Method and apparatus for managing multiple TRPS during RACH procedure in communication network

A user equipment (UE) in a communication system, the UE comprising:

• a transceiver;
• and
• a processor coupled with transceiver and configured to:
• identify presence of multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) (multi-TRP) system serving in at least one of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL);
• identify at least one first TRP of a plurality of TRPs serving in at least one of the DL and the UL, for transmission of a random access preamble;
• identify at least one second TRP of the plurality of TRPs for monitoring reception of a random access response (RAR);
• receive the RAR from at least one third TRP;
• identify at least one fourth TRP of the plurality of TRPs for scheduling physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a UL grant of the RAR;
• identify at least one fifth TRP of the plurality of TRPs for monitoring reception of a contention resolution message;
• and
• receive the contention resolution message from at least one sixth TRP.

A method performed by a node in a communication system, the method comprising:

• identifying at least one third transmission and reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs for scheduling transmission of a random access response (RAR), wherein the plurality of TRPs are associated with multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) (multi-TRP) system;
• scheduling the transmission of the RAR on the identified at least one third TRP;
• identifying at least one sixth TRP of the plurality of TRPs for scheduling a transmission of a contention resolution message;
• and
• scheduling the transmission of the contention resolution message on the identified at least one sixth TRP.

A node in a communication system, the node comprising:

• a transceiver;
• and
• a processor coupled with the processor and configured to:
• identify at least one third transmission and reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs for scheduling transmission of a random access response (RAR), wherein the plurality of TRPs are associated with multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) (multi-TRP) system;
• schedule the transmission of the RAR on the identified at least one third TRP;
• identify at least one sixth TRP of the plurality of TRPs for scheduling a transmission of a contention resolution message;
• and
• schedule the transmission of the contention resolution message on the identified at least one sixth TRP.