Method and apparatus for handling beam failure recovery regarding cell deactivation in a wireless communication system

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed. In an example from the perspective of a User Equipment (UE), the UE triggers a first beam failure recovery (BFR) associated with a first cell. In response to the first triggered BFR, the UE triggers a Scheduling Request (SR) for Secondary Cell (SCell) beam failure recovery. In response to deactivation of the first cell, the UE cancels the first triggered BFR and the triggered SR for SCell beam failure recovery associated with the first cell.

1 . A method of a User Equipment (UE) configured with multiple cells comprising a first cell and a second cell, the method comprising:
 triggering a first beam failure recovery (BFR) in response to a beam failure indication for the first cell; and   responsive to deactivation of the first cell associated with the beam failure indication that triggered the first triggered BFR, canceling the first triggered BFR associated with the first cell, wherein the first cell is a Secondary Cell (SCell) of the UE and the second cell is a Primary Cell (PCell) of the UE.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, stopping Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery if the UE does not have a cell, other than the first cell, associated with a second triggered BFR.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, not stopping Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery if the UE has an activated cell, other than the first cell, associated with a second triggered BFR.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 prior to the canceling the first triggered BFR, generating a BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) if one or more Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) resources, for accommodating the BFR MAC CE and a subheader of the BFR MAC CE, are available.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 triggering a Scheduling Request (SR) for SCell beam failure recovery based upon the first triggered BFR not being canceled and based upon an unavailability of Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) resources for accommodating a BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and a subheader of the BFR MAC CE.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 responsive to the first triggered BFR, initiating a random access procedure on a Special Cell (SpCell); and   responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, stopping the random access procedure.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the deactivation of the first cell is performed responsive to:
 receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), associated with SCell deactivation, from a base station; or 
 expiration of a SCell deactivation timer. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 determining to not trigger a second BFR associated with the second cell based upon the second cell being the PCell of the UE.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 performing Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery on the second cell is performed responsive to:
 the triggered SR for SCell beam failure recovery triggered responsive to the first triggered BFR associated with the first cell. 
   
     
     
         10 . A User Equipment (UE) configured with multiple cells comprising a first cell and a second cell, the UE comprising:
 a control circuit;   a processor installed in the control circuit; and   a memory installed in the control circuit and operatively coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute a program code stored in the memory to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 triggering a first beam failure recovery (BFR) in response to a beam failure indication for the first cell; and 
 responsive to deactivation of the first cell associated with the beam failure indication that triggered the first triggered BFR, canceling the first triggered BFR associated with the first cell, wherein the first cell is a Secondary Cell (SCell) of the UE and the second cell is a Primary Cell (PCell) of the UE. 
   
     
     
         11 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, stopping Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery if the UE does not have a cell, other than the first cell, associated with a second triggered BFR.   
     
     
         12 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, not stopping Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery if the UE has an activated cell, other than the first cell, associated with a second triggered BFR.   
     
     
         13 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 prior to the canceling the first triggered BFR, generating a BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) if one or more Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) resources, for accommodating the BFR MAC CE and a subheader of the BFR MAC CE, are available.   
     
     
         14 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 triggering a Scheduling Request (SR) for SCell beam failure recovery based upon the first triggered BFR not being canceled and based upon an unavailability of Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) resources for accommodating a BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and a subheader of the BFR MAC CE.   
     
     
         15 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 responsive to the first triggered BFR, initiating a random access procedure on a Special Cell (SpCell); and   responsive to the deactivation of the first cell, stopping the random access procedure.   
     
     
         16 . The UE of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the deactivation of the first cell is performed responsive to:
 receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), associated with SCell deactivation, from a base station; or 
 expiration of a SCell deactivation timer. 
   
     
     
         17 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 determining to not trigger a second BFR associated with the second cell based upon the second cell being the PCell of the UE.   
     
     
         18 . The UE of  claim 10 , the operations comprising:
 performing Scheduling Request (SR) transmission for SCell beam failure recovery on the second cell is performed responsive to:
 the triggered SR for SCell beam failure recovery triggered responsive to the first triggered BFR associated with the first cell. 
   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a User Equipment (UE) configured with multiple cells comprising a first cell and a second cell, cause performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 triggering a first beam failure recovery (BFR) in response to a beam failure indication for the first cell; and   responsive to deactivation of the first cell associated with the beam failure indication that triggered the first triggered BFR, canceling the first triggered BFR associated with the first cell, wherein one of the first cell or the second cell is a Secondary Cell (SCell) of the UE and another of the first cell or the second cell is a Primary Cell (PCell) of the UE.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the deactivation of the first cell is performed responsive to:
 receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), associated with SCell deactivation, from a base station; or 
 expiration of a SCell deactivation timer.