). In this disclosure, some examples present a method for timing advance calculation.

[0036] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

[0037] In some embodiments, the processor 21 is configured to control the UE 10 to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability. In some embodiments, the PDCCH comprises a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH).

[0038] FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 200 includes: a block 202, applying a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

[0039] FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 of wireless communication by a base station 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 300 includes: a block 302, controlling a UE to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information. This can solve issues in the prior art, provide a method for timing advance calculation, reduce signaling overhead, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide high reliability.

[0040] In some embodiments, the first information comprises a satellite ephemeris data. In some embodiments, the satellite ephemeris data corresponds to a reference time. In some embodiments, the satellite ephemeris data is for a serving cell or a serving satellite. In some embodiments, the second information comprises one or more common timing advance related parameters. In some embodiments, the first component is relevant to the first information and/or a first target time instance. In some embodiments, the first component is calculated based on an update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the first target time instance is relevant to a time domain resource for the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the time domain resource assumes the timing advance equal to zero or assumes the timing advance equal to a current existing timing advance. In some embodiments, the current existing timing advance is the timing advance when UE receives a DCI scheduling the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the current existing timing advance is the timing advance when UE receives the first information and/or the second information. In some embodiments, the update of the first information comprises a variation of the first information from a reference time to the first target time instance.

[0041] In some embodiments, the reference time comprises at least one of the followings: wherein the reference time is relevant to a time of the UE receiving the first information, the reference time is relevant to a time of the first information being transmitted by a satellite, or the reference time is an epoch time for being received the first information at a satellite side. In some embodiments, a duration between the reference time and the first target time instance comprises a propagation delay for the first information transmitted from the satellite to the UE and a time interval from the UE receiving the first information to the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the second component is relevant to the second information and/or a second target time instance and/or the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the second component is calculated based on a variation of the timing advance from the reference time to the second target time instance or the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the second target time instance is a delay prior to the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the delay is relevant to a transmission delay from the satellite to the UE at the first target time instance. In some embodiments, the delay is calculated based on the update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance.

[0042] In some embodiments, the delay for a service link is between the satellite and the UE. In some embodiments, the delay for a feeder link is between the satellite and a reference point or between the satellite and a gateway. In some embodiments, the first component is calculated based on a satellite position and a UE position at a target time instance. In some embodiments, the target time instance is relevant to a resource for the UE to transmit a target uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the UE uses a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information to obtain the UE position at the target time instance. In some embodiments, the UE relies on a satellite ephemeris data to obtain the satellite position at the target time instance. In some embodiments, the satellite ephemeris data is provided by a base station to the UE.

[0043] In some embodiments, the satellite ephemeris data refers to the satellite position at a reference time. In some embodiments, the reference time comprises an epoch time. In some embodiments, the reference time is relevant to a slot in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted, or the reference time is relevant to a window starts in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted. In some embodiments, the window is pre-configured or pre-defined. In some embodiments, the window is used for the UE to monitor a system information update. In some embodiments, the satellite sends the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the reference time, and the satellite ephemeris data is received at the UE from the reference time plus a first time interval.

[0044] In some embodiments, the UE uses the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the target time instance, which is a predicted ephemeris data corresponding to the first time interval plus a second time interval after the reference time. In some embodiments, the reference point is a point between the satellite and the gateway. In some embodiments, the reference point is selected by the base station. In some embodiments, the UE calculates the second component based on the target time instance, and the target time instance is derived from the satellite. In some embodiments, the UE sets TO as the target time instance at a UE side, and the UE calculates SatTO as a corresponding satellite target time instance at a satellite side. In some embodiments, there is a third time interval between SatTO and TO.

[0045] In some embodiments, when the UE transmits the uplink transmission, the UE pre-compensates the delay for the service link. In some embodiments, the uplink transmission for uplink timing and downlink timing at the satellite side is aligned. In some embodiments, the third time interval corresponds to a service link propagation delay from the satellite to the UE. In some embodiments, the third time interval is equal to the first time interval. In some embodiments, the third time interval is a service link delay at TO. In some embodiments, the second component is calculated based on common time advance related parameters. In some embodiments, the common time advance related parameters comprise a parameter relevant to the second component at the reference time and/or one or more parameters used to calculate a variation of the second component for a period of time. In some embodiments, the period of time is from the reference time to the target time instance. In some embodiments, the second component is calculated as a common time advance at the reference time plus the variation for a period from the reference time up to SatTO.

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates a communication system including a base station (BS) and a UE according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Optionally, the communication system may include more than one base station, and each of the base stations may connect to one or more UEs. In this disclosure, there is no limit. As an example, the base station illustrated in FIG. 1 A may be a moving base station, e.g., spacebome vehicle (satellite) or airborne vehicle (drone). The UE can transmit transmissions to the base station and the UE can also receive the transmission from the base station. Optionally, not shown in FIG. 4, the moving base station can also serve as a relay which relays the received transmission from the UE to a ground base station or vice versa.

[0047] Spacebome platform includes satellite and the satellite includes LEO satellite, MEO satellite and GEO satellite. While the satellite is moving, the LEO and MEO satellite is moving with regards to a given location on earth. However, for GEO satellite, the GEO satellite is relatively static with regards to a given location on earth. A moving base station or satellite, e.g., in particular for LEO satellite or drone, communicates with a user equipment (UE) on the ground. Due to long distance between the UE and the base station on satellite, the beamformed transmission is needed to extend the coverage.

[0048] Optionally, as illustrated in FIG. 5, where a base station is integrated in a satellite or a drone, and the base station transmits one or more beams to the ground forming one or more coverage areas called footprint. In FIG. 5, an example illustrates that the BS transmits three beams (beam 1, beam 2 and beam3) to form three footprints (footprint 1, 2 and 3), respectively. Optionally, 3 beams are transmitted at 3 different frequencies. In this example, the bit position is associated with a beam. FIG. 5 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a moving base station, e.g., in particular for LEO satellite or drone, communicates with a user equipment (UE) on the ground. Due to long distance between the UE and the base station on satellite, the beamformed transmission is needed to extend the coverage. As illustrated in FIG. 5, where a base station is transmitting three beams to the earth forming three coverage areas called footpoints. Moreover, each beam may be transmitted at dedicated frequencies so that the beams for footprint 1, 2 and 3 are non-overlapped in a frequency domain. The advantage of having different frequencies corresponding to different beams is that the inter-beam interference can be minimized. [0049] In some embodiments, a moving base station (BS), e.g., in particular for LEO satellite or drone, communicates with a user equipment (UE) on the ground. A round trip time (RTT) between the BS and the UE is time varying. The RTT variation is related to a distance variation between the BS and the UE. The RTT variation rate is proportional to a BS motion velocity. To ensure a good uplink synchronization, the BS will adjust an uplink transmission timing and/or frequency for the UE. In some embodiments of this disclosure, a method for uplink synchronization adjustment is provided, and the uplink synchronization adjustment comprises at least one of the followings: a transmission timing adjustment or a transmission frequency adjustment. Optionally, the transmission timing adjustment further comprises a timing advance (TA) adjustment.

[0050] FIG. 6 illustrates an uplink-downlink timing relation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates that, in some embodiments, downlink, uplink, and sidelink transmissions are organized into frames with T_f = (A/^Af /100)- T_c = 10 ms duration, each consisting of ten subframes of T_sf = (A/_maxA_f/1000).T_c = 1 ms duration. T_f refers to a radio frame duration. A/ refers to subcarrier spacing. n_f refers to a system frame number (SFN). 7 refers to a basic time unit for NR. T_f refers to a subframe duration. The number of consecutive orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) symbols per subframe is

refers to number of OFDM symbols per subframe for subcarrier spacing configuration //. A_Sy^_b refers to number of symbols per slot.

refers to number of slots per subframe for subcarrier spacing configuration [i. Each frame is divided into two equally-sized halfframes of five subframes each with half-frame 0 consisting of subframes 0 to 4 and half-frame 1 consisting of subframes 5 to 9. There is one set of frames in the uplink and one set of frames in the downlink on a carrier. Uplink frame number i for transmission from the UE starts TTA=(NTA+NTA,offset)T_c+first component + second component, before the start of the corresponding downlink frame at the UE where _{TA offset} is given by TS 38.213, except for a message A (msgA) transmission on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) where T_TA = 0 is used. T_TA refers to timing advance between downlink and uplink. _TA refers to timing advance between downlink and uplink. _{TA offset} refers to a fixed offset used to calculate the timing advance. T_c refers to a basic time unit for NR. The first component and the second component are in unit of T_c,

[0051] The examples given in this disclosure can be applied for loT device or NB-IoT UE in NTN systems, but the method is not exclusively restricted to NTN system nor for loT devices or NB-IoT UE. The examples given in this disclosure can be applied for NR systems, LTE systems, or NB-IoT systems.

[0052] Example of calculating a service link timing advance (TA) or the first component

[0053] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a timing advance calculation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a service link (SL) TA or the first component is calculated based on a satellite position and a UE position at a target time instance. The target time instance is relevant to a resource for a UE to transmit a target uplink transmission. In this example, the UE receives a DCI in slot n as illustrated in FIG. 7, and the DCI schedules an uplink transmission in slot n’. The example sets the time instance at slot n’ as TO. In this example, it is assumed the TO follows the UE side downlink timing, i.e., assuming TA equal to zero. The SL delay at TO is based on the satellite position at TO and the UE position at TO. The UE uses GNSS information to obtain the UE position at TO. However, to obtain satellite position at TO, the UE needs to rely on a satellite ephemeris data, which is provided by a network such as a base station. The satellite ephemeris data refers to a satellite position at a reference time, this example call it an epoch time. The reference time is from the satellite perspective, that is the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the reference time at the satellite side. The reference time may be relevant to the slot in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted, or the reference time may be a window start in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted. The window may be pre -configured or pre-defined. The window is used for the UE to monitor system information update.

[0054] In some examples, when the UE calculates the SL delay or the first component at TO, the UE also considers the SL propagation delay. As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the satellite sends satellite ephemeris data corresponding to an epoch time, and the satellite ephemeris data is received at the UE side, the satellite ephemeris data already passes through a first time interval (time interval 1). Then if the target time instance is TO, it means that TO is a second time interval (time interval 2) after Tl, which is the time interval 1 plus time interval 2 after the epoch time. Since the received satellite ephemeris data corresponds to the epoch time, the UE can use the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to TO, which is a predicted ephemeris data corresponding to the time interval 1 plus the time interval 2 after the epoch time.

[0055] Example of calculating a common TA or the second component

[0056] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a timing advance calculation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a common TA is relevant to a feeder link (FL) delay, which refers to a propagation delay from a satellite to a gateway or from the satellite to a reference point, where the reference point may be a point between the satellite and the gateway. The reference point is selected by a network such as a base station.

[0057] In some examples, when UE calculates the common TA or the second component, the UE calculates the common TA based on a target time instance, while the target time instance is derived from the satellite perspective. In some examples, the UE first sets TO as the target time instance at the UE side, then the UE calculates the corresponding TO at the satellite side, this example calls it SatTO. FIG. 5 illustrates that, in some examples, there is a third time interval (time interval 3) between SatTO and TO. Given that when the UE transmits an uplink transmission, the UE pre -compensates a service link delay. It implies that if a timing advance is correctly calculated, uplink timing and downlink timing at the satellite side is aligned. In this case, the time interval 3 only corresponds to a service link propagation delay from the satellite to the UE. In some examples, the time interval 3 is equal to the time interval 1. Alternatively, the time interval 3 is the service link delay at TO time instance.

[0058] In some examples, the common TA is calculated based on common TA related parameters, in which there is a parameter relevant to common TA at an epoch time and there is also one or more parameters used to calculate the common TA variation for a period of time, where the period of time can be from the epoch time to a target time instance. Based on the above analysis, the common TA can be calculated as a common TA at the epoch time plus the variation for a period from the epoch time up to SatTO time instance.

[0059] Commercial interests for some embodiments are as follows. 1. Solving issues in the prior art. 2. Providing a method for timing advance calculation. 3. Reducing signaling overhead. 4. Providing a good communication performance. 5. Providing a high reliability. 6. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are used by 5G-NR chipset vendors, V2X communication system development vendors, automakers including cars, trains, trucks, buses, bicycles, moto-bikes, helmets, and etc., drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), smartphone makers, communication devices for public safety use, AR/VR device maker for example gaming, conference/seminar, education purposes. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of “techniques/processes” that can be adopted in 3GPP specification to create an end product. Some embodiments of the present disclosure could be adopted in the 5G NR unlicensed band communications. Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose technical mechanisms.

[0060] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into the system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 9 illustrates the system 700 including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, a baseband circuitry 720, an application circuitry 730, a memory/storage 740, a display 750, a camera 760, a sensor 770, and an input/output (I/O) interface 780, coupled with each other at least as illustrated. The application circuitry 730 may include a circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, such as graphics processors, application processors. The processors may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems running on the system.

[0061] The baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single -core or multi-core processors. The processors may include a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry may handle various radio control functions that enables communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WEAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0062] In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency. The RF circuitry 710 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 710 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a radio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, RF circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

[0063] In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be embodied in whole or in part in one or more of the RF circuitry, the baseband circuitry, and/or the application circuitry. As used herein, “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry, the application circuitry, and/or the memory/storage may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC). The memory/storage 740 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for system. The memory/storage for one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), and/or non-volatile memory, such as flash memory.

[0064] In various embodiments, the RO interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power supply interface. In various embodiments, the sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and/or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry and/or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.

[0065] In various embodiments, the display 750 may include a display, such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, the system 700 may be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, an AR/VR glasses, etc. In various embodiments, system may have more or less components, and/or different architectures. Where appropriate, methods described herein may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium, such as a non-transitory storage medium.

[0066] A person having ordinary skill in the art understands that each of the units, algorithm, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are realized using electronic hardware or combinations of software for computers and electronic hardware. Whether the functions run in hardware or software depends on the condition of application and design requirement for a technical plan. A person having ordinary skill in the art can use different ways to realize the function for each specific application while such realizations should not go beyond the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art that he/she can refer to the working processes of the system, device, and unit in the above-mentioned embodiment since the working processes of the above-mentioned system, device, and unit are basically the same. For easy description and simplicity, these working processes will not be detailed.

[0067] It is understood that the disclosed system, device, and method in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be realized with other ways. The above-mentioned embodiments are exemplary only. The division of the units is merely based on logical functions while other divisions exist in realization. It is possible that a plurality of units or components are combined or integrated in another system. It is also possible that some characteristics are omitted or skipped. On the other hand, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communicative coupling operate through some ports, devices, or units whether indirectly or communicatively by ways of electrical, mechanical, or other kinds of forms.

[0068] The units as separating components for explanation are or are not physically separated. The units for display are or are not physical units, that is, located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units are used according to the purposes of the embodiments. Moreover, each of the functional units in each of the embodiments can be integrated in one processing unit, physically independent, or integrated in one processing unit with two or more than two units.

[0069] If the software function unit is realized and used and sold as a product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium in a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical plan proposed by the present disclosure can be essentially or partially realized as the form of a software product. Or, one part of the technical plan beneficial to the conventional technology can be realized as the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of commands for a computational device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to run all or some of the steps disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, a readonly memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a floppy disk, or other kinds of media capable of storing program codes.

[0070] While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A wireless communication method by a user equipment (UE), comprising: applying a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises a satellite ephemeris data.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second information comprises one or more common timing advance related parameters.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first component is relevant to the first information and/or a first target time instance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first component is calculated based on an update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the first target time instance is relevant to a time domain resource for the uplink transmission.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the time domain resource assumes the timing advance equal to zero or assumes the timing advance equal to a current existing timing advance.

8. The method of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the update of the first information comprises a variation of the first information from a reference time to the first target time instance.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the reference time comprises at least one of the followings: wherein the reference time is relevant to a time of the UE receiving the first information; wherein the reference time is relevant to a time of the first information being transmitted by a satellite; or wherein the reference time is an epoch time for being received the first information at a satellite side.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein a duration between the reference time and the first target time instance comprises a propagation delay for the first information transmitted from the satellite to the UE and a time interval from the UE receiving the first information to the first target time instance.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the second component is relevant to the second information and/or a second target time instance and/or the first target time instance.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the second component is calculated based on a variation of the timing advance from the reference time to the second target time instance or the first target time instance.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the second target time instance is a delay prior to the first target time instance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the delay is relevant to a transmission delay from the satellite to the UE at the first target time instance.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the delay is calculated based on the update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance.

16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the delay for a service link is between the satellite and the UE.

17. The method of any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the delay for a feeder link is between the satellite and a reference point or between the satellite and a gateway.

18. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the first component is calculated based on a satellite position and a UE position at a target time instance.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the target time instance is relevant to a resource for the UE to transmit a target uplink transmission.

20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein the UE uses a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information to obtain the UE position at the target time instance.

21. The method of any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the UE relies on a satellite ephemeris data to obtain the satellite position at the target time instance.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the satellite ephemeris data is provided by a base station to the UE.

23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein the satellite ephemeris data refers to the satellite position at a reference time.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the reference time comprises an epoch time.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein the reference time is relevant to a slot in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted, or the reference time is relevant to a window starts in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the window is pre -configured or pre-defined.

27. The method of claim 25 or 26, wherein the window is used for the UE to monitor a system information update.

28. The method of any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein the satellite sends the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the reference time, and the satellite ephemeris data is received at the UE from the reference time plus a first time interval.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the UE uses the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the target time instance, which is a predicted ephemeris data corresponding to the first time interval plus a second time interval after the reference time.

30. The method of any one of claims 17 to 29, wherein the reference point is a point between the satellite and the gateway.

31. The method of any one of claims 17 to 30, wherein the reference point is selected by the base station.

32. The method of any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein the UE calculates the second component based on the target time instance, and the target time instance is derived from the satellite.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the UE sets TO as the target time instance at a UE side, and the UE calculates SatTO as a corresponding satellite target time instance at a satellite side.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein there is a third time interval between SatTO and TO.

35. The method of any one of claims 1 to 34, wherein when the UE transmits the uplink transmission, the UE pre-compensates the delay for the service link.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the uplink transmission for uplink timing and downlink timing at the satellite side is aligned.

37. The method of any one of claims 34 to 36, wherein the third time interval corresponds to a service link propagation delay from the satellite to the UE.

38. The method of any one of claims 34 to 37, wherein the third time interval is equal to the first time interval.

39. The method of any one of claims 34 to 37, wherein the third time interval is a service link delay at TO.

40. The method of any one of claims 1 to 39, wherein the second component is calculated based on common time advance related parameters.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the common time advance related parameters comprise a parameter relevant to the second component at the reference time and/or one or more parameters used to calculate a variation of the second component for a period of time.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the period of time is from the reference time to the target time instance.

43. The method of claim 41 or 42, wherein the second component is calculated as a common time advance at the reference time plus the variation for a period from the reference time up to SatTO.

44. The method of any one of claims 2 to 43, wherein the satellite ephemeris data corresponds to a reference time.

45. The method of any one of claims 2 to 44, wherein the satellite ephemeris data is for a serving cell or a serving satellite.

46. The method of any one of claims 7 to 45, wherein the current existing timing advance is a timing advance when the UE receives a downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the uplink transmission.

47. The method of any one of claims 7 to 46, wherein the current existing timing advance is a timing advance when the UE receives the first information and/or the second information.

48. The method of any one of claims 1 to 47, wherein an uplink frame number for transmission from the UE starts TTA=(NTA+NTA,offset)T_c+ first component + second component, before a start of a corresponding downlink frame at the UE where TTA refers to a timing advance between downlink and uplink, NTA refers to the timing advance between downlink and uplink, NTA, offset refers to a fixed offset used to calculate the timing advance, and T_c refers to a basic time unit for new radio (NR).

49. The method of claim 48, wherein TTA is equal to zero is used.

50. The method of any one of claims 1 to 49, wherein the first component and/or the second component are in unit of T_c,, and T_c refers to a basic time unit for NR.

51. A wireless communication method by a base station, comprising:

Controlling user equipment (UE) to apply a timing advance for an uplink transmission, wherein the timing advance comprises a first component and/or a second component, the first component is relevant to a first information, and the second component is relevant to a second information.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the first information comprises a satellite ephemeris data.

53. The method of claim 51 or 52, wherein the second information comprises one or more common timing advance related parameters.

54. The method of any one of claims 51 to 53, wherein the first component is relevant to the first information and/or a first target time instance.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the first component is calculated based on an update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance.

56. The method of claim 54 or 55, wherein the first target time instance is relevant to a time domain resource for the uplink transmission.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the time domain resource assumes the timing advance equal to zero or

15 assumes the timing advance equal to a current existing timing advance.

58. The method of any one of claims 55 to 57, wherein the update of the first information comprises a variation of the first information from a reference time to the first target time instance.

59. The method of claim 57, wherein the reference time comprises at least one of the followings: wherein the reference time is relevant to a time of the UE receiving the first information; wherein the reference time is relevant to a time of the first information being transmitted by a satellite; or wherein the reference time is an epoch time for being received the first information at a satellite side.

60. The method of claim 58 or 59, wherein a duration between the reference time and the first target time instance comprises a propagation delay for the first information transmitted from the satellite to the UE and a time interval from the UE receiving the first information to the first target time instance.

61. The method of any one of claims 51 to 60, wherein the second component is relevant to the second information and/or a second target time instance and/or the first target time instance.

62. The method of any one of claims 51 to 61, wherein the second component is calculated based on a variation of the timing advance from the reference time to the second target time instance or the first target time instance.

63. The method of claim 61 or 62, wherein the second target time instance is a delay prior to the first target time instance.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the delay is relevant to a transmission delay from the satellite to the UE at the first target time instance.

65. The method of claim 63 or 64, wherein the delay is calculated based on the update of the first information corresponding to the first target time instance.

66. The method of any one of claims 51 to 65, wherein the delay for a service link is between the satellite and the UE.

67. The method of any one of claims 51 to 66, wherein the delay for a feeder link is between the satellite and a reference point or between the satellite and a gateway.

68. The method of any one of claims 51 to 67, wherein the first component is calculated based on a satellite position and a UE position at a target time instance.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the target time instance is relevant to a resource for the UE to transmit a target uplink transmission.

70. The method of claim 68 or 69, wherein the UE uses a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information to obtain the UE position at the target time instance.

71. The method of any one of claims 68 to 70, wherein the UE relies on a satellite ephemeris data to obtain the satellite position at the target time instance.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the satellite ephemeris data is provided by a base station to the UE.

73. The method of claim 71 or 72, wherein the satellite ephemeris data refers to the satellite position at a reference time.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein the reference time comprises an epoch time.

75. The method of claim 73 or 74, wherein the reference time is relevant to a slot in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted, or the reference time is relevant to a window starts in which the satellite ephemeris data is transmitted.

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76. The method of claim 75, wherein the window is pre -configured or pre-defined.

77. The method of claim 75 or 76, wherein the window is used for the UE to monitor a system information update.

78. The method of any one of claims 74 to 77, wherein the satellite sends the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the reference time, and the satellite ephemeris data is received at the UE from the reference time plus a first time interval.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein the UE uses the satellite ephemeris data corresponding to the target time instance, which is a predicted ephemeris data corresponding to the first time interval plus a second time interval after the reference time.

80. The method of any one of claims 67 to 79, wherein the reference point is a point between the satellite and the gateway.

81. The method of any one of claims 67 to 80, wherein the reference point is selected by the base station.

82. The method of any one of claims 51 to 80, wherein the UE calculates the second component based on the target time instance, and the target time instance is derived from the satellite.

83. The method of claim 82, wherein the UE sets TO as the target time instance at a UE side, and the UE calculates SatTO as a corresponding satellite target time instance at a satellite side.

84. The method of claim 82, wherein there is a third time interval between SatTO and TO.

85. The method of any one of claims 51 to 84, wherein when the UE transmits the uplink transmission, the UE pre-compensates the delay for the service link.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the uplink transmission for uplink timing and downlink timing at the satellite side is aligned.

87. The method of any one of claims 84 to 86, wherein the third time interval corresponds to a service link propagation delay from the satellite to the UE.

88. The method of any one of claims 84 to 87, wherein the third time interval is equal to the first time interval.

89. The method of any one of claims 84 to 87, wherein the third time interval is a service link delay at TO.

90. The method of any one of claims 51 to 89, wherein the second component is calculated based on common time advance related parameters.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the common time advance related parameters comprise a parameter relevant to the second component at the reference time and/or one or more parameters used to calculate a variation of the second component for a period of time.

92. The method of claim 91, wherein the period of time is from the reference time to the target time instance.

93. The method of claim 91 or 92, wherein the second component is calculated as a common time advance at the reference time plus the variation for a period from the reference time up to SatTO.

94. The method of any one of claims 52 to 93, wherein the satellite ephemeris data corresponds to a reference time.

95. The method of any one of claims 52 to 94, wherein the satellite ephemeris data is for a serving cell or a serving satellite.

96. The method of any one of claims 57 to 95, wherein the current existing timing advance is a timing advance when the UE receives a downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the uplink transmission.

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97. The method of any one of claims 57 to 96, wherein the current existing timing advance is a timing advance when the UE receives the first information and/or the second information.

98. The method of any one of claims 51 to 97, wherein an uplink frame number for transmission from the UE starts TTA=(NTA+NTA,offset)T_c+ first component + second component, before a start of a corresponding downlink frame at the UE where TTA refers to a timing advance between downlink and uplink, NTA refers to the timing advance between downlink and uplink, NTA, offset refers to a fixed offset used to calculate the timing advance, and T_c refers to a basic time unit for new radio (NR).

99. The method of claim 98, wherein TTA is equal to zero is used.

100. The method of any one of claims 51 to 99, wherein the first component and/or the second component are in unit of T_c,, and T_c refers to a basic time unit for NR.

101. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 50.

102. Abase station, comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 51 to 100.

103. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 100.

104. A chip, comprising: a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 100.

105. A computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 100.

106. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 100.

107. A computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 100.

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