SBFD time domain resource configuration

Abstract

Systems and methods related to Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) time domain resource configuration are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises receiving, from a network node, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex (TDD) Uplink (UL) / Downlink (DL) configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols. The method further comprises operating in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols. In this manner, SBFD configuration is restricted in such a manner that severe inter-operator interference can be avoided.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 555,332, filed February 19, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a cellular communications system and, more specifically, to Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) resource configuration in a Radio Access Network (RAN) of a cellular communications system. BACKGROUND

[0003] New Radio (NR) standard in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is being designed to provide service for multiple use cases such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and Machine Type Communication (MTC). Each of these services has different technical requirements. For example, the general requirement for eMBB is high data rate with moderate latency and moderate coverage, while URLLC service requires a low latency and high reliability transmission but perhaps for moderate data rates.

[0004] One of the solutions for low latency data transmission is shorter transmission time intervals. In NR, in addition to transmission in a slot, a mini-slot transmission is also allowed to reduce latency. A mini-slot may consist of any number of 1 to 14 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. It should be noted that the concepts of slot and minislot are not specific to a specific service meaning that a mini-slot may be used for either eMBB, URLLC, or other services.

[0005] In Release (Rei)-15 NR, a User Equipment (UE) can be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the downlink with a single downlink carrier bandwidth part being active at a given time. A UE can be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the uplink with a single uplink carrier bandwidth part being active at a given time.

[0006] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary radio resource in NR.

[0007] An NR slot consists of several OFDM symbols, according to current agreements either 7 or 14 symbols (OFDM subcarrier spacing < 60 kilohertz (kHz)) and 14 symbols (OFDM subcarrier spacing > 60 kHz). Figure 2 shows a slot, which may also be referred to as a subframe, with 14 OFDM symbols. In Figure 2, Ts and Tsymb denote the slot and OFDM symbol duration, respectively.

[0008] Transmission and reception from a node, e.g. a terminal in a cellular system, can be multiplexed in the frequency domain or in the time domain (or combinations thereof). Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) as illustrated to the left in Figure 3 implies that downlink and uplink transmission take place in different, sufficiently separated, frequency bands. Time Division Duplex (TDD), as illustrated to the right in Figure 3, implies that downlink and uplink transmission take place in different, non-overlapping time slots. Thus, TDD can operate in unpaired spectrum, whereas FDD requires paired spectrum.

[0009] Typically, the structure of the transmitted signal in a communication system is organized in the form of a frame structure. For example, NR uses ten equally-sized slots per radio frame as illustrated in Figure 4 for the case of 15 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0010] In case of FDD operation (upper part of Figure 4), there are two carrier frequencies, one for uplink transmission (fur) and one for downlink transmission (for). At least with respect to the terminal in a cellular communication system, FDD can be either full duplex or half duplex. In the full duplex case, a terminal can transmit and receive simultaneously, while in half-duplex operation, the terminal cannot transmit and receive simultaneously (the base station is capable of simultaneous reception / transmission though, e.g. receiving from one terminal while simultaneously transmitting to another terminal). In Long Term Evolution (LTE), a half-duplex terminal is monitoring / receiving in the downlink except when explicitly being instructed to transmit in a certain subframe.

[0011] In case of TDD operation (lower part of Figure 4), there is only a single carrier frequency, and uplink and downlink transmissions are always separated in time also on a cell basis. As the same carrier frequency is used for uplink and downlink transmission, both the base station and the mobile terminals need to switch from transmission to reception and vice versa. An essential aspect of any TDD system is to provide the possibility for a sufficiently large guard time where neither downlink nor uplink transmissions occur. This is required to avoid interference between uplink and downlink transmissions. For NR, this guard time is provided by special subframes, which are split into three parts: symbols for downlink (DL), a guard period (GP), and symbols for uplink (UL). The remaining subframes are either allocated to uplink or downlink transmission.

[0012] In more detail, the following two information elements (IEs) are defined in current 3GPP specifications. The TDD pattern is typically configured with at least the first IE and optionally the 2nd IE: • TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon (cell-specific) • TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated (UE-specific)

[0013] The first IE is cell specific (common to all UEs) and is provided by broadcast signaling. It provides the number of slots in the TDD pattern via a reference subcarrier spacing and a periodicity such that the S-slot pattern repeats every S slots. This IE allows for very flexible configuration of the pattern characterized as follows: • A number of full downlink slots at the beginning of the pattern configured by the parameter nDownlinkSlots • A number of full uplink slots at the end of the pattern configured by the parameter nUplinkSlots • A number of downlink ('D') symbols following the full downlink slots configured by the parameter nDownlinkSymbols • A number of uplink ('U') symbols preceding the full uplink slots configured by the parameter nUplinkSlots • If there is a gap between the last downlink symbol and the first uplink symbol, then all symbols in the gap are characterized as flexible ('F'). A symbol classified as 'F' can be used for downlink or uplink. A User Equipment (UE) determines the direction in one of the following two ways: o Detecting a Downlink Control Information (DO) that schedules / triggers a DL signal / channel, e.g., Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Channel State Information (CSI) Reference Signal (CSI-RS) or schedules / triggers an UL signal / channel, e.g. Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), etc. o By dedicated (UE-specific) signaling of the IE TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated. This parameter overrides some or all of the 'F' symbols in the pattern, thus providing a semi-static indication of whether a symbol is classified as 'D' or 'U' • Optionally, a 2nd pattern that is concatenated to the first pattern can be configured as above. If a 2nd pattern is configured, the constraint is that the sum of the periodicities of the two patterns must evenly divide 20 milliseconds (ms).

[0014] Figure 5 shows an exemplary TDD DL / UL pattern configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon. It consists of 3 full 'D' slots, 1 full 'U' slot, with a mixed slot in between consisting of 4 'D' symbols and 3 'U' symbols. The remaining 7 symbols in the mixed slot are classified as 'F.'

[0015] If a UE is not configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated, then the pattern at the top of Figure 5 is what it assumes. As stated above, the network can make use of the 'F' symbols flexibly, by scheduling / triggering either an uplink or a downlink signal / channel in a UE specific manner. This allows for very dynamic behavior: the direction is not known to the UE a priori; rather, the direction becomes known once the UE detects a DO scheduling / triggering a particular DL or UL signal / channel.

[0016] In contrast, the DL / UL direction for some or all of the 'F' symbols in a particular slot can be provided to the UE in a semi-static manner by Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuring the UE with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated. The lower part of Figure 5 shows three exemplary configurations for overriding 'F' symbols in Slot 3. If the IE indicates 'allDownlink' or 'allUplink' for a particular slot (or slots), then all 'F' symbols in the slot are converted to either 'D' or 'U,' respectively. If the IE indicates 'explicit,' then a number of symbols at the beginning of the slot and / or a number of symbols at the end of the slot are indicated as 'D' and 'U,' respectively. In the example below, the first 7 and the last 5 are indicated as 'D' and 'U', which converts some of the 'F' symbols (but not all in this example) to 'D' and 'U.'

[0017] The key behavior in the above is that the UE-specific IE TDD-DL- UL-ConfigDedicated can only override (i.e., specify 'D' or 'U') for symbols that are configured as 'F' by the cell-specific IE TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon. In other words, a UE does not expect to have a 'D' symbol converted to 'U' or vice versa.

[0018] Figure 6 shows three additional exemplary TDD DL / UL patterns configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon. In the first and second patterns, there are no 'F' symbols; hence, according to current behavior in the Rel-17 specifications, the UE would not expect to be configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated. In the third pattern, all symbols in Slots 1, 2, and 3 are configured as 'F'; hence, the UE could be configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated to provide a direction ('D' or 'U') for any or all symbols in these three slots. Note that the Rel-17 specifications allow the dedicated configuration of the TDD pattern on a slot-specific basis. In other words, TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated is not restricted to be the same in each slot where 'F' symbols are overridden.

[0019] As described above, in a conventional TDD system, the entire carrier bandwidth (BW) or all carriers in the same frequency band need to be utilizing the same DL transmission or UL reception directions. This is further illustrated in Figure 7.

[0020] For the Rei-18 evolution of the NR system, 3GPP decided to study the technical feasibilities and potential benefits of Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) systems. In such a system, a portion of a wide bandwidth carrier may be used for a different direction than that of the rest of the carrier. This is illustrated in the left-hand side of Figure 8. That is, unlike a conventional TDD system as shown on the left-hand side of Figure 7 where the entire bandwidth is used for DL transmission in the first three slots, the center portion of the SBFD carrier is used for UL reception while the rest of the carrier continues to be used for DL transmission as shown in the left-hand side of Figure 8. Similarly, instead of utilizing all carriers for the same DL or UL directions in a conventional TDD system as shown in the right-hand side of Figure 7, some carriers in the SBFD system can be used for a different direction than that of the other carriers as shown in the right-hand side of Figure 8.

[0021] In the 3GPP Rei-18 study, the scope has been limited such that in SBFD operation, only NR base stations (i.e., gNodeBs (gNBs)) transmit DL and receive UL simultaneously. An individual UE is scheduled in only one direction (DL or UL) at a time.

[0022] The current UE procedures to determine the symbol types are provided in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.213 Section 11.1. A portion of the procedure and notation definitions relevant to the present disclosure is reproduced in the following excerpt from Section 11.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213 V18.1.0: ***** START EXCERPT FROM 3GPP TS 38.213 ***** A slot format includes downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and flexible symbols. The following are applicable for each serving cell. If a UE is provided tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, the UE sets the slot format per slot over a number of slots as indicated by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon. The tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon provides - a reference SCS configuration / / ref by referenceSubcarrierSpacing - & pattern 1. The patternl provides - a slot configuration period of P msec by dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity - a number of slots dslots with only downlink symbols by nrofDownlinkSlots - a number of downlink symbols dsym by nrofDownlinkSymbols - a number of slots Mslots with only uplink symbols by nrofUplinkSlots - a number of uplink symbols usyln by nrofUplinkSymbols A value P =0.625 msec is valid only for pref — 3, pref — 5 or pref = 6. A value P =1.25 msec is valid only for / zref = 2, / zref = 3, / zref = 5 or / zref = 6. A value P =2.5 msec is valid only for / zref = 1, / zref = 2, / zref = 3, pref — 5 or pref = 6. A value P =10 msec is valid only for p — 0, pref — 1, pref — 2, pref = 3 or p — 5 . A slot configuration period of P msec includes S = P-2t‘a' slots with SCS configuration / / ref. From the S slots, a first ^siots slots include only downlink symbols and a last Uslots slots include only uplink symbols. The dsym symbols after the first r / slots slots are downlink symbols. The usym symbols before the last Uslots slots are uplink symbols. The remaining A                           are flexible symbols. The first symbol every 20 / P periods is a first symbol in an even frame. If tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon provides both patternl and pattern2, the UE sets the slot format per slot over a first number of slots as indicated by patternl and the UE sets the slot format per slot over a second number of slots as indicated by pattern2. The pattern2 provides - a slot configuration period of P2 msec by dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity - a number of slots dslots2 with only downlink symbols by nrofDownlinkSlots - a number of downlink symbols ds^m2 by nrofDownlinkSymbols - a number of slots uslots2 with only uplink symbols by nrofUplinkSlots - a number of uplink symbols ;kyhl - by nrofUplinkSymbols The applicable values of P2 are same as the applicable values for P . A slot configuration period of P + P2 msec includes first S = P-2^' slots and second S2 = P2-2^"‘ slots. From the S2 slots, a first dAois2 slots include only downlink symbols and a last uslots2 include only uplink symbols. The dsym2 symbols after the first dAois2 slots are downlink symbols. The Msym 2 symbols before the last uslots2 slots are uplink symbols. The remaining (S2-dAA^-uAo^-N^^^            are flexible symbols. A UE expects that P+ P2 divides 20 msec. The first symbol every 20 / (P + P2) periods is a first symbol in an even frame. ***** END EXCERPT FROM 3GPP TS 38.213 ***** SUMMARY

[0023] Systems and methods related to Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) time domain resource configuration are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) comprises receiving, from a network node, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex (TDD) Uplink (UL) / Downlink (DL) configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols. The method further comprises operating in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols. In this manner, SBFD configuration is restricted in such a manner that severe inter-operator interference can be avoided.

[0024] In one embodiment, receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a cell-specific configuration. In one embodiment, the cell-specific configuration is a common serving cell configuration of a serving cell of the UE. In one embodiment, the common serving cell configuration is a SerivingCellConfigCommon or a ServingCellConfigCommonSIB. In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common TDD UL-DL configuration for the serving cell of the UE, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the common TDD UL-DL configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0025] In one embodiment, receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a UE-specific configuration. In one embodiment, the UE-specific configuration as UE-specific serving cell configuration of a serving cell of the UE. In one embodiment, the UE-specific serving cell configuration is a ServingCellConfig. In one embodiment, only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE can be configured as SBFD symbols. In another embodiment, only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by both a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE and a UE-specific TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE can be configured as SBFD symbols. In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0026] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE or a dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE, and the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration comprises a TDD UL / DL configuration which comprises first information that defines a first TDD UL / DL pattern, patternl, and, optionally, second information that defines a second TDD UL / DL pattern, pattem2, that is concatenated to the first TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if present, the second TDD UL / DL pattern can be configured as SBFD symbols. In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a first SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if the second information is present, a second SBFD pattern for the second TDD UL / DL pattern. In another embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a common SBFD pattern for both the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if the second information is present, the second TDD UL / DL pattern. In another embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a SBFD pattern, and an explicit indication received by the UE indicates whether the SBFD pattern applies to the first TDD UL / DL pattern or the second TDD UL / DL pattern.

[0027] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises a start slot and symbol length parameter that jointly encodes a SBFD start slot index and a length of slots containing at least one SBFD symbol. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD start symbol that indicates a first SBFD symbol in a first slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD end symbol that indicates a last SBFD symbol in a last slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

[0028] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises a bitmap that indicates slots containing at least one SBFD symbol wherein slots containing at least one SBFD symbol are contiguous. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD start symbol that indicates a first SBFD symbol in a first slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD end symbol that indicates a last SBFD symbol in a last slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

[0029] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises information about a SBFD start slot. In one embodiment, the information about the SBFD start slot comprises a slot index of the SBFD start slot. In one embodiment, the information about the SBFD start slot further comprises a number of non-SBFD symbols in the SBFD start slot. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises information about a SBFD end slot. In one embodiment, the information about the SBFD end slot comprises a slot index of the SBFD end slot. In one embodiment, the information about the SBFD end slot further comprises a number of non-SBFD symbols in the SBFD end slot.

[0030] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises any one or more of the following: a number of non-SBFD slots, a number of non-SBFD symbols, a number of SBFD slots, and a number of SBFD symbols.

[0031] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises information that indicates a SBFD start slot. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises an SBFD start symbol in the SBFD start slot, and / or an SBFD end slot, and / or an SBFD end symbol in the SBFD end slot.

[0032] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE, and the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration comprises one or more slot specific SBFD configurations for one or more slots of the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration. In one embodiment, each slot specific SBFD configuration comprises a slot index of the corresponding slot of the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration, and information that indicates one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols comprises an indication that all symbols of the corresponding slot are SBFD symbols. In another embodiment, the information that indicates the one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols comprises information either or both of: an indication of an SBFD start symbol within the corresponding slot and an SBFD end symbol within the corresponding slot.

[0033] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines at least one SBFD pattern.

[0034] In one embodiment, the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a slot-specific SBFD pattern.

[0035] In one embodiment, the UE ignores slot format information carried in DO format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for SBFD operation.

[0036] In one embodiment, the UE does not expect symbols configured for SBFD operation to be modified to any other symbol type.

[0037] In one embodiment, the UE does not expect to be configured to monitor slot formation information in DO format 2_0 at a same time as being configured with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0038] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a UE comprises a communication interface comprising a transmitter and a receiver, and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE to receive, from a network node, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a TDD UL / DL configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols and operate in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0039] Embodiments of a method performed by a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a network node comprises sending, to a UE, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a TDD UL / DL configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols. In one embodiment, the method further comprises operating in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0040] Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node comprises processing circuitry configured to cause the network node to send, to a UE, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a TDD UL / DL configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0042] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary radio resource in New Radio (NR);

[0043] Figure 2 shows a slot, which may also be referred to as a subframe, with 14 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols;

[0044] Figure 3 illustrates Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), and Half Duplex FDD;

[0045] Figure 4 illustrates FDD operation and TDD operation for an NR radio frame having ten equally-sized slots for the case of 15 kilohertz (kHz) subcarrier spacing;

[0046] Figure 5 shows an exemplary TDD downlink / uplink (DL / UL) pattern configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon',

[0047] Figure 6 shows three additional exemplary TDD DL / UL patterns configured by TDD-DL- UL-ConfigCommon;

[0048] Figure 7 illustrates how, in a conventional TDD system, the entire carrier bandwidth or all carriers in the same frequency band need to be utilizing the same DL transmission or UL reception directions;

[0049] Figure 8 illustrates a Subband Full Duplex System (SBFD) where a portion of a wide bandwidth carrier may be used for a different direction than that of the rest of the carrier;

[0050] Figure 9 illustrates first and second example base TDD DL / UL configurations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 10 illustrates two example configurations using two UL-DL patterns, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0052] Figure 11 illustrates the operation of a network node and a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with at least some of embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0053] Figure 12 shows an example of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0054] Figure 13 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0055] Figure 14 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0056] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Figure 12, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0057] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized; and

[0058] Figure 17 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0060] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0061] There currently exist certain challenge(s). In WO 2023 / 203143 Al entitled “Carrier Configuration and Scheduling for Subband Full Duplex Systems”, which was published October 26, 2023, some options of how to semi-statically provide the time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) symbols are disclosed. In the present disclosure, systems and methods are disclosed that provide further details of such signaling. Several new features and optimization are introduced herein to reduce the signaling overhead.

[0062] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Embodiments of SBFD time domain resource configuration with low signaling overhead are disclosed. The embodiments restrict SBFD configuration to downlink or flexible symbols only such that severe inter-operator interference can be avoided.

[0063] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments of the present disclosure restrict SBFD configuration to downlink or flexible symbols only such that severe inter-operator interference can be avoided.

[0064] The different embodiments described below will be illustrated using several examples. These examples should not be seen as limiting, but rather as illustrations of how the different embodiments can be used.

[0065] The first set of examples (1)-(4) below are based on a single uplink (UL)-downlink (DL) pattern. The examples illustrate Time Division Duplex (TDD) DL / UL configuration using a pattern of 5 slots. This is for example for dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity = 2.5 milliseconds (ms) and 30 kilohertz (kHz) subcarrier spacing. • A first example base TDD DL / UL configuration is as follows (see top part of Figure 9): o nrofDownlinkSlots = 3 o nrofDownlinkSymbols = 9 o nrofUplinkSlots = 1 o nrofUplinkSymbols = 3 Using the current User Equipment (UE) procedure for determining symbol types described in the Background section above, the configuration implies that there are two flexible symbols. • A second example base TDD DL / UL configuration is as follows (see bottom part of Figure 9): o nrofDownlinkSlots = 0 o nrofDownlinkSymbols = 12 o nrofUplinkSlots = 1 o nrofUplinkSymbols = 3 Using the current UE procedure for determining symbol types described in the Background section above, the configuration implies that there are 2 + 14*2 + 11 = 41 flexible symbols. For both the first and second example TDD DL / UL configurations above, there are 41 DL or flexible symbols that can be configured for SBFD operations.

[0066] The second set of examples (5)-(6) below are based on two UL-DL patterns (see Figure 10).

[0067] Using the notation as defined in the current UE procedure for determining symbol types (partially reproduced in the excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.213 Section 11.1 in the Background section above), the following two quantities are defined herein: • The patternl in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon defines B = (S — us[ots) • lVsSy^b — usym downlink or flexible symbols; • The pattem2 in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, if provided, defines B2 = (¾ - usiots,2) •       - «sym,2 downlink or flexible symbols.

[0068] Furthermore, if the TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated configuration is provided to the UE, wherein a number of flexible symbols are modified as UL symbols, the number of downlink or flexible symbols are correspondingly revised down to B' downlink or flexible symbols or, if pattern2 is provided, to B' + B2 downlink or flexible symbols.

[0069] In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, only the downlink or flexible symbols can be configured for SBFD operation.

[0070] In one embodiment, the SBFD time domain configuration is part of cell-specific configuration (for example as part of ServingCellConfigCommon configuration), wherein only the B downlink or flexible symbols or, if pattern2 is provided, only the B + B2 downlink or flexible symbols can be configured for SBFD operations.

[0071] In another embodiment, the SBFD time domain configuration is part of UE-specific configuration (for example as part of ServingCellConfig configuration), wherein the downlink or flexible symbols as determined from tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon can be configured for SBFD operations. That is, there are the B downlink or flexible symbols or, if pattern2 is provided, only the B + B2 downlink or flexible symbols are available for SBFD operation configuration.

[0072] In yet another embodiment, the SBFD time domain configuration is part of UE-specific configuration (for example as part of ServingCellConfig configuration), wherein the downlink or flexible symbols as determined from both tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated can be configured for SBFD operations. That is, there are only the B' downlink or flexible symbols or, if pattern2 is provided, only the B' + B% downlink or flexible symbols are available for SBFD operation configuration.

[0073] In the following, different exemplary embodiments of SBFD time domain resource configuration and the corresponding UE procedures are disclosed. 1 Embodiment Group 1

[0074] The following exemplary SBFD configurations (TDD-Sbfd-Config) can be included as a part of ServingCellConfigCommon, ServingCellConfigCommonSIB, or ServingCellConfig configuration.

[0075] In one non-limiting example, the configuration can be more specifically included as part of TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated configuration.

[0076] In another nonlimiting example, the configuration is included in ServingCellConfigCommon, ServingCellConfigCommonSIB, or ServingCellConfig as new fields separate from TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated. TDD-Sbfd-Config ::=          SEQUENCE { sbfdPatternl                       TDD-Sbfd-Pattern, sbfdPattern2                      TDD-Sbfd-Pattern OPTIONAL, — Need R }

[0077] The sbfdPatternl is provided to configure SBFD time domain pattern in slots corresponding to TDD-UL-DL patteml provided in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon.

[0078] The UE does not expect to be configured with sbfdPattem2 if the UE is not configured with pattem2 in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon. The sbfdPattern2, if provided, is to configure SBFD time domain pattern in slots corresponding to TDD-UL-DL pattem2 provided in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon.

[0079] In one embodiment, even if pattern 1, pattern2 exist in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon, the network may configure the same sbfd pattern for both patternl and pattern2. In such a case, if there is no ambiguity in terms of resulting SBFD pattern, gNB may configure single SBFD pattern with the applicability for both patterns in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon. In another nonlimiting example, gNB configures one SBFD pattern with the applicability to either one of the patterns in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon and indicate via explicit signaling so that the UE applies the SBFD pattern to the corresponding pattern in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon. For example, gNB indicates this by additional bit configuration, 01 for pattern 1, 10 for pattern2, 11 for both patternl, pattern2.

[0080] The UE does not expect to be configured with a TDD-Sbfd-Pattern modifying any uplink symbol configured by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon.

[0081] An alternative is to directly extend TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon as below. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon ::= referenceSubcarrierSpacing patternl pattern2 OPTIONAL, — Need R SEQUENCE { SubcarrierSpacing, TDD-UL-DL-Pattern, TDD-UL-DL-Pattern [[ sbfdPatternl sbfdPattern2 Need R TDD-Sbfd-Pattern, TDD-Sbfd-Pattern OPTIONAL, — TDD-UL-DL-Pattern ::= dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity mslp25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, mslO}, nrofDownlinkslots nrofDownlinkSymbols nrofUplinkSlots nrofUplinkSymbols SEQUENCE { ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, msl, INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1), [ [ dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity-vl53 0 OPTIONAL — Need R ] ] } ENUMERATED {ms3, ms4} 1.1 TDD-SBFD-Pattern Option 1 TDD-Sbfd-Pattern ::= StartSlotAndLength sbfdStartSymbol sbfdEndSymbol SEQUENCE { INTEGER (0..51359), INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-2) OPTIONAL — Need S OPTIONAL — Need S

[0082] The startSlotAndLength jointly encodes the sbfdStartSlotlndex and the length of slots containing at least one SBFD symbol. In a non-limiting example, the joint encoding is given by: If (length — 1) < startSlotAndLength = S(length -1)+ sbfdStartSlotlndex else startSlotAndLength = S(S — length -1) + (5-1- sbfdStartSlotlndex) where 1 < length < S — sbfdStartSlotlndex and S is the number of slots in the TDD-UL-DL-Pattern configuration.

[0083] Using the maxNrofSlots value (which is 320 in the current NR specs) for S in the above, value range of the startSlotAndLength field is between 0 and 320*321 / 2 - 1 =51359.

[0084] The last slot containing at least one SBFD symbol has slot index defined as sbfdEndSlotlndex = sbfdStartSlotlndex + length -1. The slot index is with respect to the first slot in the corresponding TDD-UL-DL-Pattem configuration.

[0085] If sbfdStartSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdStartSymbol = 0. If sbfdEndSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdEndSymbol = 13. In a variation of this embodiment, either or both sbfdStartSymbol and sbfdEndSymbol are mandatory present.

[0086] A downlink or flexible symbol within a slot with index no smaller than sbfdStartSlotlndex and no greater than sbfdEndSlotlndex has the presence of a SBFD UL subband if neither of the following conditions applies: • The downlink or flexible symbol is within the slot with sbfdStartSlotlndex, and the symbol index is smaller than sbfdStartSymbol. • The downlink or flexible symbol is within the slot with sbfdEndSlotlndex, and the symbol index is greater than sbfdEndSymbol.

[0087] The following examples illustrate the use of the above exemplary configuration and procedures. The disclosed methods enable reduced signaling overheads. • Example 1 o startSlotAndLength = start=0, length=4 o sbfdStartSymbol        = 12 o sbfdEndSymbol        = 8 • Example 2 o startSlotAndLength = start=l, length=3 o sbfdStartSymbol = 3 • Example 3 o startSlotAndLength = start=l, length=2 • Example 4 o startSlotAndLength = start=l, length=l o sbfdStartSymbol        = 3 o sbfdEndSymbol        = 11 1.2 TDD-SBFD-Pattern Option la TDD-Sbfd-Pattern ::=       SEQUENCE { sbfdSlots BIT STRING {maxNrofSlots}, sbfdStartSymbolFirstSlot INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1)   OPTIONAL -- Need S sbfdEndSymbolLastSlot     INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-2)   OPTIONAL — Need S }

[0088] A set bit in the bitmap sbfdSlots indicates a slot containing at least one SBFD symbol where the one or more set bits are contiguous. The length of the bitmap is equal to the number of slots in the TDD-UL-DL-Pattem configuration S.

[0089] If sbfdStartSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdStartSymbol = 0. If sbfdEndSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdEndSymbol = 13. In a variation of this embodiment, either or both sbfdStartSymbol and sbfdEndSymbol are mandatory present.

[0090] The presence of an SBFD UL subband in downlink or flexible symbol(s) within a slot corresponding to a set bit in the bitmap sbfdSlots, is as follows: • All downlink or flexible symbols if the slot corresponds to neither the first nor the last set bit • Those downlink or flexible symbol(s) with symbol index not smaller than sbfdStartSymbol if the slot corresponds to the first set bit • Those downlink or flexible symbol(s) with symbol index not larger than sbfdEndSymbol if the slot corresponds to the last set bit

[0091] The following examples illustrate the use of the above exemplary configuration and procedures. The disclosed methods enable reduced signaling overheads. • Example 1 o sbfdSlots = 11110 o sbfdStartSymbol = 12 o sbfdEndSymbol = 8 Example 2 o sbfdSlots = 01110 o sbfdStartSymbol = 3 Example 3 o sbfdSlots = 01100 Example 4 o sbfdSlots = 01000 o sbfdStartSymbol = 3 o sbfdEndSymbol = 11 1.3 TDD-SBFD-Pattern Option 2 TDD-Sbfd-Pattern ::=       SEQUENCE { sbfdStartSlot             TDD-Sbfd-SlotConfig sbfdEndSlot               TDD-Sbfd-SlotConfig          OPTIONAL, — Need S } TDD-Sbfd-SlotConfig ::= SEQUENCE { slotIndex              TDD-UL-DL-SlotIndex, nrofNonSbfdSymbols INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1)   OPTIONAL -- Need S }

[0092] The slot index is with respect to the first slot in the corresponding TDD- UL-DL-Pattem configuration.

[0093] If sbfdEndSlot is not provided, a downlink or flexible symbol in slots after the slot with slotindex provided by sbfdStartSlot within the corresponding TDD-UL-DL-Pattem configuration has the presence of a SBFD UL subband.

[0094] If sbfdEndSlot is provided, a downlink or flexible symbol in a slot with index greater than slotindex provided by sbfdStartSlot and smaller than slotindex provided by sbfdEndSlot has the presence of a SBFD UL subband.

[0095] If nrofNonSbfdSymbols is not provided by the sbfdStartSlot or sbfdEndSlot, the UE shall assume nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 0 for the slot with slotindex provided by the sbfdStartSlot or sbfdEndSlot.

[0096] In a variation of this embodiment, either or both sbfdStartSlot and sbfdEndSlot are mandatory present.

[0097] A downlink or flexible symbol within a slot with index provided by the sbfdStartSlot or sbfdEndSlot has the presence of a SBFD UL subband if neither the following conditions applies: • The downlink or flexible symbol is within the slot with slotindex provided by sbfdStartSlot and the symbol index is smaller than nrofNonSbfdSymbols. • The downlink or flexible symbol is within the slot with slotindex provided by sbfdEndSlot and the symbol index is greater than (maxNrofSymbols - nrofNonSbfdSymbols - 1).

[0098] The following examples illustrate the use of the above exemplary configuration and procedures. The disclosed methods enable reduced signaling overheads. • Example 1 o sbfdStartSlot = {   slotindex        = 0 nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 12 } o sbfdEndSlot = {    slotindex        = 3 nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 5 } • Example 2 o sbfdStartSlot = { nrofNonSb slotindex fdSymbols = 3 = 1 } • Example 3 o sbfdStartSlot = { slotindex = 1 } o sbfdEndSlot = { slotindex = 2 } • Example 4 o sbfdStartSlot = {   slotindex nrofNonSbfdSymbols o sbfdEndSlot = {    slotindex nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 3 = 2 = 1 } = 1 } 1.4 TDD-SBFD-Pattern Option 3 TDD-Sbfd-SlotConfig ::=SEQUENCE { nrofNonSbfdSlots   INTEGER (1. .maxNrofSlots ),         OPTIONAL, — Need S nrofNonSbfdSymbols INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1),     OPTIONAL, -- Need S nrofSbfdSlots      INTEGER (1. .maxNrofSlots),         OPTIONAL, — Need S nrofSbfdSymbols    INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1),     OPTIONAL, — Need S }

[0099] The slot index referred to below is with respect to the first slot in the corresponding TDD-UL-DL-Pattem configuration.

[0100] If nrofNonSbfdSlots is not provided, the UE shall assume nrofNonSbfdSlots = 0. If nrofSbfdSlots is not provided, the UE shall assume nrofSbfdSlots = 0.

[0101] If nrofNonSbfdSymbols and nrofSbfdSlots are provided, a downlink or flexible symbol in the slot with index nrofNonSbfdSlots has the presence of a SBFD UL subband if the symbol index is no smaller than nrofNonSbfdSymbols.

[0102] If nrofNonSbfdSymbols is not provided, the UE shall assume nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 0 for the slot nrofNonSbfdSlots. If nrofSbfdSymbols is not provided, the UE shall assume nrofSbfdSymbols = maxNrofSymbols for the slot (nrofSbfdSlots + nrofSbfdSlots). Alternatively, if nrofSbfdSymbols is not provided, the UE shall assume nrofSbfdSymbols = 0 for the slot (nrofSbfdSlots + nrofSbfdSlots+1).

[0103] The UE can assume that either one of nrofSbfdSlots or nrofSbfdSymbols is configured.

[0104] The following examples illustrate the use of the above exemplary configuration and procedures. The disclosed methods enable reduced signaling overheads. • Example 1 o nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 12 o nrofSbfdSlots = 2 o nrofSbfdSymbols = 9 • Example 2 o nrofNonSbfdSlots = 1 o nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 3 o nrofSbfdSlots = 1 o nrofSbfdSymbols = 11 • Example 3 o nrofNonSbfdSlots = 1 o nrofSbfdSlots = 2 • Example 4 o nrofNonSbfdSlots = 1 o nrofNonSbfdSymbols = 3 o nrofSbfdSymbols = 9 1.5 TDD-SBFD-Pattern Option 4 TDD-Sbfd-Pattern ::= SEQUENCE { sbfdStartSlot           INTEGER (0. .maxNrofSlots-1) , sbfdStartSymbol       INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1)   OPTIONAL  — Need S sbfdEndSlot            INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots-1)     OPTIONAL  — Need S sbfdEndSymbol          INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1)   OPTIONAL  — Need S }

[0105] The slot indices in the configuration are with respect to the first slot in the corresponding TDD- UL-DL-Pattem configuration.

[0106] If sbfdEndSlot is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdEndSlot is equal to sbfdStartSlot.

[0107] If sbfdStartSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdStartSymbol = 0. If sbfdEndSymbol is not provided, the UE shall assume sbfdEndSymbol = 13.

[0108] In a variation of this embodiment, all or a subset of sbfdEndSlot, sbfdStartSymbol, sbfdEndSymbol are mandatory present.

[0109] A downlink or flexible symbol in a slot with index larger than sbfdStartSlot and smaller than sbfdEndSlot has the presence of a SBFD UL subband.

[0110] A downlink or flexible symbol with symbol index not smaller than sbfdStartSymbol in the slot with index sbfdStartSlot has the presence of a SBFD UL subband.

[0111] A downlink or flexible symbol with symbol index not larger than sbfdEndSymbol in the slot with index sbfdEndSlot has the presence of a SBFD UL subband.

[0112] The following examples illustrate the use of the above exemplary configuration and procedures. The disclosed methods enable reduced signaling overheads. • Example 1 o sbfdStartSlot = 0 o sbfdStartSymbol = 12 o sbfdEndSlot = 3 o sbfdEndSymbol = 8 • Example 2 o sbfdStartSlot = 1 o sbfdStartSymbol = 3 o sbfdEndSlot = 3 • Example 3 o sbfdStartSlot = 1 o sbfdEndSlot = 2 • Example 4 o sbfdStartSlot = 1 o sbfdStartSymbol = 3 o sbfdEndSymbol = 11

[0113] By applying TDD-sbfd-Pattern Option 4 to Example 5, • Sbfd-Patternl o sbfdStartSlot             = 1 o sbfdStartSymbol        = 3 o sbfdEndSlot            = 3 • Sbfd-Pattern2 o sbfdStartSlot             = 1 o sbfdStartSymbol        = 3 o sbfdEndSlot            = 3

[0114] By applying TDD-sbfd-Pattern Option 4 to Example 6, • Sbfd-Patternl o sbfdStartSlot             = 1 o sbfdEndSlot            = 2 • Sbfd-Pattern2 o sbfdStartSlot             = 1 o sbfdEndSlot            = 2

[0115] In the above Example 5, Sbfd-pattern 1 and Subfd-Pattern2 are explicitly configured the setting sbfdStartSlot =1, sbfdStartSymbol = 3, and sbfdEndSlot =3 separately for both patterns as the resulting SBFD pattern is different corresponding to pattern 1 and pattern2 in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon. On the other hand, in Example 6, single Sbfd-Pattern, i.e., sbfdStartSlot = 1, sbfdEndSlot = 2, is configured by the network that is to be applied for both patternl and pattern2 in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon without any ambiguity. 2 Embodiment Group 2

[0116] In this embodiment, the UE specific TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated IE is extended as indicated in bold, underlined text below. It is understood that this is a non-limiting example. The new slot-specific configuration parameters (in bold, underlined text) may be specified separately, outside of TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated ::=       SEQUENCE slotSpecificConfigurationsToAddModList (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig slotSpecificConfigurationsToReleaseList (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-UL-DL-Slotlndex SEQUENCE (SIZE OPTIONAL, — Need N SEQUENCE (SIZE OPTIONAL, — Need N [[ slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList______SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig_______OPTIONAL, — Need N ____slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToReleaseList_____SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-SBFD-Slotlndex OPTIONAL, — Need N _U } TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig ::= slotindex symbols allDownlink allUplink explicit nrofDownlinkSymbols OPTIONAL, — Need S nrofUplinkSymbols OPTIONAL — Need S } } SEQUENCE { TDD-UL-DL-SlotIndex, CHOICE { NULL, NULL, SEQUENCE { INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) } TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig ::= SEQUENCE { slotindex TDD-UL-DL-Slotlndex, symbols CHOICE { allSBFD NULL, explicit SEQUENCE { sbfdStartSymbol INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) OPTIONAL, — Need S sbfdEndSymbol INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) OPTIONAL — Need S 1 _____1

[0117] A similar approach could be used for cell specific signaling in for example the TDD- UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon ::= referenceSubcarrierSpacing patternl pattern2 OPTIONAL, — Need R [[ slotSpecificSbfdConfiguration SEQUENCE { SubcarrierSpacing, TDD-UL-DL-Pattern, TDD-UL-DL-Pattern SEQUENCE (SIZE (1. .maxNrofSlots) ) OF TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig      OPTIONAL , — Need N ]] } TDD-UL-DL-Pattern ::= dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity mslp25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, mslO}, nrofDownlinkslots nrofDownlinkSymbols nrofUplinkSlots nrofUplinkSymbols [ [ dl-UL-Transmission?eriodicity-OPTIONAL — Need R ] ] } SEQUENCE { ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, msl, INTEGER (0. .maxNrofSlots) , INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots), INTEGER (0. .maxNrofSymbols-1) , vl53 0     ENUMERATED {ms3, ms4} TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig ::=SEQUENCE { slotindex TDD-UL-DL-Slotlndex, symbols CHOICE { allSBFD NULL, explicit SEQUENCE { sbfdStartSymbol INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) OPTIONAL, — Need S sbfdEndSymbol INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) OPTIONAL — Need S ___________L _____L 1

[0118] If sbfdStartSymbol is absent the SBFD symbols starts from symbol 0.

[0119] If sbfdEndSymbol is absent the SBFD symbols end at symbol 13. • Example 1 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 0 sbfdStartSymbol = 12}, allSBFD}, {slotindex = 2 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 3 sbfdEndSymbol = 8}, } • Example 2 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 1 sbfdStartSymbol = 3}, {slotindex = 2 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 3 sbfdEndSymbol = 10}, } • Example 3 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 1 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 2 allSBFD}, } • Example 4 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 1 sbfdStartSymbol = 3 sbfdEndSymbol =11}, } • Example 5 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 1 sbfdStartSymbol = 3}, {slotindex = 2 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 3 sbfdEndSymbol = 10}, {slotindex = 7 sbfdEndSymbol = 8}, {slotindex = 8 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 9 allSBFD}, • Example 6 slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList = { {slotindex = 1 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 2 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 7 allSBFD}, {slotindex = 8 allSBFD}, 3 Embodiment Group 3

[0120] In symbols configured as flexible by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated or when TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon and TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated are not provided to a legacy UE, the UE typically determines the slot format based on DCI format_2_0 if it is configured or follows configured transmission or dynamic scheduling. For a SBFD capable UE, the transmission direction for the subband full duplex symbols can be determined by the SBFD configuration as described in Embodiment group 1 and 2. Thus: • In one embodiment, the UE ignores the slot format information carried in DCI format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for subband full duplex operation as described in embodiment group 1 and 2 and follows the SBFD configuration. For slots / symbols not configured for SBFD operation, the UE still follows the transmission direction indicated by SFI in DCI format 2_0. • In a variant of this embodiment, the UE can be indicated by Slot Format Indicator (SFI) in DCI format 2_0 on modifying a previously configured Flexible symbol to a SBFD symbol. The UE does not expect symbols configured as SBFD to be modified to any other symbol type (i.e., DL, UL or Flexible). • In another embodiment, the UE is not expected to be configured to monitor SFI in DO format 2_0 at the same time as being configured with a SBFD configuration. 4 Further Description

[0121] Figure 11 illustrates the operation of a network node 1100 (e.g., a base station such as, e.g., a gNB or a network node that performs some of the functionality of a base station such as, e.g., a gNB-Central Unit (CU) or gNB-Distributed Unit (DU)) and a UE 1102 in accordance with at least some of the embodiments described above. Optional steps are represented by dashed lines / boxes. As illustrated, the network node 1100 sends, to the UE 1102, a time domain configuration of SBFD symbols (step 1104). Note that this information may be sent to the UE 1102 (and thus received by the UE 1102) in one or more messages via any desired type of signaling or any desired combination of signaling (e.g., RRC, Downlink Control Information (DCI), Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), or combination thereof). However, in the preferred embodiments, the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols is provided in accordance with any of the embodiments described above, e.g., in relation to Sections 1 to 3 of the Detailed Description. The UE 1102 then operates in accordance with the received information (step 1106).

[0122] Figure 12 shows an example of a communication system 1200 in which embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be implemented.

[0123] In the example, the communication system 1200 includes a telecommunication network 1202 that includes an access network 1204, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 1206, which includes one or more core network nodes 1208. The access network 1204 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1210A and 1210B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1210), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 1202 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1202 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 1202, including one or more network nodes 1210 and / or core network nodes 1208.

[0124] Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or nonreal time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 1210 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1212A, 1212B, 1212C, and 1212D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1212) to the core network 1206 over one or more wireless connections.

[0125] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 1200 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 1200 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0126] The UEs 1212 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 1210 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1210 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1212 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1202 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 1202.

[0127] In the depicted example, the core network 1206 connects the network nodes 1210 to one or more hosts, such as host 1216. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 1206 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1208) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 1208. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-Concealing Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0128] The host 1216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1204 and / or the telecommunication network 1202, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1216 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0129] As a whole, the communication system 1200 of Figure 12 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 1200 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0130] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1202 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 1202 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1202. For example, the telecommunication network 1202 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (loT) services to yet further UEs.

[0131] In some examples, the UEs 1212 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 1204 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1204. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0132] In the example, a hub 1214 communicates with the access network 1204 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1212C and / or 1212D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1210B). In some examples, the hub 1214 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1214 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1206 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1210, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1214. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 1214 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1214 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1214 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0133] The hub 1214 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1210B. The hub 1214 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1214 and UEs (e.g., UE 1212C and / or 1212D), and between the hub 1214 and the core network 1206. In other examples, the hub 1214 is connected to the core network 1206 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1214 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 1204 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1210 while still connected via the hub 1214 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1214 may be a dedicated hub -that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 1210B. In other embodiments, the hub 1214 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 1210B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0134] Figure 13 shows a UE 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0135] A UE may support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0136] The UE 1300 includes processing circuitry 1302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1304 to an input / output interface 1306, a power source 1308, memory 1310, a communication interface 1312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 13. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0137] The processing circuitry 1302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 1310. The processing circuitry 1302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1302 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0138] In the example, the input / output interface 1306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 1300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0139] In some embodiments, the power source 1308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 1308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1300 to which power is supplied.

[0140] The memory 1310 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1310 includes one or more application programs 1314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1316. The memory 1310 may store, for use by the UE 1300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0141] The memory 1310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, High Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1310 may allow the UE 1300 to access instructions, application programs, and the like stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0142] The processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1312. The communication interface 1312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1322. The communication interface 1312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1318 and / or a receiver 1320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1318 and receiver 1320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 1322) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0143] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1312 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, shortrange communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0144] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1312, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected, an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0145] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0146] A UE, when in the form of an loT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or VR, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1300 shown in Figure 13.

[0147] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0148] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated into a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0149] Figure 14 shows a network node 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0150] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node), and / or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

[0151] Other examples of network nodes include multiple Transmission Point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS Controllers (BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, Multi-Cell / Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0152] The network node 1400 includes processing circuitry 1402, memory 1404, a communication interface 1406, and a power source 1408. The network node 1400 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1400 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1400 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within the network node 1400.

[0153] The processing circuitry 1402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1400 components, such as the memory 1404, to provide network node 1400 functionality.

[0154] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and the baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and the baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0155] The memory 1404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD), or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable, and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1402. The memory 1404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1402 and utilized by the network node 1400. The memory 1404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 and the memory 1404 are integrated.

[0156] The communication interface 1406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1406 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1410. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 comprises filters 1420 and amplifiers 1422. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may be connected to the antenna 1410 and the processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1410 and the processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 1420 and / or the amplifiers 1422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1402. In other embodiments, the communication interface 1406 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0157] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1418; instead, the processing circuitry 1402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 is part of the communication interface 1406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1406 includes the one or more ports or terminals 1416, the radio front-end circuitry 1418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0158] The antenna 1410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1410 is separate from the network node 1400 and connectable to the network node 1400 through an interface or port.

[0159] The antenna 1410, the communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1400. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1410, the communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1400. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0160] The power source 1408 provides power to the various components of the network node 1400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1408. As a further example, the power source 1408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0161] Embodiments of the network node 1400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 14 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1400 and to allow output of information from the network node 1400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1400.

[0162] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a host 1500, which may be an embodiment of the host 1216 of Figure 12, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1500 may be or comprise various combinations of hardware and / or software including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1500 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0163] The host 1500 includes processing circuitry 1502 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1504 to an input / output interface 1506, a network interface 1508, a power source 1510, and memory 1512. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 13 and 14, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 1500.

[0164] The memory 1512 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1514 and data 1516, which may include user data, e.g. data generated by a UE for the host 1500 or data generated by the host 1500 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1500 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1514 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1514 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1500 may select and / or indicate a different host for Over-The-Top (OTT) services for a UE. The host application programs 1514 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0165] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1600 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more Virtual Machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1600 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1600 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0166] Applications 1602 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1600 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0167] Hardware 1604 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1606 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1608A and 1608B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1608), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1606 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1608.

[0168] The VMs 1608 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1606. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1602 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 1608, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as Network Function Virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0169] In the context of NFV, a VM 1608 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1608, and that part of the hardware 1604 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 1608, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1608 on top of the hardware 1604 and corresponds to the application 1602.

[0170] The hardware 1604 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 1604 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 1604 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1610, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 1602. In some embodiments, the hardware 1604 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a RAN or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1612 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0171] Figure 17 shows a communication diagram of a host 1702 communicating via a network node 1704 with a UE 1706 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as the UE 1212A of Figure 12 and / or the UE 1300 of Figure 13), the network node (such as the network node 1210A of Figure 12 and / or the network node 1400 of Figure 14), and the host (such as the host 1216 of Figure 12 and / or the host 1500 of Figure 15) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 17.

[0172] Like the host 1500, embodiments of the host 1702 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1702 also includes software, which is stored in or is accessible by the host 1702 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1706 connecting via an OTT connection 1750 extending between the UE 1706 and the host 1702. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1750.

[0173] The network node 1704 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1702 and the UE 1706. The connection 1760 may be direct or pass through a core network (like the core network 1206 of Figure 12) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0174] The UE 1706 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1706 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1706 with the support of the host 1702. In the host 1702, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1750 terminating at the UE 1706 and the host 1702. In providing the service to the user, the UE’s client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1750 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE’s client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1750.

[0175] The OTT connection 1750 may extend via the connection 1760 between the host 1702 and the network node 1704 and via a wireless connection 1770 between the network node 1704 and the UE 1706 to provide the connection between the host 1702 and the UE 1706. The connection 1760 and the wireless connection 1770, over which the OTT connection 1750 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1702 and the UE 1706 via the network node 1704, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0176] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1750, in step 1708, the host 1702 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1706. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1706 that shares data with the host 1702 without explicit human interaction. In step 1710, the host 1702 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1706. The host 1702 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1706. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1706 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1706. The transmission may pass via the network node 1704 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1712, the network node 1704 transmits to the UE 1706 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1702 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1714, the UE 1706 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1706 associated with the host application executed by the host 1702.

[0177] In some examples, the UE 1706 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1702. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1702. Accordingly, in step 1716, the UE 1706 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1706. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1706 initiates, in step 1718, transmission of the user data towards the host 1702 via the network node 1704. In step 1720, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1704 receives user data from the UE 1706 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1702. In step 1722, the host 1702 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1706.

[0178] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1706 using the OTT connection 1750, in which the wireless connection 1770 forms the last segment.

[0179] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1702. As another example, the host 1702 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1702 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1702 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1702 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR which it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1702 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or transmitting data.

[0180] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1750 between the host 1702 and the UE 1706 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1750 may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1702 and / or the UE 1706. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1750 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1750 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1704. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like by the host 1702. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1750 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0181] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0182] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0183] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

[0184] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows: Group A Embodiments

[0185] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (1102), the method comprising: receiving (1104), from a network node (1100), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols; and operating (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0186] Embodiment 2: The method embodiment 1, wherein receiving (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a cell-specific configuration.

[0187] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 2, wherein the cell-specific configuration is a common serving cell configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfigCommon) of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

[0188] Embodiment 4: The method of embodiment 2 or 3, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including pattern 1 and, optionally, pattern2) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0189] Embodiment 5: The method embodiment 1, wherein receiving (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a UE-specific configuration.

[0190] Embodiment 6: The method of embodiment 5, wherein the UE-specific configuration as UE-specific serving cell configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfig) of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

[0191] Embodiment 7: The method of embodiment 5 or 6, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including pattern 1 and, optionally, pattern2) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0192] Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 5 or 6, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by both a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including patternl and, optionally, pattern2) and a UE-specific TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0193] Embodiment 9: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines at least one SBFD pattern.

[0194] Embodiment 10: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a first SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and a second SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

[0195] Embodiment 11: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a single SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in both slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

[0196] Embodiment 12: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a slot-specific SBFD pattern (e.g., a SBFD pattern defined on a per slot basis).

[0197] Embodiment 13: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the UE ignores slot format information carried in DCI format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for SBFD operation.

[0198] Embodiment 14: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the UE does not expect symbols configured for SBFD operation to be modified to any other symbol type (i.e., DL, UL, or Flexible).

[0199] Embodiment 15: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the UE does not expect to be configured to monitor slot formation information in DCI format 2_0 at a same time as being configured with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0200] Embodiment 16: The method embodiment 1, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is included in ServingCellConfigCommon, ServingCellConfigCommonSIB, or ServingCellConfig as new fields separate from TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated, as follows: TDD-Sbfd-Config ::=           SEQUENCE { sbfdPatternl                       TDD-Sbfd-Pattern, sbfdPatternl                      TDD-Sbfd-Pattern OPTIONAL, — Need R } wherein: • sbfdPatternl is provided to configure SBFD time domain pattern in slots corresponding to TDD-UL-DLpatteml provided in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon • the UE does not expect to be configured with sbfdPattem2 if the UE is not configured withpattern2 in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon', • sbfdPattern2, if provided, is to configure SBFD time domain pattern in slots corresponding to TDD-UL-DL pattem2 provided in TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon.

[0201] Embodiment 17: The method embodiment 1, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is provided as an extension to TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon as below. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon ::=          SEQUENCE { referenceSubcarrierSpacing          SubcarrierSpacing, patternl                             TDD-UL-DL-Pattern, pattern2                             TDD-UL-DL-Pattern OPTIONAL, — Need R [[ ____sbfdPatternl_____________________________TDD-Sbf d-Pattern, sbfdPattern2____________________________TDD-Sbf d-Pattern    OPTIONAL, — Need R TDD-UL-DL-Pattern ::= dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity mslp25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, mslO}, nrofDownlinkslots nrofDownlinkSymbols nrofUplinkSlots nrofUplinkSymbols SEQUENCE { ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, msl, INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots), INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1), [ [ dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity-vl530 ENUMERATED {ms3, ms4} OPTIONAL — Need R ] ] } ■

[0202] Embodiment 18: The method of embodiment 16 or 17, wherein TDD-Sbfd-Pattern is defined by a start slot and length value, an SBFD start symbol, and an SBF end symbol.

[0203] Embodiment 19: The method of embodiment 16 or 17, wherein TDD-Sbfd-Pattern is defined by a number of SBFD slots, a SBFD start symbol for a first slot, and an SBFD end symbol for a last slot.

[0204] Embodiment 20: The method of embodiment 16 or 17, wherein TDD-Sbfd-Pattern is defined by a SBFD start slot and a SBFD end slot, each being defined by a slot index and optionally a number of non-SBF symbols.

[0205] Embodiment 21: The method of embodiment 16 or 17, wherein TDD-Sbfd-Pattern is defined by a SBFD start slot and a SBFD end slot, each being defined by any one or more of the following: number of non-SBFD slots, number of non-SBFD symbols, number of SBFD slots, and number of SBFD symbols.

[0206] Embodiment 22: The method embodiment 1, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises a SBFD start symbol.

[0207] Embodiment 23: The method of embodiment 22, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols further comprises any one or more of the following: SBFD start symbol, SBFD end slot, and SBFD end symbol.

[0208] Embodiment 24: The method embodiment 1, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is provided as an extension of the UE specific TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated IE to further include: slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToAddModList      SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig       OPTIONAL, — Need N slotSpecificSbfdConfigurationsToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-SBFD-Slotlndex        OPTIONAL, — Need N ]] } and TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig ::= slotindex symbols allSBFD explicit sbfdStartSymbol OPTIONAL, — Need S sbfdEndSymbol OPTIONAL — Need S 1 1 SEQUENCE { TDD-UL-DL-Slotlndex, CHOICE { NULL, SEQUENCE { INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1)

[0209] Embodiment 25: The method embodiment 1, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is provided as an extension of the cell specific TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE to further include: slotSpecificSbfdConfiguration      SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSlots)) OF TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig      OPTIONAL, — Need N and TDD-SBFD-SlotConfig ::= slotindex symbols allSBFD explicit sbfdStartSymbol OPTIONAL, — Need S sbfdEndSymbol OPTIONAL — Need S 1 1 SEQUENCE { TDD-UL-DL-Slotlndex, CHOICE { NULL, SEQUENCE { INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1) INTEGER (1..maxNrofSymbols-1)

[0210] Embodiment 26: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node. Group B Embodiments

[0211] Embodiment 27: A method performed by a network node (1100), the method comprising: sending (1104), to User Equipment, UE, (1102), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0212] Embodiment 28: The method of embodiment 27, further comprising operating (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0213] Embodiment 29: The method embodiment 27 or 28, wherein sending (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises sending the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a cell-specific configuration.

[0214] Embodiment 30: The method of embodiment 29, wherein the cell-specific configuration as common serving cell configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfigCommon) of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

[0215] Embodiment 31: The method of embodiment 29 or 30, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including patternl and, optionally, pattern2) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0216] Embodiment 32: The method embodiment 27 or 28, wherein sending (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises sending the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a UE-specific configuration.

[0217] Embodiment 33: The method of embodiment 32, wherein the UE-specific configuration as UE-specific serving cell configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfig) of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

[0218] Embodiment 34: The method of embodiment 32 or 33, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including patternl and, optionally, pattern2) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0219] Embodiment 35: The method of embodiment 32 or 33, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by both a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon including patternl and, optionally, pattern2) and a UE-specific TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

[0220] Embodiment 36: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 35, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines at least one SBFD pattern.

[0221] Embodiment 37: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 35, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a first SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and a second SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

[0222] Embodiment 38: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 35, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a single SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in both slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

[0223] Embodiment 39: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 35, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a slot-specific SBFD pattern.

[0224] Embodiment 40: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 39, wherein the UE ignores slot format information carried in DO format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for SBFD operation.

[0225] Embodiment 41: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 39, wherein the network node does not modify symbols configured for SBFD operation to any other symbol type (i.e., DL, UL, or Flexible).

[0226] Embodiment 42: The method of any of embodiments 27 to 39, wherein the network node does not configure the UE to monitor slot formation information in DO format 2_0 at a same time as being configured with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

[0227] Embodiment 43: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment. Group C Embodiments

[0228] Embodiment 44: A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0229] Embodiment 45: A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0230] Embodiment 46: A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0231] Embodiment 47: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0232] Embodiment 48: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

[0233] Embodiment 49: A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0234] Embodiment 50: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0235] Embodiment 51: The method of any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0236] Embodiment 52: A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0237] Embodiment 53: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or the UE.

[0238] Embodiment 54: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0239] Embodiment 55: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that receives the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0240] Embodiment 56: The host of the any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0241] Embodiment 57: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0242] Embodiment 58: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.

[0243] Embodiment 59: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0244] Embodiment 60: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

[0245] Embodiment 61: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0246] Embodiment 62: A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0247] Embodiment 63: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the host application.

[0248] Embodiment 64: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0249] Embodiment 65: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0250] Embodiment 66: The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

[0251] Embodiment 67: The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0252] Embodiment 68: A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0253] Embodiment 69: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0254] Embodiment 70: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

Claims

1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (1102), the method comprising: receiving (1104), from a network node (1100), a time domain configuration of SubbandFull Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols; andoperating (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a cellspecific configuration.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the cell-specific configuration is a common serving cell configuration of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the common serving cell configuration is a SerivingCellConfigCommon or a ServingCellConfigCommonSIB.

5. The method of any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common TDD UL-DL configuration for the serving cell of the UE (1102), wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the common TDD UL-DL configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises receiving the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a UE-specific configuration.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the UE-specific configuration as UE-specific serving cellconfiguration of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the UE-specific serving cell configuration is a ServingCellConfig.

9. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols asdefined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

10. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by both a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) and a UE-specific TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

11. The method of any of claims 6 to 10, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE (1102), wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

12. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein:the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE (1102) or a dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE (1102); andthe common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration comprises a TDD UL / DL configuration which comprises first information that defines a first TDD UL / DL pattern, patternl, and, optionally, second information that defines a second TDD UL / DL pattern, pattem2, that is concatenated to the first TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if present, the second TDD UL / DL pattern can be configured as SBFD symbols.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a first SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if the second information is present, a second SBFD pattern for the second TDD UL / DL pattern.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a common SBFD pattern for both the first TDD UL / DL pattern and, if the second information is present, the second TDD UL / DL pattern.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates a SBFD pattern, and an explicit indication received by the UE indicates whether the SBFD pattern applies to the first TDD UL / DL pattern or the secondTDD UL / DL pattern.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises a start slot and symbol length parameter that jointly encodes a SBFD start slot index and a length of slots containing at least one SBFD symbol.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD start symbol that indicates a first SBFD symbol in a first slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD end symbol that indicates a last SBFD symbol in a last slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises a bitmap that indicates slots containing at least one SBFD symbol wherein slots containing at least one SBFD symbol are contiguous.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD start symbol that indicates a first SBFD symbol in a first slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises a SBFD end symbol that indicates a last SBFD symbol in a last slot that contains at least one SBFD symbol.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises information about a SBFD start slot.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the information about the SBFD start slot comprises a slot index of the SBFD start slot.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the information about the SBFD start slot further comprises a number of non-SBFD symbols in the SBFD start slot.

25. The method of any of claims 22 to 24, wherein the information that indicates the SBFDpattern further comprises information about a SBFD end slot.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the information about the SBFD end slot comprises a slot index of the SBFD end slot.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the information about the SBFD end slot further comprises a number of non-SBFD symbols in the SBFD end slot.

28. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises any one or more of the following: a number of non-SBFD slots, a number of non-SBFD symbols, a number of SBFD slots, and a number of SBFD symbols.

29. The method of claim 12, wherein the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises information that indicates an SBFD pattern for the first TDD UL / DL pattern and / or the second TDD UL / DL pattern, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern comprises information that indicates a SBFD start slot.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the information that indicates the SBFD pattern further comprises an SBFD start symbol in the SBFD start slot, and / or an SBFD end slot, and / or an SBFD end symbol in the SBFD end slot.

31. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein:the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols is comprised in a common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration for the UE (1102); andthe common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration comprises one or more slot specific SBFD configurations for one or more slots of the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein each slot specific SBFD configuration comprises a slot index of the corresponding slot of the common or dedicated TDD UL-DL configuration, and information that indicates one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the information that indicates the one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols comprises an indication that all symbols of the corresponding slot are SBFD symbols.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the information that indicates the one or more symbols within the corresponding slot that are SBFD symbols comprises information either or both of: an indication of an SBFD start symbol within the corresponding slot and an SBFD end symbol within the corresponding slot.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines at least one SBFD pattern.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a slot-specific SBFD pattern.

37. The method of any of claims 1 to 36, wherein the UE ignores slot format information carried in DO format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for SBFD operation.

38. The method of any of claims 1 to 36, wherein the UE does not expect symbols configured for SBFD operation to be modified to any other symbol type.

39. The method of any of claims 1 to 36, wherein the UE does not expect to be configured to monitor slot formation information in DO format 2_0 at a same time as being configured with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

40. A User Equipment, UE, (1102), adapted to:receive (1104), from a network node (1100), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols; andoperate (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

41. The UE (1102) of claim 40, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 39.

42. A User Equipment, UE, (1102; 1300), comprising:a communication interface (1312) comprising a transmitter (1318) and a receiver (1320); andprocessing circuitry (1302) associated with the communication interface (1312), the processing circuitry (1302) configured to cause the UE (1102; 1300) to:receive (1104), from a network node (1100), a time domain configuration ofSubband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols; andoperate (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

43. The UE (1102; 1300) of claim 42, wherein the processing circuitry (1302) is further configured to cause the UE (1102; 1300) to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 39.

44. A method performed by a network node (1100), the method comprising:sending (1104), to User Equipment, UE, (1102), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.

45. The method of claim 44, further comprising operating (1106) in accordance with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

46. The method of claim 44 or 45, wherein sending (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises sending the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a cell-specific configuration.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the cell-specific configuration as common serving cell configuration of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

48. The method of claim 46 or 47, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

49. The method of claim 44 or 45, wherein sending (1104) the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols comprises sending the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols as part of a UE-specific configuration.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the UE-specific configuration as UE-specific serving cell configuration of a serving cell of the UE (1102).

51. The method of claim 49 or 50, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by acommon TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

52. The method of claim 49 or 50, wherein only downlink or flexible symbols as defined by both a common TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) and a UE-specific TDD UL / DL configuration of the UE (1102) can be configured as SBFD symbols.

53. The method of any of claims 44 to 52, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines at least one SBFD pattern.

54. The method of any of claims 44 to 52, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a first SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and a second SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

55. The method of any of claims 44 to 52 , wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a single SBFD pattern that configures a SBFD time domain pattern in both slots that correspond to a first pattern provided by a common TDD UL / DL configuration and slots that correspond to a second pattern, if provided, by the common TDD UL / DL configuration.

56. The method of any of claims 44 to 52, wherein the time domain configuration of the SBFD symbols comprises information that defines a slot-specific SBFD pattern.

57. The method of any of claims 44 to 56, wherein the UE ignores slot format information carried in DO format_2_0 in slots / symbols configured for SBFD operation.

58. The method of any of claims 44 to 56, wherein the network node does not modify symbols configured for SBFD operation to any other symbol type.

59. The method of any of claims 44 to 56, wherein the network node does not configure the UE to monitor slot formation information in DCI format 2_0 at a same time as being configured with the time domain configuration of SBFD symbols.

60. A network node (1100) adapted to:send (1104), to User Equipment, UE, (1102), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.

61. The network node (1100) of claim 60, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 45 to 59.

62. A network node (1100; 1400) comprising processing circuitry (1402) configured to cause the network node (1100; 1400) to:send (1104), to User Equipment, UE, (1102), a time domain configuration of Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, symbols, wherein only downlink symbols or flexible symbols in a Time Domain Duplex, TDD, Uplink, UL, / Downlink, DL, configuration can be configured as SBFD symbols.6363. The network node (1100; 1400) of claim 62, wherein the processing circuitry (1402) is further configured to cause the network node (1100; 1400) to perform the method of any ofclaims 45 to 59.

Images