For IAB operation, in order to achieve time-domain synchronization across multiple backhaul hops, a timing adjustment may be provided to an IAB node by its parent node. Two different values may be provided, related to Case-1/Case-6, and Case-7 timing modes respectively. The Timing Delta MAC CE carries T
delta which is used to determine the IAB-DU DL Tx timing adjustment for the Case-1 timing mode, and to determine the IAB-DU DL Tx and IAB-MT UL Tx timing adjustment for the Case-6 timing mode. The Case-7 Timing advance offset MAC CE carries T
offset,2 which is used to determine the IAB-MT UL Tx timing adjustment for the Case-7 timing mode.
Upon reception of a Timing Delta MAC CE the IAB node shall:
-
apply the value of Tdelta as specified in TS 38.213.
Upon reception of a Case-7 Timing advance offset MAC CE the IAB node shall:
-
apply the value of Toffset,2 as specified in TS 38.213.
For IAB operation, the MAC entity on the IAB-DU or IAB-donor-DU reserves a sufficient number of symbols at the beginning and/or the end of slots where the child IAB-node switches operation from its IAB-DU to its IAB-MT function and operation from its IAB-MT to its IAB-DU function. The MAC entity on the IAB-DU or IAB-donor-DU informs the child node about the number of guard symbols it provides via the Provided Guard Symbols MAC CE. The IAB-MT on the child node may inform the parent IAB-DU or IAB-donor-DU about the number of guard symbols desired via the Desired Guard Symbols MAC CE. IAB-MT transmission timing modes are specified in
clause 14 of TS 38.213.
Upon reception of a Provided Guard Symbols MAC CE the MAC entity shall:
-
indicate to lower layers the number of provided guard symbols and the SCS configuration for the indicated Serving Cell.
The MAC entity may:
1 >
if a Desired Guard Symbol query has not been triggered:
2 >
trigger a Desired Guard Symbol query for this Serving Cell.
If the MAC entity has UL resources allocated for new transmission the MAC entity shall:
1 >
for each Desired Guard Symbol query that has been triggered and not cancelled:
2 >
if the allocated UL resources can accommodate a Desired Guard Symbols MAC CE plus its subheader as a result of LCP as defined in
clause 5.4.3.1:
3 >
instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate the Desired Guard Symbols MAC CE;
3 >
cancel this Desired Guard Symbol query.
For Case-1 timing mode, a separate value for the number of guard symbols is specified for each of the following eight switching scenarios (see
Table 5.18.19-1).
Switching scenario |
Field for number of guard symbols in MAC CE |
IAB-MT operation to IAB-DU operation | MT Rx to DU Tx | NmbGS1 |
MT Rx to DU Rx | NmbGS2 |
MT Tx to DU Tx | NmbGS3 |
MT Tx to DU Rx | NmbGS4 |
IAB-DU operation to IAB-MT operation | DU Rx to MT Tx | NmbGS5 |
DU Rx to MT Rx | NmbGS6 |
DU Tx to MT Tx | NmbGS7 |
DU Tx to MT Rx | NmbGS8 |
For Case-6 and Case-7 timing modes, a separate value for the number of guard symbols is specified for each of the following eight switching scenarios (see
Table 5.18.19-2):
Switching scenario |
Field for number of guard symbols in MAC CE |
IAB-MT operation to IAB-DU operation | MT Tx (Case-6) to DU Tx (Case-1) | NmbGS9 |
MT Tx (Case-6) to DU Rx (Case-1) | NmbGS10 |
MT Tx (Case-7) to DU Tx (Case-1) | NmbGS11 |
MT Tx (Case-7) to DU Rx (Case-1) | NmbGS12 |
IAB-DU operation to IAB-MT operation | DU Tx (Case-1) to MT Tx (Case-6) | NmbGS13 |
DU Rx (Case-1) to MT Tx (Case-6) | NmbGS14 |
DU Tx (Case-1) to MT Tx (Case-7) | NmbGS15 |
DU Rx (Case-1) to MT Tx (Case-7) | NmbGS16 |
If the UE is configured with pre-configured measurement gaps, the network may send DL MAC CE for Positioning Measurement Gap Activation/Deactivation Command to the UE as in
clause 6.1.3.41. For the activated measurement gap, the UE shall follow the specified UE behaviour in
clause 5.14.
Upon the reception of the MAC CE for Positioning Measurement Gap Activation/Deactivation Command, the MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the Positioning Measurement Gap Activation/Deactivation Command MAC CE indicates the deactivation of a pre-configured positioning measurement gap:
2 >
deactivate the positioning measurement gap.
1 >
else if the Positioning Measurement Gap Activation/Deactivation Command MAC CE indicates the activation of a pre-configured measurement gap:
2 >
activate the positioning measurement gap and perform the procedure specified in
clause 5.14.
If the UE is configured with pre-configured PPW, the network may send DL MAC CE for PPW Activation/Deactivation Command to the UE as in
clause 6.1.3.42. For the activated PPW, the UE shall follow the specified UE behaviour in
clause 5.24.
Upon activation of DL BWP, the PPW(s) configured for that BWP are considered deactivated. Upon reconfiguration of PPW(s) of the active DL BWP, all the PPW(s) for that BWP are considered deactivated.
Upon the reception of the MAC CE for PPW Activation/Deactivation Command, the MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the DL MAC CE for PPW Activation/Deactivation Command indicates the deactivation of a pre-configured PPW:
2 >
deactivate the PPW.
1 >
else if the DL MAC CE for PPW Activation/Deactivation Command indicates the activation of a pre-configured PPW:
2 >
activate the PPW according to the procedure specified in
clause 5.24.
The network may activate and deactivate PUCCH power control set(s) for multiple TRP PUCCH repetition for a PUCCH resource or a PUCCH resource group of a Serving Cell by sending the PUCCH Power Control Set Update for multiple TRP PUCCH repetition MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.46.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives a PUCCH Power Control Set Update for multiple TRP PUCCH repetition MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the PUCCH power control set update for multiple TRP PUCCH repetition MAC CE.
The network may activate and deactivate the configured unified TCI states of a Serving Cell or a set of Serving Cells configured in simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3 or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4 by sending the Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.47. The configured unified TCI states are initially deactivated upon (re-)configuration by upper layers and after reconfiguration with sync.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives a Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE.
The network may provide and update the Differential Koffset of a Serving Cell in a non-terrestrial network by sending the Differential Koffset MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.57.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives a Differential Koffset MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the Differential Koffset MAC CE.
The network may activate and deactivate the configured beam failure detection resources of a Serving Cell by sending the BFD-RS indication MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.58.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives a BFD-RS indication MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the BFD-RS Indication MAC CE.
Child IAB-DU Restricted Beam Indication MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its child node spatial resources and associated frequency information where simultaneous transmission/reception from the IAB-MT and transmission from the IAB-DU cells is restricted. IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its parent node recommendations for such a restriction. Time resources where these restrictions/recommendations can apply are indicated via RRC, while the MAC CE further selects from these time resources the specific time resource configuration (comprising a list of slot indices) to which information provided in the MAC CE applies.
Upon reception of a Child IAB-DU Restricted Beam Indication MAC CE the IAB-node shall:
-
apply the configuration signalled in the MAC CE to the time slots indicated in IAB-ResourceConfig (as specified in TS 38.331) which contains iab-ResourceConfigID parameter which matches the Resource Configuration ID field of the MAC CE.
The MAC entity may:
1 >
if an IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication query has not been triggered:
2 >
trigger an IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication query for this Serving Cell.
If the MAC entity has UL resources allocated for new transmission the MAC entity shall:
1 >
for each IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication query that has been triggered and not cancelled:
2 >
if the allocated UL resources can accommodate a IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication MAC CE plus its subheader as a result of LCP as defined in
clause 5.4.3.1:
3 >
instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate the IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication MAC CE;
3 >
cancel this IAB-MT Recommended Beam Indication query.
DL TX Power Adjustment MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its child node spatial resources and associated frequency information where the DL TX power adjustment contained in the MAC CE applies. Desired DL TX Power Adjustment MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its parent node recommendations for such a restriction. Time resources where these restrictions/recommendations can apply are indicated via RRC, while the MAC CE further selects from these time resources the specific time resource configuration (comprising a list of slot indices) to which information provided in the MAC CE applies.
Upon reception of a DL TX Power Adjustment MAC CE the IAB-node shall:
-
apply the configuration signalled in the MAC CE to the time slots indicated in IAB-ResourceConfig (as specified in TS 38.331) which contains iab-ResourceConfigID parameter which matches the Resource Configuration ID field of the MAC CE.
The MAC entity may:
1 >
if a Desired DL TX Power Adjustment query has not been triggered:
2 >
trigger a Desired DL TX Power Adjustment query for this Serving Cell.
If the MAC entity has UL resources allocated for new transmission the MAC entity shall:
1 >
for each Desired DL TX Power Adjustment query that has been triggered and not cancelled:
2 >
if the allocated UL resources can accommodate a Desired DL TX Power Adjustment MAC CE plus its subheader as a result of LCP as defined in
clause 5.4.3.1:
3 >
instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate the Desired DL TX Power Adjustment MAC CE;
3 >
cancel this Desired DL TX Power Adjustment query.
Desired IAB-MT PSD range MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its parent node a recommendation of spatial resources and associated frequency information where the desired PSD range, contained in the MAC CE (and provided to help with the node's UL TX power control) could apply. Time resources where these recommendations can apply are indicated via RRC, while the MAC CE further selects from these time resources the specific time resource configuration (comprising a list of slot indices) to which information provided in the MAC CE applies.
The MAC entity may:
1 >
if a Desired IAB-MT PSD range query has not been triggered:
2 >
trigger a Desired IAB-MT PSD range query for this Serving Cell.
If the MAC entity has UL resources allocated for new transmission the MAC entity shall:
1 >
for each Desired IAB-MT PSD range query that has been triggered and not cancelled:
2 >
if the allocated UL resources can accommodate a Desired IAB-MT PSD range MAC CE plus its subheader as a result of LCP as defined in
clause 5.4.3.1:
3 >
instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate the Desired IAB-MT PSD range MAC CE;
3 >
cancel this Desired IAB-MT PSD range query.
Timing Case Indication MAC CE is used by an IAB-node to indicate to its child node timing modes which should apply to time resources indicated via RRC.
Upon reception of a Timing Case Indication MAC CE the IAB-node shall:
-
apply the configuration signalled in the MAC CE to the time slots indicated in IAB-ResourceConfig which contains iab-ResourceConfigID parameter (as specified in TS 38.331) which matches the Resource Configuration ID field of the MAC CE.
The Case-6 Timing Request MAC CE is used by the IAB-MT to inform its parent node whether Case-6 timing is required for simultaneous operation.
The MAC entity may:
1 >
if a Case-6 Timing Request query has not been triggered:
2 >
trigger a Case-6 Timing Request query for this Serving Cell.
If the MAC entity has UL resources allocated for new transmission the MAC entity shall:
1 >
for each Case-6 Timing Request query that has been triggered and not cancelled:
2 >
if the allocated UL resources can accommodate a Case-6 Timing Request MAC CE plus its subheader as a result of LCP as defined in
clause 5.4.3.1:
3 >
instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate the Case-6 Timing Request MAC CE;
3 >
cancel this Case-6 Timing Request range query.
NCR Downlink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE and NCR Uplink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE are used by a gNB to indicate to an NCR-node the beam to be used for the downlink and uplink backhaul transmission respectively between the gNB and the NCR-node.
Upon reception of an NCR Downlink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE, the NCR-node shall:
-
indicate to NCR-Fwd to apply the configuration contained in NCR Downlink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE as received by the NCR-MT.
Upon reception of an NCR Uplink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE, the NCR-node shall:
-
indicate to NCR-Fwd to apply the configuration contained in the NCR Uplink Backhaul Link Beam Indication MAC CE as received by the NCR-MT.
NCR Access Link Beam Indication MAC CE is used by a gNB to indicate to an NCR-node the forwarding resources to be used for the semi-persistent access link transmission between the NCR-node and the UE(s) served by this device.
Upon reception of an NCR Access Link Beam Indication MAC CE, the NCR-node shall:
-
apply the configuration signalled in the MAC CE as received by NCR-MT to the forwarding resource lists indicated via RRC, and use it to operate the NCR-Fwd.
The network may activate and deactivate the configured unified TCI states of a Serving Cell or a set of Serving Cells configured in simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3 or simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4 by sending the Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.70 and
6.1.3.71. The configured unified TCI states are initially deactivated upon (re-)configuration by upper layers and after reconfiguration with sync.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives an Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the Enhanced Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE.
The network activates and deactivates PSI-based SDU discard by sending the PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation/Deactivation MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.73. The PSI-based SDU discard is initially deactivated upon (re-)configuration by upper layers and after reconfiguration with sync.
The MAC entity shall for each DRB configured with discardTimerForLowImportance:
1 >
if a PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation/Deactivation MAC CE is received activating the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB:
2 >
indicate the activation of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB to upper-layers.
1 >
if a PSI-Based SDU Discard Activation/Deactivation MAC CE is received deactivating the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB:
2 >
indicate the deactivation of the PSI-based SDU discard for the DRB to upper-layers.
The network may instruct the UE to perform LTM cell switch procedure by sending the LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.75.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives an LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to upper layers that the LTM cell switch procedure is triggered and the Target Configuration ID included in the LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE;
2 >
if the MAC reset operation as specified in
clause 5.12 is performed, as requested by upper layers:
3 >
if Timing Advance Command value (hexa-decimal) is not set as FFF:
4 >
process the received Timing Advance Command (see
clause 5.2);
4 >
consider the RACH-less LTM cell switch to be ongoing;
4 >
if the MAC entity is associated with SCG:
5 >
indicate to upper layers to skip the Random Access procedure for this LTM cell switch.
3 >
else if the UE is configured with UE-based Timing Advance measurement as specified in
TS 38.331 and the UE has successfully measured the Timing Advance for the SpCell of the indicated LTM target configuration:
4 >
process the measured Timing Advance (see
clause 5.2);
4 >
consider the RACH-less LTM cell switch to be ongoing.
4 >
if the MAC entity is associated with SCG:
5 >
indicate to upper layers to skip the Random Access procedure for this LTM cell switch.
3 >
consider the SSB associated to the TCI state indicated by TCI state ID field as the one used for configured uplink grant selection for the initial uplink transmission towards the candidate cell for RACH-less LTM cell switch (as in
clause 5.8.2);
3 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the TCI state information included in the LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE.
The network may activate and deactivate the TCI states of LTM candidate cell(s) configured in CandidateTCI-State and CandidateTCI-UL-State by sending the Candidate Cell TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.76. The network deactivates the TCI state(s) for one LTM candidate cell by not including the corresponding TCI state ID field(s) in the Candidate Cell TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE. The configured candidate cell TCI states are initially deactivated upon (re-)configuration by upper layer and after reconfiguration with sync that is not triggered by LTM.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives a Candidate Cell TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE on a Serving Cell:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the Candidate Cell TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE.
The network may activate and deactivate the configured aggregated resource sets of Semi-Persistent Positioning SRS by sending the Aggregated SP Positioning SRS Activation/Deactivation MAC CE described in
clause 6.1.3.83. The configured aggregated SP positioning SRS resource sets are initially deactivated upon (re-)configuration by upper layers and after reconfiguration with sync.
The MAC entity shall:
1 >
if the MAC entity receives an Aggregated SP Positioning SRS Activation/Deactivation MAC CE:
2 >
indicate to lower layers the information regarding the Aggregated SP Positioning SRS Activation/Deactivation MAC CE.