Patent Description:
Relatedly, document <CIT> describes master cell group and secondary cell group coexistence.

The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller/processor <NUM>) and memory <NUM> to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (for example, as described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>).

The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller/processor <NUM>) and memory <NUM> to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (for example, as described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>).

Controller/processor <NUM> of base station <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM> of UE <NUM>, and/or any other component(s) of <FIG> may perform one or more techniques associated with preemption of symbols in a slot format index (SFI), as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor <NUM> of base station <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM> of UE <NUM>, and/or any other component(s) of <FIG> may perform or direct operations of, for example, process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or other processes as described herein. Memories <NUM> and <NUM> may store data and program codes for base station <NUM> and UE <NUM>, respectively. In some aspects, memory <NUM> and/or memory <NUM> may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions (e.g., code and/or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compiling, converting, and/or interpreting) by one or more processors of the base station <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM>, may cause the one or more processors, the UE <NUM>, and/or the base station <NUM> to perform or direct operations of, for example, process <NUM> of <FIG> and/or other processes as described herein. In some aspects, executing instructions may include running the instructions, converting the instructions, compiling the instructions, and/or interpreting the instructions, among other examples.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for determining, for communications via a component carrier, to avoid one or more SFIs associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols; and/or means for transmitting a request to avoid the one or more SFIs. The means for the UE to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of antenna <NUM>, demodulator <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, modulator <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, or memory <NUM>.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to be associated with a cross-link interference that satisfies a threshold amount of cross-link interference.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to cause an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch for the set of beam pairs associated with the component carrier and an additional set of beam pairs associated with an additional component carrier.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for receiving, for communications via the component carrier, a resource grant having an SFI, wherein determining to avoid the one or more SFIs is based at least in part on receiving the resource grant having the SFI.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs before one or more base stations indicate availability of carrier aggregation of the component carrier and an additional component carrier.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs after carrier aggregation of the component carrier and an additional component carrier is established.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for transmitting a request for coordination between the first base station and the second base station to avoid uplink-downlink symbol mismatches.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for requesting a first set of reference signals for a first set of beam pairs associated with the component carrier; means for requesting a second set of reference signals for a second set of beam pairs associated with an additional component carrier; and/or means for determining, based at least in part on the first set of reference signals and the second set of reference signals, cross-link interference between one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for determining the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs at particular frequencies based at least in part on the first set of reference signals and the second set of reference signals.

In some aspects, the UE includes means for reporting the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of beam training with a set of base stations using a set of frequency bands, in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, a UE may perform beam training to identify beams and/or modules (e.g., antenna modules) for communicating with a first base station via a first frequency band. For example, the UE may identify first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> for communicating with the first base station using the first frequency band. As shown, TCI states <NUM> and <NUM> may use module <NUM> of the UE, TCI state <NUM> may use module <NUM> of the UE, and TCI state <NUM> may use module <NUM> of the UE.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may perform beam training to identify beams and/or modules for communicating with a second base station via a second frequency band. For example, the UE may identify second TCI states A, B, C, and D for communicating with the second base station using the second frequency band. As shown, TCI states A and D may use module <NUM> of the UE, TCI state B may use module <NUM> of the UE, and TCI state C may use module <NUM> of the UE.

The first TCI states for communicating with the first base station and the second TCI states for communicating with the second base station may be correlated. For example, the first TCI states and the second TCI states may be correlated based at least in part on the first base station and the second base station being co-located and/or the first frequency band and the second frequency band being comparable with each other (e.g., both frequency bands are in a millimeter wave spectrum, frequencies in the first band are within a threshold percentage (e.g., <NUM>%, <NUM>%, and/or the like), and/or the like).

Based at least in part on being correlated, TCI state <NUM> and TCI state A may be similar (e.g., using a same module, using a similar communication path, pointing towards similar steering angles, and/or the like), TCI state <NUM> and TCI state B may be similar, TCI state <NUM> and TCI state C may be similar, TCI state <NUM> and TCI state D may be similar, and/or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, a strongest TCI state of the first TCI states may be correlated with a strongest TCI state of the second TCI states.

The UE may be configured to simultaneously receive downlink transmissions via the first band and via the second band via the TCI state <NUM> and the TCI state A and/or to transmit uplink transmissions via the first band and via the second band via the TCI state <NUM> and the TCI state A. However, in some instances, an uplink-downlink mismatch may cause cross-link interference (e.g., self-interference from the uplink transmissions for the downlink transmissions).

Some networks may use dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) and may configure some UEs to receive downlink transmissions during a same symbol during which other UEs transmit uplink transmissions (e.g., uplink-downlink mismatches between UEs). For some UEs (e.g., based at least in part on UE locations, UE communication paths, and/or the like), the uplink-downlink mismatches may cause increased cross-link interference.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of communications with a set of base stations using a set of frequency bands, in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, and by reference number <NUM>, a UE may transmit an uplink transmission to a first base station using the first frequency band. For example, the UE may use TCI state <NUM> to transmit via the first frequency band based at least in part on the TCI state <NUM> being determined as a strongest TCI state for communicating via the first frequency band. A transmission using the TCI state <NUM> may travel to the first base station via a first communication path. Clutter in a local channel environment may lead to the transmission using the TCI state <NUM> to reflect back toward the UE. Reflected energy from the clutter may cause self-interference. However, because the UE is transmitting when the reflected energy arrives at the UE, the self-interference may not substantially adversely affect communication via the first frequency band.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may attempt to receive a downlink transmission from a second base station using the second frequency band. For example, the UE may use TCI state A to attempt to receive a transmission via the second frequency band based at least in part on the TCI state A being determined as a strongest TCI state for communicating via the second frequency band. A transmission that the UE attempts to receive using the TCI state A may travel to the UE from the second base station via a second communication path. The second communication path may be similar to the first communication path (e.g., based at least in part on the first base station being co-located with the second base station).

The UE may attempt to receive the downlink transmission from a similar direction as the reflected energy due to the clutter propagates toward the UE and/or module <NUM>. Based at least in part on the reflected energy leading to increased interference (e.g., self-interference, cross-link interference, and/or the like), the UE may be unable to receive (e.g., demodulate, decode, and/or the like) the downlink transmission via the second frequency band. In this way, the UE may fail to receive a downlink transmission based at least in part on interference from an uplink-downlink mismatch (e.g., for one or more symbols in an SFI) for the UE communicating via another frequency band or from other interference. The UE and/or the base station may use computing, communication, and/or network resources to recover from the failed downlink transmission, to determine that the failure is based at least in part on an uplink-downlink mismatch, and/or the like.

In some aspects described herein, a UE determines, as claimed, for communications via a component carrier (e.g., for communications with a first base station via a first frequency band) to avoid one or more SFIs associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols. In some aspects, the UE determines, as claimed, to avoid the one or more SFIs based at least in part on a likeliness ( a likeliness that satisfies a threshold likeliness) to be associated with a cross-link interference ( a cross-link interference that satisfies a threshold amount of cross-link interference). For example, the UE may determine that the likeliness to be associated with the cross-link interference is based at least in part on the one or more SFIs having an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch with one or more SFIs of an additional component carrier used by the UE for communication with a second base station (e.g., when using carrier aggregation).

The UE transmits, as claimed, a request to avoid the one or more SFIs. For example, the UE may transmit the request to the first base station and/or the second base station to indicate the one or more SFIs to avoid, an indication of set of preferred SFIs, and/or the like. Based at least in part on the UE transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs, the base station may avoid using the one or more SFIs, decrease a likelihood of failed downlink transmissions, and/or the like. In this way, the UE and/or the base station may conserve computing, communication, and/or network resources that may otherwise be used to recover from failed downlink transmissions, to determine that the failure is based at least in part on an uplink-downlink mismatch, to replace an existing SFI for the UE, and/or the like.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example <NUM> of preemption of symbols in an SFI, in accordance with the present disclosure. As shown, a UE (e.g., UE <NUM>) communicates with a first base station (e.g., base station <NUM>) and a second base station using one or more of downlink transmissions and uplink transmissions. In some aspects, the UE, the first base station, and/or the second base station may be part of one or more wireless networks (e.g., the wireless network <NUM>). In some aspects, the first base station and the second base station may be co-located. In some aspects, the UE may be configured with multiple antenna modules through which the UE may communicate with the base station.

As shown in <FIG>, and by reference numbers <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE may receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling (e.g., from the first base station and/or the second base station) with information to configure the UE. In some aspects, the RRC signaling and/or other signaling may indicate that the UE is to be configured to determine cross-link interference based at least in part on reference signals from multiple base stations. In some aspects, the RRC signaling and/or other signaling may indicate that the UE is to be configured to determine one or more SFIs to avoid (e.g., based at least in part on determining that cross-link interference is associated with the one or more SFIs). In some aspects, the RRC signaling and/or other signaling may indicate that the UE is to transmit a request to avoid the one or more SFIs.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may configure the UE. In some aspects, the UE may configure the UE based at least in part on the RRC signaling and/or other signaling. The UE may configure the UE to determine cross-link interference based at least in part on reference signals from multiple base stations, to determine one or more SFIs to avoid, to transmit a request to avoid the one or more SFIs, and/or the like.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may transmit a first request for reference signals from the first base station. In some aspects, the UE may request a first set of reference signals (e.g., channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) for a first set of beam pairs associated with a first component carrier that is associated with the first base station. In some aspects, the first set of reference signals may be located within a frequency band of the first component carrier. In other words, the first set of reference signals may be associated with one or more bandwidth parts of the first component carrier and may be frequency-specific (e.g., using a specific combination of resources across the first resource band). In some aspects, the UE may request a resource grant for the UE to transmit reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRSs)) toward the first base station using one or more beams and/or one or more antenna modules.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may transmit a second request for reference signals from the second base station. In some aspects, the UE may request a second set of reference signals (e.g., CSI-RSs) for a second set of beam pairs associated with a second component carrier that is associated with the second base station. In some aspects, the second set of reference signals may be located within a frequency band of the second component carrier. In other words, the second set of reference signals may be associated with one or more bandwidth parts of the second component carrier and may be frequency-specific (e.g., using a specific combination of resources across the second resource band). In some aspects, the UE may request a resource grant for the UE to transmit reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRSs)) toward the second base station using one or more beams and/or one or more antenna modules.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may receive reference signals from the first base station. In some aspects, the UE may receive the reference signals within a frequency band of the first component carrier. In some aspects, the UE may transmit reference signals toward the first base station using one or more beams.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may receive reference signals from the second base station. In some aspects, the UE may receive the reference signals within a frequency band of the first component carrier. In some aspects, the UE may transmit reference signals toward the second base station using one or more beams.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may determine cross-link interference. In some aspects, the UE may determine cross-link interference between one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs. In some aspects, the cross-link interference may be based at least in part on an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs. In some aspects, the UE may determine the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs at particular frequencies based at least in part on the first set of reference signals and the second set of reference signals.

As shown by reference numbers <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE may report the cross-link interference to the first base station and/or the second base station. For example, the UE may report the cross-link interference using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, a medium access control control element (MAC-CE), and/or the like. In some aspects, the UE may report the cross-link interference with an indication of the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs for which the UE determined the cross-link interference. In this way, the UE may indicate to the first base station and/or the second base station that certain beams of the first set of beam pairs may cause cross-link interference for certain beams of the second set of beam pairs, and/or certain beams of the second set of beam pairs can cause cross-link interference for certain beams of the first set of beam pairs, when SFIs for the first carrier and the second carrier have an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch.

As shown by reference number <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE may receive (e.g., from the first base station and/or the second base station) one or more resource grants having associated SFIs. For example, the one or more resource grants may include a semi-persistent scheduling resource grant, a dynamic resource grant, and/or the like.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, the UE may determine to avoid one or more SFIs that are associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols. In some aspects, the UE may determine to avoid a first set of the one or more SFIs when communicating via the first component carrier using a first beam, a second set of the one or more SFIs when communicating using a second beam, and/or the like. In some aspects, the UE may determine to avoid a third set of the one or more SFIs when communicating via the second component carrier using a third beam, a fourth set of the one or more SFIs when communicating using a fourth beam, and/or the like.

In some aspects, the cross-link interference may be based at least in part on an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch for the first set of beam pairs associated with the first component carrier and the second set of beam pairs associated with the second component carrier to be used for communication using carrier aggregation.

In some aspects, the UE may determine to avoid the one or more SFIs based at least in part on determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to be associated with a cross-link interference that satisfies a threshold amount of cross-link interference. For example, the UE may determine the likeliness to be associated with the cross link interference based at least in part on prior information (e.g., measurements of received and/or transmitted reference signals).

In some aspects, the UE may determine to avoid the one or more SFIs based at least in part on determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness (e.g., satisfies a likeliness threshold), to cause an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch for the first set of beam pairs associated with the first component carrier and a second set of beam pairs associated with the second component carrier.

As shown by reference numbers <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE may transmit one or more requests (e.g., to the first base station and/or the second base station) to avoid the one or more SFIs. In some aspects, the UE may transmit the one or more requests via PUCCH communications, MAC CEs, and/or the like. In some aspects, the UE may transmit the one or more request to avoid the one or more SFIs based at least in part on determining that an SFI of a resource grant is one of the one or more SFIs to avoid. In some aspects the UE may transmit the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs after carrier aggregation of the first component carrier and the second component carrier is established. In some aspects, the UE may transmit the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs before receiving a resource grant from the first base station and/or the second base station and/or before carrier aggregation is established.

In some aspects, the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs may indicate a set of beam pairs to use for the one or more SFIs that are requested to be avoided. In some aspects, the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs may indicate a set of beam pairs to not use for the one or more SFIs that are requested to be avoided.

In some aspects, the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs may include an indication of a set of preferred SFIs for the first component carrier and/or the second component carrier, a request to configure an SFI of the set of preferred SFIs for the first component carrier and/or the second component carrier, an indication of the one or more SFIs to avoid for the first component carrier and/or the second component carrier, or a request to avoid configuration of the one or more SFIs for the first component carrier and/or the second component carrier.

In some aspects, the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs may include a request for coordination between the first base station and the second base station to avoid uplink-downlink symbol mismatches. The request for coordination may indicate certain beams associated with the first component carrier and certain beams of the second component carrier for which the first base station and the second base station is to coordinate to avoid uplink-downlink symbol mismatches.

As shown by reference numbers <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE may receive one or more indications (e.g., from the first base station and/or the second base station) of availability for carrier aggregation. In some aspects, the UE may receive the one or more indications after transmitting the one or more requests to avoid the one or more SFIs.

In some aspects, the UE may establish carrier aggregation of the first component carrier and the second component carrier. The carrier aggregation may include contiguous or non-contiguous carrier aggregation and/or may include intra-band or inter-band carrier aggregation.

In some aspects, the UE may receive one or more indications of SFIs for communicating with the first base station and/or the second base station. The one or more indications of the SFIs may be based at least in part on the request to avoid the one or more SFIs. For example, the UE may receive an indication of a first SFI for communication with the first base station and a second SFI for communication with the second base station, with the first SFI and the second SFI expected to not cause interference (e.g., interference above a threshold for reception by the UE) based at least in part on indications and/or information within the request to avoid SFIs.

Based at least in part on the UE transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs, the first base station and/or the second base station may avoid using the one or more SFIs, decrease a likelihood of failed downlink transmissions, and/or the like. In this way, the UE, the first base station, and/or the second base station may conserve computing, communication, and/or network resources that may otherwise be used to recover from failed downlink transmissions, to determine that the failure is based at least in part on an uplink-downlink mismatch, to replace an existing SFI for the UE, and/or the like.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example process <NUM> performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with the present disclosure. Example process <NUM> is an example where the UE (e.g., UE <NUM> and/or the like) performs operations associated with preemption of symbols in an SFI.

As shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes determining, for communications via a component carrier, to avoid one or more SFIs associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols (block <NUM>). For example, the UE (e.g., using receive processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or the like) may determine, for communications via a component carrier, to avoid one or more SFIs associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols, as described above.

As further shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes transmitting a request to avoid the one or more SFIs (block <NUM>). For example, the UE (e.g., using transmit processor <NUM>, controller/processor <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or the like) may transmit a request to avoid the one or more SFIs, as described above.

In the invention, determining to avoid the one or more SFIs includes determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to be associated with a cross-link interference that satisfies a threshold amount of cross-link interference.

In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, the cross-link interference is based at least in part on an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch for a set of beam pairs associated with the component carrier and an additional set of beam pairs associated with an additional component carrier to be used for communication using carrier aggregation.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the request to avoid the one or more SFIs indicates a set of beam pairs to use or not to use for the one or more SFIs that are requested to be avoided.

In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third aspects, determining to avoid the one or more SFIs includes determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to cause an uplink-downlink symbol mismatch for the set of beam pairs associated with the component carrier and an additional set of beam pairs associated with an additional component carrier.

In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth aspects, the request to avoid the one or more SFIs comprises one or more of an indication of a set of preferred SFIs for the component carrier, a request to configure an SFI of the set of preferred SFIs for the component carrier, an indication of the one or more SFIs to avoid for the component carrier, or a request to avoid configuration of the one or more SFIs for the component carrier.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth aspects, process <NUM> includes receiving, for communications via the component carrier, a resource grant having an SFI, wherein determining to avoid the one or more SFIs is based at least in part on receiving the resource grant having the SFI.

In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs is based at least in part on determining that the SFI of the resource grant is one of the one or more SFIs to avoid.

In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh aspects, transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs includes transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs before one or more base stations indicate availability of carrier aggregation of the component carrier and an additional component carrier.

In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighth aspects, transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs includes transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs after carrier aggregation of the component carrier and an additional component carrier is established.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth aspects, a first base station is associated with the component carrier and a second base station is associated with an additional component carrier to be used for communication using carrier aggregation, and transmitting the request to avoid the one or more SFIs includes transmitting a request for coordination between the first base station and the second base station to avoid uplink-downlink symbol mismatches.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through tenth aspects, the component carrier and an additional component carrier are to be used for communication using contiguous or non-contiguous intra-band or inter-band carrier aggregation, a first base station is associated with the component carrier and a second base station is associated with the additional component carrier, and determining to avoid the one or more SFIs is based at least in part on a likelihood of cross-link interference between communication via the component carrier and communication via the additional component carrier.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eleventh aspects, the first base station and the second base station are co-located.

In a thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twelfth aspects, process <NUM> includes requesting a first set of reference signals for a first set of beam pairs associated with the component carrier, requesting a second set of reference signals for a second set of beam pairs associated with an additional component carrier; and determining, based at least in part on the first set of reference signals and the second set of reference signals, cross-link interference between one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs.

In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirteenth aspects, the first set of reference signals are located within a frequency band of the component carrier and the second set of reference signals are located within a frequency band of the additional component carrier, and determining the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs includes determining the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs at particular frequencies based at least in part on the first set of reference signals and the second set of reference signals.

In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourteenth aspects, process <NUM> includes reporting the cross-link interference between the one or more beams of the first set of beam pairs and the one or more beams of the second set of beam pairs.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment, UE (<NUM>), comprising:
determining (<NUM>), for communications via a component carrier, to avoid one or more slot format indices, SFIs, associated with a set of configurations for a set of symbols, wherein determining (<NUM>) to avoid the one or more SFIs comprises:
determining that use of the one or more SFIs has a likeliness, that satisfies a threshold likeliness, to be associated with a cross-link interference that satisfies a threshold amount of cross-link interference; and
transmitting (<NUM>) a request (<NUM>, <NUM>) to avoid the one or more SFIs.