Patent Description:
<FIG> is a schematic representation of an example of a terrestrial wireless network <NUM> including, as is shown in <FIG>, a core network <NUM> and one or more radio access networks RAN<NUM>, RAN<NUM>,. <FIG> is a schematic representation of an example of a radio access network RANn that may include one or more base stations gNB<NUM> to gNB<NUM>, each serving a specific area surrounding the base station schematically represented by respective cells <NUM><NUM> to <NUM><NUM>. The base stations are provided to serve users within a cell. The term base station, BS, refers to a gNB in <NUM> networks, an eNB in UMTS/LTE/LTE-A/ LTE-A Pro, or just a BS in other mobile communication standards. A user may be a stationary device or a mobile device. The wireless communication system may also be accessed by mobile or stationary loT devices which connect to a base station or to a user. The mobile devices or the loT devices may include physical devices, ground based vehicles, such as robots or cars, aerial vehicles, such as manned or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the latter also referred to as drones, buildings and other items or devices having embedded therein electronics, software, sensors, actuators, or the like as well as network connectivity that enables these devices to collect and exchange data across an existing network infrastructure. <FIG> shows an exemplary view of five cells, however, the RANn may include more or less such cells, and RANn may also include only one base station. <FIG> shows two users UE<NUM> and UE<NUM>, also referred to as user equipment, UE, that are in cell <NUM><NUM> and that are served by base station gNB<NUM>. Another user UE<NUM> is shown in cell <NUM><NUM> which is served by base station gNB<NUM>. The arrows <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM> schematically represent uplink/downlink connections for transmitting data from a user UE<NUM>, UE<NUM> and UE<NUM> to the base stations gNB<NUM>, gNB<NUM> or for transmitting data from the base stations gNB<NUM>, gNB<NUM> to the users UE<NUM>, UE<NUM>, UE<NUM>. Further, <FIG> shows two loT devices <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM> in cell <NUM><NUM>, which may be stationary or mobile devices. The loT device <NUM><NUM> accesses the wireless communication system via the base station gNB<NUM> to receive and transmit data as schematically represented by arrow <NUM><NUM>. The loT device <NUM><NUM> accesses the wireless communication system via the user UE<NUM> as is schematically represented by arrow <NUM><NUM>. The respective base station gNB<NUM> to gNB<NUM> may be connected to the core network <NUM>, e.g., via the S1 interface, via respective backhaul links <NUM><NUM> to <NUM><NUM>, which are schematically represented in <FIG> by the arrows pointing to "core". The core network <NUM> may be connected to one or more external networks. Further, some or all of the respective base station gNB<NUM> to gNB<NUM> may connected, e.g., via the S1 or X2 interface or the XN interface in NR, with each other via respective backhaul links <NUM><NUM> to <NUM><NUM>, which are schematically represented in <FIG> by the arrows pointing to "gNBs".

For data transmission a physical resource grid may be used. The physical resource grid may comprise a set of resource elements to which various physical channels and physical signals are mapped. For example, the physical channels may include the physical downlink, uplink and sidelink shared channels (PDSCH, PUSCH, PSSCH) carrying user specific data, also referred to as downlink, uplink and sidelink payload data, the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying for example a master information block (MIB), the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying for example a system information block (SIB), the physical downlink, uplink and sidelink control channels (PDCCH, PUCCH, PSSCH) carrying for example the downlink control information (DCI), the uplink control information (UCI) and the sidelink control information (SCI). For the uplink, the physical channels, or more precisely the transport channels according to 3GPP, may further include the physical random access channel (PRACH or RACH) used by UEs for accessing the network once a UE is synchronized and has obtained the MIB and SIB. The physical signals may comprise reference signals or symbols (RS), synchronization signals and the like. The resource grid may comprise a frame or radio frame having a certain duration in the time domain and having a given bandwidth in the frequency domain. The frame may have a certain number of subframes of a predefined length, e.g., <NUM>. Each subframe may include one or more slots of <NUM> or <NUM> OFDM symbols depending on the cyclic prefix (CP) length. All OFDM symbols may be used for DL or UL or only a subset, e.g., when utilizing shortened transmission time intervals (sTTI) or a mini-slot/non-slot-based frame structure comprising just a few OFDM symbols.

The wireless communication system may be any single-tone or multicarrier system using frequency-division multiplexing, like the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system, the orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) system, or any other IFFT-based signal with or without CP, e.g., DFT-s-OFDM. Other waveforms, like non-orthogonal waveforms for multiple access, e.g., filter-bank multicarrier (FBMC), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) or universal filtered multi carrier (UFMC), may be used. The wireless communication system may operate, e.g., in accordance with the LTE-Advanced pro standard or the NR (<NUM>), New Radio, standard.

The wireless network or communication system depicted in <FIG> may by a heterogeneous network having distinct overlaid networks, e.g., a network of macro cells with each macro cell including a macro base station, like base station gNB<NUM> to gNB<NUM>, and a network of small cell base stations (not shown in <FIG>), like femto or pico base stations.

In addition to the above described terrestrial wireless network also non-terrestrial wireless communication networks exist including spaceborne transceivers, like satellites, and/or airborne transceivers, like unmanned aircraft systems. The non-terrestrial wireless communication network or system may operate in a similar way as the terrestrial system described above with reference to <FIG>, for example in accordance with the LTE-Advanced Pro standard or the NR (<NUM>), new radio, standard.

In mobile communication networks, for example in a network like that described above with reference to <FIG>, like an LTE or <NUM>/NR network, there may be UEs that communicate directly with each other over one or more sidelink (SL) channels, e.g., using the PC5 interface. UEs that communicate directly with each other over the sidelink may include vehicles communicating directly with other vehicles (V2V communication), vehicles communicating with other entities of the wireless communication network (V2X communication), for example roadside entities, like traffic lights, traffic signs, or pedestrians. Other UEs may not be vehicular related UEs and may comprise any of the above-mentioned devices. Such devices may also communicate directly with each other (D2D communication) using the SL channels.

When considering two UEs directly communicating with each other over the sidelink, both UEs may be served by the same base station so that the base station may provide sidelink resource allocation configuration or assistance for the UEs. For example, both UEs may be within the coverage area of a base station, like one of the base stations depicted in <FIG>. This is referred to as an "in-coverage" scenario. Another scenario is referred to as an "out-of-coverage" scenario. It is noted that "out-of-coverage" does not mean that the two UEs are not within one of the cells depicted in <FIG>, rather, it means that these UEs.

When considering two UEs directly communicating with each other over the sidelink, e.g., using the PC5 interface, one of the UEs may also be connected with a BS, and may relay information from the BS to the other UE via the sidelink interface. The relaying may be performed in the same frequency band (in-band-relay) or another frequency band (out-of-band relay) may be used. In the first case, communication on the Uu and on the sidelink may be decoupled using different time slots as in time division duplex, TDD, systems.

<FIG> is a schematic representation of an in-coverage scenario in which two UEs directly communicating with each other are both connected to a base station. The base station gNB has a coverage area that is schematically represented by the circle <NUM> which, basically, corresponds to the cell schematically represented in <FIG>. The UEs directly communicating with each other include a first vehicle <NUM> and a second vehicle <NUM> both in the coverage area <NUM> of the base station gNB. Both vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> are connected to the base station gNB and, in addition, they are connected directly with each other over the PC5 interface. The scheduling and/or interference management of the V2V traffic is assisted by the gNB via control signaling over the Uu interface, which is the radio interface between the base station and the UEs. In other words, the gNB provides SL resource allocation configuration or assistance for the UEs, and the gNB assigns the resources to be used for the V2V communication over the sidelink. This configuration is also referred to as a mode <NUM> configuration in NR V2X or as a mode <NUM> configuration in LTE V2X.

<FIG> is a schematic representation of an out-of-coverage scenario in which the UEs directly communicating with each other are either not connected to a base station, although they may be physically within a cell of a wireless communication network, or some or all of the UEs directly communicating with each other are to a base station but the base station does not provide for the SL resource allocation configuration or assistance. Three vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are shown directly communicating with each other over a sidelink, e.g., using the PC5 interface. The scheduling and/or interference management of the V2V traffic is based on algorithms implemented between the vehicles. This configuration is also referred to as a mode <NUM> configuration in NR V2X or as a mode <NUM> configuration in LTE V2X. As mentioned above, the scenario in <FIG> which is the out-of-coverage scenario does not necessarily mean that the respective mode <NUM> UEs (in NR) or mode <NUM> UEs (in LTE) are outside of the coverage <NUM> of a base station, rather, it means that the respective mode <NUM> UEs (in NR) or mode <NUM> UEs (in LTE) are not served by a base station, are not connected to the base station of the coverage area, or are connected to the base station but receive no SL resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station. Thus, there may be situations in which, within the coverage area <NUM> shown in <FIG>, in addition to the NR mode <NUM> or LTE mode <NUM> UEs <NUM>, <NUM> also NR mode <NUM> or LTE mode <NUM> UEs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are present.

Naturally, it is also possible that the first vehicle <NUM> is covered by the gNB, i.e. connected with Uu to the gNB, wherein the second vehicle <NUM> is not covered by the gNB and only connected via the PC5 interface to the first vehicle <NUM>, or that the second vehicle is connected via the PC5 interface to the first vehicle <NUM> but via Uu to another gNB, as will become clear from the discussion of <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> is a schematic representation of a scenario in which two UEs directly communicating with each, wherein only one of the two UEs is connected to a base station. The base station gNB has a coverage area that is schematically represented by the circle <NUM> which, basically, corresponds to the cell schematically represented in <FIG>. The UEs directly communicating with each other include a first vehicle <NUM> and a second vehicle <NUM>, wherein only the first vehicle <NUM> is in the coverage area <NUM> of the base station gNB. Both vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> are connected directly with each other over the PC5 interface.

<FIG> is a schematic representation of a scenario in which two UEs directly communicating with each, wherein the two UEs are connected to different base stations. The first base station gNB<NUM> has a coverage area that is schematically represented by the first circle <NUM><NUM>, wherein the second station gNB<NUM> has a coverage area that is schematically represented by the second circle <NUM><NUM>. The UEs directly communicating with each other include a first vehicle <NUM> and a second vehicle <NUM>, wherein the first vehicle <NUM> is in the coverage area <NUM><NUM> of the first base station gNB<NUM> and connected to the first base station gNB<NUM> via the Uu interface, wherein the second vehicle <NUM> is in the coverage area <NUM><NUM> of the second base station gNB<NUM> and connected to the second base station gNB<NUM> via the Uu interface.

In a wireless communication system as described above, in 3GPP a new working item (WI), introducing Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) has been started. Within this WI the technical feasibility of various satellite systems (GEO, MEO, LEO, etc.) and High Altitude Platforms (HAPS) to be part of the network architecture of 3GPP Rel-<NUM> will be studied.

One of the unique features of NTN is the large propagation delays experienced between user terminals (UE) and satellite systems, and as a consequence, the gNB. Typically, the propagation delays in terrestrial systems are less than <NUM>. However, in NTN, the propagation delays can potentially range from several milliseconds to hundreds of milliseconds depending on the altitudes of the spaceborne or airborne platforms and payload type in NTN, as indicated by way of example in <FIG>.

Specifically, <FIG> shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication system comprising a gNB connected via a satellite gateway to a moving NTN satellite for serving a cell in which two UEs are located. Thereby, in <FIG>, t1 and t2 denote the times at which the satellite is located in the corresponding positions. Obviously, the movement of the satellite causes a change of the round trip time or delay between the gNB and the corresponding UE.

In [<NPL>] describes different options for UL timing synchronization for NTN.

Thus, starting from the above, there is a need for enhancements, improvements and/or modifications of one or more RAN procedures (e.g., from physical layer to higher layers) in order to be able to cope with large propagation delays in NTN.

It is noted that the information in the above section is only for enhancing the understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form prior art and is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein making reference to the appended drawings.

Equal or equivalent elements or elements with equal or equivalent functionality are denoted in the following description by equal or equivalent reference numerals.

In the following description, a plurality of details are set forth to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form rather than in detail in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present invention.

As already indicated above in the introduction, in 3GPP a new working item (WI), introducing Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) has been started. Within this WI the technical feasibility of various satellite systems (GEO, MEO, LEO, etc.) and High Altitude Platforms (HAPS) to be part of the network architecture of 3GPP Rel-<NUM> will be studied.

One of the unique features of NTN is the large propagation delays experienced between user terminals (UE) and satellite systems, and as a consequence, the gNB. Typically, the propagation delays in terrestrial systems are less than <NUM>. However, in NTN, the propagation delays can potentially range from several milliseconds to hundreds of milliseconds depending on the altitudes of the spaceborne or airborne platforms and payload type in NTN.

In order to be able to cope with large propagation delays in NTN, there is a need for modifying one or more RAN procedures, e.g., from physical layer to higher layers [<NUM>], [<NUM>].

In the following, first, some examples of the procedures affected by large propagation delays in NTN are described. Second, relevant components of propagation delay in NTN, i.e., UE specific delay and UE common delay, are described.

From RAN2 perspective, <NUM>-step random access channel (RACH) and <NUM>-step RACH procedures are affected. In particular, in RAN2 #112e [<NUM>] it was agreed to compensate the start of "ra-ResponseWindow" and "msgB-ResponseWindow" by user equipment (UE)-gNB round trip time (RTT). The agreement is provided below:.

In particular, ra-ResponseWindow and msgB-ResponseWindow are certain window of time in which UE expects to receive the message-<NUM> (MSG2) from gNB, also called response message, to its preamble transmission in message-<NUM> (MSG1) in <NUM>-step and <NUM>-step random access procedure, respectively.

Another procedure in RAN2 affected by UE-gNB delay (or RTT) is related to HARQ. Specifically, in RAN2 #112e & #113e [<NUM>]-[<NUM>] it is agreed that for NTN UEs with pre-compensation capability, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is offset by UE-specific RTT (UE-gNB delay). The agreement is provided below:.

From RAN1 perspective, one of the important procedures affected by large propagation delays in NTN is the timing advance procedure [<NUM>]. In timing advance procedure, after gNB estimates the RTT of UE, it sends the timing advance command for adjusting the uplink transmission timing of UE. Clearly, the value of timing advance command is related to UE-gNB RTT.

Another procedure dedicated to NTN is the procedure of feeder link switching [<NUM>]. In feeder link switching procedure, a satellite serving a UE in a cell is switched with a new satellite, and, as a result of this, the feeder link, i.e., communication link between the satellite and the gateway, must be switched. Since the new satellite has a different geographical location compare to the old serving satellite, UE-gNB RTT is changed and the delay of the feeder link must be signaled to the UE.

It can be observed from the above discussion that there are several procedures in NTN specifically need to be enhanced via UE-gNB RTT/delay.

In the following, the components of UE-gNB RTT/delay is described in further detail.

Generally, the end-to-end delay experienced by NTN UE can be split into two major parts namely, UE specific delay and UE common delay. Calculation of both, UE specific and UE common delay depends on the choice of the so-called reference point (RP). In particular, RP is defined as the point with respect to which the downlink and uplink frames are aligned after UE applies the TA command in RACH procedure. As a result of this, the value of TA is calculated with respect to RP. Typically, RP can be chosen to be at gNB, at feeder link, at the satellite, or at a point located at service link. It is decided in RAN1 that the choice of RP is arbitrary and it must be under control of the network, and should at least include the RP at gNB, see <FIG>. For instance, when the RP is chosen to be at satellite (RP3 in <FIG>), when UE applies the TA command, the uplink and downlink frames are aligned at satellite and gNB has to deal with not aligned uplink and downlink frame timing and applies a post timing compensation based on RTT of feeder link.

On the other hand, the choice of RP at gNB (RP1 in <FIG>) leads to frames timing in uplink and downlink that are aligned at gNB. Given the definition of the reference point above, the UE specific delay and UE common delay can be defined as described in the following.

The UE specific delay can be defined as the delay of the UE to the satellite. When RP is defined to be located at service link, the UE specific delay can be defined as the delay of the UE to the RP. In Rel17, NTN UE is assumed to be equipped with GNSS unit. As a result of this, GNSS equipped UE can estimate the distance to satellite together with the assistance of satellite ephemeris and calculates the UE-Satellite delay. If RP is chosen to be at service link, e.g. RP <NUM> in <FIG>, then UE specific delay can be evaluated after subtracting the delay of Satellite to RP (Satellite-RP delay) from the UE-Satellite delay.

The UE common delay can be defined as the delay of satellite to the RP (Satellite-RP). Depending on the location of RP, UE common delay can be evaluated as follows:.

In addition to the common delay, the feeder link delay can be defined as the delay of gNB to the RP. Note that for the case of RP at service link, feeder link delay can be defined as the delay of gNB to satellite. Some of the procedures reviewed in the beginning of this section may require the knowledge of end-to-end UE-gNB delay. Given the definition of the UE specific and UE common delay as above, unless for the case of RP at the gNB, for calculation of UE-gNB delay, signaling of both common delay and feeder link delay from network to UE may be required.

Thereby it is noted that in the following description, it is referred to the feeder link delay and the common delay together, for conciseness of presentation and by way of example, as common delay. In other words, in the below description it is exemplarily assumed that RP is located at gNB. However, the procedures described in the following sections are also valid for other choices of RP as well.

Furthermore, due to the motion of satellite, the common delay is changed over time. For instance, in <FIG>, the distance of the satellite to gateway is reduced from time t<NUM> to t<NUM> and leads to a change for the value of common delay. Thus, updated values of common delay need to be signaled to UE in order to update the outdated UE-gNB RTT.

Given the above discussion, embodiments described below rely on the signaling of common delay in NTN.

Commonly, different options are available for signaling of common delay.

The first option is network centric and gNB signals the absolute value of the common delay to the UE. However, due to the time-varying nature of the common delay, this approach demands for large signaling overhead, as frequent update of the value of the common delay is required especially for LEO and VLEO satellites.

Another option, which is both network centric and UE centric, relies on autonomous calculation of the common delay at the UE side via a given function and signaling (or updating) the parameters of the function from gNB to the UE. This mechanism is proposed in [<NUM>], for TA and handover procedure. However, the details of the signaling is not discussed in [<NUM>].

Furthermore, in [<NUM>], the "U" shape characteristic of the common delay (feeder link RTT) is approximated via piecewise linear function, see <FIG> below. Specifically, <FIG> shows in a diagram feeder link RTT as a function of time, [<NUM>]. Thereby, the ordinate denotes the feeder link RTT in ms, where the abscissa denotes the time in s.

Then, it is assumed that UE autonomously update the value of common delay, via a linear function, and gNB provide the UE with the parameters of the linear function, i.e., a constant term plus a drift value describing the slope of the linear function.

Clearly, the approach proposed above reduce the signaling overhead compare with the first option network centric introduced above. However, there is tradeoff between accuracy and signaling overhead. In order to have accurate approximation of the actual feeder link delay/RTT, the number of piecewise linear functions increases, which, in turn, increases the signaling overhead.

In the following, embodiments of the present invention are described, which reduce the signaling overhead even further and also improve the accuracy of the common delay estimation.

Thereby, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in a wireless communication system or network as depicted in <FIG> including a transceiver, like a base station, gNB, and a plurality of communication devices, like user equipment's, UEs, communicating with transceiver via a satellite / non-terrestrial network, NTN. <FIG> is a schematic representation of a wireless communication system comprising a transceiver <NUM>, like a base station and a plurality of communication devices <NUM><NUM> to <NUM>n, like UEs, communicating with transceiver <NUM> via a satellite / non-terrestrial network <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> might include one or more antennas, a signal processor 300a and a transceiver unit 300b. The UEs <NUM><NUM> to <NUM>n might include one or more antennas, a signal processor 302a<NUM> to 302an, and a transceiver unit 302b<NUM> to 302bn. The satellite <NUM> might include one or more antennas, a signal processor 304a and a transceiver unit 304b. The base station <NUM> and/or the one or more UEs <NUM> and/or the satellite <NUM> may operate in accordance with the inventive teachings described herein.

Embodiments provide a user equipment of a wireless communication system [e.g., <NUM> / new radio, NR], as defined in claim <NUM>, wherein the user equipment is configured to communicate with a base station [e.g., gNB] of the wireless communication system via a satellite of the wireless communication system, wherein the user equipment is configured to receive, from the base station via the satellite or from another user equipment of the wireless communication system via a sidelink, a control information, the control information signaling at least one parameter [e.g., one or more out of the parameters (a, b, c)] for parameterizing a non-linear function, the parameterized non-linear function [e.g., a parameterized version of the non-linear function] describing a course [e.g., variation] of a round trip time or delay time between.

in dependence on a location of the satellite [e.g., with respect to the geographical reference point, the user equipment or a satellite gateway of the wireless communication system] [e.g., when the satellite is in range of the user equipment and/or satellite gateway].

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to time synchronize [e.g., uplink and/or downlink frames for] communications [e.g., transmissions and/or receptions] with the base station using the parameterized non-linear function.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to determine a round trip time or delay time for a certain [e.g., current] time [e.g., slot] using the parameterized non-linear function, wherein the user equipment is configured to time synchronize communications with the base station at the certain time based on the determined round trip time or delay time.

In embodiments, the non non-linear function describes the course of the round trip time or delay time between the satellite and one out of the base station or satellite gateway, wherein the round trip time or delay time is a feeder link round trip time or feeder link delay time.

In embodiments, the non non-linear function describes the course of the round trip time or delay time between the satellite and the geographical reference point, wherein the round trip time or delay time is a common round trip time or common delay time.

In embodiments, the geographical reference point is located in one out of.

In embodiments, in case the geographical reference point is located at the feeder link, the control information further comprises an information describing a feeder link round trip time or delay time between the reference point and one out of the satellite gateway, base station or another reference point.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to time synchronize communications with the base station further using the feeder link round trip time or delay time.

In embodiments, in case the geographical reference point is located at the service link, the control information further comprises an information describing a feeder link round trip time or delay time between the satellite and one out of the satellite gateway, base station or another reference point.

In embodiments, the parameterized non-linear function describes the course of the round trip time or delay time between the first reference point and the second reference point, wherein the control information further describes a [e.g., constant] portion of the round trip time or delay time between the base station and the satellite that is not described by the parameterized non-linear function [e.g., in case that the first reference point is not located at the satellite and/or the second reference point is not located at the base station].

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to time synchronize communications with the base station further using the portion of the round trip time or delay time that is not described by the parameterized non-linear function.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is a power function or an exponential function or a polynomial function.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is<MAT> wherein TRTT/delay describes the determined round trip time or delay time, wherein a, b, and c describe the parameters signaled by the control information, wherein t<NUM> describes the time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the parameters a, b, and c are signaled to the user equipment, and wherein t describes a certain [e.g., current] time at which the determined round trip time or delay time is valid.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to determine a timing advance for a certain [e.g., current] time [e.g., slot] based on the parameterized non-linear function [e.g., to determine a part of the timing advance [e.g., the common part of the timing advance] based on the parameterized non-linear function].

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to time synchronize communications with the base station at the certain time based on the determined timing advance.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is <MAT> wherein NTA,common describes the common timing advance in units of TC, wherein NTA,cons can be obtained via a third parameter c of the signaled parameters in units of TC, wherein NTA,power can be obtained via a second parameter b of the signaled parameters, wherein NTA,scale can be obtained via a first parameter a of the signaled parameters in units of TC per unit of <MAT>, wherein n<NUM> describes the time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the parameters a, b, and c are signaled to the user equipment, and wherein nCurrentSlot describes a certain [e.g., current] time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the determined timing advance is valid.

For example, the common timing advance is part of the timing advance, which further captures the effect of common/feeder link delay.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is <MAT> <MAT> wherein NTA,common describes the common timing advance in units of TC, wherein NTA,cons can be obtained via a third parameter c of the signaled parameters in units of TC, wherein NTA,power can be obtained via a second parameter b of the signaled parameters, wherein NTA,scale can be obtained via a first parameter a of the signaled parameters, wherein <MAT> is the UE autonomously calculated drift rate in the units of TC per unit of n<NUM>, wherein n<NUM> describes the reference time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] implicitly or explicitly indicated to the UE, and wherein nCurrentSlot describes a certain [e.g., current] time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the determined timing advance is valid.

In embodiments, the at least one parameter is signaled in units of TC for determining the timing advance, wherein the user equipment is configured to convert the at least one parameter via TC into at least one converted parameter in absolute value, wherein the user equipment is configured to use the at least one converted parameter for at least one other procedure.

In embodiments, the at least one other procedure is at least one out of a calculation of a round trip time or delay time between the user equipment and the base station [e.g., for "drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL" or for a compensation of "ra-ResponseWindow" and "msgB-ResponseWindow].

In embodiments, the control information signals absolute parameters for parametrizing the non-linear function.

In embodiments, the control information signals an index of an entry [e.g., row] out of a plurality of entries of a table, each entry of the table having stored at least one parameter associated with a corresponding satellite out of a plurality of satellites of the communication system.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured, in case of a handover to another satellite or a switch to another feeder link, to receive a further signaling information prior to the handover to the other satellite or switch to the other feeder link, the further signaling information describing at least one further parameter for parameterizing the non-linear function, the further parameterized non-linear function describing a course of a round trip time or delay after the handover to the other satellite or the switch to the other feeder link.

In embodiments, the control information signaling the at least one parameter is transmitted via a system information block.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to relay or re-transmit the signaling information signaling the at least one parameter to at least one other user equipment [e.g., unicast, multicast, groupcast or broadcast] of the wireless communication system via the sidelink.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to communicate with at least two satellites, wherein the user equipment is configured to receive, for each of the at least two satellites, a control information having a corresponding at least one parameter for parametrizing the non-linear function.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to communicate with the base station via the satellite using carrier aggregation.

In embodiments, the user equipment is configured to communicate with the base station via the satellite as supplementary uplink.

Further embodiments provide a base station [e.g., gNB] of a wireless communication system [e.g., <NUM> / new radio, NR], as defined in independent claim <NUM>, wherein the base station is configured to communicate with an user equipment of the wireless communication system via a satellite of the wireless communication system, wherein the base station is configured to transmit to the user equipment via the satellite a control information, the control information signaling at least one parameter [e.g., one or more out of the parameters (a, b, c)] for parameterizing a non-linear function, the parameterized non-linear function [e.g., a parameterized version of the non-linear function] describing a course [e.g., variation] of a round trip time or delay time between.

In embodiments, in case the geographical reference point is located at the feeder link, the control information further comprises an information describing a feeder link round trip time or delay time between the reference point and one out of the satellite gateway or base station.

In embodiments, in case the geographical reference point is located at the service link, the control information further comprises an information describing a feeder link round trip time or delay time between the satellite and one out of the satellite gateway or base station.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is <MAT> wherein TRTT/delay describes the determined round trip time or delay time, wherein a, b, and c describe the parameters signaled by the control information, wherein t<NUM> describes the time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the parameters a, b, and c are signaled to the user equipment, and wherein t describes a certain [e.g., current] time at which the determined round trip time or delay time is valid.

In embodiments, the non-linear function is <MAT> <MAT> wherein NTA,common describes the common timing advance in units of TC, wherein NTA,cons can be obtained via a third parameter c of the signaled parameters in units of TC, wherein NTA,power can be obtained via a second parameter b of the signaled parameters, wherein NTA,scale can be obtained via a first parameter a of the signaled parameters, wherein <MAT> is the UE autonomously calculated drift rate in the units of TC per unit of n<NUM>, wherein n<NUM> describes the reference time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] indicated to the UE, and wherein nCurrentSlot describes a certain [e.g., current] time [e.g., system frame number or slot number] at which the determined timing advance is valid.

In embodiments, the control information signals an index of an entry [e.g., row] of a table in which the corresponding parameters are stored [e.g., in the user equipment].

Further embodiment provide a method for operating a user equipment of a wireless communication system [e.g., <NUM> / new radio, NR], as defined in independent claim <NUM>.

The method comprises a step of receiving,.

Further embodiments provide a method for operating a base station [e.g., gNB] of a wireless communication system [e.g., <NUM> / new radio, NR], as defined in independent claim <NUM>. The method comprises a step of transmitting to a user equipment of the wireless communication system via a satellite of the wireless communication system a control information, the control information signaling at least one parameter [e.g., one or more out of the parameters (a, b, c)] for parameterizing a non-linear function, the parameterized non-linear function [e.g., a parameterized version of the non-linear function] describing a course [e.g., variation] of a round trip time or delay time between.

Subsequently, embodiments of the present invention are described in further detail.

As already indicated above, the end-to-end UE-gNB can be split into two parts: UE specific delay and UE common delay. In order to be able to understand the details of the signaling of the common delay, the UE common delay can be split into its constituent components. Furthermore, in the following, the terms RTT and delay are used interchangeably. In particular, given <FIG>, the UE common delay/RTT can be written as follows: <MAT> where.

Given the discussion above, RTTUE-Common can be well approximated via the right-hand-side of the equation above, i.e., RTTUE-Common = RTTGTW-Sat + TConstant , where TConstant captures the effects of all constant terms and RTTGTW-Sat is the only time-varying and deterministic term.

Before discussing the details of the signaling, it is worth to mention how RTTGTW-Sat can be evaluated. In particular, RTTGTW-Sat is a function of satellite altitude (h), minimum elevation angle (θmin), maximum elevation angle (θmax), and satellite orbit inclination (α). <FIG> and <FIG> show RTTGTW-Sat for different system parameters.

In detail, in <FIG>, the RTT from the gateway to the satellite, RTTGTW-Sat, is plotted for different satellite altitudes. Thereby, the ordinate denote the RTT in ms, where the abscissa denotes the time in s. It can be observed that by increasing the altitude h, the visibility window of satellite at gateway increases. Furthermore, for all values of the altitude h, the "U" shape characteristic of RTTGTW-Sat is preserved.

In <FIG>, the RTT from the gateway to the satellite, RTTGTW-Sat, is plotted for different maximum elevation angles. Thereby, the ordinate denotes the RTT in ms, where the abscissa denotes the time in s. Similar to the previous analysis, it can be observed that different values of maximum elevation angles θmax changes the visibility window of the satellite. However, the characteristic of the RTTGTW-Sat remains constant. Same observation with respect to behavior of RTTGTW-Sat has been made for different range of values of θmin and also α.

One important conclusion from the above simulation results is the RTTGTW-Sat shows a "U" shape characteristic. This particular characteristic can be employed for designing signaling mechanism with low signaling overhead.

In embodiments the RTTGTW-Sat can be approximated as follows: <MAT> where a, b, and c are some constant values that can be obtained offline given the satellite orbit parameters and/or trajectory. Function f(t) is an arbitrary function that can best capture the characteristic of RTTGTW-Sat:.

In order to assess the accuracy of the method proposed above, the same set of parameters are considered as in [<NUM>]. In <FIG>, the common delay (RTT of feeder link) is plotted as a function of time for simulated RTT and estimated RTT via a power function. Thereby, the ordinate denotes the RTT in ms, where the abscissa denotes the time in s. The estimated parameters for this particular scenario are a = <NUM> × <NUM>-<NUM>, b = <NUM>, c = <NUM>. It can be observed that the actual RTT curve can be well approximated with the power function with very high accuracy, compared to the piecewise linear approximation method. Furthermore, the signaling overhead is substantially reduced, compared with the piecewise linear approximation, since the estimated parameters can be calculated offline once and be used for a longer time, without a need for an update.

In the following, first, the details of the common delay signaling for the TA procedure are discussed. Second, further discussion is provided for the details of the signaling that are relevant for other procedures introduced above.

For the timing advance mechanism, the following expression can be employed for calculation of autonomous TA for NTN UE [<NUM>] <MAT> where.

In the expression above, NTA,UE-specific is the parameter that is referred to as UE specific delay/RTT herein. Furthermore, NTA,common is the parameter that is referred to as UE common delay/RTT, RTTUE-Common, herein and focused on for its signaling. For the TA procedure, RTTUE-Common= NTA,common × Tc, and NTA,common has a unit of Tc. Thus, in embodiments, NTA,common can be determined as one out of the two following methods:.

In NTN, and for Rel17, UE must calculate the timing advance value, and correspondingly, the common delay, before starting the RACH procedure, i.e., before sending the preamble (MSG1) via PRACH. By doing this, UE obtain time synchronization in its corresponding UL transmissions. As a result of this, the estimated parameters a, b, and c (NTA,cons, NTA,power, NTA,scale in case of TA procedure) must signal to UE before PRACH start.

In embodiments, the estimated parameters a, b, and c (NTA,cons, NTA,power, NTA,scale in case of TA procedure) can be broadcasted via system information block (SIB), e.g. SIB1 or any SIB dedicated to NTN.

In the case of other procedures introduced in the beginning of this document, if the estimated parameters are signaled first for the TA procedure (in Tc unit), UE can convert the estimated parameters into absolute values via Tc. Then, UE can employ the absolute values of estimated parameters for calculation of UE common delay, and consequently end-to-end UE-gNB delay, which is needed in other procedures.

In the following, other relevant aspects of the common delay signaling are discussed.

According to a first aspect, the signaling method explained above is also valid for multiple UEs in a cell. Further, the signaling method explained above is also valid for one UE communicating with multiple satellites, and/or communicating via carrier aggregation, and/or communicating via supplementary uplink.

Thereby, for UEs in proximity, the signaling may also be distributed using the sidelink as direct communication link between UEs.

Further, in case of sidelink, either (<NUM>) broadcast (distributing the relevant information to all UEs in proximity) or (<NUM>) groupcast / multicast (distributing with a configured or spontaneous group of UEs, where one UE could serve as a group head responsible to distribute the satellite specific information), or (<NUM>) unicast (individual link to one nearby UE) may apply.

Further, in case of Uu, also multicast (group of UEs using satellite(s) for communication) may be used to distribute the satellite specific information (e.g. corrections of drifts).

According to a second aspect, since the satellite orbital motion is predictive, for a UE in a cell with fixed geographical location, and being served with multiple satellites, the estimated parameters ai, bi, and ci for the ith satellite, i = {<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>,···M}, where M is the total number of satellites, can be stored as ith row of a look-up table.

Thereby, the look-up table can be configured to the UE via RRC signaling.

Depending on the serving satellite, at a certain time, gNB can signal the corresponding index value of corresponding row of a look-up table.

According to a third aspect, all the discussions above are also valid for the case where instead of index signaling, the absolute value of estimated parameters are signaled to the UE.

According to a sixth aspect, for the hand-over procedure, the estimated parameters <MAT>, and <MAT> of the new satellite, that UE is going to hand-over to, is signaled via the current serving satellite before the hand-over procedure, or the corresponding index of <MAT>, and <MAT> is sent to the UE, if <MAT>, and <MAT> are stored in a look-up table.

According to a seventh aspect, in the event of feeder link switch, the estimated parameters <MAT>, and <MAT>, associated with the common delay experienced via the new/switched gateway in the feeder link, or its corresponding index in the look-up table are signaled to the UE before the feeder link switch occurs.

According to an eights aspect, all the methods mentioned above are also valid if UE is configured with multiple look-up tables, where each look-up table is configured for different procedures, and each row of a look-up table corresponds to a potential serving satellite.

Thereby, a signaling mechanism in which DCI information activates/de-activates one table out of a set of RRC configured look-up tables.

According to a ninth aspect, periodicity / frequency of report being exchanged: this may depend on any possible drift of the satellite or the moving speed and / or direction of the UE.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented or used for several procedures (see below) in RAN1 and RAN2, which require enhancement for NTN depending on the round trip time (RTT) of UE and gNB.

As indicated above, UE-gNB RTT in NTN can be split into two parts namely, common RTT (or common delay) and UE specific RTT (or UE specific delay).

Thereby, the UE specific delay is the delay of UE to satellite, which can be acquired, for example, via UE GNSS unit and satellite ephemeris.

The common delay is common to all UEs. The common delay captures the delay of gNB-Gateway-Satellite (feeder-link).

Embodiments described herein may be implemented or used for procedures affected by UE-gNB RTT, such as one or more of the following:.

As indicated above, the common delay is under control of the network and must be signal to all UEs in the cell. Due to the motion of satellite, common delay is changing with time and requires frequent signaling from network side to UE to update the value of common delay. Embodiment provide a signaling mechanism of common delay with low signaling overhead.

In accordance with embodiments, the common delay (and Feeder link RTT), which has "U" shape characteristics, is approximated with power functions, i.e., atb + c (see <FIG>). Embodiments achieve very accurate approximation of RTT function. Signaling overhead can be substantially reduced, as only three parameters need to be signaled (a, b, c).

Various elements and features of the present invention may be implemented in hardware using analog and/or digital circuits, in software, through the execution of instructions by one or more general purpose or special-purpose processors, or as a combination of hardware and software. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the environment of a computer system or another processing system. <FIG> illustrates an example of a computer system <NUM>. The units or modules as well as the steps of the methods performed by these units may execute on one or more computer systems <NUM>. The computer system <NUM> includes one or more processors <NUM>, like a special purpose or a general-purpose digital signal processor. The processor <NUM> is connected to a communication infrastructure <NUM>, like a bus or a network. The computer system <NUM> includes a main memory <NUM>, e.g., a random-access memory (RAM), and a secondary memory <NUM>, e.g., a hard disk drive and/or a removable storage drive. The secondary memory <NUM> may allow computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the computer system <NUM>. The computer system <NUM> may further include a communications interface <NUM> to allow software and data to be transferred between computer system <NUM> and external devices. The communication may be in the form electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being handled by a communications interface. The communication may use a wire or a cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link and other communications channels <NUM>.

The program code may for example be stored on a machine-readable carrier.

Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine-readable carrier.

Claim 1:
User equipment (<NUM><NUM>) of a wireless communication system,
wherein the user equipment (<NUM><NUM>) is configured to communicate with a base station (<NUM>) of the wireless communication system via a satellite (<NUM>) of the wireless communication system,
wherein the user equipment (<NUM><NUM>) is configured to receive, from the base station (<NUM>) via the satellite (<NUM>) or from another user equipment (<NUM><NUM>) of the wireless communication system via a sidelink, a control information, the control information signaling parameters for parameterizing a non-linear function, the parameterized non-linear function describing a course of a round trip time or delay time between
- the satellite (<NUM>) and one out of the base station (<NUM>) or satellite gateway of the wireless communication system, or
- the satellite (<NUM>) and a geographical reference point of the wireless communication system, or
- a first reference point and a second reference point, the first reference point having a fixed relation to the satellite (<NUM>) and the second reference point having a fixed relation to one out of the base station (<NUM>), satellite gateway or user equipment (<NUM><NUM>),
in dependence on a location of the satellite (<NUM>),
wherein the user equipment (<NUM><NUM>) is configured to time synchronize communications with the base station (<NUM>) using the parameterized non-linear function.