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US-20260129593-A1 - IN-CHANNEL NARROWBAND COMPANION AIR-INTERFACE ASSISTED WIDEBAND RACH PROCEDURES

US20260129593A1US 20260129593 A1US20260129593 A1US 20260129593A1US-20260129593-A1

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for in-channel narrowband (NB) companion air interface (CAI) assisted wideband (WB) random access channel (RACH) access. Periodic NB downlink (DL) synchronization sequences are detected. Range information is estimated by measuring the periodic NB DL synchronization sequences; and determining an NB CAI RACH occasion. The range information is transmitted to a gNode B (gNB), or other base station, in a NB CAI RACH procedure. At least one selected WB sequence based on the range information and at least one scheduled WB RACH occasion based on the NB CAI RACH occasion are received from the gNB. A contention free WB RACH procedure is performed based on the received at least one selected WB sequence and the at least one scheduled WB RACH occasion.

Inventors

  • Alpaslan Demir
  • Sanjay Goyal
  • Hussain Elkotby
  • Tanbir Haque
  • Ravikumar Pragada
  • Patrick Cabrol
  • Mihaela C. Beluri

Assignees

  • INTERDIGITAL PATENT HOLDINGS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251110

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method implemented in a wireless transmit-receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving, in a first random access channel (RACH) procedure for a narrowband air interface, from a base station, information indicating a RACH sequence for a wideband transceiver (WB TRX), wherein the RACH sequence for the WB TRX is based on a molecular absorption characteristic and a range; and transmitting the RACH sequence for the WB TRX, in a second RACH procedure.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the range is indicated by a field of a RACH message, by a preamble selected from a pool of preambles, or by a RACH occasion selected from a pool of RACH occasions.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first RACH procedure comprises a 4-step RACH procedure or a 2-step RACH procedure.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the RACH sequence for the WB TRX on a condition that a RACH response is not received, in a configured amount of time.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating the range between the WTRU and the base station.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating the range between the WTRU and the base station based on a measurement of a periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequence.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a plurality of periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequences on the narrowband air interface and estimating the range between the WTRU and the base station based on the plurality of periodic DL synchronization sequences.
  8. 8 . A wireless transmit-receive unit (WTRU) comprising: circuitry configured to, in a first random access channel (RACH) procedure for a narrowband air interface, receive, from a base station, information indicating a RACH sequence for a wideband transceiver (WB TRX), wherein the RACH sequence for the WB TRX is based on a molecular absorption characteristic and a range; and circuitry configured to, in a second RACH procedure, transmit the RACH sequence for the WB TRX.
  9. 9 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein the range is indicated by a field of a RACH message, by a preamble selected from a pool of preambles, or by a RACH occasion selected from a pool of RACH occasions.
  10. 10 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein the first RACH procedure comprises a 4-step RACH procedure or a 2-step RACH procedure.
  11. 11 . The WTRU of claim 8 , further comprising circuitry configured to transmit the RACH sequence for the WB TRX on a condition that a RACH response is not received, in a configured amount of time.
  12. 12 . The WTRU of claim 8 , further comprising circuitry configured to estimate the range between the WTRU and the base station.
  13. 13 . The WTRU of claim 8 , further comprising circuitry configured to estimate the range between the WTRU and the base station based on a measurement of a periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequence.
  14. 14 . The WTRU of claim 8 , further comprising circuitry configured to receive a plurality of periodic DL synchronization sequences on the narrowband air interface and to estimate the range between the WTRU and the base station based on a plurality of periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequences.
  15. 15 . A base station comprising: circuitry configured to, in a first random access channel (RACH) procedure for a narrowband air interface, transmit, to a wireless transmit-receive unit (WTRU), information indicating a RACH sequence for a wideband transceiver (WB TRX), wherein the RACH sequence for the WB TRX is based on a molecular absorption characteristic and a range; and circuitry configured to, in a second RACH procedure, receive the RACH sequence for the WB TRX.
  16. 16 . The base station of claim 15 , wherein the range is indicated by a field of a RACH message, by a preamble selected from a pool of preambles, or by a RACH occasion selected from a pool of RACH occasions.
  17. 17 . The base station of claim 15 , wherein the first RACH procedure comprises a 4-step RACH procedure or a 2-step RACH procedure.
  18. 18 . The base station of claim 15 , further comprising circuitry configured to receive an indication of the range from the WTRU.
  19. 19 . The base station of claim 15 , wherein the range is an estimate based on a periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequence.
  20. 20 . The base station of claim 15 , further comprising circuitry configured to transmit a plurality of periodic downlink (DL) synchronization sequences on the narrowband air interface to the WTRU, wherein the range is an estimate based on the plurality of periodic DL synchronization sequences.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/267,273, filed Jun. 14, 2023, which is a National Stage Entry of PCT/US2021/063863, filed Dec. 16, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/126,401, filed Dec. 16, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND In highly directional systems where large bandwidth utilization is required, the transmit and receive power for a radio that includes a radio front end and signal processing blocks is typically very high, in order to achieve high data rates. SUMMARY Some embodiments provide methods, systems, and devices for in-channel narrowband (NB) companion air interface (CAI) assisted wideband (WB) random access channel (RACH) access. Periodic NB downlink (DL) synchronization sequences are detected. Range information is estimated by measuring the periodic NB DL synchronization sequences; and determining an NB CAI RACH occasion. The range information is transmitted to a gNode B (gNB), or other base station, in a NB CAI RACH procedure. At least one selected WB sequence based on the range information and at least one scheduled WB RACH occasion based on the NB CAI RACH occasion are received from the gNB. A contention free WB RACH procedure is performed based on the received at least one selected WB sequence and the at least one scheduled WB RACH occasion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals in the figures indicate like elements, and wherein: FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented; FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment; FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment; FIG. 1D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating example antenna gain for different example radiation patterns; FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate first-null beam-width (FNBW) and half-power beam-width (HPBW) for an example radiation pattern; FIG. 4 is a line graph illustrating example antenna gain versus beam-width for several example antenna patterns; FIG. 5 is a chart illustrating example wideband versus narrowband signal beam projection on a plane; FIG. 6 is a line graph illustrating an example absorption coefficient plotted versus frequency; FIG. 7 is a line graph illustrating transparency windows for example distances as total path loss plotted against frequency; FIG. 8 is a line graph illustrating path gain as a function of frequency for several example separation distances; FIG. 9 is a line graph illustrating example attenuation plotted against frequency at an example atmospheric gas density; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating example molecular absorption over distance for THz band signals; FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example in channel NB Companion air-interface and wideband (WB) transceiver (TRX); FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture for a THz band wideband radio used to estimate power consumption; FIG. 13 is a chart illustrating an example in-channel narrowband (NB) companion air interface (CAI) assisted WB random access channel (RACH) Procedure with WTRU based range estimation; FIG. 14 is a chart illustrating an example in-channel NB CAI assisted WB RACH procedure with gNB based range estimation; FIG. 15 is a chart illustrating example WTRU-initiated wideband mode activation; FIG. 16 is a chart illustrating example WTRU-initiated wideband mode de-activation; FIG. 17 is a chart illustrating example network-initiated wideband mode activation; FIG. 18 is a chart illustrating example network-initiated wideband mode de-activation; FIG. 19 is a chart illustrating an example WTRU-initiated TA update for the wideband mode; FIG. 20 is a chart illustrating an example network-initiated TA update for the wideband mode; FIG. 21 illustrates an example 4-step RACH type contention based random access (CBRA) procedure; FIG. 22 illustrates an example 2-step RACH type CBRA procedure; FIG. 23 illustrates an example 4-step RACH type contention free random access (CFRA) procedure; and FIG. 24 illustrates an example 2-step RACH type CFRA procedure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In order to save power, a companion air interface (CAI) is provided, which operates in conjunction with the main or primary air interface. The CAI may