TCI indication based continuation of multiple-cell activation
Systems and methods provide multiple cell activation. A user equipment (UE) receives, from a wireless network, a command to activate multiple cells simultaneously. In response, the UE initiates cell activation procedures for the multiple cells. The cell activation procedures include waiting for an active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication. The UE monitors for the active TCI indication on any of the multiple cells. In response to receiving the active TCI indication on a first cell of the multiple cells, the UE determines one or more second cells of the multiple cells that share a same spatial relationship with the first cell according to one or more predetermined rule, and autonomously continues the cell activation procedures for the first cell and the one or more second cells.
1 . A method for a user equipment (UE) to communicate in a wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving, from the wireless network, a command to activate multiple cells simultaneously;
in response to the command, initiating cell activation procedures for the multiple cells, wherein the cell activation procedures include waiting for an active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication;
monitoring for the active TCI indication on any of the multiple cells;
in response to receiving the active TCI indication on a first cell that is to be activated of the multiple cells:
determining one or more second cells that are to be activated of the multiple cells that share a same spatial relationship with the first cell according to one or more predetermined rule; and
using the active TCI indication to complete the cell activation procedures for both the first cell that is to be activated and the one or more second cells that are to be activated; and
receiving, at the UE from the wireless network, downlink communication on the first cell and the one or more second cells.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising defining, based on the one or more predetermined rule, the first cell and the one or more second cells as being in a TCI cell group with a same TCI state.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises the first cell and the one or more second cells being in a same frequency band in a first frequency range (FR1), and wherein the first cell and the one or more second cells comprise frequency contiguous serving cells sharing a same downlink spatial filter at the UE.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises the first cell and the one or more second cells being in a same frequency band wherein the same frequency band is in a second frequency range (FR2), and wherein the first cell and the one or more second cells share a same downlink spatial filter at the UE.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises a predefined criteria set between the wireless network and the UE.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises assuming that consecutively numbered cell identifiers (IDs) in a frequency band are spatially co-located.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein autonomously continuing the cell activation procedures comprises selectively determining, for each of the one or more second cells, whether one or more additional conditions trigger a continuation the cell activation procedures.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more additional conditions are based on synchronization signal measurements to determine quasi co-location (QCL) of the first cell with the one or more second cells.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the synchronization signal measurements comprise one or more of synchronization signal block (SSB) measurements and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurements.
10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more additional conditions are based on a radio resource configuration (RRC) configuration of synchronization signal settings between the first cell and the one or more second cells.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the synchronization signal settings comprise one or more of synchronization signal block (SSB) settings and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) settings.
12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting, from the UE to the wireless network, a UE capability message indicating support by the UE for autonomous continuation of multiple cell activation based on a single TCI indication.
13 . A method for a base station to communicate with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving, from the UE, a UE capability message indicating support by the UE for autonomous continuation of multiple cell activation based on a single transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication;
transmitting, from the base station to the UE, a command to initiate cell activation procedures for multiple cells, wherein the cell activation procedures include waiting for an active TCI indication; and
based on the UE capability message, transmitting the active TCI indication to the UE on a first cell that is to be activated of the multiple cells to complete the cell activation procedures for the first cell that is to be activated and one or more second cells that are to be activated of the multiple cells that share a same spatial relationship with the first cell according to one or more predetermined rule.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising defining, based on the one or more predetermined rule, the first cell and the one or more second cells as being in a TCI cell group with a same TCI state.
15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises the first cell and the one or more second cells being in a same frequency band in a first frequency range (FR1), and wherein the first cell and the one or more second cells comprise frequency contiguous serving cells sharing a same downlink spatial filter at the UE.
16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises the first cell and the one or more second cells being in a same frequency band wherein the same frequency band is in a second frequency range (FR2), and wherein the first cell and the one or more second cells share a same downlink spatial filter at the UE.
17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more predetermined rule comprises a predefined criteria set between the wireless network and the UE.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises assuming that consecutively numbered cell identifiers (IDs) in a frequency band are spatially co-located.
19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining one or more third cells of the multiple cells that do not share the same spatial relationship with the first cell according to the one or more predetermined rule; and
transmitting, from the base station to the UE, additional active TCI indications for each of the one or more third cells.