Secondary cell activation using temporary reference signals and beam selection

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

one or more transceivers;

one or more memories; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, the one or more memories storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive, from a base station (BS) via a first cell, an activation command to activate a second cell different from the first cell;

receive, from the BS, a gap configuration indicating a gap between each burst of a plurality of reference signal bursts;

receive, from the BS via the second cell during a cell activation period, a first reference signal of the plurality of reference signal bursts different from a synchronization signal block (SSB) based on beam information and based on the gap configuration;

perform a first measurement of the first reference signal; and

operate in the second cell based on the first measurement.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive, from the BS, the beam information, wherein the beam information indicates at least one of quasi-co-located (QCL) information or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the first reference signal.

3. The UE of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to receive a media access control control element (MAC-CE) indicating the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

4. The UE of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to receive a downlink control information (DCI) indicating the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

5. The UE of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to receive downlink data comprising the activation command, and wherein the downlink data indicates the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive, from the BS via a third cell, an SSB;

determine the second cell operates within a same frequency band as the third cell; and

determine the beam information based on at least one of quasi-co-located (QCL) information or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with the SSB in response to determining the second cell operates within the same frequency band as the third cell.

7. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive, from the BS via the second cell, one or more SSBs before receiving the activation command; and

transmit, to the BS, a measurement report based on the one or more SSBs,

wherein the beam information includes a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with a preferred SSB of the one or more SSBs, the preferred SSB being based on the measurement report.

8. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive the plurality of reference signal bursts,

wherein a first subset of the plurality of reference signal bursts is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to a first SSB of a set of SSBs, and

wherein a second subset of the plurality of reference signal bursts is associated with a second TCI state corresponding to a second SSB of the set of SSBs, wherein the second SSB is different from the first SSB.

9. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the beam information comprises a set of receive beam characteristics, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive a first reference signal burst in the first subset using a first receive beam characteristic from the set of receive beam characteristics; and

receive a second reference signal burst in the first subset using a second receive beam characteristic from the set of receive beam characteristics.

10. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

transmit, to the BS, a report including measurements of the plurality of reference signal bursts;

select a third receive beam characteristic from the set of receive beam characteristics based on the measurements of the plurality of reference signal bursts, the third receive beam characteristic associated with a reference signal burst in the first subset; and

receive, based on the first receive beam characteristic, a second reference signal after receiving the plurality of reference signal bursts, the second reference signal associated with the first TCI state corresponding to the first SSB based on the measurements of the plurality of reference signal bursts.

11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

perform an automatic gain control (AGC) based on one or more of the plurality of reference signal bursts; and

perform at least one of time tracking or frequency tracking based on the second reference signal.

12. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the first subset comprises consecutive reference signal bursts.

13. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the first subset comprises non-consecutive reference signal bursts.

14. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in any combination, to cause the UE to:

receive, from the BS via the second cell, a set of SSBs; and

perform a cell detection of the second cell based on the set of SSB s.

15. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reference signal bursts comprises a plurality of tracking reference signals (TRSs).

16. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal comprises a non-zero power (NZP) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

17. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS).

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

receiving, from a base station (BS) via a first cell, an activation command to activate a second cell different from the first cell;

receiving, from the BS, a gap configuration indicating a gap between each burst of a plurality of reference signal bursts;

receiving, from the BS via the second cell during a cell activation period, a first reference signal of the plurality of reference signal bursts different from a synchronization signal block (SSB) based on beam information and based on the gap configuration;

performing a first measurement of the first reference signal; and

operating in the second cell based on the first measurement.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving, from the BS, the beam information, wherein the beam information indicates at least one of quasi-co-located (QCL) information or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the first reference signal.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the receiving the beam information comprises receiving a media access control control element (MAC-CE) indicating the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the receiving the beam information comprises receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the receiving the activation command comprises receiving downlink data comprising the activation command, and wherein the downlink data indicates the at least one of the QCL information or the TCI state for the first reference signal.

23. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving, from the BS via a third cell, an SSB;

determining the second cell operates within a same frequency band as the third cell; and

determining the beam information based on at least one of quasi-co-located (QCL) information or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with the SSB in response to determining the second cell operates within the same frequency band as the third cell.

24. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving, from the BS via the second cell, one or more SSBs before receiving the activation command; and

transmitting, to the BS, a measurement report based on the one or more SSBs,

wherein the beam information includes a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with a preferred SSB of the one or more SSBs, the preferred SSB being based on the measurement report.

25. The method of claim 18 , wherein the receiving the first reference signal comprises:

receiving a plurality of reference signal bursts,

wherein a first subset of the plurality of reference signal bursts is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to a first SSB of a set of SSBs, and

wherein a second subset of the plurality of reference signal bursts is associated with a second TCI state corresponding to a second SSB of the set of SSBs, wherein the second SSB is different from the first SSB.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the beam information comprises a set of receive beam characteristics, and wherein the receiving the first reference signal further comprises:

receiving a first reference signal burst in the first subset using a first receive beam characteristic of the set of receive beam characteristics; and

receiving a second reference signal burst in the first subset using a second receive beam characteristic from the set of receive beam characteristics.

27. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first reference signal comprises a non-zero power (NZP) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

28. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS).

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded therein, the program code comprising:

code for causing a user equipment (UE) to receive, from a base station (BS) via a first cell, an activation command to activate a second cell different from the first cell;

code for causing the UE to receive, from the BS, a gap configuration indicating a gap between each burst of a plurality of reference signal bursts;

code for causing the UE to receive, from the BS via the second cell during a cell activation period, a first reference signal of the plurality of reference signal bursts different from a synchronization signal block (SSB) based on beam information and based on the gap configuration;

code for causing the UE to perform a first measurement of the first reference signal; and

code for causing the UE to operate in the second cell based on the first measurement.

30. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for receiving, from a base station (BS) via a first cell, an activation command to activate a second cell different from the first cell;

means for receiving, from the BS, a gap configuration indicating a gap between each burst of a plurality of reference signal bursts;

means for receiving, from the BS via the second cell during a cell activation period, a first reference signal of the plurality of reference signal bursts different from a synchronization signal block (SSB) based on beam information and based on the gap configuration;

means for performing a first measurement of the first reference signal; and

means for operating in the second cell based on the first measurement.