WO2023070384A1

WO2023070384A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2023070384A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/126788
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Wang; Lin Liang
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2021-10-27
Filing date: 2021-10-27
Publication date: 2023-05-04

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable media for communication. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives, from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern. The terminal device receives a second configuration. The second configuration indicates: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets. Each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions. The plurality of PRACH occasions are continuous in time domain. The terminal device performs at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets with phase continuity based on the PRACH repetition pattern. In this way, Phase continuity is benefit for network to combine power more efficient from multiple repetitions in some cases.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices and computer storage media for communication.

BACKGROUND

With development of communication systems, more and more technologies have been proposed. A physical random-access channel (PRACH) is a shared channel used by terminal devices to access the mobile network for cell set-up and burst data transmission. In order to improve a rate of successful transmissions, transmission repetition has been proposed.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media for communications.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; receiving, at the terminal device and from the network device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and performing at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern, wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; transmitting, at the network device and to the terminal device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and receiving, from the terminal device, at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern , wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In a third aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform: receiving, from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; receiving, at the terminal device and from the network device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and performing at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern, wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the network device to perform: transmitting, to a terminal device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; transmitting, at the network device and to the terminal device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and receiving, from the terminal device, at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern , wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to the first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a transmission with phase discontinuity according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow for communications between devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of PRACH occasions in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (Iota) devices, Internet of Everything (Iowa) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, or image capture devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device. In addition, the term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (Node or NB) , an Evolved Node (anode or eNB) , a next generation Node (gNB) , a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, and the like.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

As mentioned above, the terminal device may initiate the random access procedure to access the PRACH. Random Access Procedure (RACH) can be contention based (CBRA) or contention free (CFRA) . PRACH enhancements have been studied from several aspects, including multiple PRACH transmissions with the same beam, multiple PRACH transmissions with different beams, and PRACH enhancements with finer beam.

Conventionally, the network may configure PRACH format. NR has many PRACH format, including format 0-4, format A1-A3, format B1-B4 and format C0, C2. Usually, a PRACH transmission except for format A series comprise cyclic prefix (CP) part, core part and guard period (GP) part. CP part is cyclic shift from the end of core part and GP part is guard period that UE transmits nothing during GP part. PRACH format A has no GP part and duration is 2 symbols for A1, 4 symbols for A2 and 6 symbols for A3. The network provides PRACH configuration in System Information, frequency and time continuous resources within a slot may be configured as PRACH occasions.

However, if PRACH repetition is transmitted on time continuous PRACH occasions with the same frequency and beam resources, and if PRACH is format A1/A2/A3, then no gap is between each repetition but phase is not continuous. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the phase is not discontinuous in the portion 1010. Discontinuous phase will cause larger PAPR which is harmful to hardware.

In order to solve at least part of above problems, a new solution on PRACH repetition enhancement is needed. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives, from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern. The terminal device receives a second configuration. The second configuration indicates: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets. Each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions. The terminal device performs at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern. The at last one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within in each PRACH occasion set. In this way, Phase continuity is benefit for network to combine power more efficient from multiple repetitions in some cases.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 100, which is a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110-1, a terminal device 110-2, ..., a terminal device 110-N, which can be collectively referred to as “terminal device (s) 110. ” The number N can be any suitable integer number.

The communication system 100 further comprises a network device 120. In the communication system 100, the network devices 120 and the terminal devices 110 can communicate data and control information to each other. The numbers of devices shown in Fig. 1 are given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

Communications in the communication system 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Divided Multiple Address (CDMA) , Frequency Divided Multiple Address (FDMA) , Time Divided Multiple Address (TDMA) , Frequency Divided Duplexer (FDD) , Time Divided Duplexer (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Divided Multiple Access (OFDMA) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to any suitable scenarios. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented at NR IIoT/URLLC. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in one of the followings: reduced capability NR devices, NR multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) , NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems with frequency above 52.6GHz, an extending NR operation up to 71GHz, narrow band-Internet of Thing (NB-IOT) /enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial networks (NTN) , NTN, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage enhancement, NB-Iota and LTE-MTC, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , NR Multicast and Broadcast Services, or enhancements on Multi-Radio Dual-Connectivity.

Fig. 3 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 300 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 300 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The process 300 may involve the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120 in Fig. 2. It should be noted that the process 300 is only an example not limitation.

The network device 120 determines 2010 a PRACH repetition pattern. The PRACH repetition pattern comprises a first list of resource sets. For example, the PRACH repetition pattern may comprise a set of PRACH occasions for the PRACH repetition. Alternatively or in addition, the PRACH repetition pattern can comprise a set of preambles for the PRACH repetition. The term “PRACH occasion” used herein can refer to a time and frequency domain resource where the terminal device is able to transmission a preamble. In some embodiments, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be the same beam. Alternatively, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be different beams. In some embodiments, the PRACH repetition pattern may indicate: the maximum number of repetitions N, a preamble M, a starting PRACH occasion S and a delta D. As shown in Fig. 4, there are 12 PRACH occasions and the 12 PRACH occasions are associated with 2 beams. For example, the PRACH occasions 310-1, 310-3., 310-5, 310-7, 310-9, 310-11, 310-13 and 310-15 are on the first beam, the PRACH occasions 310-2, 310-4, 310-6, 310-8, 310-10, 310-12, 310-14 and 310-16 are on the second beam.

The network device 120 determines 2020 a PRACH occasion set. The PRACH occasion set can also be referred to as “PRACH bundling” . The PRACH occasion set can comprise a plurality of PRACH occasions. The plurality of PRACH occasions care continuous in time domain. The plurality of PRACH occasions can be with a same frequency. Alternatively or in addition, the plurality of PRACH occasions can be with a same TCI state. For example, the plurality of PRACH occasions can be at the same beam.

For example, as shown in Fig. 4, the PRACH occasions 310-1 and 310-5 are continuous time domain. The PRACH occasions 310-1 and 310-5 may occupy same frequency resources. The PRACH occasions 310-1 and 310-5 may also have the same TCI state, i.e., on the same beam. In this case, the PRACH occasions 310-1 and 310-5 can be in the PRACH occasion set. Similarly, the PRACH occasions 310-9 and 310-15 can be in another PRACH occasion set. Moreover, the PRACH occasions 310-5 and 310-9 may occupy same frequency resources and may have the same TCI state. However, since the PRACH occasions 310-5 and 310-9 are not continuous time domain, the PRACH occasions 310-5 and 310-9 cannot be determined into one PRACH occasion set.

The network device 120 transmits 2030 the first configuration to the terminal device 110-1. For example, the first configuration can be transmitted in RRC signaling.

The network device 120 transmits 2040 a second configuration to the terminal device 110-1. The second configuration indicates one or more PRACH occasion set. As shown in Fig. 4, the second configuration may indicate the PRACH occasion set 410 and the PRACH occasion set 420 within the PRACH repetition 430. It should be noted that the number of PRACH occasion sets are only an example.

In some embodiments, the second configuration may indicate a parameter of the PRACH occasion set. In this case, the second configuration may indicate the number of continuous PRACH occasions (for example, two as shown in Fig. 4) . The second configuration also indicates a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

The terminal device 110-1 performs 2050 at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasions sets with phase continuity based on the PRACH repetition pattern. In this way, phase continuity within PRACH occasion bundling is stratified which has benefit to combine receiving power and increase detection performance by network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110-1 may generate generating a baseband signal for PRACH. For example, the time-continuous signal

on antenna port p for PRACH is defined by:

where definitions of parameters in the formula (1) are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1

In some embodiments, if PRACH bundling is configured, signal time can span across PRACH occasion until a PRACH bundling. The CP length of PRACH signal in PRACH bundling is the same as CP length in PO l1. For example, the terminal device 110-1 may generate a baseband signal for the PRAHC repetition based on:

where

represents the baseband signal for PRACH repetition bundling from PRACH occasion l1 to PRACH occasion l2, and parameter definitions are the same as those used for baseband signal for PRACH (as shown in Table 1) .

Alternatively, the terminal device 110-1 may OFDM baseband signal for PRACH. If PRACH bundling is configured, signal time can span across PRACH occasion until a PRACH bundling. The CP length of PRACH signal in PRACH bundling is the sum of CP length from PO l1 to PO l2. For example, the terminal device 110-1 may generate a baseband signal for the PRAHC repetition based on:

where

represents the baseband signal for PRACH repetition bundling from PO l1 to PO l2, and parameter definitions are the same as those used for baseband signal for PRACH (as shown in Table 1) . In this way, sum of CP length from PO l1 to PO l2 results in the phase of ending baseband signal being 0 which is the same as legacy baseband signal so that to be benefit to reuse current receiver.

In other embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a third configuration to the terminal device 110-1. The third configuration may indicate a first PRACH format. In this case, if the number of PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, the terminal device 110-1 may perform the PRACH repetition within the PRACH occasion set using the second PRACH format. For example, if the PRACH bundling is configured, each PO is one of the first PRACH format, and if the number of PRACH bundling is the same as another second PRACH format, the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling using the second PRACH format. Only as an example, PRACH format A1 is configured for each PRACH occasion which has 2 symbols. A PRACH bundling is configured comprising of 2 PRACH occasions which means 4 symbols. Then the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling as if a PRACH occasion with PRACH format A2 was configured. The term “PRACH format” used herein can refer preamble format. Differences in the time domain of different preamble formats includes different CP length, Sequence Length, GP length and number of repetitions.

Fig. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 500 can be implemented at a terminal device 110-1 as shown in Fig. 2.

At block 510, the terminal device 120 receives a first configuration from the network device 120. For example, the first configuration can be transmitted in RRC signaling. The PRACH repetition pattern comprises a first list of resource sets. For example, the PRACH repetition pattern may comprise a set of PRACH occasions for the PRACH repetition. Alternatively or in addition, the PRACH repetition pattern can comprise a set of preambles for the PRACH repetition. The term “PRACH occasion” used herein can refer to a time and frequency domain resource where the terminal device is able to transmission a preamble. In some embodiments, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be the same beam. Alternatively, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be different beams. In some embodiments, the PRACH repetition pattern may indicate: the maximum number of repetitions N, a preamble M, a starting PRACH occasion S and a delta D.

At block 510, the terminal device 120 receives a second configuration from the network device 120. The second configuration indicates one or more PRACH occasion set. The PRACH occasion set can also be referred to as PRACH bundling. The PRACH occasion set can comprise a plurality of PRACH occasions. The plurality of PRACH occasions can be continuous in time domain. The plurality of PRACH occasions can be with a same frequency and a same TCI state.

In some embodiments, the second configuration may indicate a parameter of the PRACH occasion set. In this case, the second configuration may indicate the number of continuous PRACH occasions. The second configuration also indicates a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

At block 530, the terminal device 110-1 performs at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasions sets with phase continuity based on the PRACH repetition pattern. In this way, phase continuity within PRACH occasion bundling is stratified which has benefit to combine receiving power and increase detection performance by network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110-1 may generate generating OFDM baseband signal for PRACH. If PRACH bundling is configured, signal time can span across PRACH occasion until a PRACH bundling. In some embodiments, a CP length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set can be same as CP length in one PRACH occasion.

Alternatively, the terminal device 110-1 may OFDM baseband signal for PRACH. If PRACH bundling is configured, signal time can span across PRACH occasion until a PRACH bundling. For example, a CP length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set can be same as a sum of CP length in the plurality of PRACH occasions in the PRACH occasion set.

In other embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a third configuration to the terminal device 110-1. The third configuration may indicate a first PRACH format. In this case, if the number of PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, the terminal device 110-1 may perform the PRACH repetition within the PRACH occasion set using the second PRACH format. For example, if the PRACH bundling is configured, each PO is one of the first PRACH format, and if the number of PRACH bundling is the same as another second PRACH format, the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling using the second PRACH format. Only as an example, PRACH format A1 is configured for each PRACH occasion which has 2 symbols. A PRACH bundling is configured comprising of 2 PRACH occasions which means 4 symbols. Then the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling as if a PRACH occasion with PRACH format A2 was configured.

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 600 can be implemented at a network device 120 as shown in Fig. 2.

At block 610, the network device 120 transmits the first configuration to the terminal device 110-1. For example, the first configuration can be transmitted in RRC signaling. The network device 120 may determine a PRACH repetition pattern. The PRACH repetition pattern comprises a first list of resource sets. For example, the PRACH repetition pattern may comprise a set of PRACH occasions for the PRACH repetition. Alternatively or in addition, the PRACH repetition pattern can comprise a set of preambles for the PRACH repetition. The term “PRACH occasion” used herein can refer to a time and frequency domain resource where the terminal device is able to transmission a preamble. In some embodiments, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be the same beam. Alternatively, the resources for the PRACH repetition may be different beams. In some embodiments, the PRACH repetition pattern may indicate: the maximum number of repetitions N, a preamble M, a starting PRACH occasion S and a delta D.

At block 620, the network device 120 transmits a second configuration to the terminal device 110-1. The second configuration indicates one or more PRACH occasion set. The network device 120 may determine a PRACH occasion set. The PRACH occasion set can also be named as PRACH bundling. The PRACH occasion set can comprise a plurality of PRACH occasions. The plurality of PRACH occasions can be continuous in time domain. The plurality of PRACH occasions can be with a same frequency and a same TCI state.

For example, the second configuration may indicate a parameter of the PRACH occasion set. In this case, the second configuration may indicate the number of continuous PRACH occasions (for example, two as shown in Fig. 4) . The second configuration also indicates a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

At block 630, the network device 120 revives at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasions sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern. The at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity. In this way, phase continuity within PRACH occasion bundling is stratified which has benefit to combine receiving power and increase detection performance by network.

In other embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a third configuration to the terminal device 110-1. The third configuration may indicate a first PRACH format. In this case, if the number of PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, the terminal device 110-1 may perform the PRACH repetition within the PRACH occasion set using the second PRACH format. For example, if the PRACH bundling is configured, each PO is one of the first PRACH format, and if the number of PRACH bundling is the same as another second PRACH format, the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling using the second PRACH format. Only as an example, PRACH format A1 is configured for each PRACH occasion which has 2 symbols. A PRACH bundling is configured comprising of 2 PRACH occasions which means 4 symbols. Then the terminal device 1101-1 may transmit PRACH on PRACH bundling as if a PRACH occasion with PRACH format A2 was configured. In this case, the network device 120 may decode the PRACH repetition based on the first PRACH format.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; receive, at the terminal device and from the network device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and perform at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern, wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In some embodiments, the plurality of PRACH occasions are continuous in time domain, and the plurality of PRACH occasions are with a same frequency and a same transmission code index (TCI) state.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform the at least one PRACH repetition by: generating a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition, where a cyclic prefix (CP) length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set is same as CP length in one PRACH occasion.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform the at least one PRACH repetition by: generating a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition, where a cyclic prefix (CP) length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set is same as a sum of CP length in the plurality of PRACH occasions in the PRACH occasion set.

In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from the network device, a third configuration indicating a first PRACH format; and the terminal device comprises circuitry configured to perform the at least one PRACH repetition by: in accordance with a determination that the number of the PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, performing the at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets using the second PRACH format.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to a terminal device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern; transmit, at the network device and to the terminal device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and receive, from the terminal device, at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern , wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.

In some embodiments, a cyclic prefix (CP) length of a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition in one PRACH occasion set is same as CP length in one PRACH occasion.

In some embodiments, a cyclic prefix (CP) length of a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition in one PRACH occasion set is same as a sum of CP length in the plurality of PRACH occasions in the PRACH occasion set.

In some embodiments, the network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to the terminal device, a third configuration indicating a first PRACH format; and the network device comprises circuitry configured to receive the at least one PRACH repetition by: in accordance with a determination that the number of the PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, receiving the at least one PRACH repetition within the PRACH occasion set using the second PRACH format.

Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 can be considered as a further example implementation of the network device 120, or the terminal device 110 as shown in Fig. 2. Accordingly, the device 700 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device 110, or the network device 120.

As shown, the device 700 includes a processor 710, a memory 720 coupled to the processor 710, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 740 coupled to the processor 710, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 740. The memory 710stores at least a part of a program 730. The TX/RX 740 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and a terminal device.

The program 730 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 710, enable the device 700 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to Figs. 2 to 6. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 710 of the device 700, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 710 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 710 and memory 720 may form processing means adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 720 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 720 is shown in the device 700, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 700. The processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to Figs. 3 to 6. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (Iota) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (Iowa) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and Iota applications. It may also incorporated one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.

The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (Node or NB) , an evolved Node (anode or eNB) , a next generation Node (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.

The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz –7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25GHz to 71GHz) , frequency band larger than 100GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connections with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern;

receiving, at the terminal device and from the network device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and

performing at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern, wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.
The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of PRACH occasions are continuous in time domain, and the plurality of PRACH occasions are with a same frequency and a same transmission code index (TCI) state.
The method of claim 1, wherein performing the at least one PRACH repetition comprises:

generating a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition, wherein a cyclic prefix (CP) length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set is same as CP length in one PRACH occasion.
The method of claim 1, wherein performing the at least one PRACH repetition comprises:

generating a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition, wherein a cyclic prefix (CP) length of the baseband signal in one PRACH occasion set is same as a sum of CP length in the plurality of PRACH occasions in the PRACH occasion set.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the network device, a third configuration indicating a first PRACH format; and

wherein performing the at least one PRACH repetition comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the number of the PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, performing the at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets using the second PRACH format.
A communication method, comprising:

transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a first configuration indicating a physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition pattern;

transmitting, at the network device and to the terminal device, a second configuration indicating: one or more PRACH occasion sets and a frequency location of the one or more PRACH occasion sets, wherein each PRACH occasion set comprises a plurality of PRACH occasions; and

receiving, from the terminal device, at least one PRACH repetition within the one or more PRACH occasion sets based on the PRACH repetition pattern , wherein the at least one PRACH repetition is with phase continuity within at least one of the one or more PRACH occasion sets.
The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of PRACH occasions are continuous in time domain, and the plurality of PRACH occasions are with a same frequency and a same transmission code index (TCI) state.
The method of claim 6, wherein a cyclic prefix (CP) length of a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition in one PRACH occasion set is same as CP length in one PRACH occasion.
The method of claim 1, wherein a cyclic prefix (CP) length of a baseband signal for the at least one PRACH repetition in one PRACH occasion set is same as a sum of CP length in the plurality of PRACH occasions in the PRACH occasion set.
The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, a third configuration indicating a first PRACH format; and

wherein receiving the at least one PRACH repetition comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the number of the PRACH occasion set is same as a second PRACH format, receiving the at least one PRACH repetition within the PRACH occasion set using the second PRACH format.
A terminal device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the terminal device to perform the method according to any of claims 1-5.
A network device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the network device to perform the method according to any of claims 6-10.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1-5.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 6-10.