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CN-122027104-A - Apparatus and method for Secondary Cell (SCELL) enhancements in wireless communications

CN122027104ACN 122027104 ACN122027104 ACN 122027104ACN-122027104-A

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for triggering activation of a secondary cell (SCell) and activating the SCell. A User Equipment (UE) may receive an SCell activation command from a gNB, the SCell activation command instructing the UE to activate an SCell to communicate between the UE and the gNB on the SCell, and receive a Reference Signal (RS) on the SCell. The RS is used for activation of the SCell. The UE may perform SCell activation to activate the SCell based at least on the RS upon receiving the SCell activation command, and send a report to the gNB indicating that the SCell is activated for the UE.

Inventors

  • LIU JIALING
  • XIAO WEIMIN
  • CHENG QIAN

Assignees

  • 华为技术有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20211027
Priority Date
20201030

Claims (17)

  1. 1. A method of communication, comprising: Receiving, by a user equipment, UE, a secondary cell, SCell activation command from a gNB, the secondary cell activation command instructing the UE to activate an SCell to communicate between the UE and the gNB on the SCell; receiving, by the UE, a reference signal, RS, on the SCell from the gNB, the RS comprising channel state information-reference signal, CSI-RS; performing SCell activation by the UE upon receipt of the SCell activation command to activate the SCell, and And sending, by the UE to the gNB, a valid CSI report for the SCell, the valid CSI report indicating that the SCell is activated for the UE.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCell activation command is received in a medium access control element, MAC CE, on an active cell serving the UE.
  3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmission of the RS is triggered by a trigger field sent on the active cell, and wherein the trigger field is included in the MAC CE.
  4. 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the RS is indicated by the trigger command.
  5. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS is an aperiodic RS and is triggered/transmitted during activation of the SCell, and wherein a slot in which the RS is transmitted is determined according to a slot in which the SCell activation command is transmitted and a slot offset value signaled to the UE.
  6. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the UE performing at least one of AGC setup, frequency tracking, or time tracking based on the RS.
  7. 7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the RS comprises at least CSI-RS or Tracking Reference Signals (TRS) for tracking for the SCell.
  8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the RS comprises one or more transmissions of the TRS over one or more time slots.
  9. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: after receiving the RS, a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) for the SCell is received by the UE.
  10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the CSI-RS is quasi co-located with the RS (QCL).
  11. 11. The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the report comprises a CSI report based on the CSI-RS measurements, the CSI report comprising a valid channel quality indication, CQI, indicating that the SCell is activated.
  12. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: And sending a message confirming that the SCell activation command is received to the gNB by the UE.
  13. 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: A bandwidth portion BWP of the SCell associated with the RS is activated by the UE.
  14. 14. The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the report indicates that BWP of the SCell associated with the RS is active.
  15. 15. A method of communication, comprising: Transmitting, by a gNB, a secondary cell (SCell) activation command to a User Equipment (UE), the secondary cell activation command indicating that the UE activates an SCell for communication between the UE and the gNB on the SCell; Setting a reference signal, RS, by the gNB, the RS comprising a channel state information, CSI, reference signal, CSI-RS; Transmitting the RS by the gNB to the UE, and In response to sending the SCell activation command and the RS, receiving, by the gNB, a valid CSI report of the SCell from the UE that has performed SCell activation, the valid SCI report indicating activation of the SCell for the UE.
  16. 16. A communication device, comprising: A non-transitory memory including instructions, and One or more processors in communication with the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-15.
  17. 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

Description

Apparatus and method for Secondary Cell (SCELL) enhancements in wireless communications The present patent application is a division of the patent application filed on 10/27 of 2021 with application number 202180073868.2 of the invention entitled "apparatus and method for Secondary Cell (SCELL) enhancement in wireless communications". Technical Field The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, in particular embodiments, to apparatus and methods for secondary cell (SCell) enhancements in wireless communications. Background The wireless communication system includes long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), LTE-A, LTE-a-beyond system, 5G LTE, 5G New Radio (NR), etc. Modern wireless communication systems may include a plurality of Nodebs (NB), which may also be referred to as base stations, network nodes, communication controllers, cells, or enhanced NB (eNB), etc. The NodeB may comprise one or more network points or network nodes using different radio access technologies (radio access technology, RATs), such as a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) NB or WiFi access point. A NodeB may be associated with a single network point or multiple network points. A cell may include a single network point or multiple network points, each of which may have a single antenna or multiple antennas. The network point may correspond to a plurality of cells operating in a plurality of component carriers. Typically, each component carrier in carrier aggregation is a serving cell, which may be a primary cell (PRIMARY CELL, PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell). A cell or NodeB may serve multiple users (also commonly referred to as User Equipment (UE), mobile stations, terminals, devices, etc.) over a period of time. The communication channel from the base station to the UE is often referred to as a Downlink (DL) channel, and the transmission from the base station to the UE is a downlink transmission. The communication channel from the UE to the base station is commonly referred to as an Uplink (UL) channel, and the transmission from the UE to the base station is an uplink transmission. Disclosure of Invention Technical advantages are generally achieved by embodiments of the present invention describing an apparatus and method for secondary cell (SCell) enhancements in wireless communications. According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided that includes receiving, by a User Equipment (UE), a secondary cell (SCell) activation command from a gNB, the secondary cell activation command instructing the UE to activate a SCell to communicate between the UE and the gNB on the SCell, receiving, by the UE, a reference signal (REFERENCE SIGNAL, RS) on the SCell from the gNB, wherein the RS is used to activate the SCell, performing, by the UE, SCell activation based at least on the RS to activate the SCell upon receipt of the SCell activation command, and sending, by the UE, a report to the gNB indicating that the SCell is activated for the UE. Optionally, in any of the above aspects, the SCell activation command is received in a medium access control element (MAC CE) on an active cell serving the UE, the active cell being different from the SCell. Optionally, in any one of the above aspects, the transmission of the RS is triggered by a trigger command sent on the active cell, and the trigger command is included in the MAC CE. Optionally, in any aspect above, the RS is one of a group of RSs for activating the SCell, and indicated by the trigger command. Optionally, in any aspect above, wherein the RS is an aperiodic RS and is triggered/transmitted during activation of the SCell, and the time slot in which the RS is transmitted is determined according to a time slot in which the SCell activation command is transmitted and a time slot offset value signaled to the UE. Optionally, in any aspect above, the UE performs at least one of AGC establishment, frequency tracking, time tracking, or fine timing based on the RS. Optionally, in any aspect above, the RS includes at least a CSI-RS or tracking reference signal (TRACKING REFERENCE SIGNAL, TRS) for tracking for the SCell. Optionally, in any of the above aspects, the transmission of the RS comprises one or more transmissions of the TRS over one or more time slots. Optionally, in any aspect above, the method further comprises receiving, by the UE after receiving the RS, a channel state information-reference signal (CHANNEL STATE information-REFERENCE SIGNAL, CSI-RS) for the SCell. Optionally, in any of the above aspects, the CSI-RS is associated with the RS. Optionally, in any of the above aspects, the CSI-RS is quasi co-located with the RS (quasi-colocate, QCL). Optionally, in any aspect above, the report includes a CSI report based on CSI-RS measurements, the CSI report including a valid channel quality indication (channel quality indicator, CQI) indicating that the SCell is activated. Optionally, in any aspect above, the method further comprises sending,