IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,553,406
Granted Patent B2
US 11,553,406 · App. 17/063,486 · Granted Jan 10, 2023

Evaluation period in NR-U networks

Inventors: Muhammad Nazmul Islam (Littleton, MA); Awlok Singh Josan (San Francisco, CA); Arash Mirbagheri (San Diego, CA); Alessio Marcone (Nuremberg, DE)
Assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
H04W48/16H04B7/0626H04B7/0695H04L5/0051H04W8/08H04W8/24H04W24/10H04W28/0268H04W56/001H04W74/0833H04W76/27
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,553,406
App. No.
17/063,486
Granted
Jan 10, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

In an aspect, the present disclosure includes a method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for wireless communications for determining, by a user equipment (UE), a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity; performing, by the UE, a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period; and determining, by the UE, whether to initiate a set of actions associated with the evaluation procedure based on the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals.

Claims (82)

1. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

determining a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable, the number of times the discovery reference signal is unavailable being capped by a maximum unavailability threshold that is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, UE mobility, and UE capability;

performing a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period; and

determining whether to initiate a set of actions associated with the evaluation procedure based on the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies a quality threshold; and

transmitting a second signal based on a determination that the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies the quality threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second signal corresponds to one or more combinations of a beam failure recovery or random access channel (RACH) signal.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transmitting the second signal to the network entity to inform the network entity of an index of a new beam or a new reference signal.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving a downlink signal from the network entity in response to transmitting the second signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies a quality threshold; and

performing a second set of measurements of the quality of a second set of discovery reference signals based on a determination that the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals fails to satisfy the quality threshold.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising evaluating whether the quality of the second set of discovery reference signals have exceeded a threshold.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising performing a radio link failure mode if the quality of the second set of discovery reference signals have dropped below the threshold.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising transmitting an uplink signal to the network entity that informs the network entity of an index of a new reference signal among the second set of discovery reference signals if the quality of that reference signal has exceed the threshold.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of actions corresponds to at least one of a handover procedure to a neighbor cell, a beam failure detection procedure, a radio link monitoring procedure, a serving or neighbor cell measurement procedure and a candidate beam detection procedure.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of discovery reference signals correspond to at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

12. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

determining a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity;

performing a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period;

identifying a first available random access channel (RACH) occasion within the first time period, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and a number of times the first set of discovery reference signals is unavailable; and

transmitting a signal within the first time period based on identifying the first available RACH occasion and the first set of measurements.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and the number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable is capped by a maximum unavailability threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the maximum unavailability threshold is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, a periodicity of synchronization signal block (SSB)-RACH association period, UE mobility, and UE capability.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the discovery reference signal includes one or more combinations of synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the signal corresponds to a RACH signal.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising receiving a downlink signal from the network entity in response to transmitting the RACH signal.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein a set of actions corresponds to at least one of a handover procedure to a neighbor cell, radio resource control (RRC) connection release procedure, and a RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory configured to store instructions; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable, the number of times the discovery reference signal is unavailable being capped by a maximum unavailability threshold that is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, UE mobility, and UE capability;

perform a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period; and

determine whether to initiate a set of actions associated with the evaluation procedure based on the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine whether the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies a quality threshold; and

transmit a second signal based on a determination that the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies the quality threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the second signal corresponds to one or more combinations of a beam failure recovery or random access channel (RACH) signal.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit the second signal to the network entity to inform the network entity of an index of a new beam or a new reference signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a downlink signal from the network entity in response to transmitting the second signal.

24. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine whether the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals satisfies a quality threshold; and

perform a second set of measurements of the quality of a second set of discovery reference signals based on a determination that the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals fails to satisfy the quality threshold.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to evaluate whether the quality of the second set of discovery reference signals have exceeded a threshold.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform a radio link failure mode if the quality of the second set of discovery reference signals have dropped below the threshold.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit an uplink signal to the network entity that informs the network entity of an index of a new reference signal among the second set of discovery reference signals if the quality of that reference signal has exceed the threshold.

28. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the set of actions corresponds to at least one of a handover procedure to a neighbor cell, a beam failure detection procedure, a radio link monitoring procedure, a serving or neighbor cell measurement procedure and a candidate beam detection procedure.

29. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the first set of discovery reference signals correspond to at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

30. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory configured to store instructions; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity;

perform a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period;

identify a first available random access channel (RACH) occasion within the first time period, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and a number of times the first set of discovery reference signals is unavailable; and

transmit a signal within the first time period based on identifying the first available RACH occasion and the first set of measurements.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and the number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable is capped by a maximum unavailability threshold.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the maximum unavailability threshold is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, a periodicity of synchronization signal block (SSB)-RACH association period, UE mobility, and UE capability.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the discovery reference signal includes one or more combinations of synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

34. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the signal corresponds to a RACH signal.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a downlink signal from the network entity in response to transmitting the RACH signal.

36. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein a set of actions corresponds to at least one of a handover procedure to a neighbor cell, radio resource control (RRC) connection release procedure, and a RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

37. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for determining a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable, the number of times the discovery reference signal is unavailable being capped by a maximum unavailability threshold that is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, UE mobility, and UE capability;

means for performing a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period; and

means for determining whether to initiate a set of actions associated with the evaluation procedure based on the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable medium at a user equipment (UE), comprising code executable by one or more processors to:

determine a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times a discovery reference signal is unavailable, the number of times the discovery reference signal is unavailable being capped by a maximum unavailability threshold that is based on one or more of a periodicity of reference signals, UE mobility, and UE capability;

perform a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period; and

determine whether to initiate a set of actions associated with the evaluation procedure based on the first set of measurements of the quality of the first set of discovery reference signals.

39. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for determining a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity;

means for performing a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period;

means for identifying a first available random access channel (RACH) occasion within the first time period, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and a number of times the first set of discovery reference signals is unavailable; and

means for transmitting a signal within the first time period based on identifying the first available RACH occasion and the first set of measurements.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium at a user equipment (UE), comprising code executable by one or more processors to:

determine a first time period for an evaluation procedure during communications with a network entity;

perform a first set of measurements of a quality of a first set of discovery reference signals during the first time period;

identify a first available random access channel (RACH) occasion within the first time period, wherein the first time period is based on a number of times the RACH occasion is unavailable and a number of times the first set of discovery reference signals is unavailable; and

transmit a signal within the first time period based on identifying the first available RACH occasion and the first set of measurements.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 30, 2021
From: ISLAM, MUHAMMAD NAZMUL; JOSAN, AWLOK SINGH; MIRBAGHERI, ARASH; MARCONE, ALESSIO
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 055766/0009 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62911993 · Oct 7, 2019
Related Publication 20210105708A1 · Apr 8, 2021