User equipment synchronization with a synchronization-signal-block-less carrier

1 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, which are configured, individually or in any combination, to:

receive, from a network node associated with a first carrier, a downlink control information (DCI) transmission indicative of synchronization information corresponding to a second carrier, wherein the second carrier comprises a synchronization-signal-block-less (SSB-less) carrier; and

communicate via the second carrier based on the synchronization information,

wherein the one or more processors, to cause the UE to communicate via the second carrier based on the synchronization information, are configured to cause the UE to monitor a second physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) during a time window, wherein the time window is based on a first expected reception time corresponding to a first PDSCH associated with the first carrier and a margin value.

2 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the DCI transmission includes a carrier indication field indicative of the second carrier.

3 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the time window is further based on an unsynchronized time difference value or a maximum unsynchronized time difference value, wherein the synchronization information indicates at least one of the margin value or the unsynchronized time difference value.

4 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first expected reception time comprises a timing advance (TA) value associated with the first carrier.

5 . The UE of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to receive a TA indication that indicates the TA value.

6 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first expected reception time comprises a time difference between a first time and a second time, wherein the first time corresponds to a time of transmission of a first bit of a first PDSCH communication associated with the first PDSCH, and wherein the second time comprises a time of reception of the first bit of the first PDSCH communication.

7 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the margin value comprises a UE-specific margin value, wherein the UE-specific margin value is based on at least one of a cell size, an estimated distance between the UE and the network node, or a cyclic prefix length.

8 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the margin value is less than or equal to a quotient of a division of a cyclic prefix associated with the second carrier by a constant.

9 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the margin value comprises a frequency drift value.

10 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to receive an indication of a range of potential frequency drift values including the frequency drift value.

11 . The UE of claim 10 , wherein the synchronization information includes the indication of the range of potential frequency drift values.

12 . The UE of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors, to cause the UE to communicate via the second carrier based on the synchronization information, are configured to cause the UE to monitor each of the potential frequency drift values in the range of potential frequency drift values.

13 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the second carrier comprises an uplink-only carrier.

14 . A network node for wireless communication, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, which are configured, individually or in any combination, to:

determine synchronization information corresponding to a second carrier, wherein the second carrier comprises a synchronization-signal-block-less (SSB-less) carrier; and

transmit, via a first carrier and to a user equipment (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) transmission indicative of the synchronization information,

wherein a time window for monitoring, based on the synchronization information, a second physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) associated with the second carrier is based on a first expected reception time corresponding to a first PDSCH associated with the first carrier and a margin value.

15 . The network node of claim 14 , wherein the second carrier comprises an uplink-only carrier.

16 . A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving, from a network node associated with a first carrier, a downlink control information (DCI) transmission indicative of synchronization information corresponding to a second carrier, wherein the second carrier comprises a synchronization-signal-block-less (SSB-less) carrier; and

communicating via the second carrier based on the synchronization information,

wherein the communicating comprises monitoring a second physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) during a time window, wherein the time window is based on a first expected reception time corresponding to a first PDSCH associated with the first carrier and a margin value.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the DCI transmission includes a carrier indication field indicative of the second carrier.

18 . A method of wireless communication performed by a network node associated with a first carrier, comprising:

determining synchronization information corresponding to a second carrier, wherein the second carrier comprises a synchronization-signal-block-less (SSB-less) carrier; and

transmitting, via the first carrier and to a user equipment (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) transmission indicative of the synchronization information,

wherein a time window for monitoring, based on the synchronization information, a second physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) associated with the second carrier is based on a first expected reception time corresponding to a first PDSCH associated with the first carrier and a margin value.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the DCI transmission includes a carrier indication field indicative of the second carrier.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the time window is further based on an unsynchronized time difference value or a maximum unsynchronized time difference value, wherein the synchronization information indicates at least one of the margin value or the unsynchronized time difference value.

21 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the first expected reception time comprises a timing advance (TA) value associated with the first carrier.

22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

receiving a TA indication that indicates the TA value.

23 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the first expected reception time comprises a time difference between a first time and a second time, wherein the first time corresponds to a time of transmission of a first bit of a first PDSCH communication associated with the first PDSCH, and wherein the second time comprises a time of reception of the first bit of the first PDSCH communication.

24 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the margin value comprises a UE-specific margin value, wherein the UE-specific margin value is based on at least one of a cell size, an estimated distance between the UE and the network node, or a cyclic prefix length.

25 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the margin value is less than or equal to a quotient of a division of a cyclic prefix associated with the second carrier by a constant.

26 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the margin value comprises a frequency drift value.

27 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising:

receiving an indication of a range of potential frequency drift values including the frequency drift value.

28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the synchronization information includes the indication of the range of potential frequency drift values.

29 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

monitoring each of the potential frequency drift values in the range of potential frequency drift values.

30 . The network node of claim 14 , wherein the DCI transmission includes a carrier indication field indicative of the second carrier.