EP-4740652-A1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPLINK MULTI-TRP OPERATION ENHANCEMENT

EP4740652A1EP 4740652 A1EP4740652 A1EP 4740652A1EP-4740652-A1

Abstract

Systems and methods for uplink (UL) multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) operation enhancements are disclosed herein. Embodiments may provide enhancements for the handling of a time alignment timer (TAT) expiration for two timing advance groups (TAGs). A UE may perform one or more actions associated with a multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI) multi-TRP operation based on whether a first TAG and a second TAG are, respectively, associated with a primary timing advance group (PTAG) or a secondary timing advance group (STAG).

Inventors

SUN, HAITONG
YANG, WEIDONG
WU, DAN
ZHANG, DAWEI
ZENG, WEI
HE, HONG
BHAMRI, ANKIT
FAKOORIAN, SEYED ALI AKBAR

Assignees

Apple Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20230927

Claims (20)

A method for a user equipment (UE) , the method comprising: receiving, at the UE from a base station, configuration information to configure a first time alignment timer (TAT) corresponding to a first timing advance group (TAG) of a cell and a second TAT corresponding to a second TAG of the cell; determining, at the UE, whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with a primary timing advance group (PTAG) or a secondary timing advance group (STAG) ; and when one or both of the first TAT and the second TAT expire, performing one or more actions associated with a multiple downlink control information (multi-DCI) multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) operation based on whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG.
The method of claim 1, wherein the cell comprises a special cell (SpCell) including a primary cell (PCell) in a master cell group or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) in a secondary cell group, wherein the SpCell is configured for the multi-DCI multi-TRP operation.
The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG comprises determining that both the first TAG and the second TAG are predetermined as being associated with the PTAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG comprises determining that the first TAG is predetermined as being associated with the PTAG and the second TAG is predetermined as being associated with the STAG.
The method of claim 4, wherein a first TAG identifier (ID) of the first TAG is smaller than a second TAG ID of the second TAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG comprises determining that the configuration information indicates a network configuration of both the first TAG and the second TAG as being associated with the PTAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG comprises determining that the configuration information indicates a network configuration of the first TAG as being associated with the PTAG and the second TAG as being associated with the STAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when the first TAG is associated with the PTAG and the second TAG is associated with the STAG, and when the first TAT expires: considering the second TAT as expired; and considering any running TAT of a secondary cell (SCell) as expired.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when first TAG is associated with the PTAG and the second TAG is associated with the STAG, and when the first TAT expires: considering that the second TAT, when running, is not expired; and considering any running TAT of a secondary cell (SCell) , other than the second TAT, as expired.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, considering any running TAT, other than the first TAT and the second TAT, as expired when both the first TAT and the second TAT expire.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, considering any running TAT, other than the first TAT and the second TAT, as expired when either the first TAT expires or the second TAT expires.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, allowing the first TAT and the second TAT expire independently of one another.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, when the first TAT expires considering the second TAT to be expired, and when the second TAT expires considering the first TAT to be expired.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when the first TAG is associated with the PTAG and the second TAG is associated with the STAG, and when the first TAT expires, stopping downlink (DL) operation and uplink (UL) operation by the UE on both the first TAG and the second TAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, and when both the first TAT expires and the second TAT expires, stopping downlink (DL) operation and uplink (UL) operation by the UE on both the first TAG and the second TAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, and when at least one of the first TAT expires and the second TAT expires, stopping downlink (DL) operation and uplink (UL) operation by the UE on both the first TAG and the second TAG.
The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more actions include, when both the first TAG and the second TAG are associated with the PTAG, and when the first TAT expires and the second TAT is running, stopping downlink (DL) operation and uplink (UL) operation by the UE on the first TAG without impacting the DL operation and the UL operation on the second TAG.
The method of claim 1, wherein the cell comprises a secondary cell (SCell) configured for the multi-DCI multi-TRP operation, and wherein determining whether the first TAG and the second TAG are, respectively, associated with the PTAG or the STAG comprises considering both the first TAG and the second TAG as being associated with the STAG.
The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more actions include, when the first TAT expires while the second TAT is running, considering hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers associated with both the first TAG and the second TAG to remain valid.
The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more actions include, when the first TAT expires while the second TAT is running, flushing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers associated with both the first TAG and the second TAG.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPLINK MULTI-TRP OPERATION ENHANCEMENT TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates generally to wireless communication systems, including systems with uplink (UL) multiple transmission reception point (multi-TRP) operation. BACKGROUND Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base station and a wireless communication device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include, for example, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) , 3GPP New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G) , and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) (commonly known to industry groups as ) . As contemplated by the 3GPP, different wireless communication systems' standards and protocols can use various radio access networks (RANs) for communicating between a base station of the RAN (which may also sometimes be referred to generally as a RAN node, a network node, or simply a node) and a wireless communication device known as a user equipment (UE) . 3GPP RANs can include, for example, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) , Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN) , Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) , Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) , and/or Next-Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) . Each RAN may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to perform communication between the base station and the UE. For example, the GERAN implements GSM and/or EDGE RAT, the UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, the E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT (sometimes simply referred to as LTE) , and NG-RAN implements NR RAT (sometimes referred to herein as 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or simply NR) . In certain deployments, the E-UTRAN may also implement NR RAT. In certain deployments, NG-RAN may also implement LTE RAT. A base station used by a RAN may correspond to that RAN. One example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) . One example of an NG-RAN base station is a next generation Node B (also sometimes referred to as a g Node B or gNB) . A RAN provides its communication services with external entities through its connection to a core network (CN) . For example, E-UTRAN may utilize an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) while NG-RAN may utilize a 5G Core Network (5GC) . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 1C, and FIG. 1D illustrate UL time and frequency resources for different STxMP modes for DCI simultaneously transmitted in a first beam and a second beam using multiple antenna panels that may be used according to certain embodiments. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a multi-DCI multi-TRP operation with varying propagation delays for UL receptions at different TRPs that may be used according to certain embodiments. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a UE, according to embodiments herein. FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a base station, according to embodiments herein. FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a base station, according to embodiments herein. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a UE, according to embodiments herein. FIG. 7 illustrates an example architecture of a wireless communication system, according to embodiments disclosed herein. FIG. 8 illustrates a system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device, according to embodiments disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various embodiments are described with regard to a UE. However, reference to a UE is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The example embodiments may be utilized with any electronic component that may establish a connection to a network and is configured with the hardware, software, and/or firmware to exchange information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE as described herein is used to represent any appropriate electronic component. Some wireless communication systems with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) support enhancements for uplink (UL) multiple transmission and reception point (multi-TRP) operation. For example, two timing advance (TA) values may be supported for the same serving cell and/or simultaneous UL transmission with multiple panels (STxMP) may be used. Further, in certain wireless communication systems, for STxMP, four different cases are supported. For example, FIG. 1A to FIG. 1D illustrate UL time (t) and frequency (f) resources for different STxMP modes for DCI simultaneously transmitt