Transient period operation for L1/L2 based cell handover

A method for wireless communications by a network entity of a source cell, comprising:

• transmitting, to a user equipment (UE) via at least one of physical layer signaling or medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, a handover command for the UE to handover from the source cell to a target cell;
• determining a transient period during which the UE is served by both the source cell and target cell, wherein the transient period comprises:
• a start time corresponding to a completion of a random access channel (RACH) procedure performed in the target cell, and
• an end time corresponding to a transmission of a UE release command configured to cause the source cell to release a connection between the source cell and the UE;
• and
• based on prioritized signaling from the UE during the transient period, performing the handover while communicating with the UE during the transient period while the target cell communicates with the UE simultaneously.

A user equipment (UE), comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the memory comprising code executable by the processor to cause the UE to:
• receive, from a network entity of a source cell via at least one of physical layer signaling or medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, a handover command for the UE to handover from the source cell to a target cell;
• determine a transient period during which the UE is served by both the source cell and the target cell, wherein the transient period comprises:
• a start time corresponding to a completion of a random access channel (RACH) procedure performed in the target cell, and
• an end time corresponding to a transmission of a UE release command configured to cause the source cell to release a connection between the source cell and the UE;
• prioritize signaling from one of the source cell and the target cell during the transient period;
• and
• perform the handover while communicating simultaneously with both the source cell and target cell during the transient period.

A network entity of a source cell, comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the memory comprising code executable by the processor to cause the network entity to:
• transmit, to a user equipment (UE) via at least one of physical layer signaling or medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, a handover command for the UE to handover from the source cell to a target cell;
• determine a transient period during which the UE is served by both the source cell and target cell, wherein the transient period comprises:
• a start time corresponding to a completion of a random access channel (RACH) procedure performed in the target cell, and
• an end time corresponding to a transmission of a UE release command configured to cause the source cell to release a connection between the source cell and the UE;
• and
• based on prioritized signaling from the UE during the transient period, perform the handover while communicating with the UE during the transient period while the target cell communicates with the UE simultaneously.