CN113259967B

CN113259967B - Auxiliary cell activation method and device

Info

Publication number: CN113259967B
Application number: CN202110142753.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 唐治汛; 余仓纬; 林烜立
Original assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Current assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-12
Filing date: 2021-02-02
Publication date: 2024-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2041-02-02
Also published as: CN113259967A; TWI762192B; TW202131723A; WO2021159303A1

Abstract

The invention provides a method and a device for activating a secondary cell, wherein one embodiment of the invention provides a method for activating a secondary cell, which comprises the following steps: receiving, by a user equipment, a first medium access control element on a primary cell in a wireless communication system for activating a first secondary cell and a second secondary cell, wherein the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in a same frequency band and no active serving cell for the user equipment operates in the same frequency band; and when the first secondary cell is a known secondary cell, the second secondary cell is an unknown secondary cell, and both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in the same frequency range 2 band, activating the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell in parallel without performing cell search, reference signal received power measurement and reporting on the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell. By utilizing the invention, the secondary cell activation can be performed faster.

Description

Auxiliary cell activation method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to New Radio (NR) communications.

Background

This background description is provided for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

A device capable of carrier aggregation may receive or transmit simultaneously on multiple component carriers to increase the overall data rate. The above device may thus operate in multiple cells transmitted by the same base station, wherein the multiple cells may include a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (scells). The secondary cell may be dynamically activated (activated) or deactivated (deactivated) to accommodate a burst of data (burst) between the device and the base station. In this way, high data throughput can be achieved while the device can also maintain low power consumption.

Disclosure of Invention

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for activating a secondary cell, including: receiving, by a user equipment, a first medium access control element on a primary cell in a wireless communication system for activating a first secondary cell and a second secondary cell, wherein the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in a same frequency band and no active serving cell for the user equipment operates in the same frequency band; and when the first secondary cell is a known secondary cell, the second secondary cell is an unknown secondary cell, and both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in the same frequency range 2 band, activating the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell in parallel without performing cell search, reference signal received power measurement and reporting on the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for secondary cell activation, comprising circuitry to: receiving, at a user equipment, a first medium access control element from a primary cell in a wireless communication system for activating a first secondary cell and a second secondary cell, wherein the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in a same frequency band and no active serving cell for the user equipment operates in the same frequency band; and when the first secondary cell is a known secondary cell, the second secondary cell is an unknown secondary cell, and both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in the same frequency range 2 band, activating the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell in parallel without performing cell search, reference signal received power measurement and reporting on the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the secondary cell activation method set forth in the present invention.

By utilizing the method and the device, the secondary cell activation can be performed faster.

Drawings

Various embodiments of the present invention, as set forth by way of example, will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and in which:

fig. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another wireless communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a single SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 4 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another single SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another single SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 6 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a multiple SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another multiple SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 8 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a single SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 9 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a multiple SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 10 is an exemplary flowchart of a multiple SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 11 is an exemplary schematic diagram of an exemplary device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication system 100 may include a User Equipment (UE) 101 and a Base Station (BS) 105. The wireless communication system 100 may be a cellular network. The UE 101 may be a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet, etc. The base station 105 may be a gNB in 5G NR. The 5G NR is a radio interface specified in a communication standard developed by 3 GPP. Thus, the UE 101 can communicate with the base station 105 in accordance with the 3GPP NR communication protocol defined in the various communication standards. For example, the system 100 may be a stand-alone 5G system with the UE 101 interacting with a 5G core network (not shown) via the base station 105. In other examples, system 100 may operate according to a communication standard other than the 5G NR standard.

In an example, the UE 101 and the base station 105 are configured to communicate with each other using carrier aggregation techniques. Accordingly, a plurality of cells 110 and 120a-120n may be configured between the UE 101 and the base station 105. Different numbers of serving cells may be configured depending on the capabilities of the UE 101. Each of the plurality of cells may correspond to a downlink component carrier and an uplink component carrier. Alternatively, cells may be asymmetrically configured to transmit only uplink component carriers or downlink component carriers on the corresponding serving cell.

The downlink component carriers may be transmitted in parallel, allowing for an overall wider downlink bandwidth and correspondingly higher downlink data rates. Similarly, uplink component carriers may be transmitted in parallel, allowing for an overall wider uplink bandwidth and correspondingly higher uplink data rates. The different cells may operate in frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) mode or time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) mode. For cells configured with TDD mode, different uplink-downlink configurations may be used for different component carriers.

The plurality of cells includes a PCell 110 and one or more scells 120a-120n. For example, after an initial access procedure, the PCell 110 may be established as a first serving cell. A radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) connection may be established in the PCell 110, and the scells 120a-120n may then be configured through RRC signaling on the PCell 110.

In an embodiment, the UE 101 may dynamically activate or deactivate one or more SCells 120a-120n under control of the base station to accommodate bursts of data traffic from the base station 105 to the UE 101. For example, when downlink traffic is low, scells 120a-120n may be in a deactivated state. When the base station 105 detects the arrival of a large amount of downlink traffic, the base station 105 may send an activate command to the UE 101. In some embodiments, the activation command may be carried in a media access control (medium access control, MAC) Control Element (CE), downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI), etc. The activation command may specify one or more SCell indices corresponding to a group of scells to be activated.

In response to receiving the activation command from the base station 105, the UE 101 may perform an SCell activation procedure to activate the SCell indicated by the activation command. The SCell activation procedure may include a series of operations, and thus may cause a SCell activation delay. For example, a series of operations may include parsing the MAC CE to obtain an activation command, preparing (or configuring) hardware and software (e.g., protocol stack software application, radio Frequency (RF) module tuning) to receive and transmit on the SCell, automatic gain control (automatic gain control, AGC) tuning (tuning) and time-frequency synchronization on the SCell, and so forth.

After the SCell activation procedure, the UE 101 is ready to perform normal operations on the activated SCell. For example, operations may include sounding reference signal (sounding reference signal, SRS) transmission, channel state information (channel state information, CSI) reporting, physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) monitoring, physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH) monitoring, physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) transmission, and so forth.

On the other hand, when the base station 105 detects that there is less local downlink traffic, the base station 105 may send a deactivate command to the UE 101. The deactivation command may indicate which activated scells are to be deactivated. In response, the UE 101 may deactivate those indicated scells and terminate operation on those deactivated scells. Alternatively, other mechanisms (e.g., timers) may be employed to deactivate the SCell.

As described above, when the amount of data traffic sent by the base station 105 to the UE 101 is high, the SCell may be activated to increase the data rate of the UE 101; while when the data traffic is low, scells may be disabled to save power for the UE 101.

To utilize the above SCell activation/deactivation mechanism, the SCell activation delay is expected to be short to avoid the latency of bursty downlink traffic sent by the base station 105 to the UE 101.

In an embodiment, system 100 may apply carrier aggregation over a frequency band, where the frequency band is divided into two different frequency ranges: frequency range 1 (frequency range 1, fr 1) and frequency range 2 (frequency range 2, fr 2). For example, FR1 may comprise a frequency band below 6GHz, while FR2 may comprise a frequency band of 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz, as defined in the 3GPP standard. In one example, PCell 110 may operate at FR1, and scells 120a-120n may operate at FR2. When new spectrum is available, the range of FR1 or FR2 can be extended.

In general, scells operating in FR1 do not use beamforming techniques. For scells operating in FR2, both the UE 101 and the base station 105 may employ beamforming techniques and perform directional transmissions (e.g., beam scanning operations). A synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB) may be sent for time-frequency synchronization and system information broadcasting. For example, the base station 105 may perform beam scanning, transmitting SSB sequences (which may be referred to as SSB burst sets) in different directions to cover a cell. Each SSB in the SSB burst set is transmitted in a different transmission (Tx) beam. Such SSB burst sets may be periodically transmitted with a period of 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, etc.

The UE 101 may also perform a beam scanning procedure for scells operating in FR 2. In this process, the UE 101 may receive different SSB burst sets using different receive (Rx) beams. For each link corresponding to a pair of Tx and Rx beams, the UE 101 may measure the reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP) of each beam-to-link at the physical layer (L1), which may be referred to as L1-RSRP measurements. The L1-RSRP measurement may indicate the link quality corresponding to each beam pair link and thus may indicate which Tx beams (each indicated by SSB index) are the best choice for downlink transmission and which Rx beams are the best choice for receiving signals from the Tx beams. In some examples, the L1-RSRP measurement may be reported to the base station 105.

In some examples, L1-RSRP measurements may be reported from the physical layer to the RRC layer at the UE 101. The RRC layer may derive a layer 3 (L3) RSRP measurement from the L1-RSRP measurement. An L3-RSRP measurement report including beam level (beam level) measurements of a particular SCell may be sent from the UE 101 to the base station 105. When multiple scells are configured, the L3-RSRP measurement report may include beam level and/or cell level (cell level) measurements. For example, based on the beam level information, the base station 105 may determine Tx beams for each SCell; and based on the cell level information, the base station 105 may select the best SCell for activation or deactivation.

For example, at a base station, when a signal such as PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI Reference Signal (RS) or the like is transmitted, the best Tx beam may be selected based on the beam-to-link quality indicated by the L3-RSRP report or the L1-RSRP report. The base station 105 may indicate to the UE101 the SSB corresponding to the selected Tx beam (e.g., by SSB index). The indication may be in the form of a transmission configuration indication (transmission configuration indication, TCI) status sent from the base station 105 to the base station 101. The TCI state may provide SSB (via SSB index) and quasi co-location (QCL) types (e.g., type D (Type-D) corresponding to spatial receiver parameters). The TCI state may indicate to the UE101 that the SSB is quasi co-located with the signal to be sent according to the QCL type. When the Type-D TCI state is indicated, the UE101 may receive a signal using the best Rx beam corresponding to the indicated SSB index based on the TCI state indicated by the SSB index and the previously acquired L1-RSRP (or L3-RSRP) measurement result.

When beamforming is employed and TCI mechanisms are utilized, in an SCell activation process that activates an SCell, the SCell activation delay may further include a time to wait for a TCI status indication useful for certain operations related to the SCell activation process. For example, the TCI state may be sent to the UE101 in a MAC CE (or MAC CE activation command) to indicate SSB (in the form of SSB index) for PDCCH or PDSCH reception. Accordingly, a time-frequency synchronization operation may be performed based on the SSB, and an Rx beam corresponding to the SSB may be used for the time-frequency synchronization operation. In another example, a MAC CE (or MAC CE activation command) may be sent to the UE101 to activate a set of CSI RS resources. The MAC CE may also indicate an SSB index for CSI RS reception. Accordingly, an Rx beam corresponding to the indicated SSB index may be determined at the UE101 and used to measure the respective CSI RS. In the above example, receiving the above MAC CE may also cause a delay in the SCell activation procedure.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another wireless communication system 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The system 200 may employ a dual connection (dual connectivity, DC) mechanism to increase data throughput at the UE 201. The system 200 may include a UE 201 and two base stations 202-203. Base station 202 may act as a primary node and base station 203 may act as a secondary node. A first cell group 211, called primary cell group (master cell group, MCG), may be established between the primary node 202 and the UE 201, while a second cell group 231, called secondary cell group (secondary cell group, SCG), may be established between the secondary node 203 and the UE 201. MCG 211 may include PCell 210 and scells 220a-220n, while SCG 231 may include primary SCG cell 230 and scells 240a-240n.

In an embodiment, nodes 202 and 203 may each perform resource scheduling on MCG 211 and SCG 231. In some examples, RRC connection may be provided on PCell 210. In other examples, no RRC connection is provided on PScell 230 or SCells 220a-220n and 240a-240n. In addition, the configuration between the MCG 211 and SCG 231 may be independent. The configuration may include frequency band, bandwidth, number of component carriers, frame structure of component carriers (e.g., FDD or TDD), etc.

For each cell group 211 or 231, the PCell 210 or PSCell 230 may be established first, and the SCell may be configured through RRC signaling on the PCell 210. The state of the corresponding SCell adapted data traffic may then be activated or deactivated. For example, an SCell activation or deactivation command MAC CE may be received on PCell 210 to add or remove one or more scells belonging to MCG 211. Similarly, an SCell activation or deactivation command MAC CE may be received on PSCell 230 to add or remove one or more scells belonging to SCG 231.

In various embodiments, base stations 202 and 203 may employ different or the same radio access technologies (radio access technology, RAT). For example, both base stations 202 and 203 may employ 5G NR RATs. This configuration is referred to as NR-DC mode. Alternatively, base stations 202 and 203 may employ different RATs. This configuration is referred to as multi-RAT DC (MR-DC). For example, the primary node 202 employs a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) air interface (e.g., evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network, E-UTRAN)), while the secondary node 203 employs a 5G NR air interface. This configuration is known as EN-DC. Another DC mode is referred to as NE-DC, as compared to EN-DC. In NE-DC, the primary node may be a 5G gNB employing an NR air interface, and the secondary node may be an LTE eNB employing an E-UTRAN air interface.

The SCell activation delay reduction technique in the present invention may be applied to various scenarios where the UE is in standalone mode (example of fig. 1) or NR-DC or MR-DC (e.g., EN-DC or NE-DC) mode (example of fig. 2), and may activate one or more scells according to TCI state issued on the PCell or PSCell.

Fig. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a single SCell activation procedure 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. The UE 101, base station 105, and PCell 110 and SCells 120a-120n in the example of FIG. 1 may be used to explain the process 300. By performing process 300, an SCell (e.g., SCell 120 a) may be activated.

In the example of fig. 3, the PCell 110 has been established. Scells 120a-120n have been configured to UE 101 by base station 105. Accordingly, control signaling (e.g., MAC CE) may be received on the PCell 110 to activate or deactivate one of the scells 120a-120 n.

In addition, PCell 110 may operate on FR1 or FR2 (e.g., millimeter wave region). Scells 120a-120n may be configured to operate on FR 2. Accordingly, beamforming may be employed in scells 120a-120n and the TCI mechanism may be employed to indicate Rx beams at UE 101. In addition, semi-persistent (SP) CSI RS is used for CSI reporting on the respective SCell 120a-120 n. Accordingly, the MAC CE activation command may be used to activate the SP CSI RS resource set in process 300.

Further, SCell 120a may be the first SCell activated on the FR2 band in process 300. It is assumed that another SCell, e.g., SCell 120n, has been established on FR2 before SCell 120a and operates in a band adjacent to the band of SCell 120 a. Since scells 120a and 120n may be co-located, the beamformed radio channels of both scells 120a and 120n may have similar characteristics. Thus, when the SCell 120a is activated, the UE 101 may utilize the known channel characteristics of the SCell 120n to simplify the process 300 of activating the SCell 120 a. For example, in some cases, signaling of TCI status and/or CSI reports may not be required. Thus, when SCell 120a is not the first SCell activated on the FR2 band, the procedure for activating SCell 120a may be different from procedure 300.

Further, the process 300 may be performed under the assumption that the UE 101 is aware of the SCell 120 a. For example, the UE 101 has sent a valid L3-RSRP measurement report (or L1-RSRP measurement report) for the SCell 120a with an SSB index (beam-level information) before the UE 101 receives an activation command for activating the SCell 120 a. In addition, since the interval between the L3-RSRP measurement report and the activation command is sufficiently short (e.g., within a few SCell measurement periods or 5 DRX), the measurement results may be used to determine the TCI state needed to activate SCell 120 a. When the above conditions are met, the SCell 120a operating on FR2 is considered to be known to the UE 101.

For example, for a first SCell activation in the FR2 band, the SCell is considered known if the following condition is met:

(i) The UE has sent a valid L3-RSRP measurement report with SSB index a period of time before the UE receives PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (if applicable) and the latest activation command for semi-static CSI-RS for CQI reporting (if applicable), SCell activation command is received after L3-RSRP report and no later than the UE receives MAC-CE command for TCI activation. Wherein the "period of time" is 4s for a UE supporting power class 1 and 3s for a UE supporting power class 2/3/4.

(ii) During the reporting from L3-RSRP to a valid CQI report, the reported SSB with index is still detectable (detectable) according to the specific cell identification conditions, and the TCI state is selected based on one of the newly reported SSB indices.

In contrast, when the above conditions are not valid, the SCell 120a operating on FR2 is considered unknown to the UE 101. For example, for an unknown SCell, the activate commands for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (if applicable) and semi-static CSI-RS for CQI reporting (if applicable), and the configuration message for TCI of periodic CSI-RS for CQI reporting (if applicable) may be based on the latest valid L1-RSRP report.

In this scenario, after receiving an activation command to activate SCell 120a, UE 101 may perform an L1-RSRP measurement procedure to obtain beam-to-link quality, to obtain an L3-RSRP measurement report with beam level information, and to send the L3-RSRP measurement report to base station 105. Subsequently, based on the latest L3-RSRP measurement report, the base station 105 may send activation commands for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (if applicable) and semi-static CSI-RS (if applicable) for CQI reporting. Such an SCell activation procedure for activating an unknown SCell will incur a longer delay than procedure 300.

In fig. 3, process 300 may begin with receiving a MAC CE 341 for single SCell activation and sending a valid CSI report end at the end of CSI reporting process 325. Process 300 may include five stages 351-355.

At stage 351, a MAC CE 341 for single SCell activation may be received. The MAC CE 341 may be carried in the PDSCH 331 transmitted on the PCell 110. Subsequently, the UE 101 may decode Transport Blocks (TBs) from the PDSCH 331 and then perform cyclic redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) verification. When CRC verification is successful, the UE 101 may issueHybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK) feedback is sent. The delay between PDSCH 331 and ACK 332 may be denoted as T _HARQ 301。

The MAC CE 341 may specify an SCell index corresponding to SCell 120a such that the UE 101 knows that SCell 120a will be activated based on the configuration of scells previously received at PCell 110. In addition, the MAC CE 341 may indicate that multiple scells are used for activation.

At stage 352, one or more MAC CEs 342 on SCell 120a for channels and/or SP CSI-RS may be received on PCell 110. As an example, three PDSCH 333-335 in PCell 110 used to carry these MAC CEs 342 are shown in fig. 1. The first MAC CE, denoted MAC CE 342-1, may be a MAC CE used to indicate the TCI status of PDCCH reception on SCell 120a. The second MAC CE, denoted MAC CE 342-2, may be a MAC CE that activates the TCI state for PDSCH reception on SCell 120a. The third MAC CE, denoted MAC CE 342-3, may be a MAC CE for activating the SP CSI-RS resource transmitted on SCell 120a. MAC CE 342-3 may indicate a TCI state for receiving SP CSI-RS on the respective SP CSI-RS resources.

The SSB indicated by one of the TCI states identified by MAC CE 342-1 or 342-2 may then be used for time-frequency tracking on SCell 120a. SSB indicated by one of the TCI states identified by MAC CE 342-1 or 342-2 may also be used for PDCCH or PDSCH reception on SCell 120a. The SSB indicated by the TCI state identified by MAC CE 342-3 may then be used for CSI measurement and reporting by SCell 120a.

The order of arrival of PDSCH 333-335 may vary depending on the transmission decisions of base station 105. In one example, the SSB of the earlier of MAC CEs 342-1 or 342-2 is used for time-frequency tracking on SCell 120 a. Thus, once SSB is available, the UE 101 can proceed to the next operation without waiting for a late MAC CE to avoid delay. In one example, the SSB of one of MAC CEs 342-1 and 342-2 is designated for time-frequency tracking. Accordingly, the UE 101 may wait for the MAC CE before initiating the next operation. In addition, in some scenarios, one of MAC CEs 342-1 or 342-2 may not be transmitted.

As shown in fig. 3, reception in PDSCH 331And the last of the PDSCH 333-335, a signal denoted as T is generated _{uncertainty_MAC} Is a delay 311 of (1). In some examples, MAC CE342 may be carried by PDSCH 331. Correspondingly delay T _{uncertainty_MAC} Can be reduced to zero.

Corresponding to each of the PDSCHs 333-335, the UE 101 may send HARQ ACK feedback to the base station 105. In fig. 3, only the last ACK in PDSCH 333-335 is shown. Between the last of the PDSCH 333-335 receipt and the transmission of the ACK 336, what is denoted as T is generated _HARQ 315.

Although three PDSCH 333-335 are shown in fig. 3 for carrying MAC CEs 342-1, 342-2, and 342-3, respectively, in other embodiments MAC CEs 342-1, 342-2, and MAC CE 342-3 may be carried by fewer (one or two) PDSCH.

At stage 353, MAC CE processing and application processes (e.g., processes 321 and 322) may be performed. In process 321, the MAC layer of the UE 101 may receive the last TB of PDSCH 333-335 from the physical layer. The fields of the MAC CE are then parsed. A parsing process similar to process 321 may be performed for each MAC CE 342. Process 322 may include a software application and RF warm-up operations. Parameters (e.g., spatial receiver parameters, carrier frequency of SCell 120a, etc.) may be applied at UE 101 to prepare UE 101 for receiving synchronization signals from SCell 120 a.

Operations during stage 353 may cause a signal denoted as T _{MAC_CE} Is used to determine the delay 312. The delay T may be delayed in view of the UE 101 capabilities _{MAC_CE} 312 is limited to less than or equal to 3ms in order to control the total SCell activation delay.

At stage 354, a fine (fine) time-frequency synchronization process (e.g., processes 323 and 324) may be performed. In process 323, the UE 101 may wait for the arrival of the first complete SSB and perform receipt of the SSB. For example, the SSB captured by the UE 101 may be the SSB indicated by the TCI status of the MAC CE 342-1 or 342-2. The Rx beams used by the UE 101 to receive SSBs may be determined based on the TCI state of the MAC CE 342-1 or 342-2.

It may happen during process 323 that a process represented as T _FineTime Is a delay 313 of (c). T (T) _FineTime May be UE 101 completed pairingThe latest activation command for the MAC CE 342 for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (when applicable) and SP CSI-RS (if applicable), and the time period between the timing of the first fully available SSB corresponding to the TCI state of MAC CE 342-1 or 342-2.

In process 324, the UE 101 may process the received signal of the SSB and fine time-frequency tune accordingly. As such, the UE 101 is ready to monitor PDCCH and PDSCH of SCell 120a and perform CSI reporting procedure 325. Occurs during process 324, denoted T _SSB Is added to the delay 314 of (c). The delay T may be delayed in view of the UE 101 capabilities _SSB 314 are limited to less than or equal to 2ms in order to control the total SCell activation delay.

At a final stage 355, CSI reporting process 325 may be performed. Process 325 may include the following operations: the method includes obtaining a first available downlink CSI reference resource, performing processing for CSI reporting, and reporting CSI measurements using the first available CSI reporting resource. Accordingly, what is denoted as T may occur _{CSI_reporting} Delay of (1), delay T _{CSI_reporting} Comprising the following steps: an uncertainty period when the first available downlink CSI reference resource is acquired, a UE processing time for CSI reporting, and an uncertainty period when the first available CSI reporting resource is acquired.

It can be seen that the elapsed time of process 300 from receiving the SCell activation command in MAC CE 341 to sending the CSI report at the end of CSI reporting process 325 is:

T _HARQ +T _{activation_time} +T _{CSI_reporting} (1)

in the above expression, T _HARQ Is delay T _HARQ 301，T _{CSI_reporting} Is delay T _{CSI_reporting} 303，T _{activation_time} 302 may be T _{uncertainty_MAC} ,T _{MAC_CE} ,T _FineTime T is as follows _SSB A kind of electronic device.

T _{activation_time} ＝T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _{MAC_CE} +T _FineTime +T _SSB

When T is _{MAC_CE} And T _SSB Each taking a maximum value of 3ms and 2ms to calculate SCell excitationDelay T when the range of the live delay is reached _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +5ms

accordingly, if an SCell activation command is received in slot n, the UE 101 may send CSI reports no later than in the following slots and operate (e.g., PDCCH monitoring) for the activated SCell 120a:

the slot length of the NR depends on the subcarrier spacing used in SCell 120 a. For example, the slot lengths may be 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16ms, respectively, for sub-carrier intervals of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 KHz.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another single SCell activation procedure 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 400 improves upon process 300 to reduce SCell activation time. In process 300 of fig. 3, stage 353 does not begin until both the MAC CE for the channel (PDCCH TCI indicates MAC CE 342-1, PDSCH TCI activates MAC CE 342 (if applicable)) and the MAC CE for the SP CSI-RS (SP CSI-RS resource set activates MAC CE 342-3) are available. However, to reduce SCell activation delay, in process 400, the MAC CE for the SP CSI-RS is separated from the beginning of stage 353. In other words, stage 353 may begin even when no MAC CE for SP CSI-RS is received. This separation is possible because the fine time-frequency tracking process (323 and 324) of stage 354 is not dependent on the information provided by the MAC CE for the SP CSI-RS.

Accordingly, fig. 4 shows two separate time axes 401 and 402. The operation on the time axis 401 is similar to that in fig. 3, except that PDSCH (e.g., PDSCH 335) carrying MAC CE 342-3 for SP CSI-RS is excluded from MAC CE 342. Shown on time axis 401 is a MAC CE 442, which may correspond to MAC CEs 342-1 and 342-2.

On the time axis 402, a MAC CE 472 for SP CSI-RS is shown in parallel with the reception and processing 321-324 of the MAC CE 442Is received by the receiver. Specifically, at delay T _{uncertainty_SP} 461, a PDSCH 481 carrying a MAC CE 472 may be received on the PCell 110. Subsequently, at delay T _HARQ After 462, the UE 101 sends an ACK 482 at the PCell 110. Subsequently, at delay T _{MAC_CE} After 463, operations similar to those of processes 321 and 322 are performed. At delay T _{MAC_CE} 463, the MAC CE 472 is parsed and applied.

Based on the operation of the two time axes 401-402, the CSI reporting process 325 may start at the end time of the SSB processing process 324 or T _{MAC_CE} 463, the MAC CE process ends. Thus, when delay T _{uncertainty_SP} 461 specific delay T _{uncertainty_MAC} Long and T _{MAC_CE} The SCell activation delay for SCell 120a may be reduced when the MAC CE process during 463 ends earlier than SSB handling process 324.

Accordingly, the delay T in expression (1) _{activation_time} It can be estimated that:

T _{MAC_CE} +max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +T _SSB ,T _{uncertainty_SP} )

when T is _{MAC_CE} And T _SSB Delay T when the range of SCell activation delay is calculated with maximum values of 3ms and 2ms, respectively _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

3ms+max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +2ms,T _{uncertainty_SP} )

fig. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another single SCell activation process 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Unlike the process 400 where the UE 101 knows the SCell120a, the process 500 assumes that the UE 101 is not aware of the SCell120 a. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, process 500 includes an additional stage 551 between stages 351 and 352, as compared to process 400. During stage 551, L1-RSRP measurement processing is performed on the activated SCell120a and the measurement results are reported to the base station 105 on the PCell 110.

Specifically, process 500 begins at stage 351, where PDSCH 331 carrying SCell activated MAC CE341 is decoded and ACK 332 is sent on PCell 110. After stage 351, MAC CE processing processes (521 and 522) are performed and a delayed tmac_ce511 is generated. Operations 521 and 522 are similar to processes 321 and 322 in fig. 4. Subsequently, an AGC tuning process 523 and a cell search process 524 are sequentially performed.

In one embodiment, processes 523 and 524 cause a process represented as T _cell _{identification} _with _Rx _training Is a delay 512 of (2). T (T) _cell _{identification} _with _Rx _training Is the time for cell identification using Rx beam training. T (T) _cell _{identification} _with _Rx _training May include the time to AGC tuning and cell search using Rx beam training. In an exemplary embodiment, T _cell _{identification} _with _Rx _training Can be 24 x T _rs . Wherein T when the SSB measurement timing configuration (SSB measurement timing configuration, SMTC) of the activated SCell 120a has been provided to the UE 101 in the SCell addition message _rs May be SMTC periods for SCell 120 a. Alternatively T _rs May be an SMTC period for a measurement object (e.g., another SCell) having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing as SCell 120 a. In one example, if no SMTC configuration or measurement object is provided to the UE 101, it is assumed that SSB transmission period is 5ms, t _rs ＝5ms。

After the cell search procedure 524, an L1-RSRP measurement procedure 525 and an L1-RSRP reporting procedure 526 may be performed in sequence. In process 525, beam scanning with the Tx beam of the base station 105 and beam scanning with the Rx beam of the UE 101 may be performed on the SCell 120 a. Beam-to-link quality (e.g., RSRP) may be measured based on SSBs. In process 526, the L1-RSRP measurement results of SCell 120a may be reported to base station 105 on PCell 110. In another example, the L1-RSRP measurement results of SCell 120a may be provided from the physical layer of UE 101 to the RRC layer so that the L3-RSRP measurement results may be obtained accordingly and reported to base station 105 on PCell 110. The base station 105 may now know the beam-level link quality and may use the beam-level link quality to determine the TCI status carried in MAC CEs 442 and 472.

In general, stage 551 causes a delay

T _{MAC_CE} (511)+T _cell _{identification} _with _Rx _training +T _{L1-RSRP,measure} +T _{L1-RSRP,report} Wherein T is _{L1-RSRP,measure} 513 and T _{L1-RSRP,report} 514 correspond to processes 525 and 526, respectively. T (T) _{L1-RSRP,report} 514 may include the time to acquire CSI reporting resources.

After the L1-RSRP reporting process ends, operations similar to process 400 can be performed. For example, the MAC CE 442 for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI, and the MAC CE 472 for SP CSI-RS activation are received. The CSI reporting process (325 in fig. 4) is performed after performing fine time-frequency synchronization (323 and 324 in fig. 4).

As shown, unlike process 400, delay T _{uncertainty_MAC} 311 and T _{uncertainty_SP} 461 are each measured relative to the end of the L1-RSRP reporting process 526.

Thus, in process 500, delay T in expression (1) is considered to be unknown to SCell 120a _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

T _{MAC_CE} (511)+T _{cell identification with Rx training} +T _{L1-RSRP,measure} +T _{L1-RSRP,report} +T _HARQ +T _{MAC_CE} (312 or 463) +max (T) _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +T _SSB ,T _{uncertainty_SP} )

When T is _{MAC_CE} And T _SSB The delay T of process 500 when the range of SCell activation delays is calculated with each taking a maximum of 3ms and 2ms _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

6ms+T _{cell identification with Rx training} +T _{L1-RSRP,measure} +T _{L1-RSRP,report} +T _HARQ +max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +2ms,T _{uncertainty_SP} )

fig. 6 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a multiple SCell activation procedure 600 according to an embodiment of the invention. During process 600, one MAC CE command is received to activate two scells (one known and one unknown) operating on the same frequency band in FR 2. The example of fig. 1 may be used to explain process 600. The two scells may be a known first SCell 120n and an unknown second SCell 120a as shown in fig. 1.

Assuming that the unknown SCell 120a is activated alone without other active serving cells or known cells operating in the same FR2 band, the process 500 in the example of fig. 5 will be performed to activate SCell 120a. However, with a known SCell 120n located in the same FR2 band as SCell 120a, process 500 may be simplified and converted to process 600 and the activation delay of unknown SCell 120a may be reduced.

In some examples, when two scells 120n and 120a operate in the same FR2 band (intra-band) FR2SCell, the UE 101 may assume that the two scells are co-located and that the transmission signals from the two serving cells 120n and 120a may have the same downlink spatial transmission filter on one OFDM symbol in the same FR2 band. Thus, the Tx beams from scells 120n and 120a may have the same beam direction at the same time. The channels transmitted on scells 120n and 120a may have similar characteristics.

In process 600, SCell 120n is known to base station 105. Thus, the base station 105 knows the Tx beam quality of the SCell 120 n. Since scells 120a and 120n are in-band FR2 cells, the base station 105 may utilize knowledge of the Tx beam quality in SCell 120n to select the Tx beam and TCI state in the corresponding SCell 120a. As such, during the multiple SCell activation procedure 600, the unknown SCell 120a to be activated is not required to perform the L1-RSRP measurement and reporting procedure (e.g., operations 525 and 526 in the example of fig. 5 may not be performed).

Additionally, in some examples, when two scells 120n and 120a operate in the same FR2 band (in-band FR2 SCell), the UE 101 may further assume that the two scells have similar frame timing (frame timing). For example, in one example, the maximum receive timing difference (maximum receiving timing difference, MRTD) for in-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation in FR2 may be 260ns.

In process 600, SCell 120n is known to UE 101. Thus, the UE 101 knows the frame timing on the SCell 120 n. Since scells 120a and 120n are in-band FR2 cells, frame timing on SCell 120a may be established (e.g., may be established within the error range of MRTD). As such, cell search (or cell detection) may be avoided during the multiple SCell activation procedure 600 (e.g., operation 524 in the example of fig. 5).

Further, in some examples, for two scells 120n and 120a operating on the same FR2 band (in-band FR2 scells), the UE 101 may be configured with the same set of RF circuitry for receiving the two scells 120n and 120 a. Thus, RF module adjustment (e.g., spatial filter application for Rx beamforming, AGC settling) for both scells 120n and 120a may be performed simultaneously. When SCell 120n is known to UE 101 (AGC related parameters are known), a respective AGC settling process (e.g., operation 523 in fig. 5) may be skipped for both scells 120n and 120a during multi-SCell activation process 600.

Specifically, in process 600, a MAC command 641 to activate a known SCell 120n and an unknown SCell 120a may be received. The MAC command 641 may be carried in a MAC CE transmitted on the PDSCH. The UE101 may delay T in response to successfully decoding the PDSCH _HARQ The HARQ ACK is fed back in 601. The UE101 may parse the MAC CE to obtain the contents of the MAC command 641. At this point, the UE101 may know that the SCell 120n and 120a will be activated.

In an example, the UE101 may determine that SCell 120n is known, SCell 120a is unknown, and scells 120n and 120a are in-band FR2 scells based on the configuration and the operation history. Accordingly, the UE101 may decide not to perform AGC stabilization, cell search (cell detection), or L1-RSRP measurement and reporting for both SCell 120n and 120 a.

Subsequently, the UE101 may perform activation processes 600N and 600A in parallel with scells 120N and 120A, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6, processes 600N and 600A may be similar to the steps performed during stages 352-355, respectively, in two time axes 401-402 in process 400 shown in FIG. 4.

For example, in process 600N, T is passed through _{uncertainty_MAC} 611n, MAC commands 642-1n and 642-2n. HARQ ACKs corresponding to the last of MAC commands 642-1n and 642-2n may be sent, thereby causing T _HARQ 615 n. Thereafter, the MAC CE processing and application process may take T _{MAC_CE} 612n, then of duration T _FineTime 613n plus T _SSB 614 n.

For CSI-RS activation and corresponding TCI status indication, one may be at T _{uncertainty_SP} After which a MAC command 672n is received. In response, can be at T _HARQ 662n is delayed and then a HARQ ACK is transmitted. Subsequently, the MAC CE processing and application process may continue T _{MAC_CE} 663n. After the fine timing synchronization and CSI-RS MAC CE application are both completed, a CSI reporting process may be performed, which may result in T _{CSI_reporting} 603n.

For process 600A, the steps shown in FIG. 6 may be performed in a manner similar to process 600N. For example, delays 611a-615a, 661a-663a, and 603a in process 600A may be similar to 611N-615N,661N-663N, and 603N in process 600N.

Additionally, for process 600A, in some examples, the TCI configuration of the unknown SCell 120A may be different from the TCI configuration of the known SCell 120n because the timing/doppler configuration RS (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) of each serving cell may be configured independently. Thus, TCI and CSI-RS configurations (e.g., corresponding MAC commands) for scells 120n and 120a may not occur simultaneously.

Thus, in process 600A for activating unknown SCell 120A, delay T in expression (1) _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

T _{MAC_CE} (612 a or 663 a) +max (T) _{uncertainty_MAC} (611a)+T _FineTime (613a)+T _SSB (614a),T _{uncertainty_SP} (661a))

When T is _{MAC_CE} And T _SSB Delay T when the range of SCell activation delays is calculated with respective maximum values of 3ms and 2ms _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

3ms+max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} (611a)+T _FineTime (613a)+2ms,T _{uncertainty_SP} (661a))

in some examples, the SP CSI-RS may be replaced with a periodic CSI-RS for CSI measurement and reporting on the SCell to be activated. Corresponding to periodic CSI-RS, RRC signaling may be used to indicate the corresponding CSI-RS resources and TCI status, instead of CSI-RS activation MAC command 672n or 672a in the example of fig. 6. Process 600A may be adjusted in the following manner (process 600N is also similar).

The location of the MAC command 672a on the corresponding time axis 604 may be at T _{uncertainty_RRC} After a delay of (e.g., carried by PDSCH) an RRC message is received. Subsequent executable processes for processing and applying the configuration in the RRC message may cause a delay T _{RRC_delay} . The delay may correspond to periods 662a-663a. Accordingly, when the periodic CSI-RS is employed in the unknown SCell 120a to be activated, the delay T in expression (1) _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} (611a)+T _{MAC_CE} (612a)++T _FineTime (613a)+T _SSB (614a),T _{uncertainty_RRC} (661a)+T _{RRC_delay} (662a/663a)-T _HARQ (601 or 662 a)) when T _{MAC_CE} And T _SSB Delay T when the range of SCell activation delays is calculated with respective maximum values of 3ms and 2ms _{activation_time} Can be estimated as:

max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} (611a)+T _FineTime (613a)+5ms,T _{uncertainty_RRC} (661a)+T _{RRC_delay} (662a/663a)-T _HARQ (601 or 662 a)

Fig. 7 is an exemplary schematic diagram of another multiple SCell activation procedure 700 according to an embodiment of the invention. Similar to process 600, during process 700, one MAC CE command is received to activate two scells operating on the same frequency band in FR 2. However, unlike process 600, neither SCell is known to be activated. Furthermore, no active serving cell operates on the same FR2 band. The example of fig. 1 may be used to explain process 700. The two scells may be a first SCell 120n and a second SCell 120a, both of which are unknown scells.

Since no active serving cell or known SCell is available in the same FR2 band, the base station 105 does not know the quality of the Tx beam from the base station 105 and therefore does not have a basis to determine the TCI state of the channel and RS transmitted from the base station 105. In addition, the UE 101 cannot determine its frame timing based on a known SCell or active serving cell. Accordingly, the UE 101 can determine to perform AGC stabilization, cell search, L1-RSRP measurement and reporting on one of the two in-band FR2 scells 120n and 120a (e.g., SCell120 n). For another SCell120 a, the ue 101 may first suspend (hold) the activation procedure until the L1-RSRP reporting procedure on SCell120n is completed.

Subsequently, SCell120n becomes a known SCell. Scells 120n and 120a may continue activation process 700 in a manner similar to process 600 in the example of fig. 6.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, at T _HARQ Receiving and acknowledging MAC command 741 for activating scells 120n and 120a during 701, at T _{MAC_CE} 771 n. ACG stabilization and cell search are then performed during 772 n. In an example, AGC gains are adjusted for both scells 120n and 120a, and the RF module of SCell120 a is synchronized with SCell120n in time/frequency. Thereafter, the L1-RSRP measurement and reporting process may be performed for a period 773n-774n and completed before time T1.

After time Tl, the activation processes of scells 120n and 120a may be performed in parallel. The corresponding time periods 711n-715n, 761n-763n, 703n, 711a-715a, 761a-763a, and 703a are shown in FIG. 7.

In some examples, one MAC CE command is used to activate multiple inter-band (inter-band) FR2 scells. The inter-band FR2 scells may be co-located or may be different. The timing or beam quality information of the known SCell may or may not be used to activate the unknown SCell.

Fig. 8 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a single SCell activation process 800 according to an embodiment of the invention. The example of fig. 1 is used to explain process 800. During process 800, SCell 120a is an unknown SCell operating on the FR1 band and will be activated. Furthermore, there are no known cells or active serving cells available on the FR1 band. Thus, SCell 120a may not be relied upon by other cells when activated.

For example, whether the SCell in FR1 is known or unknown may be defined as follows. SCell in FR1 is known if SCell meets the following conditions:

(i) During a period of time before receiving the SCell activation command, the UE has sent a valid measurement report on the SCell to be activated and the measured SSB is still detectable according to the specific cell identification conditions. In one embodiment, but for FR1, the "period of time" described above may be equal to max (5*measCycleSCell,5*DRX cycles). Wherein meascycle cell is SCell measurement period, and DRX cycle is DRX period.

(ii) During the SCell activation delay, SSB measured during the max (5*measCycleSCell,5*DRX cycles) period according to the specific cell identification condition is still detectable.

Otherwise, SCell in FR1 is unknown.

Since the SCell 120a to be activated operates in FR1, in some examples, beamforming is not employed. In such a configuration, L1-RSRP measurement and reporting for indicating beam quality is not performed in process 800. Further, the TCI state indication scheme may not be utilized, and thus in process 800, there is no need to provide a TCI state MAC CE command for indicating downlink control or data channels, or CSI-RS reception. However, since SCell 120a is an unknown SCell, AGC tuning, cell search, and fine time-frequency synchronization are still performed.

Specifically, in process 800, the UE 101 receives PDSCH 831 in PCell 110 carrying MAC command 841 for activating SCell 120 a. The UE 101 can be at T _HARQ 801 and thereafter transmitting a HARQ ACK 832. At T _{MAC_CE} During 811, a MAC CE parsing process may be performed to obtain MAC command 841. Accordingly, software applications and RF warm-up processes may be executed.

Subsequently, at T _CellSearch During 812, the UE 101 may wait for one or more SSBs on SCell 120a to make AGC adjustments and for another SSB to make time/frequency synchronization (cell detection). Subsequently, at T _FineTime 813 end after the first SSB in SCell 120a is available, may be at T _SSB Performing fine time/frequency during 814Readjusting. After the fine time readjustment operation, the method can be carried out at T _{CSI_Reporting} 803 perform CSI measurement and reporting processing. The CSI measurement may be based on SSB or CSI-RS.

As shown in fig. 8, a delay time T during process 800 _{activation_time} 802 is the sum of periods 811-814. The duration of process 800 is the sum of time periods 801-803.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a multiple SCell activation process 900 according to an embodiment of the invention. The example of fig. 1 may be used to explain the process 900, and the plurality of scells to be activated in the process 900 may be a known first SCell 120n and an unknown second SCell 120a. In addition, the two scells 120a and 120n may be FR1 in-band scells operating in the same FR1 band. Furthermore, there are no serving cells available in the same FR1 band.

Since SCell 120n is a known SCell, AGC tuning and cell search may have been performed recently. Thus, AGC tuning or cell search is not performed during process 900. The previously obtained parameters for AGC tuning or time/frequency synchronization (e.g., frame timing) may be reused.

For an unknown SCell 120a, AGC tuning and cell search will be performed in the activation procedure for activating SCell 120a (similar to procedure 800), assuming SCell 120n is not available. Since the known SCell operates in the same FR1 band as the unknown SCell 120a, the SCell 120a may rely on previously obtained information of the known SCell 120n to accelerate its activation process.

For example, scells 120n and 120a may share the same RF circuitry (e.g., amplifier) and may AGC tune scells 120n and 120a simultaneously. In another example, since scells 120n and 120a are in the same FR1 band, MRTD may be configured to be within a predetermined range (e.g., 260 ns). The unknown SCell120 a may thus determine its frame timing based on the frame timing of the known SCell120n and perform fine time/frequency tuning using the timing described above.

Specifically, in process 900, the UE 101 may receive PDSCH 931 carrying MAC CE command 941. At T _HARQ After 910 delay, HARQ ACK 932 may be fed back to base station 105. At T _{MAC_CE} 911 phaseThe MAC CE carried in PDSCH 931 may be parsed at the MAC layer to obtain MAC CE command 941. The MAC CE command 941 may indicate cell Identifiers (IDs) of scells 120n and 120 a. Also at T _{MAC_CE} During 911, an RF module warm-up process may be performed. The individual RF modules may be tuned to receive on both scells 120n and 120 a.

Subsequently, as shown in fig. 9, similar activation procedures may be performed on scells 120n and 120a in parallel on time axes 901 and 902, respectively. For example, for SCell120n, UE 101 may be at T _FineTime Waiting for the first available SSB in 913n and at T _SSB Fine time tuning is performed during 914 n. After fine time tuning, the time period T may be _{CSI_reporting} CSI measurement and reporting processes are performed during 903 n.

In a similar manner, the UE 101 may perform various operations during periods 913a, 914a, and 903a to complete the activation process of SCell 120 a. As shown, delay T is activated _{activation_time} 902 may be the sum of 911, 913n, and 914n of SCell 120n, or the sum of 911, 913a, and 914a of SCell 120 a.

Fig. 10 is an exemplary flow chart of a multiple SCell activation process 1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Process 1000 may begin at S1001 and proceed to S1010.

At S1010, the UE receives a first MAC CE on a PCell in a wireless communication system for activating a first SCell and a second SCell for the UE. For example, the MAC CE may include a MAC CE command indicating the first and second SCell IDs. The first and second scells may operate in the same frequency band (e.g., FR2 band or FR1 band). No active serving cell for the UE operates on the same frequency band.

At S1020, if the first SCell is a known SCell, the second SCell is an unknown SCell, and both the first SCell and the second SCell operate in the same FR2 band, the first SCell and the second SCell may be activated in parallel without performing cell search and RSRP measurements and reporting on the first and second scells.

For example, the UE may determine that the first SCell is a known SCell or that the second SCell is an unknown SCell based on historical operations performed on the first or second SCell. The UE may determine whether the first and second scells operate in the same FR2 band based on the associated configuration. Thus, in response to knowing the first SCell, the UE may determine to activate the unknown second SCell without performing a cell search or RSRP measurement and reporting operation. In this way, activation of the unknown second SCell may be expedited. Process 1000 may proceed to S1099 and end at S1099.

Fig. 11 is an exemplary schematic diagram of an exemplary apparatus 1100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus 1100 may be configured to perform various functions in accordance with one or more embodiments or examples described herein. Thus, the apparatus 1100 may provide means for implementing the mechanisms, techniques, flows, functions, components, systems described herein. For example, in various embodiments and examples described herein, apparatus 1100 may be used to implement the functionality of a UE or BS. The apparatus 1100 may include a general purpose processor or specially designed circuits for carrying out the various functions, components or processes described in the various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 1100 may include a processing circuit 1110, a memory 1120, and an RF module 1130.

In various exemplary embodiments, the processing circuitry 1110 may include circuitry configured to perform, with or without software, the functions and processes described herein. In various examples, the processing circuit 1110 may be a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD), a field programmable gate array (programmable gate array, FPGA), a digital enhancement circuit, or a comparable device, or a combination thereof.

In some other examples, the processing circuit 1110 may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU) for executing program instructions to perform the various functions and processes described herein. Accordingly, memory 1120 may be used to store program instructions. When executing program instructions, the processing circuitry 1110 can perform functions and procedures. Memory 1120 may also store other programs or data, such as an operating system, application programs, and the like. The memory 1120 may include a non-transitory storage medium such as Read Only Memory (ROM), random access memory (random access memory, RAM), flash memory, solid state memory, hard disk drive, optical disk drive, and the like.

In one embodiment, the RF module 1130 receives the processed data signals from the processing circuit 1110 and converts the data signals to beamformed wireless signals and transmits via the antenna array 1140, or vice versa. The RF module 1130 may include a digital-to-analog converter (digital to analog convertor, DAC), an analog-to-digital converter (analog to digital converter, ADC), an up-converter, a down-converter, a filter, and an amplifier for receiving and transmitting operations. The RF module 1130 may include multiple antenna circuits for beamforming operations. For example, the multi-antenna circuit may include an uplink spatial filter circuit and a downlink spatial filter circuit for analog signal phase shifting or analog signal amplitude scaling. Antenna array 1140 may comprise one or more antenna arrays.

The apparatus 1100 may optionally include other components, such as input and output devices, added or signal processing circuitry, and the like. The device 1100 is thus capable of performing other additional functions, such as executing applications and processing alternative communication protocols.

The processes and functions described herein may be implemented as a computer program that, when executed by one or more processors, may cause the one or more processors to perform the respective processes and functions. A computer program may be stored or distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware. The computer program may also be distributed in other forms, for example via the internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. For example, a computer program may be obtained and loaded into an apparatus, including by way of a physical medium or distributed system (e.g., including from a server connected to the internet).

The computer program may be accessed from a computer readable (storage) medium providing program instructions for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. A computer-readable medium may include any means that stores, communicates, propagates, or transports the computer program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be a magnetic, optical, electronic, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. The computer readable medium may include a computer readable non-transitory storage medium such as a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like. The computer-readable non-transitory storage media may include all types of computer-readable media, including magnetic storage media, optical storage media, flash memory media, and solid state storage media.

It is noted that the use of ordinal terms such as "first," "second," etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another claim element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention thereto. Various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of the features of the embodiments can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A secondary cell activation method, comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment, a first medium access control element on a primary cell in a wireless communication system for activating a first secondary cell and a second secondary cell, wherein the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in a same frequency band and no active serving cell for the user equipment operates in the same frequency band; and

when the first secondary cell is a known secondary cell, the second secondary cell is an unknown secondary cell, and both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in the same frequency range 2 band, the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell are activated in parallel,

wherein activating the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell in parallel comprises:

receiving a second medium access control element on the primary cell to indicate a first transmission configuration indication state for receiving one of a physical downlink control channel or a physical downlink shared channel of the second secondary cell; and

In response to receiving a third medium access control element on the primary cell, activating a semi-static set of channel state information reference signal resources for the second secondary cell and performing a channel state information reporting procedure based on the semi-static set of channel state information reference signal resources, and wherein:

the first medium access control element is received at time slot n no later than at time slot A channel state information report in the channel state information reporting procedure based on the semi-static channel state information reference signal resource set,

wherein T is _HARQ Indicating a delay between a downlink data transmission associated with the first medium access control element and a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement,

T _{CSI_reporting} representing a delay including an uncertainty period when a first available downlink channel state information resource is acquired in the channel state information reporting procedure, a processing time of the channel state information report, and an uncertainty period when the first available channel state information reporting resource is acquired,

T _{activation_time} represents activation delay, where T _{activation_time} ＝3ms+max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +2ms,T _{uncertainty_SP} )，

Wherein T is _{uncertainty_MAC} Representing a time period between receiving the first medium access control element and receiving a last one of the second medium access control element and a fourth medium access control element, wherein the fourth medium access control element is for indicating a second transmission configuration indication status of receiving the other of the physical downlink control channel or the physical downlink shared channel of the second secondary cell,

T _FineTime Representing a period from when the user equipment completes processing of the last one of the second medium access control element and the fourth medium access control element to when the first transmission configuration indicates timing of a synchronization signal block indicated in the state, and

T _{uncertainty_SP} representing a time period between receiving the first medium access control element and receiving the third medium access control element.

2. The secondary cell activation method of claim 1, wherein activating the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell in parallel comprises:

in response to receiving a radio resource control message on the primary cell, configuring a periodic channel state information reference signal of the second secondary cell; and

and executing a channel state information reporting process based on the periodic channel state information reference signal.

3. The secondary cell activation method of claim 2, wherein the first medium access control element is received at time slot n no later than at time slot A channel state information report in the channel state information reporting procedure based on the periodic channel state information reference signal,

T _{activation_time} represents activation delay, where T _{activation_time} ＝max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +5ms+T _FineTime ,T _{uncertainty_RRC} +T _{RRC_delay} -T _HARQ )，

Wherein the method comprises the steps of

T _{uncertainty_MAC} Representing a time period between receiving the first medium access control element and receiving a last one of the second medium access control element and a fourth medium access control element, wherein the fourth medium access control element is for indicating a second transmission configuration indication status of receiving the other of the physical downlink control channel or the physical downlink shared channel of the second secondary cell,

T _FineTime representing a period of time from when the user equipment completes processing of the last one of the second medium access control element and the fourth medium access control element, to when the timing of the synchronization signal block indicated in the first transmission configuration indication state,

T _{uncertainty_RRC} Representing a time period from receiving the first medium access control element to receiving the radio resource control message, and

T _{RRC_delay} representing a period of processing the radio resource control message.

4. The secondary cell activation method of claim 1, further comprising:

when both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell are unknown secondary cells and operate in the same frequency range 2 band: cell search is conducted on the first auxiliary cell; transmitting a reference signal received power measurement report indicating a reference signal received power measurement result associated with a synchronization signal block of the first secondary cell; and activating the second secondary cell without performing cell search and reference signal received power measurements on the second secondary cell.

5. The secondary cell activation method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the first secondary cell is a known secondary cell, the second secondary cell is an unknown secondary cell, and both the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in the same frequency range 1 band, the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell are activated in parallel without performing automatic gain control stabilization and cell search on the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell.

6. The secondary cell activation method of claim 1, wherein the primary cell is a primary cell of a primary cell group or a primary cell of a secondary cell group.

7. An apparatus for secondary cell activation, comprising circuitry to:

receiving, at a user equipment, a first medium access control element from a primary cell in a wireless communication system for activating a first secondary cell and a second secondary cell, wherein the first secondary cell and the second secondary cell operate in a same frequency band and no active serving cell for the user equipment operates in the same frequency band; and

T _{activation_time} representation ofActivation delay, where T _{activation_time} ＝3ms+max(T _{uncertainty_MAC} +T _FineTime +2ms,T _{uncertainty_SP} )，

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is further to:

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first medium access control element is received at time slot n no later than at time slot A channel state information report in the channel state information reporting procedure based on the periodic channel state information reference signal,

Wherein the method comprises the steps of

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is further to:

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is further to:

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the primary cell is a primary cell of a primary cell group or a primary cell of a secondary cell group.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the secondary cell activation method according to any one of claims 1-6.