Handling of simultaneous transmission of PRACH and other uplink channels in mobile communications

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a processor of an apparatus, to skip an uplink (UL) transmission to a wireless network for either a first procedure or a second procedure; and

responsive to determining to skip transmission of the first procedure:

performing, by the processor, the second procedure; and

adjusting, by the processor, either or both of a timer and a counter used in controlling UL transmissions for the first procedure,

wherein the adjusting of either or both of the timer and the counter comprises performing a first operation, a second operation or a third operation,

wherein the first operation comprises:

ceasing change of the counter which is incremented when performing the second procedure; and

incrementing the counter after performing the second procedure,

wherein the second operation comprises:

stopping the timer when performing the second procedure; and

continuing the timer after performing the second procedure, and

wherein the third operation comprises:

when performing the second procedure:

ceasing change of the counter which is incremented; and

stopping the timer, and

after performing the second procedure:

incrementing the counter; and

continuing the timer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first procedure comprises a scheduling request (SR) procedure, and wherein the second procedure comprises a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first procedure comprises a random access channel (RACH) procedure, and wherein the second procedure comprises a scheduling request (SR) procedure.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining to skip the UL transmission for either the first procedure or the second procedure comprises determining to skip the UL transmission for either the first procedure or the second procedure responsive to an overlap between one or more resources for the first procedure and one or more resources for the second procedure.

5. A method, comprising:

determining, by a physical layer (PHY) of a processor of an apparatus, to skip an uplink (UL) transmission to a wireless network for either a first procedure or a second procedure;

signaling, by the PHY, an indication to a medium access control layer (MAC) of the processor regarding the determining to skip;

updating, by the MAC, a status of one or more parameters of the first procedure or the second procedure which is skipped to a status before the MAC signals the PHY to perform the UL transmission for the first procedure or the second procedure which is not skipped; and

performing, by the PHY, the UL transmission for one of the first procedure and second procedure which is not skipped.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first procedure comprises a scheduling request (SR) procedure, wherein the second procedure comprises a random access channel (RACH) procedure, and wherein the determining to skip the UL transmission comprises determining to skip the UL transmission responsive to an overlap between one or more SR resources and one or more RACH resources.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the performing of the UL transmission comprises performing the UL transmission for a random access channel (RACH) procedure while a scheduling request (SR) procedure is skipped, and wherein the updating of the status of one or more parameters comprises:

stopping a random access response (RAR) window for the RACH procedure; and

entering into a process of random access resource selection.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the performing of the UL transmission comprises performing the UL transmission for a scheduling request (SR) procedure while a random access channel (RACH) procedure is skipped, and wherein the updating of the status of one or more parameters comprises:

stopping a SR prohibit timer for the SR procedure.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a wireless network; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:

determining to skip an uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless network for either a first procedure or a second procedure; and

responsive to determining to skip transmission of the first procedure:

performing, via the transceiver, the second procedure; and

adjusting either or both of a timer and a counter used in controlling UL transmissions for the first procedure,

wherein the adjusting of either or both of the timer and the counter comprises performing a first operation, a second operation or a third operation,

wherein the first operation comprises:

ceasing change of the counter which is incremented when performing the second procedure; and

incrementing the counter after performing the second procedure,

wherein the second operation comprises:

stopping the timer when performing the second procedure; and

continuing the timer after performing the second procedure, and

wherein the third operation comprises:

when performing the second procedure:

ceasing change of the counter which is incremented; and

stopping the timer, and

after performing the second procedure:

incrementing the counter; and

continuing the timer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first procedure comprises a scheduling request (SR) procedure, and wherein the second procedure comprises a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first procedure comprises a random access channel (RACH) procedure, and wherein the second procedure comprises a scheduling request (SR) procedure.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein, in determining to skip the UL transmission for either the first procedure or the second procedure, the processor determines to skip the UL transmission for either the first procedure or the second procedure responsive to an overlap between one or more resources for the first procedure and one or more resources for the second procedure.