Patent Description:
Wireless communication systems provide various telecommunication services and typically employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Multiple-access technologies include, for example, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol for enabling different wireless devices to communicate. One such standard is <NUM>th Generation (<NUM>) New Radio (NR), which includes some aspects that may be based on the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard. However, further advancements are still needed in the technology for <NUM> NR.

One such aspect involves the activation delay related to a secondary cell (SCell) in cases where a SCell being activated belongs to Frequency Range <NUM> (FR2) and if there is no active serving cell on that FR2 band provided that a primary cell (PCell) or primary secondary cell (PSCell) is Frequency Range <NUM> (FR1). In the activation procedure, beam information (e.g., the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) information) used for Layer <NUM> (L1)-Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) reporting (L1-RSRP) reference signal (RS) is unknown to the user equipment (UE). In such a case, the network may not configure any TCI information for L1-RSRP RS before beginning the process of activating the SCell or may configure TCI information for L1-RSRP RS beginning the process of activating the SCell, but that TCI related information was made a long time ago and is now out of date. Without precise TCI information, the UE cannot perform a reliable L1-RSRP, thereby making the L1-RSRP report unreliable. If the L1-RSRP is unreliable, the process of SCell activation for an FR2 unknown cell is delayed.

<NPL>, describes options for handling SCell activation delay in Frequency Range <NUM> (FR2). The document sets out a number of steps to be followed for SCell activation with Steps <NUM> and <NUM> relating to performing and reporting additional one L1 RSRP measurement.

A method and apparatus (baseband processor) of a user device (UE) that acquires transmission configuration indicator (TCI) information for secondary cell (SCell) activation. In some embodiments, the TCI information is acquired for SCell activation by: determining, during secondary cell (SCell) activation, that beam information (e.g., TCI information) to enable a user equipment (UE) to make a reliable layer <NUM> (L1)-Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement report is unavailable; performing the L1-RSRP measurement using information of one or more Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) during the SCell activation, wherein the one or more processors perform the L1-RSRP measurement using information of one or more SSBs during the SCell activation by identifying, by the UE, one or more detectable SSBs during the SCell activation and using information of the one or more detectable SSBs for the L1-RSRP measurement, and reporting, by the UE after SCell synchronization, alternative information in the L1-RSRP measurement report for the SCell activation as a replacement when the beam information to enable the UE to make the reliable L1-RSRP measurement report is unavailable.

Other methods and apparatuses are also set out in the dependent claims.

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

A method and apparatus of a device that acquires beam information (e.g., transmission configuration indicator (TCI) information) for secondary cell (SCell) activation when the beam information to enable a user equipment (UE) to make a reliable beam measurement report is unavailable. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention.

The processes depicted in the figures that follow, are performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

The terms "server," "client," and "device" are intended to refer generally to data processing systems rather than specifically to a particular form factor for the server, client, and/or device.

A method and apparatus of a device that acquires beam information (e.g., transmission configuration indicator (TCI) information) for secondary cell (SCell) activation when the beam information to enable a user equipment (UE) to make a reliable beam measurement report is unavailable. In some embodiments, the beam measurement report is a layer <NUM> (L1)-Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement report and the UE uses alternative information for the L1-RSRP report when the beam information is unavailable. The UE reports the alternative information in the L1-RSRP measurement report for the SCell activation as a replacement when the beam information to enable the UE to make the reliable L1-RSRP measurement report is unavailable.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a "cell. " The base station 102A and the UEs <NUM> may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an 'eNodeB' or 'eNB'. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of <NUM> NR, it may alternately be referred to as 'gNodeB' or 'gNB'.

In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) base station, or "gNB". In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs).

Note that a UE <NUM> may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, <NUM> NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE <NUM> may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

<FIG> illustrates user equipment <NUM> (e.g., one of the devices 106A through 106N) in communication with a base station <NUM>, according to some embodiments. The UE <NUM> may be a device with cellular communication capability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE <NUM> may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT/1xEV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE <NUM> may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device <NUM>, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of <FIG> is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device <NUM> may include a set of components <NUM> configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components <NUM> may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components <NUM> may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device <NUM>.

dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for <NUM> NR).

As shown, the SOC <NUM> may include processor(s) <NUM>, which may execute program instructions for the communication device <NUM> and display circuitry <NUM>, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display <NUM>. The processor(s) <NUM> may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) <NUM>, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) <NUM> and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory <NUM>, read only memory (ROM) <NUM>, NAND flash memory <NUM>) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry <NUM>, short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM>, connector I/F <NUM>, and/or display <NUM>. The MMU <NUM> may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU <NUM> may be included as a portion of the processor(s) <NUM>.

As noted above, the communication device <NUM> may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. As described herein, the communication device <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for enabling UE to perform L1-RSRP measurements for beam reporting during SCell activation when the UE does not have precise (and reliable) TCI information available and provides that alternative information as part of the L1-RSRP reporting during SCell activation, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and short-range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. Thus, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. Similarly, the short-range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>.

The network port <NUM> may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices <NUM>, access to the telephone network as described above in <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of <FIG> is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may be include in a communication device, such as communication device <NUM> described above. As noted above, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas <NUM> a-b and <NUM> as shown (in <FIG>). In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. For example, as shown in <FIG>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include a modem <NUM> and a modem <NUM>. Modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as <NUM> NR.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for enabling UE to perform L1-RSRP measurements for beam reporting during SCell activation when the UE does not have precise (and reliable) TCI information available and provides that alternative information as part of the L1-RSRP reporting during SCell activation, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for enabling UE to perform L1-RSRP measurements for beam reporting during SCell activation when the UE does not have precise (and reliable) TCI information available and provides that alternative information as part of the L1-RSRP reporting during SCell activation, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In some embodiments, SCell activation and deactivation are used to activate or deactivate, respectively, data transmission between a UE and a SCell. In some embodiments, this occurs while the SCell is in carrier aggregation. Note that this occurs in one or more wireless standards including, for example, <NUM> NR. In some embodiments, the carrier aggregation is set up by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) process, and after the RRC process has finished, the data transmission is switched on/off by the UE to facilitate activation/deactivation of the SCell. The time to complete the SCell activation is based on a number of different factors and the SCell activation may be delayed for one or more reasons.

For example, in the <NUM> NR standard, when SCell occurs for an unknown Frequency Range <NUM> (FR2) SCell, there may be a FR2 SCell activation delay. In some embodiments, the delay is specified as based on whether the SCell being activated belongs to FR2 and whether there is no active serving cell on that FR2 band provided that PCell or PSCell is Frequency Range <NUM> (FR1). In other words, in some embodiments, the FR2 SCell activation delay is based on whether the target SCell is known to the UE.

If the target SCell is unknown to UE and semi-persistent channel state information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) is used for CSI reporting, provided that the side condition Ês/Iot ≥ [-<NUM>]dB is fulfilled, then SCell activation time, Tactivation_time, may be represented as: <MAT> and if the target SCell is unknown to UE and periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, provided that the side condition Ês/Iot ≥ [-<NUM>]dB is fulfilled, then Tactivation_time is: <MAT> where.

One problem in the activation procedure is that the TCI information for L1-RSRP RS may be unknown to the UE. If that occurs, the network may not configure any TCI information for L1-RSRP RS before the SCell activation begins or the network may configure TCI information for L1-RSRP RS before the SCell activation begins, but that TCI-related measurement was long time ago and now is out of date. In these cases, the UE needs to obtain the TCI for L1-RSRP after cell synchronization. This problem may be better understood by explaining a SCell activation process.

<FIG> is a data flow diagram of a SCell activation process according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the activation process occurs after the SCell has been added to the UE.

Referring to <FIG>, the SCell activation process begins by the UE receiving a MAC control element (CE) command in a message from the network to activate an SCell (processing block <NUM>) and decodes the message to determine that a targeted SCell is to be activated (processing block <NUM>).

After decoding the message, the UE begins the process of activating the SCell by tuning (or retuning) its RF to the new SCell (processing block <NUM>). The tuning operation ensures that the UE's RF filter covers the new SCell. Once tuning has been completed, the UE performs SCell synchronization. During SCell synchronization, the UE synchronizes with the target SCell to obtain timing information needed for communication (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, this timing information comprises frame boundary and symbol boundary information.

After synching to the SCell, the UE performs L1-RSRP measurements that can be used by the network to identify the best beam pair to use to enable to support channel state information (CSI) reporting for the UE (processing block <NUM>). During the measurement process, UE changes the receive beam itself and takes L1-RSRP measurements that can be reported to the network. After performing the L1-RSRP measurements, the UE knows the best receive beam that it can use with the SCell to receive one of the SS blocks for which it measured. However, this process assumes that the UE has been configured with the TCI information that provides beam information that the UE uses for the measurements. Without precise TCI information, the UE cannot perform reliable L1-RSRP measurements and thus makes any reporting of such measurements unreliable. However, there are times when the TCI information for the L1-RSRP RS is unknown to the UE. As discussed above, the UE does not have reliable TCI information if the SCell being activated, referred to herein as the target SCell, belongs to FR2 and if there is not active serving cell on that FR2 band provided that PCell or PSCell is FR1. The UE also does not have reliable TCI information if the target SCell is unknown to the UE and either semi-persistent CSI-RS or periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting.

After the UE has completed the measurements, the UE sends a L1-RSRP measurement report to the network (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, this report includes the measurements of all SSBs for which the UE made measurements. After sending the report, the network knows the reference signal that is best to use as it indicates the SS block with the highest response for the UE. In some embodiments, the report specifies information (e.g., an index) identifying the best SS block based on the measured RSRP for the particular SS block. Using this information, the network can determine the transmit (Tx) beam that the network should use to transmit the CSI, as well as the SS block, to the UE. Thus, the L1-RSRP measurement report allows the UE and the network to know the best receive and transmit pair to use for the link between the UE and the SCell.

Once the network has the beam information, the network configures the UE for the CQI reporting resource, or reference signal, and the CSI-RS using the best beam pair. This is done by the network sending sends MAC CE command messages that are received by the UE (processing block <NUM>). Subsequently, HARQ processing (processing block <NUM>) and the MAC CE processing (processing block <NUM>) decode and execute those commands to activate the channel TCI and CSI-RS for the UE. Note that even though the UE does not provide usable CQI until after SCell activation has been completed, the UE has been providing CQI during the SCell activation process since RF turning of processing block <NUM> but this reported CQI only indicates that the UE is out of range of the SCell. The UE keeps reporting the CQI indicating an out of range status until finished activation.

After decoding and beginning the execution of the commands for activating the channel TCI and the CSI-RS, the UE performs fine time tracking (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, the fine time tracking performs time frequency checking to obtain a timing frequency offset of the target reference signal.

Thereafter, the UE activates the CQI reporting based on the activated CSI-RS (processing block <NUM>). This enables the UE to take measurements of the CQI of targeted CSI-RS and report them.

Thus, as set forth above, because the UE does not have precise TCI information, the UE cannot perform a reliable L1-RSRP measurements for beam reporting, thereby making the L1-RSRP report from the UE unreliable. In some embodiments, the UE uses alternative information as a replacement to LI-RSRP measurements when precise (and reliable) TCI information is not available and provides that alternative information as part of the L1-RSRP reporting during SCell activation.

<FIG> is a flow diagram of a process for using alternative information in the L1-RSRP reporting during SCell activation. Referring to <FIG>, the process includes determining, during secondary cell (SCell) activation, that beam information to enable a user equipment (UE) to make a reliable L1-RSRP measurement is unavailable (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, the beam information that is not available is reliable TCI information (e.g., TCI information of a certain quality level to make a reliable L1-RSRP measurement report). In response to this determination, alternative information in used by the UE for the L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, this information is obtained after SCell synchronization. Thereafter, the UE reports the alternative information in a L1-RSRP measurement report for the SCell activation as a replacement when the beam information to enable the UE to make a reliable L1-RSRP measurement is unavailable (processing block <NUM>).

In some embodiments, the beam information to enable the UE to make the reliable L1-RSRP measurement report is unavailable when the SCell being activated belongs to Frequency Range <NUM> (FR2) and that the SCell is unknown to the UE, and in that case the alternative information is provided in the L1-RSRP measurement report as the replacement.

In some embodiments, the replacement information comprises information of one or more Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), and the reporting of the alternative information comprises reporting the information of the one or more SSBs as the replacement. In another embodiment, the alternative information comprise L1-RSRP measurements based on L3 SSB measurement information, and the reporting of the alternative information comprises reporting L1-RSRP measurements based on L3 SSB measurement information as the replacement. In yet another embodiment, the alternative information is related to preconfigured TCI information for L1-RSRP that is preconfigured by a network as part of the SCell activation process, and the preconfigured TCI information is used for L1-RSRP measurements.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, the alternative information used by the UE using information from Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) for the L1-RSRP measurement. That is, the UE uses an SSB-based L1-RSRP measurement during SCell activation. In some embodiments, the UE uses SSBs that are used for SCell synchronization when the UE is synchronizing with the target SCell.

In some embodiments, if the SCell being activated belongs to FR2 and if there is no active serving cell on that FR2 band provided that PCell or PSCell is FR1 and if the target SCell is unknown to UE and either semi-persistent CSI-RS or periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, then the UE uses only SSBs to perform the L1-RSRP measurement during the current SCell activation. In some embodiments, these SSBs are the ones used for SCell synchronization in the current SCell activation.

<FIG> is a data flow diagram of some embodiments of a SCell activation process that uses detectable SSBs detected for the L1-RSRP measurement report when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements. The process of <FIG> is the same as that of <FIG> except where as shown and discussed herein.

Referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, during the SCell synchronization portion of SCell activation, the UE identifies detectable SSBs (processing block <NUM>). The UE uses the SSBs that are detected for the L1-RSRP measurement for beam pair refinement. Thereafter, the UE reports the L1-RSRP measurements for the SSBs (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, one or more SSBs that were not detected will still have a measurement reported. In some embodiments, the measurement is reported as zero or some other information is provided to indicate that the beams associated with the SSB should not be used for communication between the UE and the target SCell. In some embodiments, the L1-RSRP report identifies the best receive beam for each detectable SSB reception.

<FIG> is a flow diagram of the process of using detectable SSBs that are detected for the L1-RSRP measurement in the SCell activation process when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation.

In some embodiments, in place of TCI information that is available when the SCell activation process starts, the UE uses L1-RSRP RS TCI that is based on the layer three (L3) SSB measurements. <FIG> is a data flow diagram of some embodiments of a SCell activation process that uses L3 SSB measurements made during SCell activation to create TCI that is used for L1-RSRP when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation. The process of <FIG> is the same as that of <FIG> except where as shown and discussed herein.

Referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the SCell activation process includes additional operations to provide SSB measurement results to the network that are used by the network to determine the proper TCI for the L1-RSRP RS measurements. More specifically, after SCell synchronization, the UE performs a process to perform L3 SSB measurements and reports the results to the network (processing block <NUM>). As part of the L3 SSB measurement, the UE measures the detected SSBs in the SCell synchronization step and reports the measurement results with an SSB index to the network. In some embodiments, this measurement is requested by network. Then, the UE waits for the network to configure or otherwise activate the TCI that enables the UE to perform L1-RSRP measurements and L1-RSRP measurement reporting to the network. Thus, after received the L3 SSB-based measurement from the UE, the network configures or activates proper TCI for L1-RSRP RS based on the SSB measurement (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, the L1-RSRP RS is a QCL type D with certain SSBs.

<FIG> is a flow diagram of the process of using L3 SSB measurement and reporting for configuring the UE with TCI during SCell activation to enable the UE to perform L1-RSRP measurement and reporting during the SCell activation process when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation.

In some embodiments, the SCell activation process is augmented to preconfigure TCI information for all L1-RSRP RS. <FIG> is a data flow diagram of some embodiments of a SCell activation process that uses preconfigures beam information (e.g., TCI information) for RSRP RS during SCell activation to provide TCI that is used for L1-RSRP when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation. The process of <FIG> is the same as that of <FIG> except where as shown and discussed herein.

Referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the network preconfigures TCIs for each L1-RSRP RS (processing block <NUM>). In some embodiments, the network preconfigures TCIs for each L1-RSRP RS where the number of L1-RSRP RS is not less than the number of SSBs transmitted in that SCell. Thus, if there is a predetermined number of SSBs (e.g., greater than zero) transmitted in that SCell, then the network configure at least that same number of L1-RSRP RSs. In some embodiments, each of those L1-RSRP RS is a QCL type D with one SSB.

<FIG> is a flow diagram of the process of pre-configuring a UE with beam information (e.g., TCI information) during SCell activation for the UE to perform L1-RSRP measurement and reporting during the SCell activation process when reliable beam information (e.g., TCI information) is not available for L1-RSRP measurements during SCell activation.

Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logic circuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller or other form of processing core that executes program code instructions. Thus, processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions that cause a machine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions. In this context, a "machine" may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or "abstract") instructions into processor specific instructions (e.g., an abstract execution environment such as a "virtual machine" (e.g., a Java Virtual Machine), an interpreter, a Common Language Runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc.), and/or, electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g., "logic circuitry" implemented with transistors) designed to execute instructions such as a general-purpose processor and/or a special-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above may also be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combination with a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes (or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes read only memory ("ROM"); random access memory ("RAM"); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc..

An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An article of manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic or other)), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection)).

The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated.

It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "selecting," "determining," "receiving," "forming," "grouping," "aggregating," "generating," "removing," or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be evident from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language.

Claim 1:
A baseband processor (<NUM>) of a user equipment, UE, (<NUM>) configured to perform operations comprising:
determining, by the baseband processor during secondary cell, SCell, activation, that transmission configuration indicator, TCI, information to enable the UE to make a reliable layer <NUM>, L1, Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP, measurement for beam reporting is unavailable (<NUM>);
performing (<NUM>), when the TCI information to enable the UE to make the reliable L1-RSRP measurement is unavailable, the L1-RSRP measurement using information of one or more Synchronization Signal Blocks, SSBs, during the SCell activation, wherein performing the L1-RSRP measurement using information of one or more SSBs during the SCell activation comprises:
identifying, by the baseband processor, one or more detectable SSBs during the SCell activation, and
using information of the one or more detectable SSBs after detection for performing the L1-RSRP measurement; and
reporting, by the baseband processor after SCell synchronization in which the UE synchronized with the Scell, the L1-RSRP measurement using the information of the one or more detectable SSBs as alternative information for beam reporting in a L1-RSRP measurement report for the SCell activation as a replacement for the reliable L1-RSRP measurement when the reliable L1-RSRP measurement is unavailable (<NUM>) for beam reporting.