Techniques for communicating satellite revisit time in a non-terrestrial network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12526730-B2
Application number	US-202218045950-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2022
Priority date	Oct 15, 2021
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may be configured to receive control signaling indicating a satellite visit time associated with one or more satellites. The UE may be configured to operate in an idle state, an inactive state, or a power-saving state for a time interval which is based on the satellite visit time. The UE may then be configured to monitor for one or more broadcast signals associated with the one or more satellites, one or more network entities, or both, following an end of the time interval which is based on the satellite visit time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive control signaling indicating a satellite visit time associated with one or more satellites, the control signaling comprising an indication of a reference time associated with the satellite visit time, or a reference location associated with the satellite visit time, or both, wherein the satellite visit time indicates a time of a subsequent visiting satellite of a non-terrestrial network relative to the reference time, or a location of the subsequent visiting satellite relative to the reference location, or both;
operate in an idle state, an inactive state, or a power-saving state for a time interval which is based at least in part on the satellite visit time; and
monitor for one or more broadcast signals associated with the one or more satellites, one or more network entities, or both, following an end of the time interval which is based at least in part on the satellite visit time, wherein monitoring for the one or more broadcast signals is based at least in part on the reference time, the reference location, or both.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
monitor for the one or more broadcast signals based at least in part on a comparison of an identified location associated with the UE and the reference location.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the reference time comprises a cell termination time associated with a cell of the non-terrestrial network, a system frame number associated with the non-terrestrial network, or both.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the reference location comprises a location of a beam center associated with a beam used by the non-terrestrial network to transmit the control signaling, a reference geographical location, or both.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via the control signaling, an elevation angle associated with the satellite visit time, wherein the satellite visit time indicates an elevation of a subsequent visiting satellite of a non-terrestrial network relative to the elevation angle, wherein monitoring for the one or more broadcast signals is based at least in part on the elevation angle.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the satellite visit time comprises a coordinated universal time associated with a subsequent visiting satellite of a non-terrestrial network.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via the control signaling, an indication of a second satellite visit time, wherein the second satellite visit time is subsequent to the satellite visit time, and wherein the second satellite visit time comprises a time offset relative to the satellite visit time.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via the control signaling, an indication of a plurality of satellite visit times associated with a non-terrestrial network, the plurality of satellite visit times including the satellite visit time, wherein monitoring for the one or more broadcast signals is based at least in part on the plurality of satellite visit times.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via the control signaling, an indication of one or more parameters associated with each satellite visit time of the plurality of satellite visit times, the one or more parameters comprising a reference time, a reference location, an elevation angle, a physical cell identifier, a satellite identifier, a public land mobile network, a terrestrial gateway, or any combination thereof.

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
identify an absence of signals associated with the non-terrestrial network based at least in part on monitoring for the one or more broadcast signals; operate in the idle state, the inactive state, or the power-saving state for a second time interval which is based at least in part on a second satellite visit time included within the plurality of satellite visit times; and monitor for one or more broadcast signals associated with the one or more satellites, the one or more network entities, or both, following an end of the second time interval which is based at least in part on the second satellite visit time.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit a request for the satellite visit time, a location report associated with the UE, or both, wherein the control signaling is received in response to the request, the location report, or both.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, via the location report, discontinuous coverage information associated with the UE, wherein receiving the control signaling is based at least in part on the discontinuous coverage information.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
verify that the control signaling was received from a non-terrestrial network based at least in part on a cyclic redundancy check, a signature check, or both, wherein operating in one of the idle state, the inactive state, or the power-saving state is based at least in part on the verifying.

14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via the control signaling, an indication of an uncertainty period associated with the satellite visit time, wherein monitoring for the one or more broadcast signals is based at least in part on the uncertainty period.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the satellite visit time is associated with a first satellite corresponding to a first public land mobile network of a non-terrestrial network, and the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
monitor for the one or more broadcast signals for at least the uncertainty period following the end of the time interval; identify an absence of signals associated with the non-terrestrial network based at least in part on the monitoring for at least the uncertainty period; and monitor for one or more broadcast signals associated with a second satellite corresponding to a second public land mobile network based at least in part on identifying the absence of signals.

16 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
identify a plurality of candidate satellites of a non-terrestrial network based at least in part on the monitoring; select a satellite from the plurality of candidate satellites based at least in part on one or more parameters associated with the plurality of candidate satellites, the UE, or both; and communicate with the selected satellite.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a location of the UE, a serving time a

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Shrestha Bharat
• Ma Liangping
• Dhanda Mungal Singh
• Phuyal Umesh
• Wang Xiao Feng
• Sengupta Ayan
• Rico Alvarino Alberto

Classifications

• H04B7/18513 Primary

  Transmission in a satellite or space-based system · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W52/0229

  where the received signal is a wanted signal · CPC title

• H04W76/27

  Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states · CPC title

• H04W48/10 Primary

  using broadcasted information · CPC title