Apparatus, method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for orthogonal cover code operation

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for orthogonal cover code (OCC) operation are disclosed. An example apparatus for a terminal device with inter-slot OCC capability may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of an OCC period; receiving scheduling information for a plurality of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions from the network device; and transmitting a plurality of PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, in which the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for orthogonal cover code (OCC) operation. Background Technology

[0002] OCC is a decoding technique that can be used to enhance the capacity / throughput of cellular networks. OCC can be used to generate a set of orthogonal codes (e.g., Walsh-Hadamard codes) with ideal zero cross-correlation, and the generated orthogonal codes can be assigned to different UEs to achieve orthogonal (i.e., interference-free) uplink (UL) transmission on the same time / frequency resources. For inter-slot OCC, if a Rel-19 UE supporting version 19 (Rel-19) or a Rel-19 UE without inter-slot OCC capability supporting Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition meets the following conditions, then multiplexing of PUSCH-enabled Rel-19 UEs with inter-slot OCC on the same time / frequency resources allocated to Rel-19 UEs or Rel-19 UEs without inter-slot OCC capability is allowed on the same time / frequency resources allocated to Rel-19 UEs or Rel-19 UEs without inter-slot OCC capability: 1) PUSCH repetition (Type A) is scheduled by configuration authorization with a fixed redundancy version (RV), and 2) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) binding is used to maintain power consistency and phase continuity. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The following provides a brief overview of exemplary embodiments to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the various embodiments. It should be noted that the content of this invention is not intended to identify key features of essential elements or define the scope of the embodiments, and its sole purpose is to introduce some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

[0004] In a first aspect, an apparatus for a terminal device having inter-time slot OCC capability is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine an actual OCC window, which is an integer multiple of the OCC period; receive scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and transmit multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0005] In a second aspect, an apparatus for a network device is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receive multiple PUSCH repetitions with inter-slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same time-frequency resource set via inter-slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, select a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and decode the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying OCC operations to the subset of PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is disclosed performed by means of a terminal device having inter-slot OCC capability. The method may include: determining an actual OCC window, which is an integer multiple of the OCC period; receiving scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and sending multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method performed by means for a network device is disclosed. The method may include: determining an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receiving multiple PUSCH repetitions with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, selecting a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and decoding the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying an OCC operation to the subset of PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for a terminal device having inter-slot OCC capability is disclosed. The apparatus may include: components for determining an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; components for receiving scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and components for transmitting multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus for a network device is disclosed. The apparatus may include: components for determining an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; components for receiving, within the determined actual OCC window, a plurality of PUSCH repeats with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and a plurality of PUSCH repeats without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the plurality of PUSCH repeats are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; components for selecting, within the determined actual OCC window, a subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and components for decoding the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats by applying OCC operations to the subset of PUSCH repeats, wherein the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is disclosed. This computer-readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by means for a terminal device having inter-slot OCC capability, cause the means to at least: determine an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; receive scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and transmit multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, which, when executed by means for a network device, cause the means to at least: determine an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receive multiple PUSCH repetitions with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, select a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and decode the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying OCC operations to the subset of PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0012] Other features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will also become apparent when read in conjunction with the following description of specific embodiments, the accompanying drawings which illustrate the principles of exemplary embodiments of this disclosure by way of example. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0014] Figure 1A An example communication environment is shown that can implement example embodiments of this disclosure.

[0015] Figure 1B An example sequence diagram is shown according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 2 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 3 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 4 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 5 A flowchart of an example method 500 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 6A flowchart of an example method 600 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example device 700 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 8 An example of a computer-readable medium 800 in the form of an optical storage disk is shown.

[0023] Figure 9 A block diagram of an example apparatus 900 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 10 A block diagram of an example apparatus 1000 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Throughout the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. Repeated descriptions of the same elements will be omitted. Detailed Implementation

[0026] In the following description, some exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Specific details are included in the following description for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known circuits, technologies, and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the described concepts and features.

[0027] The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement this disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0028] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0029] References to "an embodiment," "embodiment," "example embodiment," etc., in this disclosure indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment includes that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is believed that its influence in conjunction with other embodiments is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, whether explicitly described or not.

[0030] It should be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0031] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “possessing,” “containing,” and / or “covering” as used herein specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, wherein a list of two or more elements is combined by “and” or “or”, means at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0032] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation with purely analog and / or digital circuits), and (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) Any part of a hardware processor with software (including digital signal processors, software, and memory, which work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions); and (c) A hardware circuit and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion thereof, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but may be absent when the software is not required for operation.

[0033] This definition of "circuit" applies to all uses of the term in this application (including any claims). As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuit" also covers only hardware circuitry or processors (or processors), or a portion of hardware circuitry or processors and their accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. For example, where applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuit" also covers baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices.

[0034] As used herein, the terms “network,” “communication network,” or “data network” refer to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Wi-Fi, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices / components in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), future sixth-generation (6G), the IEEE 802.11 communication protocol, and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, future types of communication technologies and systems embodying the present disclosure will inevitably emerge. The scope of this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the aforementioned systems.

[0035] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communications network through which terminal devices receive services (e.g., location services). Network devices can refer to core network equipment or access network equipment, such as base stations (BS), access points (APs), or transceiver points (TRPs), for example, Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NRNB (also known as gNB), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), WiFi device, relay, low-power node (such as femtosecond, picosecond, etc.), depending on the terminology and technology applied. In the following description, the terms "network device," "AP device," "AP," and "access point" are used interchangeably.

[0036] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), station (STA), or station equipment, or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, VoIP phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop-mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms “station,” “station equipment,” “STA,” “terminal equipment,” “communication equipment,” “terminal,” “user equipment,” and “UE” are used interchangeably.

[0037] The principles and embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, refer to... Figure 1A It illustrates an example communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. Figure 1A Two types of communication networks are illustrated: non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and terrestrial networks (TN). In an NTN network, terminal device 10-2 and network device 20-2 can communicate with each other. Network device 20-2 in an NTN network can, for example, be a gNB providing communication coverage via a spaceborne vehicle (e.g., a satellite). In a TN network, terminal device 10-1 and network device 20-1 can communicate with each other. Network device 20-1 in a TN network can, for example, be a gNB providing communication coverage.

[0038] In communication systems, "UL" refers to the communication link from the terminal device to the network device, and "DL" refers to the communication link from the network device to the terminal device.

[0039] It should be understood that Figure 1A The images are shown for illustrative purposes only and do not imply any limitation. For example, the environment may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of this disclosure.

[0040] Communication in communication environment 100 can be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G), wireless local area network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. Furthermore, communication can utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other currently known or future-developed technologies.

[0041] The orthogonality of PUSCH repetitions (or simply OCC orthogonality) for UEs with OCC operation may be compromised in the following situations: Situation 1: For example, a Time Domain Window (TDW) event, as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.214, occurs within an OCC cycle, resulting in a failure to maintain power consistency or phase continuity. Situation 2: For pre-Relaxed UEs, uplink control information (UCI) multiplexing on one or more PUSCH repetitions occurs within an OCC cycle, causing the payloads of PUSCH repetitions within the OCC cycle to be different. These situations can lead to a loss of orthogonality and interference between multiplexed UEs.

[0042] Backward compatibility with Rel-19 pre-UEs or Rel-19 UEs without inter-slot OCC capability may result in the disruption of orthogonality of some PUSCH repetitions during the OCC cycle. Furthermore, introducing scheduling constraints (e.g., prohibiting UCI and OCC multiplexing) may impair system flexibility and performance. Example embodiments of this disclosure provide solutions for OCC operation. According to example embodiments of this disclosure, the negative impact on OCC performance due to the disruption of OCC orthogonality can be mitigated, and thus system performance can be improved.

[0043] Figure 1B Example sequence diagrams are shown according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. References Figure 1BUE 110 and UE 170 can represent any terminal device in the network, and network device 150 can represent the network side serving UE 110, such as a base station (BS), such as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation Node B (gNB), etc. The network can be a terrestrial network (TN) or a non-terrestrial network (NTN). UE 110 can be a UE with inter-timeslot OCC capability (e.g., a Rel-19 UE), and UE 170 can be a UE without inter-timeslot OCC capability (e.g., a Rel-19 UE without this capability, or a Rel-19 pre-UE). Although Figure 1B The illustration shows two UEs that will transmit PUSCH repetitions on the same time-frequency resources, but those skilled in the art will understand that the example embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to scenarios where more or fewer UEs (e.g., one UE, three UEs, or four UEs) transmit PUSCH repetitions on the same time-frequency resources.

[0044] Network device 150 can determine the actual OCC window for UE 110, which involves an OCC window that is an integer multiple of the OCC period. Within the OCC window, PUSCH repetition has the same properties, so OCC operations can be used within and / or across OCC periods within the OCC window to decode PUSCH repetition within the OCC window, which will be described later.

[0045] In some embodiments, UE 110 may determine the same actual OCC window based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from network device 150 or pre-configured / predefined at UE 110; an indication received from network device 150 indicating the actual OCC window to be selected from one or more candidate OCC windows; or a default OCC window pre-configured / predefined at UE 110. The actual OCC window indication may be transmitted via DCI or MAC CE.

[0046] In some embodiments, network device 150 may provide UE 110 with a maximum value for the size of the OCC window via OCC configuration. For example, network device 150 may send a first configuration 152 of the OCC window to UE 110, and the first configuration 152 may include a maximum value for the size of the OCC window. Then, network device 150 may indicate the actual size of the OCC window to UE 110 via an indicator in the UL authorization (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) 0_1).

[0047] In some embodiments, network device 150 may provide UE 110 with several candidate values ​​for the size of the OCC window via OCC configuration. For example, first configuration 152 may include several values ​​for the size of the OCC window. Network device 150 may then indicate the actual size of the OCC window to UE 110 via an indicator in the UL license (e.g., DCI 0_1).

[0048] In some embodiments, such as in the 3GPP TS specification, a maximum value or several candidate values ​​for the size of the OCC window can be preconfigured / predefined at the UE 110, and the network device 150 can indicate the actual size of the OCC window to the UE 110 via an indicator in the UL authorization (e.g., DCI 0_1).

[0049] In some embodiments, the size of the actual OCC window can be provided via OCC configuration. For example, the first configuration 152 may include an actual value for the size of the OCC window, and the actual OCC window is the configured OCC window. In this case, indicating the size of the OCC window via dynamic licensing may be unnecessary.

[0050] In some embodiments, a default OCC window can be pre-configured / predefined at UE 110. For example, there is no explicit configuration for the OCC window, and UE 110 can use the default OCC window as the actual OCC window. In some embodiments, the actual OCC window may cover only one OCC cycle. In other words, the actual OCC window is equal to one OCC cycle.

[0051] In some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows via a System Information Block (SIB) (e.g., SIB1 and / or SIB19). Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. For example, UE 110 may have an OCC window configured during RRC configuration. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the configuration of the OCC window via a DCI (e.g., a DCI with format 0_1). Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows via a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC CE).

[0052] In some embodiments, network device 150 may send an OCC configuration to UE 110, and the OCC configuration may include a first configuration 152. The determined actual OCC window may cover multiple PUSCH repetitions scheduled by scheduling information from network device 150. Figure 1B In the example shown, within the determined actual OCC window, UE 110 can send multiple PUSCH repeats 120, 122, 124, and 126 according to the determined actual OCC window and scheduling information. In some embodiments, the multiple PUSCH repeats within the determined actual OCC window can have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0053] In some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the first configuration 152 via an SIB (e.g., SIB1 and / or SIB19). Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the first configuration 152 via an RRC message. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the first configuration 152 via a DCI (e.g., a DCI with format 0_1). Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may receive the first configuration 152 via a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the actual OCC window may have a pre-configured / predefined size. For example, the size of the actual OCC window may be hard-coded in the specification.

[0054] In some embodiments, the configuration for OCC may further include a second configuration 154 for the OCC period. The actual OCC window may be an integer multiple of the OCC period, and the integer may be greater than or equal to 1. The OCC period may refer to a subset of PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied, and the subset of PUSCH repetitions may be equivalent to a subset of time slots assuming one PUSCH repetition per time slot.

[0055] For example, the length / size of the OCC period can be two, in which case UE 110 can send two PUSCH repetitions within the OCC period. When the actual OCC window is twice the length of the OCC period, the actual OCC window has a length / size of 2 in terms of the OCC period, or a length / size of 4 in terms of the PUSCH repetition, and UE 110 can send four PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window. In some example embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be 1 or 2, meaning that each OCC window includes one or two OCC periods.

[0056] In some embodiments, the integer can be 1, in which case the size of the actual OCC window is equal to the size of the OCC cycle. In this case, the actual OCC window and the OCC cycle are the same, and in some embodiments, the second configuration 154 for the OCC cycle or the first configuration for the OCC window can be omitted.

[0057] In some embodiments, the minimum required length of an OCC cycle can be determined by the total number of UEs multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via inter-slot OCC. For example, such as Figure 1B As shown, UE 110 and UE 170 are multiplexed, meaning that UE 110 and UE 170 repeatedly transmit PUSCH on the same set of time-frequency resources within the determined actual OCC window. In this case, the minimum required length of the OCC cycle can be 2, since there are only two UEs multiplexed via inter-slot OCC. In some embodiments, if the size of the actual OCC window is equal to the size of the OCC cycle, the network device 150 can determine the length of the OCC cycle to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle. For example, for multiplexed UE 110 and UE 170, the network device 150 can determine the length of the OCC cycle to be four time slots.

[0058] In some embodiments, network device 150 configures an actual OCC window for UE 110, the OCC window having a length of 2 in terms of OCC cycle, that is, including two OCC cycles—OCC cycle #1 and OCC cycle #2, each OCC cycle having a length of 2, that is, including two PUSCH repetitions.

[0059] In some embodiments, network device 150 may send configuration 156 for PUSCH DMRS binding to UE 170. Enabling PUSCH DMRS binding for UE 170 allows phase continuity and power consistency to be maintained for four PUSCH repeats.

[0060] In some embodiments, network device 150 may use inter-slot OCC multiplexing to schedule multiple PUSCH repeats of UE 110 and multiple PUSCH repeats of UE 170 on the same set of time-frequency resources. In other words, multiple PUSCH repeats of UE 110 and UE 170 will be multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-slot OCC.

[0061] Then, network device 150 can send scheduling information for PUSCH repetition to UE 110 and UE 170. In some embodiments, network device 150 can send scheduling information for PUSCH repetition to UE 110 via dynamic authorization. For example, network device 150 can send PDCCH 158 to UE 110 for scheduling PUSCH repetition with inter-slot OCC.

[0062] In some embodiments, network device 150 may send scheduling information for PUSCH repetition to UE 170 via configuration authorization. For example, network device 150 may send configuration authorization 160 to UE 170, and configuration authorization 160 may schedule four PUSCH repetitions of PUSCH repetition type A, and RV sequence 0-0-0-0 is applied.

[0063] Then, in operation 112, UE 110 can determine a PUSCH duplicate with an inter-slot OCC, and in operation 172, UE 170 can determine a PUSCH duplicate scheduled by configuration grant 160. Then, in operation 114, UE 110 can send the scheduled PUSCH duplicate to network device 150 within the determined actual OCC window, and in operation 174, UE 170 can send the scheduled PUSCH duplicate to network device 150.

[0064] In operation 114, UE 110 may maintain the same properties across PUSCH repeats within a defined practical OCC window. In some embodiments, PUSCH repeats are required to have the same payload, maintain phase continuity, and maintain power consistency. For example, in some embodiments, within a defined practical OCC window, UE 110 maintains the same RV and does not perform power adjustment or timing advance (TA) adjustment, etc., before applying OCC.

[0065] For UE 170, PUSCH DMRS binding is enabled, and the redundant version sequence applied to PUSCH repeats includes only zero-value elements. In some embodiments, where UE 170 does not have inter-slot OCC capability, network device 150 may allow UE 170 to have UCI multiplexing on one or more PUSCH repeats. For example, UE 170 may have UCI 181 multiplexing on PUSCH 180.

[0066] In operations 114 and 174, four PUSCH repeats for UE 110 and UE 170 are transmitted on the same time-frequency resources, i.e., so-called multiple UE multiplexing on the same time-frequency resources. In operation 114, network device 150 can receive multiple PUSCH repeats 120, 122, 124, and 126 with inter-time-slot OCC from UE 110 within a determined actual OCC window. In operation 174, network device 150 can receive PUSCH repeats 180, 182, 184, and 186 without inter-time-slot OCC from UE 170 within a determined actual OCC window. Multiple PUSCH repeats 120, 122, 124, and 126, and multiple PUSCH repeats 180, 182, 184, and 186 are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time-slot OCC. Because UE 110 maintains the same properties across PUSCH repeats within the determined actual OCC window, the four PUSCH repeats 120, 122, 124, and 126 before the application of OCC are identical for UE 110. Because PUSCH DMRS binding is enabled and RV sequences including all zero values ​​are used, the last three PUSCH repeats 182, 184, and 186 for UE 170 are identical.

[0067] Because UE 170 has UCI multiplexing on PUSCH repeat 180 within OCC cycle #1, the payloads of PUSCH repeats 180 and 182 are different, and therefore, OCC orthogonality is violated in OCC cycle #1 because PUSCH repeat 180 includes UCI. In some embodiments, even if UE 170 has inter-slot OCC capability, for example, if UE 170 is a Rel-19 UE, in the event of a TDW event occurring, for example, in an OCC cycle between PUSCH repeat 180 and PUSCH repeat 182, power consistency or phase continuity cannot be maintained between PUSCH repeat 180 and PUSCH repeat 182, and therefore OCC orthogonality is violated in OCC cycle #1.

[0068] In some embodiments, network device 150 may select multiple subsets of PUSCH repetitions from the same or different OCC cycles within a determined actual OCC window, and decode the multiple subsets of PUSCH repetitions by applying OCC operations to the selected subsets of PUSCH repetitions. Because the multiple subsets of PUSCH repetitions have the same payload and maintain phase continuity and power consistency, network device 150 can apply OCC operations to decode PUSCH repetitions from the same or different OCC cycles within the same timing OCC window. It is worth noting that when selecting subsets of PUSCH repetitions from different OCC cycles, the OCC codes corresponding to the selected subsets of PUSCH repetitions must be orthogonal to each other. In other words, when selecting subsets of PUSCH repetitions and using associated OCC codes to decode these selected PUSCH repetitions, only subsets of PUSCH repetitions whose associated OCC codes are orthogonal will be considered. This can be applied as a criterion for selecting subsets of PUSCH repetitions across OCC cycles and determining the OCC codes used to decode the selected subsets of PUSCH repetitions.

[0069] In some embodiments, where the orthogonality violation caused by UE 170 occurs during PUSCH repetitions within a determined actual OCC window, network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repetitions without orthogonality violation. In some embodiments, timed-off PUSCH repetitions can be selected with high priority. Network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repetitions with shorter timing spans to reduce or minimize carrier frequency offset (CFO) of inter-slot OCC operations. As described above, when selecting a subset of PUSCH repetitions from different OCC cycles, the OCC codes corresponding to the selected subset of PUSCH repetitions must be orthogonal to each other.

[0070] For example, in operation 162, network device 150 can select PUSCH repeats 122, 182, 124, and 184, and decode them by applying OCC operations. During decoding, network device 150 can use OCC[+1, -1] for PUSCH repeats 122 and 124 of UE 110, and OCC[+1, +1] for PUSCH repeats 182 and 184 of UE 170; these two OCC codes are orthogonal.

[0071] The principle of OCC operation is described here. Assume that x1 and x2 are signals sent from UE#1 and UE#2 respectively, and y1 and y2 are the total signals received at network device 150 in two PUSCH slots respectively. Network device 150 can calculate the signal x2 of UE#2 without interference from UE#1 by cross-correlating the two received signals y1 and y2 with the OCC code [1, -1] used by UE#2 via the following formula (1).

[0072] (1) Similarly, network device 150 can calculate the signal x1 of UE#1 via the following formula (2).

[0073] (2) Network device 150 can pick up PUSCH repeats 122 and 182 from OCC cycle #1 where OCC orthogonality is broken within the same OCC window, and pick up PUSCH repeats 124 and 184 from other OCC cycles (e.g., OCC cycle #2). Then, it applies OCC operations to the picked PUSCH repeats to decode the picked PUSCH repeats of OCC cycles with broken OCC orthogonality, thereby reducing inter-UE interference and mitigating the negative impact on OCC performance due to the breakdown of OCC orthogonality.

[0074] In some embodiments, network device 150 may select PUSCH repeats in OCC cycles other than those in which orthogonality-breaking repeats are transmitted, and apply OCC operations to decode the PUSCH repeats. For example, in operation 164, network device 150 may use OCC operations to select and decode PUSCH repeats 124 and 184, and PUSCH repeats 126 and 186 for UE 110 and UE 170.

[0075] In some embodiments, for orthogonally broken PUSCH repeats that cannot be decoded via OCC operation, network device 150 may use interference cancellation operation to decode the PUSCH repeats.

[0076] For example, if UE 170's PUSCH repeat 180 has UCI 181 multiplexing, and UE 170 does not have inter-slot OCC capability, the OCC orthogonality of PUSCH repeats 120, 122 and 180, 182 within OCC period #1 is disrupted. Network device 150 can decode PUSCH repeats 122, 182 and 124, 184 by applying the OCC operation described above, and then decode PUSCH repeats 120, 180 by, for example, interference cancellation operation. Therefore, network device 150 can successfully decode UCI 181 multiplexed on PUSCH repeat 180.

[0077] For example, in operation 166, network device 150 may use methods other than OCC operation (e.g., interference cancellation methods) to decode UCI 181 multiplexed on PUSCH repeat 180 and PUSCH repeats 120 and 180.

[0078] In some embodiments, when decoding PUSCH repeat 180 from UE 170, network device 150 may treat PUSCH repeat 120 from UE 110 as noise. In some embodiments, when decoding PUSCH repeat 120 from UE 110, network device 150 may treat PUSCH repeat 180 from UE 170 as noise. For example, when decoding a PUSCH repeat that cannot be decoded via OCC operation, network device 150 may treat signals received from other UEs as noise.

[0079] Figure 2 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2 The example implementation of the OCC operation shown can also be implemented by UE 110, UE 170 and network device 150.

[0080] like Figure 2 As shown, the actual OCC window 200 is twice the length of the OCC period, and the length of the OCC period is 2. In OCC period 210, UE 110 and UE 170 send PUSCH repeats 212 and 214, and in OCC period 220, UE 110 and UE 170 send PUSCH repeats 222 and 224. PUSCH repeats 214 and 222 can be selected for OCC operation.

[0081] like Figure 2 As shown, the OCC operation can be applied not only to PUSCH repetitions within the same OCC period, but also to PUSCH repetitions from different OCC periods within the actual OCC window. This provides flexibility to the network when applying the OCC operation to PUSCH repetition decoding.

[0082] Figure 3 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 The example implementation of the OCC operation shown can also be implemented by UE 110, UE 170 and network device 150.

[0083] like Figure 3 As shown, the OCC orthogonality in the OCC cycle 360 ​​of the actual OCC window 350 is disrupted by UCI multiplexing on the PUSCH repeat 362 of UE 170, such as a Rel-19 pre-UE. Network device 150 can select the PUSCH repeat 364 of both UE 110 and UE 170 and the PUSCH repeat 372 of both UE 110 and UE 170, and apply OCC operations on these four PUSCH repeats to decode the PUSCH repeat 364 of both UE 110 and UE 170. It is worth noting that if UCI is multiplexed on PUSCH repeat 364 of UE 170, then network device 150 can select PUSCH repeat 362 of both UE 110 and UE 170 and PUSCH repeat 374 of both UE 110 and UE 170, and apply OCC operation on these four PUSCH repeats to decode PUSCH repeat 362 of both UE 110 and UE 170, wherein the OCC codes associated with these four PUSCH repeats of the two UEs are orthogonal, so OCC operation can be used to decode them.

[0084] In some embodiments, network device 150 may decode PUSCH repeat 362 of UE 170 via interference cancellation operation. In some embodiments, when decoding PUSCH repeat 362 of UE 110, network device 150 may treat the interference from PUSCH repeat 362 of UE 170 as noise and not perform interference cancellation.

[0085] Therefore, the decoding of PUSCH repeat 364 for both UE 110 and UE 170 can have the gain from the OCC operation.

[0086] Figure 4 An example implementation of an OCC operation for PUSCH repeat decoding according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 4 The example implementation of the OCC operation shown can also be implemented by UE 110, UE 170 and network device 150.

[0087] like Figure 4 As shown, the actual OCC window of 400 equals one OCC cycle. In other words, in Figure 4In the scenario shown, the actual OCC window 400 can be considered as an OCC cycle. For two UEs (UE 110 and UE 170) using inter-slot OCC multiplexing, the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is 2. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may determine the length of the OCC cycle to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle; for example, the length of the OCC cycle may be four. Figure 4 As shown, OCC cycle 400 may include two sub-cycles 410 and 420 (or sub-OCC cycles). The first sub-cycle 410 covers the first two PUSCH repeats 412 and 414, and the last sub-cycle 420 covers the last two PUSCH repeats 422 and 424. The OCC sub-cycles correspond to the minimum required length of the OCC cycle for UE 110 and UE 170.

[0088] In some embodiments, network device 150 may determine and assign OCC codes for UE 110 and UE 170 to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operations. For example, network device 150 may determine and assign OCC code [1, 1, 1, 1] for UE 170, and for UE 110, network device 150 may determine and assign OCC codes from the following options: (1) [1, -1, 1, -1] and (2) [1, -1, -1, 1]. To reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operations, a subcode (or sub-OCC code) of length 2 may be selected for the OCC operation. The CFO of the OCC operation is proportional to the time span of the PUSCH repetition used for the OCC operation. In some examples, network device 150 may select PUSCH repetitions that are close in time to the selected PUSCH repetition, provided that the subcodes corresponding to the selected PUSCH repetitions are orthogonal.

[0089] In some embodiments, network device 150 may select a subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions from the same or different OCC sub-cycles and decode the subset using subcodes of the OCC codes corresponding to the selected subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions. The subcodes associated with the selected subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions must be orthogonal between UE 110 and UE 170 via inter-slot OCC multiplexing. In other words, when selecting a subset of PUSCH repetitions and using associated subcodes to decode these selected PUSCH repetitions, only subsets of multiple PUSCH repetitions whose associated subcodes are orthogonal will be considered. This can be applied as a criterion for selecting a subset of PUSCH repetitions across sub-cycles and determining the subcodes used to decode the selected subset of PUSCH repetitions. And in some embodiments, network device 150 may determine the subcodes to reduce or minimize the CFO of subcode OCC operations.

[0090] For example, if orthogonality is violated on PUSCH repeat 412 due to, for example, UCI multiplexing of UE 170, network device 150 can determine option (1) [1, -1, 1, -1] for UE 110, select a subset of PUSCH repeats 414 and 422, and decode the selected subset of PUSCH repeats 414 and 422 using subcodes [1, 1] and [-1, 1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively. This can be referred to as cross-subcycle subcode OCC operation. Similarly, network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repeats 422 and 424, and decode the selected subset of PUSCH repeats 422 and 424 using subcodes [1, 1] and [1, -1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively. This can be referred to as intra-subcycle subcode OCC operation.

[0091] For example, if orthogonality is violated due to PUSCH repetition 414, network device 150 can determine option (2) [1, -1, -1, 1] for UE 110, select a subset of PUSCH repetitions 412 and 422, and decode the subsets of PUSCH repetitions 412 and 422 using subcodes [1, 1] and [1, -1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively. Similarly, network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repetitions 422 and 424, and decode the selected subsets of PUSCH repetitions 422 and 424 using subcodes [1, 1] and [-1, 1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively.

[0092] For example, if orthogonality violation occurs on PUSCH repeat 422, network device 150 can determine option (2) [1, -1, -1, 1] for UE 110, select a subset of PUSCH repeats 414 and 424, and decode the subsets of PUSCH repeats 414 and 424 using subcodes [1, 1] and [-1, 1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively. Similarly, network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repeats 412 and 414, and decode the selected subsets of PUSCH repeats 412 and 414 using subcodes [1, 1] and [-1, 1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively.

[0093] For example, if orthogonality violation occurs on PUSCH repeat 424, network device 150 can determine option (1) [1, -1, 1, -1] for UE 110, select a subset of PUSCH repeats 414 and 422, and decode the subsets of PUSCH repeats 414 and 422 using subcodes [1, 1] and [-1, 1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively. Similarly, network device 150 can select a subset of PUSCH repeats 412 and 414, and decode the selected subsets of PUSCH repeats 412 and 414 using subcodes [1, 1] and [1, -1] for UE 170 and UE 110, respectively.

[0094] This optimal OCC code selection also applies to situations where UE 170 is also configured with time slot OCC.

[0095] Figure 5 A flowchart of an example method 500 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Example method 500 can be performed, for example, by means of a terminal device (such as UE 110 described above).

[0096] refer to Figure 5 Example method 500 may include: operation 510, determining an actual OCC window, which is an integer multiple of the OCC period; operation 520, receiving scheduling information from a network device for multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions; and operation 530, sending multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0097] In some embodiments, the actual OCC window may be determined based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device, an indication received from the network device to select the actual OCC window from one or more candidate OCC windows, or a default OCC window pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device.

[0098] In some embodiments, the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows may be received via at least one of the following: SIB, RRC message, DCI, or MAC CE.

[0099] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0100] Figure 6A flowchart of an example method 600 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Example method 600 can be performed, for example, by means of a network device (such as network device 150 described above).

[0101] refer to Figure 6 Example method 600 may include: operation 610, determining an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device with inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; operation 620, within the determined actual OCC window, receiving multiple PUSCH repetitions with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; operation 630, within the determined actual OCC window, selecting a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and operation 640, decoding the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying OCC operations to the subset of PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0102] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC cycles within a determined actual OCC window.

[0103] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operations of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0104] In some embodiments, if orthogonality is violated in the PUSCH repeats of at least one first terminal device or at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, a subset of the PUSCH repeats is selected from the PUSCH repeats that are not violated.

[0105] In some embodiments, example method 600 may include decoding a PUSCH repeat with orthogonality violation via an interference cancellation operation.

[0106] In some embodiments, example method 600 may include: scheduling multiple PUSCH repetitions of at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions of at most one second terminal device on the same time-frequency resource set using inter-slot OCC multiplexing; and sending scheduling information for the multiple PUSCH repetitions to at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0107] In some embodiments, multiple PUSCH repetitions can be scheduled via dynamic authorization for at least one first terminal device; and multiple PUSCH repetitions can be scheduled via configuration authorization for at most one second terminal device.

[0108] In some embodiments, example method 600 may include: allowing up to one second terminal device to perform uplink control information UCI multiplexing on one or more PUSCH repeats among a plurality of PUSCH repeats if the following conditions are met for up to one second terminal device: PUSCH DMRS binding is enabled, and the element in the redundant version sequence is zero.

[0109] In some embodiments, the determined actual OCC window may be equal to one OCC cycle, the length of which is determined to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle, and the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is determined based on the total number of first and second terminal devices multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via time-slot OCC.

[0110] In some embodiments, example method 600 may include: determining and assigning an OCC code to at least one first terminal device to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operation.

[0111] In some embodiments, a subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC sub-cycles, and a subcode using an OCC code is decoded. The OCC sub-cycle may correspond to the minimum required length of the OCC cycle for at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed. The subcode may be determined to reduce or minimize the CFO of the subcode OCC operation, and the subcodes associated with the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed via time-slot OCC are orthogonal.

[0112] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0113] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example device 700 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as the first UE 110 or network device 150 in the example above.

[0114] As shown in the figure, device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to processor 710.

[0115] Communication module 740 is used for bidirectional communication. Communication module 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interface can represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, communication module 740 may include at least one antenna.

[0116] As a non-limiting example, processor 710 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and can include one or more of the following: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 700 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent on a clock synchronized with the main processor.

[0117] Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, miniature optical disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), optical disc, laser disc, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that will not persist during power outages.

[0118] Instructions 730 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. Instructions 730 may be stored in memory, such as ROM 724. Processor 710 may perform any suitable action and process by loading instructions 730 into RAM 722.

[0119] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by means of instruction 730, enabling device 700 to perform any process of this disclosure as discussed with reference to the above exemplary embodiments. Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure can also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0120] In some example embodiments, instructions 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 700 (such as memory 720) or other storage devices accessible to device 700. Device 700 may load instructions 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, and other magnetic storage devices and / or optical storage devices.

[0121] Figure 8An example of a computer-readable medium 800 in the form of an optical storage disk is shown. The computer-readable medium has instructions 730 stored thereon.

[0122] Generally, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of this disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0123] Example embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by means for a terminal device (such as UE 110 in the example above), cause the means to at least: determine an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; receive scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and send multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0124] In some embodiments, the actual OCC window may be determined based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device, an indication received from the network device to select the actual OCC window from one or more candidate OCC windows, or a default OCC window pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device.

[0125] In some embodiments, the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows may be received via at least one of the following: SIB, RRC message, DCI, or MAC CE.

[0126] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0127] Example embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by means for a network device (such as network device 150 in the example above), cause the means to at least: determine an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receive a plurality of PUSCH repetitions with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and a plurality of PUSCH repetitions without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the plurality of PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, select a subset of the plurality of PUSCH repetitions from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and decode the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repetitions by applying OCC operations to the subset of PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repetitions has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0128] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC cycles within a determined actual OCC window.

[0129] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operations of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0130] In some embodiments, if orthogonality is violated in the PUSCH repeats of at least one first terminal device or at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, a subset of the PUSCH repeats is selected from the PUSCH repeats that are not violated.

[0131] In some embodiments, a computer-readable medium may include instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to: repeatedly decode a PUSCH with orthogonality violation by means of an interference cancellation operation.

[0132] In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, enable the apparatus to: schedule multiple PUSCH repetitions of at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions of at most one second terminal device on the same set of time-frequency resources using inter-slot OCC multiplexing; and send scheduling information for the multiple PUSCH repetitions to at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0133] In some embodiments, multiple PUSCHs are repeatedly scheduled via dynamic authorization for at least one first terminal device; and multiple PUSCHs are repeatedly scheduled via configuration authorization for at most one second terminal device.

[0134] In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include instructions that, when executed by the device, enable the device to: allow up to one second terminal device to perform uplink control information UCI multiplexing on one or more PUSCH repeats of a plurality of PUSCH repeats if the following conditions are met for up to one second terminal device: PUSCH demodulation reference signal DMRS bonding is enabled, and the element in the redundant version sequence is zero.

[0135] In some embodiments, the determined actual OCC window may be equal to one OCC cycle, the length of which is determined to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle, and the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is determined based on the total number of first and second terminal devices multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via time-slot OCC.

[0136] In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to: determine and assign an OCC code to at least one first terminal device to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operation.

[0137] In some embodiments, a subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC sub-cycles, and a subcode using an OCC code is decoded. The OCC sub-cycle may correspond to the minimum required length of the OCC cycle for at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed. The subcode may be determined to reduce or minimize the CFO of the subcode OCC operation, and the subcodes associated with the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed via time-slot OCC are orthogonal.

[0138] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0139] Figure 9 A block diagram of an example apparatus 900 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. This apparatus may be, for example, at least a portion of a terminal device (e.g., UE 110 in the example above).

[0140] like Figure 9As shown, the example apparatus 900 may include: a component 910 for determining an actual OCC window, which is an integer multiple of the OCC period; a component 920 for receiving scheduling information from a network device for multiple PUSCH repetitions; and a component 930 for sending multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0141] In some embodiments, the actual OCC window may be determined based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device, an indication received from the network device to select the actual OCC window from one or more candidate OCC windows, or a default OCC window pre-configured / predefined at the terminal device.

[0142] In some embodiments, the configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows may be received via at least one of the following: SIB, RRC message, DCI, or MAC CE.

[0143] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0144] In some example embodiments, examples of components in example device 900 may include circuitry. For example, examples of component 910 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 510 of example method 500, examples of component 920 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 520 of example method 500, and examples of component 930 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 530 of example method 500.

[0145] Example device 900 may also include components having circuitry configured to perform example method 500. In some example embodiments, examples of components may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

[0146] Figure 10 A block diagram of an example apparatus 1000 for OCC operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. This apparatus may be, for example, at least a portion of a network device (such as network device 150 in the example above).

[0147] like Figure 10As shown, the example apparatus 1000 may include: a component 1010 for determining an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device with inter-time slot OCC capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of the OCC period; a component 1020 for receiving, within the determined actual OCC window, a plurality of PUSCH repeats with inter-time slot OCC from at least one first terminal device and a plurality of PUSCH repeats without inter-time slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the plurality of PUSCH repeats are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-time slot OCC; a component 1030 for selecting, within the determined actual OCC window, a subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats from at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device; and a component 1040 for decoding the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats by applying OCC operations to the subset of the PUSCH repeats, wherein the subset of the plurality of PUSCH repeats has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0148] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC cycles within a determined actual OCC window.

[0149] In some embodiments, a subset of PUSCH repetitions may be selected to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operations of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0150] In some embodiments, if orthogonality is violated in the PUSCH repeats of at least one first terminal device or at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, a subset of the PUSCH repeats is selected from the PUSCH repeats that are not violated.

[0151] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may include a component for decoding a PUSCH repeat with orthogonality violation via an interference cancellation operation.

[0152] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may include: a component for scheduling multiple PUSCH repeats of at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repeats of at most one second terminal device for inter-slot OCC operations on the same time-frequency resource set; and a component for sending scheduling information for the multiple PUSCH repeats to at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device.

[0153] In some embodiments, multiple PUSCH repetitions can be scheduled via dynamic authorization for at least one first terminal device; and multiple PUSCH repetitions can be scheduled via configuration authorization for at most one second terminal device.

[0154] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may include: a component for allowing up to one second terminal device to perform uplink control information UCI multiplexing on one or more PUSCH repeats of a plurality of PUSCH repeats if the following conditions are met for up to one second terminal device: PUSCH demodulation reference signal DMRS bonding is enabled, and the element in the redundant version sequence is zero.

[0155] In some embodiments, the determined actual OCC window may be equal to one OCC cycle, the length of which is determined to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle, and the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is determined based on the total number of first and second terminal devices multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via time-slot OCC.

[0156] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may include a component for determining and assigning an OCC code to at least one first terminal device to reduce or minimize the CFO of OCC operation.

[0157] In some embodiments, a subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions may be selected from the same or different OCC sub-cycles, and a subcode using an OCC code is decoded. The OCC sub-cycle may correspond to the minimum required length of the OCC cycle for at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed. The subcode may be determined to reduce or minimize the CFO of the subcode OCC operation, and the subcodes associated with the subset of multiple PUSCH repetitions of at least one first terminal device and at most one second terminal device that are multiplexed via time-slot OCC are orthogonal.

[0158] In some embodiments, the size of the OCC window can be one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, where an OCC cycle is a subset of the PUSCH repetitions for which the full OCC code is applied.

[0159] In some example embodiments, examples of components in example device 1000 may include circuitry. For example, an example of component 1010 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 610 of example method 600, an example of component 1020 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 620 of example method 600, an example of component 1030 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 630 of example method 600, and an example of component 1040 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 640 of example method 600.

[0160] Example apparatus 1000 may also include components having circuitry configured to perform example method 600. In some example embodiments, examples of components may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

[0161] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, wherein a list of two or more elements, combined with “and” or “or”, means at least one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0162] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not a limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop-mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Terminal equipment may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the above description, the terms "terminal equipment," "communication equipment," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0163] Throughout this disclosure, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) a hardware circuit implementation (e.g., implemented with purely analog and / or digital circuitry); (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (where applicable) (i) a combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware, and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor having software (including (multiple) digital signal processors, software, and (multiple) memories, which work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions); and (c) (multiple) hardware circuitry and / or (multiple) processors that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, such as (multiple) microprocessors or portions thereof, but where the software may be absent when it is not required for operation. This definition of "circuit" applies to one or all uses of the term in this disclosure (including in any claim). As another example, as used in this invention, the term "circuit" also covers implementations of hardware circuitry or processors (or multiple processors) alone, or portions of hardware circuitry or processors and their accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, where applicable to certain claim elements, the term "circuit" also covers baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices or other computing or network devices.

[0164] Another example embodiment may relate to computer program code or instructions that cause a device to perform at least the corresponding methods described above. Another example embodiment may relate to a computer-readable medium on which such computer program code or instructions are stored. In some embodiments, such a computer-readable medium may include at least one storage medium of various forms, such as volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, RAM, cache, etc. Non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, ROM, hard disk, flash memory, etc. Non-volatile memory may also include, but is not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or any combination thereof.

[0165] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the words “comprising,” “including,” etc., shall be interpreted in a inclusive sense, rather than an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is, in the sense of “including but not limited to.” The word “coupled,” as commonly used herein, refers to two or more elements that can be directly connected or connected via one or more intermediate elements. Similarly, the word “connected,” as commonly used herein, refers to two or more elements that can be directly connected or connected via one or more intermediate elements. Furthermore, when used in this application, the words “here,” “above,” “below,” and similar terms shall refer to the application as a whole and not to any particular part thereof. Where the context permits, words used in the description in the singular or plural form may also include the plural or singular, respectively. The word “or,” referring to a list of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretations: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

[0166] Furthermore, the conditional language used herein, such as “can,” “may,” “possibly,” “can,” “for example,” “as,” “like,” etc., unless otherwise specifically stated or otherwise understood in the context in which they are used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include certain features, elements, and / or states, while other embodiments do not include certain features, elements, and / or states. Therefore, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that one or more embodiments require features, elements, and / or states in any way, or that one or more embodiments must include logic for determining whether such features, elements, and / or states are included or will be performed in any particular embodiment, with or without author input or prompting.

[0167] As used herein, the term "determine / confirm" (and its grammatical variations) can include at least: calculation, operation, processing, derivation, measurement, investigation, lookup (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), confirmation, etc. Furthermore, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), obtaining, etc. Moreover, "determine / confirm" can include parsing, selecting, picking, building, etc.

[0168] While some embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. In fact, the apparatuses, methods, and systems described herein can be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made to the form of the methods and systems described herein without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. For example, although blocks are presented in a given arrangement, alternative embodiments may utilize different components and / or circuit topologies to perform similar functions, and some blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and / or modified. At least one of these blocks can be implemented in a variety of different ways. The order of these blocks may also be changed. Any suitable combination of elements and actions of some of the embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. The appended claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications that fall within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.

[0169] Furthermore, the various implementations of this disclosure can be described with reference to the following terms, and their features can be combined in any reasonable manner.

[0170] Clause 1. An apparatus for a terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of an OCC period; receive from a network device scheduling information for multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions; and transmit the multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0171] Clause 2. The apparatus according to Clause 1, wherein the actual OCC window is determined based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or predefined at the terminal device; an instruction received from the network device indicating the selection of the actual OCC window from the one or more candidate OCC windows; or a default OCC window predefined at the terminal device.

[0172] Clause 3. The apparatus according to Clause 2, wherein the configuration of the one or more candidate OCC windows is received via at least one of: System Information Block (SIB), Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, Downlink Control Information (DCI), or Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC CE).

[0173] Clause 4. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein the size of the OCC window is one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, the OCC cycle being a subset of PUSCH repetitions applying the full OCC code.

[0174] Clause 5. An apparatus for a network device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: determine an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of an OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receive multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions with inter-slot OCC from the at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, select a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device; and decode the subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying an OCC operation to the subset of the PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

[0175] Clause 6. The apparatus according to Clause 5, wherein the subset of PUSCH repeats is selected from the same or different OCC cycles within the determined actual OCC window.

[0176] Clause 7. The apparatus according to Clause 6, wherein the subset of PUSCH repetitions is selected to minimize the carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the OCC operation of the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

[0177] Clause 8. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 5 to 7, wherein, in the event of orthogonality violation occurring in the PUSCH repeats of the at least one first terminal device or the at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, the subset of PUSCH repeats is selected from PUSCH repeats without said orthogonality violation.

[0178] Clause 9. The apparatus according to Clause 8, wherein the apparatus is configured to decode the PUSCH repeat having the orthogonality violation by means of an interference cancellation operation.

[0179] Clause 10. An apparatus according to any one of Clauses 5 to 9, wherein the apparatus is configured to: schedule the plurality of PUSCH repeats of the at least one first terminal device and the plurality of PUSCH repeats of the at most one second terminal device for inter-slot OCC operation on the same set of time-frequency resources; and send scheduling information for the plurality of PUSCH repeats to the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

[0180] Clause 11. The apparatus according to Clause 10, wherein: the plurality of PUSCH repeats are scheduled via dynamic authorization for the at least one first terminal device; and the plurality of PUSCH repeats are scheduled via configuration authorization for the at most one second terminal device.

[0181] Clause 12. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 5 to 11, wherein the apparatus is configured to allow the at most one second terminal device to perform uplink control information UCI multiplexing on one or more of the plurality of PUSCH repeats if the following conditions are met for the at most one second terminal device: PUSCH demodulation reference signal DMRS bonding is enabled, and the element in the redundant version sequence is zero.

[0182] Clause 13. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 5 to 12, wherein the determined actual OCC window is equal to one OCC cycle, the length of the OCC cycle is determined to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle, and the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is determined based on the total number of the first terminal devices and the second terminal devices multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via inter-slot OCC.

[0183] Clause 14. The apparatus according to Clause 13, wherein the apparatus is configured to: determine and assign an OCC code for the at least one first terminal device to minimize the CFO of the OCC operation.

[0184] Clause 15. The apparatus according to Clause 14, wherein the subset of said plurality of PUSCH repetitions is selected from the same or different OCC sub-cycles, and a subcode using said OCC code is decoded, said OCC sub-cycle corresponding to said minimum required length of said OCC cycle for said at least one first terminal device and said at most one second terminal device being multiplexed, and said subcode is determined to minimize the CFO of subcode OCC operation, wherein said subcode associated with said subset of said plurality of PUSCH repetitions of said at least one first terminal device and said at most one second terminal device being multiplexed via time-slot OCC is orthogonal.

[0185] Clause 16. The apparatus according to any one of Clauses 5 to 15, wherein the size of the OCC window is one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, the OCC cycle being a subset of PUSCH repetitions applying the full OCC code.

[0186] Clause 17. A method performed by means of an apparatus for a terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, comprising: determining an actual OCC window, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of an OCC period; receiving from a network device scheduling information for multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions; and transmitting the multiple PUSCH repetitions according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information, wherein the PUSCH repetitions within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload and maintain phase continuity and power consistency.

[0187] Clause 18. The method according to Clause 17, wherein the actual OCC window is determined based on at least one of the following: a configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or predefined at the terminal device, an indication received from the network device to select the actual OCC window from the one or more candidate OCC windows, or a default OCC window predefined at the terminal device.

[0188] Clause 19. The method according to Clause 18, wherein the configuration of the one or more candidate OCC windows is received via at least one of: System Information Block (SIB), Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, Downlink Control Information (DCI), or Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC CE).

[0189] Clause 20. The method according to any one of Clauses 17 to 19, wherein the size of the OCC window is one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, wherein the OCC cycle refers to a subset of PUSCH repetitions applying the full OCC code.

[0190] Clause 21. A method performed by means for a network device, comprising: determining an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, the actual OCC window being an integer multiple of an OCC period; within the determined actual OCC window, receiving multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions with inter-slot OCC from the at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-slot OCC from at most one second terminal device, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same set of time-frequency resources via inter-slot OCC; within the determined actual OCC window, selecting a subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions from the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device; and decoding the subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions by applying an OCC operation to the subset of the PUSCH repetitions, wherein the subset of the multiple PUSCH repetitions has the same payload and maintains phase continuity and power consistency.

[0191] Clause 22. The method according to Clause 21, wherein the subset of PUSCH repeats is selected from the same or different OCC cycles within the determined actual OCC window.

[0192] Clause 23. The method according to Clause 22, wherein the subset of PUSCH repetitions is selected to minimize the carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the OCC operation of the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

[0193] Clause 24. The method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 23, wherein, in the case of orthogonality violation occurring in the PUSCH repeats of the at least one first terminal device or the at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, the subset of PUSCH repeats is selected from PUSCH repeats without said orthogonality violation.

[0194] Clause 25. The method according to Clause 24 includes: decoding the PUSCH repeat having said orthogonality violation by means of an interference cancellation operation.

[0195] Clause 26. The method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 25, comprising: scheduling the plurality of PUSCH repeats of the at least one first terminal device and the plurality of PUSCH repeats of the at most one second terminal device for inter-slot OCC operation on the same set of time-frequency resources; and sending scheduling information for the plurality of PUSCH repeats to the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

[0196] Clause 27. The method according to Clause 26, wherein: the plurality of PUSCH repeats are scheduled via dynamic authorization for the at least one first terminal device; and the plurality of PUSCH repeats are scheduled via configuration authorization for the at most one second terminal device.

[0197] Clause 28. The method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 27, comprising: allowing the at most one second terminal device to perform uplink control information UCI multiplexing on one or more of the plurality of PUSCH repeats if the following conditions are met for the at most one second terminal device: PUSCH demodulation reference signal DMRS bonding is enabled, and the element in the redundant version sequence is zero.

[0198] Clause 29. The method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 28, wherein the determined actual OCC window is equal to one OCC cycle, the length of the OCC cycle is determined to be an integer multiple of the minimum required length of the OCC cycle, and the minimum required length of the OCC cycle is determined based on the total number of the first terminal devices and the second terminal devices multiplexed on the same time-frequency domain resource set via inter-slot OCC.

[0199] Clause 30. The method according to Clause 29 includes: determining and assigning an OCC code to the at least one first terminal device to minimize the CFO of the OCC operation.

[0200] Clause 31. The method according to Clause 30, wherein the subset of said plurality of PUSCH repetitions is selected from the same or different OCC sub-cycles, and a subcode of said OCC code is decoded, said OCC sub-cycle corresponding to said minimum required length of said OCC cycle for said at least one first terminal device and said at most one second terminal device being multiplexed, and said subcode is determined to minimize the CFO of subcode OCC operation, and wherein said subcode associated with said subset of said plurality of PUSCH repetitions of said at least one first terminal device and said at most one second terminal device being multiplexed via time-slot OCC is orthogonal.

[0201] Clause 32. The method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 31, wherein the size of the OCC window is one or two, which means that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, wherein the OCC cycle refers to a subset of PUSCH repetitions applying the full OCC code.

[0202] Clause 33. An apparatus for a terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, comprising a component for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 17 to 20.

[0203] Clause 34. An apparatus for a network device, comprising a component for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 21 to 32.

[0204] Clause 35. A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by means of a terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, cause the means to perform at least the method according to any one of Clauses 17 to 20.

[0205] 36. A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a means for a network device, cause the means to perform at least the method according to any one of clauses 21 to 32.

[0206] The abbreviations used in the specification and / or figures are defined as follows: 3GPP TS (Third Generation Partnership Project) Technical Specification BS base station CFO carrier frequency offset DCI downlink control information DMRS demodulation reference signal eNB Evolution Node B gNB Next Generation Node B MAC Media Access Control MAC CE MAC control element NTN non-terrestrial network OCC Orthogonal Cover Code PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel Rel. Release Rep. (repeated) RRC Radio Resource Control RV Redundant Version SIB System Information Block TA scheduled in advance TDW time domain window TN terrestrial network UCI uplink control information UE User Equipment UL uplink.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a terminal device having inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least: Determine the actual OCC window, which is an integer multiple of the OCC period; Receive repeated scheduling information from network devices for multiple Physical Uplink Shared Channels (PUSCH); as well as The multiple PUSCH repeats are sent according to the determined actual OCC window and the scheduling information. The PUSCH repeats within the determined actual OCC window have the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actual OCC window is determined based on at least one of the following: Configuration of one or more candidate OCC windows received from the network device or predefined at the terminal device. Receive from the network device an instruction indicating the selection of the actual OCC window from the one or more candidate OCC windows, or A predefined default OCC window at the terminal device.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the configuration of the one or more candidate OCC windows is received via at least one of the following: System Information Block (SIB) Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, Downlink Control Information (DCI), or Media Access Control (MAC) control element MAC CE.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the size of the OCC window is one or two, which indicates that the OCC window includes one or two OCC cycles, wherein the OCC cycle refers to a subset of PUSCH repetitions applying the full OCC code.

5. An apparatus for a network device, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least: Determine an actual OCC window for at least one first terminal device with inter-slot orthogonal overlay code (OCC) capability, wherein the actual OCC window is an integer multiple of the OCC period; Within the determined actual OCC window, multiple physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions with inter-time slot OCC of the at least one first terminal device and multiple PUSCH repetitions without inter-time slot OCC of at most one second terminal device are received, wherein the multiple PUSCH repetitions are multiplexed on the same time-frequency resource set via inter-time slot OCC. Within the determined actual OCC window, select a subset of the plurality of PUSCH repetitions of the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device; as well as The subsets of repeated PUSCH are decoded by applying an OCC operation to the subsets of repeated PUSCH. The subset of repeated PUSCHs has the same payload, maintaining phase continuity and power consistency.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the subset of PUSCH repetitions is selected from the same or different OCC cycles within the determined actual OCC window.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the subset of PUSCH repetitions is selected to minimize the carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the OCC operation of the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein, in the case of orthogonality violation occurring in the PUSCH repeats of the at least one first terminal device or the at most one second terminal device within the determined actual OCC window, the subset of PUSCH repeats is selected from PUSCH repeats without said orthogonality violation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is configured to: The PUSCH with the aforementioned orthogonality violation is repeatedly decoded by an interference cancellation operation.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the apparatus is configured to: On the same set of time-frequency resources, the plurality of PUSCH repetitions of the at least one first terminal device and the plurality of PUSCH repetitions of the at most one second terminal device are scheduled for inter-slot OCC operations; and Send scheduling information for the repetition of the plurality of PUSCHs to the at least one first terminal device and the at most one second terminal device.

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