Timing advance reporting for latency reduction

An apparatus for wireless communication, in a system comprising:

• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
• receive, from a user equipment (UE), an uplink message that indicates an uplink timing advance for the UE, the uplink message excluding a value of the uplink timing advance and indicating an interval of one or more intervals within a range relative to a timing advance threshold, wherein the uplink timing advance is based at least in part on a distance between the UE and a base station;
• determine the uplink timing advance is within the range relative to the timing advance threshold based at least in part on the interval included in the uplink message;
• and
• determine a timing configuration for the UE based at least in part on the uplink timing advance for the UE and the determination that the uplink timing advance is within the range relative to the timing advance threshold.

A method for wireless communication, comprising:

• receiving, from a user equipment (UE), an uplink message that indicates an uplink timing advance for the UE, the uplink message excluding a value of the uplink timing advance and indicating an interval of one or more intervals within a range relative to a timing advance threshold, wherein the uplink timing advance is based at least in part on a distance between the UE and a base station;
• determining the uplink timing advance is within the range relative to the timing advance threshold based at least in part on the interval included in the uplink message;
• and
• determining a timing configuration for the UE based at least in part on the uplink timing advance for the UE and the determination that the uplink timing advance is within the range relative to the timing advance threshold.

An apparatus for wireless communication, in a system comprising:

• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
• determine an uplink timing advance for a user equipment (UE) based at least in part on a distance between the UE and a base station;
• determine the uplink timing advance is within a range relative to a timing advance threshold;
• map, based at least in part on determining that the uplink timing advance is in the range, the uplink timing advance to an interval of one or more intervals within the range, wherein each of the one or more intervals spans a respective time period relative to the timing advance threshold;
• and
• transmit, to the base station, an uplink message that indicates that a value of the uplink timing advance is within the range relative to the timing advance threshold based at least in part on mapping the uplink timing advance to the interval, wherein the uplink message indicates the interval and excludes the value of the uplink timing advance.