User equipment, base station and method

Abstract

The present invention describes a method for a user equipment (UE) for communicating with a base station. The method may include obtaining radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. The RRC configuration information may indicate the configuration of a downlink control (DCI) format 2_0. The method may also include monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having the DCI format 2_0. The DCI format 2_0 may include a first information field. The first information field may indicate a remaining channel occupancy duration. The remaining channel occupancy duration may be expressed as the number of OFDM symbols starting from the time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure as a whole relates to communication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to new signaling, processes, user equipment (UE), base stations, and methods. This patent application claims priority to Japanese patent application JP2019-060240 filed on March 27, 2019. The contents of the Japanese patent application are hereby incorporated by reference into this application. Background Art

[0002] To meet consumer demands and improve portability and convenience, wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful. Consumers have become dependent on wireless communication devices and expect reliable service, expanded coverage areas, and enhanced functionality. A wireless communication system may provide communication for multiple wireless communication devices, each of which may be served by a base station. A base station may be a device that communicates with a wireless communication device.

[0003] With the development of wireless communication devices, people have been seeking ways to improve communication capacity, speed, flexibility and / or efficiency. However, improving communication capacity, speed, flexibility and / or efficiency may bring certain problems.

[0004] For example, a wireless communication device may use a communication structure to communicate with one or more devices. However, the communication structure used may only provide limited flexibility and / or efficiency. As shown in this discussion, systems and methods for improving communication flexibility and / or efficiency may be advantageous. Summary of the invention

[0005] A user equipment (UE) communicating with a base station, comprising: a high-level processing circuit configured to obtain radio resource control (RRC) configuration information indicating a configuration of a downlink control (DCI) format 2_0; and a receiving circuit configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having the DCI format 2_0. The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field. The first information field indicates a remaining channel occupancy duration. The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from a time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

[0006] A base station for communicating with a user equipment (UE), comprising: a high-level processing circuit configured to send radio resource control (RRC) configuration information indicating a configuration of a downlink control (DCI) format 2_0; and a transmission circuit configured to transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having the DCI format 2_0. The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field. The first information field indicates a remaining channel occupancy duration. The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from the time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is transmitted.

[0007] A method for a user equipment (UE) for communicating with a base station, comprising: obtaining radio resource control (RRC) configuration information indicating a configuration of a downlink control (DCI) format 2_0; and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having the DCI format 2_0. The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field. The first information field indicates a remaining channel occupancy duration. The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from a time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

[0008] A method for a base station communicating with a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending radio resource control (RRC) configuration information indicating a configuration of a downlink control (DCI) format 2_0; and transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having the DCI format 2_0. The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field. The first information field indicates a remaining channel occupancy duration. The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from a time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is transmitted. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] [ Figure 1 ] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of one or more gNBs and one or more user equipments (UEs) in which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented;

[0010] [ Figure 2 ] Figure 2 shows various components that may be utilized in a UE;

[0011] [ Figure 3 ] Figure 3 Various components that may be utilized in a gNB are shown;

[0012] [ Figure 4 ] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of a UE in which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented;

[0013] [ Figure 5 ] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of a gNB in ​​which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented;

[0014] [ Figure 6 ] Figure 6 is a diagram showing one example of a resource grid;

[0015] [ Figure 7 ] Figure 7 Several examples of parameters are shown;

[0016] [ Figure 8 ] Figure 8 Shown for Figure 7 An example of a subframe structure of the parameters shown in;

[0017] [ Fig. 9 ] Fig. 9 Shown for Figure 7 An example of a subframe structure of the parameters shown in;

[0018] [ Fig.10 ] Fig.10 is a block diagram illustrating a specific implementation of a gNB;

[0019] [ Fig.11 ] Fig.11 is a block diagram illustrating a specific implementation of a UE;

[0020] [ Fig.12 ] Fig.12 An example of a control resource unit and a reference signal structure is shown;

[0021] [ Fig.13 ] Fig.13 An example of control channel and shared channel multiplexing is shown;

[0022] [ Fig.14 ] Fig.14 PDCCH monitoring opportunities for slotted scheduling are shown;

[0023] [ Fig.15 ] Fig.15 PDCCH monitoring opportunities for non-slotted scheduling are shown;

[0024] [ Fig.16 ] Fig.16 An example of a channel access procedure is shown;

[0025] [ Fig.17 ] Fig.17 An example of the delay of transmission is shown;

[0026] [ Fig.18 ] Fig.18 An example of channel access priority levels for downlink transmissions is shown;

[0027] [ Fig.19 ] Fig.19 An example of channel access priority levels for uplink transmissions is shown;

[0028] [ Fig. 20 ] Fig. 20 An example of a channel access procedure is shown;

[0029] [ Fig.21 ] Fig.21 An example of a channel access procedure is shown;

[0030] [ Fig. 22 ] Fig. 22 An example of a channel access procedure is shown;

[0031] [ Fig.23 ] Fig.23 An example of CW sizing is shown;

[0032] [ Fig.24 ] Fig.24 An example of LBT for transmission utilizing directional beams is shown;

[0033] [ Fig.25 ] Fig.25 An example of LBT for transmission utilizing directional beams is shown;

[0034] [ Fig.26 ] Fig.26 An example of a sub-band configuration is shown;

[0035] [ Fig. 27 ] Fig. 27 An example of a PDCCH monitoring opportunity is shown;

[0036] [ Fig.28 ] Fig.28 An example of trigger signal and CORESET resource allocation is shown;

[0037] [ Fig.29 ] Fig.29 An example of trigger signal and CORESET resource allocation is shown;

[0038] [ Fig.30 ] Fig.30 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0039] [ Fig.31 ] Fig.31 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown;

[0040] [ Fig.32 ] Fig.32 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown;

[0041] [ Fig.33 ] Fig.33 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown;

[0042] [ Fig.34 ] Fig.34 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown;

[0043] [ Fig.35 ] Fig.35 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0044] [ Fig.36 ] Fig.36 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0045] [ Fig.37 ] Fig.37 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0046] [ Fig.38 ] Fig.38 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0047] [ Fig.39 ] Fig.39 Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown;

[0048] [ Fig.40 ] Fig.40 A method for a UE communicating with a base station is shown; and

[0049] [ Fig.41 ] Fig.41 A method for a base station communicating with a UE is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The present invention describes a user equipment (UE) communicating with a base station. The UE may include a high-level processing circuit configured to obtain radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. The RRC configuration information may indicate one or more entries, each of which specifies a time slot format. The UE may also include a receiving circuit configured to receive a physical signal and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a downlink control (DCI) format. The DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate one of the entries. The second information field may indicate the time domain position of a first symbol within a first time slot format. The first symbol may be an initial symbol onto which the PDCCH is mapped. The first time slot format is a time slot format corresponding to the indicated entry.

[0051] The present invention describes a user equipment (UE) communicating with a base station. The UE may include a high-level processing circuit configured to obtain radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. The RRC configuration information may specify more than one control resource set (CORESET) in a bandwidth part (BWP). The UE may also include a receiving circuit configured to receive more than one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the CORESET and a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) in the BWP. If the PDCCH schedules a PDSCH, one of the PDCCHs may be considered valid and all other PDCCHs may be considered invalid.

[0052] The present invention describes a user equipment (UE) communicating with a base station. The UE may include a high-level processing circuit configured to obtain radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, the RRC configuration information indicating a monitoring opportunity. The UE may also include a receiving circuit configured to monitor a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band. The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band.

[0053] The second slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band.The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0054] The receiving circuit may also be configured to monitor a second PDCCH having a second DCI format in the first sub-band. The receiving circuit may also be configured to monitor a third PDCCH having a third DCI format in the second sub-band. The second DCI format may include a third information field. The third information field may indicate a fourth slot format combination. The fourth slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The third DCI format may include a fourth information field. The fourth information field may indicate a fifth slot format combination. The fifth slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band.

[0055] The present invention describes a base station for communicating with a user equipment (UE). The base station may include a high-level processing circuit configured to send radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, the RRC configuration information indicating a monitoring opportunity. The base station may also include a transmission circuit configured to transmit a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band. The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The second time slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band. The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0056] The transmission circuit may also be configured to transmit a second PDCCH having a second DCI format in the first sub-band. The transmission circuit may also be configured to transmit a third PDCCH having a third DCI format in the second sub-band. The second DCI format may include a third information field. The third information field may indicate a fourth slot format combination. The fourth slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The third DCI format may include a fourth information field. The fourth information field may indicate a fifth slot format combination. The fifth slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band.

[0057] The present invention describes a method for a user equipment (UE) for communicating with a base station. The method may include obtaining radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. The RRC configuration information may indicate a monitoring opportunity. The method may also include monitoring a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band. The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The second time slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band. The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0058] The present invention describes a method for a base station for communicating with a user equipment (UE). The method may include sending radio resource control (RRC) configuration information. The RRC configuration information may indicate a monitoring opportunity. The method may also include transmitting a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band. The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The second time slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band. The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0059] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (also known as "3GPP") is a collaborative agreement that develops globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for third and fourth generation wireless communication systems. 3GPP develops specifications for next generation mobile networks, systems and devices.

[0060] 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone or device standard to cope with future requirements. In one aspect, UMTS has been modified to provide support and specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).

[0061] At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be described in conjunction with 3GPP LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), and other standards including New Radio (NR) (e.g., 3GPP Release 8, Release 9, Release 10, Release 11, Release 12, Release 13, Release 14, and / or Release 15), which is also referred to as 3rd Generation NR (5G NR). However, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited in this regard. At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be used in other types of wireless communication systems.

[0062] A wireless communication device may be an electronic device that is used to transmit voice and / or data to a base station, which in turn may communicate with a network of devices (e.g., a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc.). When describing the systems and methods herein, a wireless communication device may alternatively be referred to as a mobile station, UE, access terminal, subscriber station, mobile terminal, remote station, user terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, mobile device, etc. Examples of wireless communication devices include cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops, netbooks, e-readers, wireless modems, vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. In the 3GPP specification, a wireless communication device is generally referred to as a UE. However, since the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standard, the terms "UE" and "wireless communication device" may be used interchangeably herein to represent the more general term "wireless communication device". A UE may also be more generally referred to as a terminal device.

[0063] In the 3GPP specifications, a base station is often referred to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a Home Enhanced or Evolved Node B (HeNB), a Next Generation Node B (gNB), or some other similar term. Since the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standards, the terms "base station", "Node B", "eNB", "HeNB", and "gNB" may be used interchangeably herein to represent the more general term "base station". In addition, the term "base station" may be used to represent an access point. An access point may be an electronic device that provides wireless communication devices with access to a network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc.). The term "communication device" may be used to represent a wireless communication device and / or a base station. eNB and gNB may also be more generally referred to as base station devices.

[0064] It should be noted that as used herein, a "cell" may be any communication channel that is specified by a standardization or regulatory body for use with International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) and all or a subset thereof, so that it is adopted by 3GPP as an authorized band (e.g., frequency band) for communication between eNBs and UEs. It should also be noted that in the E-UTRA and E-UTRAN general description, as used herein, a "cell" may be defined as a "combination of downlink resources and optional uplink resources". The link between the carrier frequency of the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplink resources may be indicated in system information transmitted on the downlink resources.

[0065] "Configured cells" are those cells that the UE is aware of and is permitted by the eNB to transmit or receive information. "Configured cells" may be serving cells. The UE may receive system information and perform required measurements on all configured cells. "Configured cells" for a radio connection may include a primary cell and / or zero, one or more secondary cells. "Activated cells" are those configured cells on which the UE is transmitting and receiving. That is, activated cells are those cells whose physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) the UE monitors, and in the case of downlink transmissions, those cells whose physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) the UE decodes. "Deactivated cells" are those configured cells where the UE does not monitor the transmission PDCCH. It should be noted that "cells" may be described in different dimensions. For example, a "cell" may have time, space (e.g., geographic) and frequency characteristics.

[0066] The fifth generation communication system, referred to as NR (New Radio Technology) by 3GPP, envisions using time / frequency / space resources to enable services such as eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) transmission, URLLC (ultra-reliable and low-latency communication) transmission, and eMTC (massive machine type communication) transmission. Moreover, in NR, single-beam and / or multi-beam operation is considered for downlink and / or uplink transmission.

[0067] Various examples of the systems and methods disclosed herein will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals may indicate functionally similar elements. The systems and methods as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein can be arranged and designed in a variety of different specific implementations. Therefore, the following more detailed description of several specific implementations presented in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, but is merely representative of the systems and methods.

[0068] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of one or more gNBs 160 and one or more UEs 102 in which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented. The one or more UEs 102 use one or more physical antennas 122a-n to communicate with the one or more gNBs 160. For example, the UE 102 transmits electromagnetic signals to the gNB 160 and receives electromagnetic signals from the gNB 160 using the one or more physical antennas 122a-n. The gNB 160 uses one or more physical antennas 180a-n to communicate with the UE 102.

[0069] The UE 102 and the gNB 160 may communicate with each other using one or more channels and / or one or more signals 119, 121. For example, the UE 102 may transmit information or data to the gNB 160 using one or more uplink channels 121. Examples of uplink channels 121 include physical shared channels (e.g., PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel)) and / or physical control channels (e.g., PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel)), etc. For example, the one or more gNBs 160 may also transmit information or data to the one or more UEs 102 using one or more downlink channels 119. Examples of physical shared channels (e.g., PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel)) and / or physical control channels (PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)), etc. of the downlink channels 119 may use other types of channels and / or signals.

[0070] Each of the one or more UEs 102 may include one or more transceivers 118, one or more demodulators 114, one or more decoders 108, one or more encoders 150, one or more modulators 154, a data buffer 104, and a UE operation module 124. For example, one or more receive paths and / or transmit paths may be implemented in the UE 102. For convenience, only a single transceiver 118, decoder 108, demodulator 114, encoder 150, and modulator 154 are shown in the UE 102, but multiple parallel elements (e.g., transceiver 118, decoder 108, demodulator 114, encoder 150, and modulator 154) may be implemented.

[0071] The transceiver 118 may include one or more receivers 120 and one or more transmitters 158. The one or more receivers 120 may receive signals from the gNB 160 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the receiver 120 may receive and down-convert signals to produce one or more received signals 116. The one or more received signals 116 may be provided to the demodulator 114. The one or more receivers 120 may also sense channels to be used for uplink transmissions. The one or more transmitters 158 may transmit signals to the gNB 160 using one or more physical antennas 122a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 158 may up-convert and transmit one or more modulated signals 156.

[0072] The demodulator 114 may demodulate the one or more received signals 116 to generate one or more demodulated signals 112. The one or more demodulated signals 112 may be provided to the decoder 108. The UE 102 may use the decoder 108 to decode the signal. The decoder 108 may generate a decoded signal 110, which may include the UE-decoded signal 106 (also referred to as the first UE-decoded signal 106). For example, the first UE-decoded signal 106 may include received payload data, which may be stored in the data buffer 104. Another signal in the decoded signal 110 (also referred to as the second UE-decoded signal 110) may include overhead data and / or control data. For example, the second UE-decoded signal 110 may provide data that the UE operation module 124 may use to perform one or more operations.

[0073] Generally speaking, the UE operation module 124 can enable the UE 102 to communicate with the one or more gNBs 160. The UE operation module 124 can include one or more of the UE scheduling modules 126.

[0074] The UE scheduling module 126 may also be referred to as a UE-side high-layer processing module that performs high-layer processing. Other units in the UE 102 except the UE scheduling module 126 may perform physical layer processing.

[0075] In a radio communication system, physical channels (uplink physical channels and / or downlink physical channels) may be defined. Physical channels (uplink physical channels and / or downlink physical channels) may be used to transmit information delivered from higher layers. For example, a PCCH (physical control channel) may be defined. The PCCH is used to transmit control information.

[0076] In the uplink, the PCCH (e.g., the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) is used to transmit uplink control information (UCI). UCI may include a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ ACK), channel state information (CSI) and / or a scheduling request (SR). HARQ-ACK is used to indicate a positive acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) of downlink data (i.e., a transport block carrying a medium access control element (MAC CE) and / or a MAC protocol data unit (MAC PDU) that may include a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH)). CSI is used to indicate the state of a downlink channel. Moreover, SR is used to request resources for uplink data (i.e., a transport block carrying a MAC CE and / or a MAC PDU that may include an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH)).

[0077] For the DL, the UE 102 may be configured to receive code block group (CBG) based transmissions, where retransmissions may be scheduled to carry one or more subsets of all code blocks of a transport block. The UE 102 may be configured to transmit CBG based transmissions, where retransmissions may be scheduled to carry one or more subsets of all code blocks of a transport block.

[0078] In the downlink, the PCCH (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)) may be used to transmit downlink control information (DCI). Here, more than one DCI format may be defined for DCI transmission on the PDCCH. That is, fields may be defined in the DCI format and mapped to information bits (i.e., DCI bits). For example, DCI format 1A for scheduling one physical shared channel (PSCH) (e.g., PDSCH, transmission of one downlink transport block) in a cell is defined as a DCI format for the downlink. The DCI format for PDSCH scheduling may include multiple information fields, for example, a carrier indicator field, a frequency domain PDSCH resource allocation field, a time domain PDSCH resource allocation field, a bundling size field, an MCS field, a new data indicator field, a redundancy version field, a HARQ process number field, a code block group refresh indicator (CBGFI) field, a code block group transmission indicator (CBGTI) field, a PUCCH power control field, a PUCCH resource indicator field, an antenna port field, a layer number field, a quasi-co-location (QCL) indication field, an SRS trigger request field, and an RNTI field. More than one of the above information may be jointly encoded, and in this case, the jointly encoded information may be indicated in a single information field.

[0079] Moreover, for example, DCI format 0 for scheduling a PSCH (e.g., PUSCH, transmission of an uplink transport block) in a cell is defined as a DCI format for uplink. For example, information associated with PSCH (PDSCH resources, PUSCH resources) allocation, information associated with the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for PSCH, and DCI such as transmission power control (TPC) commands for PUSCH and / or PUCCH are all included in the DCI format. Moreover, the DCI format may include information associated with a beam index and / or an antenna port. The beam index may indicate a beam used for downlink transmission and uplink transmission. The antenna port may include a DL antenna port and / or a UL antenna port. The DCI format for PUSCH scheduling may include multiple information fields, for example, a carrier indicator field, a frequency domain PUSCH resource allocation field, a time domain PUSCH resource allocation field, an MCS field, a new data indicator field, a redundancy version field, a HARQ process number field, a code block group refresh indicator (CBGFI) field, a code block group transmission indicator (CBGTI) field, a PUSCH power control field, an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field, a wideband and / or sub-band transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) field, an antenna port field, a scrambling identifier field, a layer number field, a CSI report trigger request field, a CSI management request field, an SRS trigger request field, and an RNTI field. More than one of the above information may be jointly encoded, and in this case, the jointly encoded information may be indicated in a single information field.

[0080] Furthermore, for example, a PSCH may be defined. For example, in the case where a downlink PSCH resource (e.g., a PDSCH resource) is scheduled by using a DCI format, UE 102 may receive downlink data on the scheduled downlink PSCH resource. Furthermore, in the case where an uplink PSCH resource (e.g., a PUSCH resource) is scheduled by using a DCI format, UE 102 transmits uplink data on the scheduled uplink PSCH resource. That is, the downlink PSCH is used to transmit downlink data. And, the uplink PSCH is used to transmit uplink data.

[0081] In addition, the downlink PSCH and the uplink PSCH are used to transmit information of a higher layer (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC)) layer and / or a MAC layer. For example, the downlink PSCH and the uplink PSCH are used to transmit RRC messages (RRC signals) and / or MAC control elements (MAC CEs). Here, the RRC messages transmitted from the gNB 160 in the downlink are common to multiple UEs 102 within the cell (referred to as common RRC messages). Moreover, the RRC messages transmitted from the gNB 160 may be dedicated to a certain UE 102 (referred to as dedicated RRC messages). The RRC messages and / or MAC CEs are also referred to as high-layer signals.

[0082] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 148 to the one or more receivers 120, for example, the UE operations module 124 may inform a receiver 120 when to receive a retransmission.

[0083] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 138 to the demodulator 114. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the demodulator 114 of the modulation pattern expected for transmissions from the gNB 160.

[0084] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 136 to the decoder 108. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the decoder 108 of the encoding expected for the transmission from the gNB 160.

[0085] The UE operation module 124 may provide information 142 to the encoder 150. The information 142 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the UE operation module 124 may instruct the encoder 150 to encode the transmission data 146 and / or other information 142. The other information 142 may include PDSCH HARQ-ACK information.

[0086] The encoder 150 may encode the transmission data 146 and / or other information 142 provided by the UE operations module 124. For example, encoding the transmission data 146 and / or other information 142 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping the data to space, time, and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder 150 may provide the encoded data 152 to a modulator 154.

[0087] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 144 to the modulator 154. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the modulator 154 of the type of modulation (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmission to the gNB 160. The modulator 154 may modulate the coded data 152 to provide one or more modulated signals 156 to the one or more transmitters 158.

[0088] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 140 to the one or more transmitters 158. The information 140 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 158. For example, the UE operations module 124 may instruct the one or more transmitters 158 when to transmit signals to the gNB 160. For example, the one or more transmitters 158 may transmit during a UL subframe. The one or more transmitters 158 may up-convert the modulated signal 156 and transmit the modulated signal to the one or more gNBs 160.

[0089] Each of the one or more gNBs 160 may include one or more transceivers 176, one or more demodulators 172, one or more decoders 166, one or more encoders 109, one or more modulators 113, a data buffer 162, and a gNB operation module 182. For example, one or more receive paths and / or transmit paths may be implemented in the gNB 160. For convenience, only a single transceiver 176, decoder 166, demodulator 172, encoder 109, and modulator 113 are shown in the gNB 160, but multiple parallel elements (e.g., multiple transceivers 176, decoders 166, demodulators 172, encoders 109, and modulators 113) may be implemented.

[0090] The transceiver 176 may include one or more receivers 178 and one or more transmitters 117. The one or more receivers 178 may receive signals from the UE 102 using one or more physical antennas 180a-n. For example, the receiver 178 may receive and down-convert signals to produce one or more received signals 174. The one or more received signals 174 may be provided to the demodulator 172. The one or more receivers 178 may also sense channels to be used for downlink transmissions. The one or more transmitters 117 may transmit signals to the UE 102 using one or more physical antennas 180a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 117 may up-convert and transmit one or more modulated signals 115.

[0091] The demodulator 172 may demodulate the one or more received signals 174 to produce one or more demodulated signals 170. The one or more demodulated signals 170 may be provided to the decoder 166. The gNB 160 may decode the signal using the decoder 166. The decoder 166 may produce one or more decoded signals 164, 168. For example, the first eNB decoded signal 164 may include received payload data (e.g., UL TB), which may be stored in the data buffer 162. The second eNB decoded signal 168 may include overhead data and / or control data. For example, the second eNB decoded signal 168 may provide data (e.g., uplink control information such as HARQ-ACK feedback information for the PDSCH) that the gNB operations module 182 may use to perform one or more operations.

[0092] In general, the gNB operation module 182 may enable the gNB 160 to communicate with the one or more UEs 102. The gNB operation module 182 may include one or more of the gNB scheduling modules 194. The gNB scheduling module 194 may also be referred to as a gNB-side high-level processing module that performs high-level processing. Other units in the gNB 160 other than the gNB scheduling module 194 may perform physical layer processing.

[0093] The gNB operations module 182 may provide information 188 to the demodulator 172. For example, the gNB operations module 182 may inform the demodulator 172 of the modulation pattern expected for transmissions from the UE 102.

[0094] The gNB operations module 182 may provide information 186 to the decoder 166. For example, the gNB operations module 182 may inform the decoder 166 of the encoding expected for the transmission from the UE 102.

[0095] The gNB operation module 182 may provide information 101 to the encoder 109. The information 101 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the gNB operation module 182 may instruct the encoder 109 to encode the information 101, including the transmission data 105.

[0096] Encoder 109 may encode transmission data 105 and / or other information included in information 101 provided by gNB operations module 182. For example, encoding transmission data 105 and / or other information included in information 101 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping data to space, time, and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. Encoder 109 may provide encoded data 111 to modulator 113. Transmission data 105 may include network data to be relayed to UE 102.

[0097] The gNB operations module 182 may provide information 103 to the modulator 113. The information 103 may include instructions for the modulator 113. For example, the gNB operations module 182 may inform the modulator 113 of the type of modulation (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmission to the UE 102. The modulator 113 may modulate the coded data 111 to provide one or more modulated signals 115 to the one or more transmitters 117.

[0098] The gNB operations module 182 may provide information 192 to the one or more transmitters 117. The information 192 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 117. For example, the gNB operations module 182 may instruct the one or more transmitters 117 when (or when not) to transmit signals to the UE 102. The one or more transmitters 117 may up-convert the modulated signal 115 and transmit the modulated signal to the one or more UEs 102.

[0099] It should be noted that DL subframes may be transmitted from the gNB 160 to one or more UEs 102, and UL subframes may be transmitted from one or more UEs 102 to the gNB 160. In addition, both the gNB 160 and the one or more UEs 102 may transmit data in standard special time slots.

[0100] It should also be noted that one or more of the elements or components thereof included in the gNB 160 and the UE 102 may be implemented in hardware. For example, one or more of these elements or components thereof may be implemented as a chip, a circuit, a hardware component, etc. It should also be noted that one or more of the functions or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or implemented using a chipset, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or an integrated circuit, etc.

[0101] The downlink physical layer processing of the transport channel may include: transport block CRC attachment; code block segmentation and code block CRC attachment; channel coding (LDPC coding); physical layer hybrid ARQ processing; rate matching; scrambling; modulation (EE, 16QAM, 64QAM and 256QAM); layer mapping; and mapping to allocated resources and antenna ports.

[0102] Figure 2 Various components that may be utilized in UE 202 are shown. Figure 2 The UE 202 described may be based on the combination of Figure 1UE 202 is implemented by the UE 22 described in the embodiment of the present invention. UE 202 includes a processor 203 that controls the operation of UE 202. Processor 203 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 205 (which may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a combination of these two memories, or any type of device that can store information) provides instructions 207a and data 209a to processor 203. A portion of memory 205 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions 207b and data 209b may also reside in processor 203. Instructions 207b and / or data 209b loaded into processor 203 may also include instructions 207a and / or data 209a from memory 205 and loaded for execution or processing by processor 203. Instructions 207b may be executed by processor 203 to implement the above method.

[0103] The UE 202 may also include a housing that houses one or more transmitters 258 and one or more receivers 220 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters 258 and receivers 220 may be combined into one or more transceivers 218. One or more antennas 222a-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver 218.

[0104] The various components of UE 202 are coupled together via a bus system 211 (which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus). However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are described in detail in the following sections. Figure 2 2 is shown as bus system 211. UE 202 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 213 for processing signals. UE 202 may also include a communication interface 215 that provides user access to the functions of UE 202. Figure 2 The UE 202 is shown as a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components.

[0105] Figure 3 Various components that may be utilized in gNB 360 are shown. Figure 3 The gNB 360 described may be combined with Figure 1The gNB 160 described herein is implemented. The gNB 360 includes a processor 303 that controls the operation of the gNB 360. The processor 303 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). The memory 305 (which may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a combination of the two memories, or any type of device that can store information) provides instructions 307a and data 309a to the processor 303. A portion of the memory 305 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions 307b and data 309b may also reside in the processor 303. The instructions 307b and / or data 309b loaded into the processor 303 may also include instructions 307a and / or data 309a from the memory 305 and loaded for execution or processing by the processor 303. The instructions 307b may be executed by the processor 303 to implement the above method.

[0106] The gNB 360 may also include a housing that houses one or more transmitters 317 and one or more receivers 378 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters 317 and receivers 378 may be combined into one or more transceivers 376. One or more antennas 380a-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver 376.

[0107] The various components of gNB 360 are coupled together via bus system 311 (which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus). However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are referred to in the figure. Figure 3 360 is shown as bus system 311. gNB 360 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 313 for processing signals. gNB 360 may also include a communication interface 315 that provides user access to the functions of gNB 360. Figure 3 The gNB 360 shown is a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components.

[0108] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of a UE 402 in which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented. The UE 402 includes a transmitting device 458, a receiving device 420, and a control device 424. The transmitting device 458, the receiving device 420, and the control device 424 may be configured to perform a combination of the above Figure 1 One or more of the functions described above. Figure 2 Shows Figure 4 Various other structures can be implemented to achieve Figure 1 For example, the DSP may be implemented by software.

[0109] Figure 55 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of a gNB 560 in which systems and methods for downlink and uplink transmissions may be implemented. The gNB 560 includes a transmitting device 517, a receiving device 578, and a control device 582. The transmitting device 517, the receiving device 578, and the control device 582 may be configured to perform a combination of the above Figure 1 One or more of the functions described above. Figure 3 Shows Figure 5 Various other structures can be implemented to achieve Figure 1 For example, the DSP may be implemented by software.

[0110] Figure 6 is a diagram showing one example of a resource grid. Figure 6 The resource grid shown may be applicable to both downlink and uplink, and may be used in some implementations of the systems and methods disclosed herein. Figure 1 More details about the resource grid are given.

[0111] exist Figure 6 In the time slot 683, one or more time slots can be used to transmit / receive physical channels and physical signals. For a given parameter μ, N μ RB is the bandwidth configuration of the bandwidth part (BWP) in the serving cell, with N RB SC Multiples of N RB sc is the size of the resource block 689 in the frequency domain, expressed as the number of subcarriers, and N SF,μ 符号 is the number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 687 in the subframe 669. In other words, for each parameter μ and each of the downlink and uplink, N may be defined. μ RB N RB sc subcarriers and N SF,μ 符号 OFDM symbols. There may be one resource grid for each antenna port p, each subcarrier spacing configuration (ie, parameter) μ, and each transmission direction (uplink or downlink). A resource block 689 may include a plurality of resource elements (REs) 691.

[0112] As shown in Table X1, various OFDM parameters (also referred to as parameters) are supported. Each parameter can be bound to its own subcarrier spacing Δf.

[0113] Table X1

[0114] μ <![CDATA[Δf=2 μ ·15[kHz]]]> Cyclic prefix 0 15 normal 1 30 normal 2 60 Normal, Extended 3 120 normal 4 240 normal

[0115] For the subcarrier spacing configuration μ, within a subframe, the time slots are numbered n in ascending order μ s ∈{0,…,N SF,μ 时隙 -1}, and within a frame, the time slots are numbered n in increasing order μ s,f ∈{0,…,N 帧,μ 时隙 -1}. There are N 时隙 , μ符号 consecutive OFDM symbols, where N 时隙,μ符号 Depending on the subcarrier spacing used and given in Table X2 for normal cyclic prefix and Table X3 for extended cyclic prefix. The number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe is N SF,μ 符号 =N 时隙 , μ 符号 .N SF,μ 时隙 . Time slot n in a subframe μ s The starting point is in time with OFDM symbol n in the same subframe μ s N 时隙,μ 符号 Not all UEs are capable of transmitting and receiving at the same time, which means that not all OFDM symbols in a downlink time slot or uplink time slot can be used.

[0116] Table X2

[0117] <![CDATA[N 时隙,μ 符号 ]]> <![CDATA[N 帧,μ 时隙 ]]> <![CDATA[N SF,μ 时隙 ]]> 0 14 10 1 1 14 20 2 2 14 40 4 3 14 80 8 4 14 160 16

[0118] Table X3

[0119] <![CDATA[N 时隙,μ 符号 ]]> <![CDATA[N 帧,μ 时隙 ]]> <![CDATA[N SF,μ 时隙 ]]> 2 12 40 4

[0120] For the initial BWP, N μ RB It may be broadcast as part of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block type 1 (SIB1)). For SCells (including licensed assisted access (LAA) SCells), N μ RB Configured via RRC messages dedicated to UE 102. For PDSCH mapping, the available RE 691 may be its index / in the subframe that satisfies / ≥ / 数据，开始 and / or / 数据，结束 ≥ / RE 691.

[0121] An OFDM access scheme with a cyclic prefix (CP) may be used, which may also be referred to as CP-OFDM. In the downlink, PDCCH, EPDCCH (Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel), PDSCH, etc. may be transmitted. A radio frame may include a group of time slots 683 (e.g., 10 time slots when μ=1). RB is a unit for allocating downlink radio resources defined by a predetermined bandwidth (RB bandwidth) and a time slot.

[0122] Resource blocks are limited to N RB sc = 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and one slot in the time domain (which consists of 14 symbols of the normal CP and 12 symbols of the extended CP).

[0123] For a subcarrier spacing configuration μ, the carrier resource blocks in the frequency domain are numbered from 0 to N. μ RB -1. Carrier resource block number n in the frequency domain CRB The relationship between the resource element (k, l) is expressed in n CRB =floor(k / N RB sc ), where k is defined relative to the resource grid. Physical resource blocks are defined within a carrier bandwidth part (BWP) and are numbered from 0 to N. size BWP,i -1, where i is the number of carrier bandwidth parts. The relationship between the physical resource blocks in carrier bandwidth part i and the absolute resource blocks is n. CRB =n PRB +N start BWP,i -1 is given, where N start BWP,i The physical resource blocks are defined within the carrier bandwidth and are numbered from 0 to N. size BWP,i -1, where i is the number of carrier bandwidth parts.

[0124] A carrier bandwidth part is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks selected from a contiguous subset of the carrier's resource blocks for a given parameter μ on a given carrier. The number of resource blocks in a carrier BWP is N 大小 BWP,i Can satisfy N min,μ RB,x <=N 大小 BWP,i <=N max ,μRB,x. A UE may be configured to have up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the downlink and only a single downlink carrier bandwidth part is active at a given time. The UE is not expected to receive PDSCH or PDCCH outside of the activated bandwidth parts. A UE may be configured to have up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the uplink and only a single uplink carrier bandwidth part is active at a given time. The UE shall not transmit PUSCH or PUCCH outside of the activated bandwidth parts.

[0125] An RB may include twelve subcarriers in the frequency domain and one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain. The region defined by one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain is called a resource element (RE) and is represented by an index pair (k, l) in the resource grid. RG ) uniquely identifies, where k = 0, ..., N μ RB N RB SC -1 and l RG =0,…,N SF,μ symb -1 are indices in the frequency domain and time domain, respectively. In addition, REs are uniquely identified by an index pair (k, l) based on a certain reference point, where l is an index in the time domain. The reference point may be based on a resource grid, i.e., a component carrier (CC) basis. Alternatively, the reference point may be based on a certain bandwidth portion in a component carrier. Although subframes in one CC are discussed herein, subframes are defined for each CC, and subframes between CCs are substantially synchronized with each other.

[0126] In the uplink, in addition to CP-OFDM, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) access scheme can also be used, which is also called discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). In the uplink, PUCCH, PDSCH, physical random access channel (PRACH), etc. can be transmitted.

[0127] For each parameter and carrier, define N max,μ RB,x N RB sc subcarriers and N SF,μ 符号 OFDM symbol resource grid, where N max,μ RB,x It is given by Table X4 and x is DL or UL for downlink and uplink respectively. There is one resource grid per antenna port p, per subcarrier spacing configuration μ and per transmission direction (uplink or downlink).

[0128] Table X4

[0129] μ <![CDATA[N min,μ RB,DL ]]> <![CDATA[N max,μ RB,DL ]]> <![CDATA[N min,μ RB,UL ]]> <![CDATA[N max,μ RB,UL ]]> 0 20 275 24 275 1 20 275 24 275 2 20 275 24 275 3 20 275 24 275 4 20 138 24 138

[0130] The UE 102 may be instructed to use only a subset of the resource grid for reception or transmission. The set of resource blocks for a UE is called a carrier bandwidth portion and may be configured in blocks numbered from 0 to N. μ RB -1 is used for reception or transmission in the frequency domain. The UE may be configured with one or more carrier bandwidth parts, each of which may have the same or different parameters.

[0131] Transmissions in multiple cells may be aggregated, where up to fifteen secondary cells may be used in addition to the primary cell. A UE 102 configured to operate in a bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell is configured by higher layers for the serving cell to receive up to four bandwidth parts (BWPs) in a set of DL bandwidths indexed by the parameter DL-BWP for the serving cell (a DL BWP set) and up to four BWPs in a set of UL bandwidths indexed by the parameter UL-BWP for the serving cell (a UL BWP set). For unpaired spectrum operation, a DL BWP from a configured DL BWP set is linked to a UL BWP from a configured UL BWP set, where the DL BWP and the UL BWP have the same index in the respective sets. For unpaired spectrum operation, the UE 102 may expect the center frequency of the DL BWP to be the same as the center frequency of the UL BWP.

[0132] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may be used to schedule DL transmissions on the PDSCH and UL transmissions on the PUSCH, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH includes: downlink assignments containing at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation, and HARQ information associated with the DL-SCH; and uplink scheduling grants containing at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation, and HARQ information associated with the UL-SCH. In addition to scheduling, the PDCCH may be used to: activate and deactivate configured PUSCH transmissions with configured grants; activate and deactivate PDSCH semi-persistent transmissions; notify one or more UEs of the timeslot format; notify one or more UEs of the PRBs and OFDM symbols, where the UE may assume that no transmission is intended for the UE; transmit TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; transmit one or more TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs; switch the active bandwidth portion of the UE; and initiate a random access procedure.

[0133] One or more groups of PRBs may be configured for DL ​​control channel monitoring. In other words, a control resource set is a group of PRBs in the frequency domain within which the UE 102 attempts to blindly decode downlink control information (i.e., monitor downlink control information (DCI)), wherein the PRBs may or may not be frequency-contiguous, the UE 102 may have one or more control resource sets, and one DCI message may be located in one control resource set. In the frequency domain, a PRB is a resource unit size of a control channel (which may or may not include a DMRS). A DL shared channel may start at an OFDM symbol later than a symbol carrying a detected DL control channel. Alternatively, a DL shared channel may start at the last OFDM symbol carrying a detected DL control channel (or at a symbol earlier than the last OFDM symbol). In other words, dynamic reuse of at least a portion of resources in a control resource set for data of the same or different UEs 102 may be supported at least in the frequency domain.

[0134] That is, the UE 102 may have to monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more control resource sets on one or more activated serving cells or bandwidth parts (BWPs) according to the corresponding search space, where monitoring means decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format. Here, a PDCCH candidate may be a candidate that may be assigned and / or transmit a PDCCH. A PDCCH candidate consists of one or more control channel elements (CCEs). The term "monitoring" means that the UE 102 attempts to decode each PDCCH in the set of PDCCH candidates according to all DCI formats to be monitored.

[0135] The set of PDCCH candidates monitored by UE 102 may also be referred to as a search space or a search space set. That is, a search space (or a search space set) is a set of resources that may be used for PDCCH transmission.

[0136] In addition, a common search space (CSS) and a user equipment search space (USS) are set (or defined, configured). For example, the CSS may be used to transmit a PDCCH having a DCI format to a plurality of UEs 102. That is, the CSS may be defined by resources shared by a plurality of UEs 102. For example, the CSS is composed of CCEs having a predetermined number between the gNB 160 and the UE 102. For example, the CSS is composed of CCEs having indexes 0 to 15.

[0137] Here, the CSS may be used to transmit a PDCCH with a DCI format to a specific UE 102. That is, the gNB 160 may transmit a DCI format intended for multiple UEs 102 and / or a DCI format intended for a specific UE 102 in the CSS. There may be one or more types of CSS. For example, a Type 0 PDCCH CSS may be defined for a DCI format scrambled by a system information-radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) on a primary cell (PCell). A Type 1 PDCCH CSS may be defined for a DCI format scrambled by a random access-(RA-)RNTI. Additionally and / or alternatively, a Type 1 PDCCH CSS may be used for a DCI format scrambled by a temporary cell-(TC-)RNTI or a cell-(C-)RNTI. A Type 2 PDCCH CSS may be defined for a DCI format scrambled by a paging-(P-)RNTI. Three types of PDCCH CSS may be defined for DCI formats scrambled by interference-(INT-)RNTI, wherein if UE 102 is configured by higher layers to decode a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, and if UE 102 detects a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, UE 102 may assume that no transmission to UE 102 is present in the OFDM symbols and resource blocks indicated by the DCI format. In addition and / or alternatively, Class 3 PDCCH CSS may be used for DCI formats scrambled by other RNTIs (e.g., Transmit Power Control - (TPC-)RNTI, Preemption Indication - (PI-)RNTI, Slot Format Indicator - (SFI-)RNTI, Semi-Persistent Scheduling - (SPS-)RNTI, Grant-Free - (GF-)RNTI, Configured Scheduling - (CS-)RNTI, URLLC - (U-)RNTI, Automatic Uplink - (AUL-)RNTI, Downlink Feedback Information - (DFI-)RNTI).

[0138] The UE 102 may be indicated by a system information block class 0 (SIB0) (also referred to as MIB), a control resource set for class 0 PDCCH common search space, and a subcarrier spacing and CP length for PDCCH reception. The class 0 PDCCH common search space is defined by the CCE aggregation level and the number of candidates for each CCE aggregation level. The UE may assume that the DMRS antenna ports associated with PDCCH reception in the class 0 PDCCH common search space and the DMRS antenna ports associated with physical broadcast channel (PBCH) reception are quasi-co-located with respect to delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters. The PBCH carries a master information block (MIB) containing most of the important system information. A PDCCH with a specific DCI format in the class 0 PDCCH common search space schedules the reception of a PDSCH with SIB class 1 (SIB1) or other SI messages. The UE may be indicated by a SIB 1 control resource set for class 1 PDCCH common search space. The subcarrier spacing and CP length for PDCCH reception with Class 1 PDCCH common search space are the same as the subcarrier spacing and CP length for PDCCH reception with Class 0 PDCCH common search space. The UE may assume that the DMRS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception in Class 1 PDCCH common search space and the DMRS antenna port associated with PBCH reception are quasi-co-located with respect to delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay and spatial Rx parameters. The monitoring periodicity of paging events for PDCCH in Class 2 PDCCH common search space may be configured to the UE via high-level parameters. The UE may configure whether to monitor Class 3 PDCCH common search space and / or which serving cell monitors Class 3 PDCCH common search space via high-level signaling.

[0139] The USS may be used to transmit a PDCCH having a DCI format to a specific UE 102. That is, the USS is defined by resources dedicated to a certain UE 102. That is, the USS may be independently defined for each UE 102. For example, the USS may be composed of CCEs having a number determined based on an RNTI allocated by the gNB 160, a slot number in a radio frame, an aggregation level, etc.

[0140] Here, the RNTI may include a C-RNTI (cell-RNTI), a temporary C-RNTI. Also, the USS (location of the USS) may be configured by the gNB 160. For example, the gNB 160 may configure the USS by using an RRC message. That is, the base station may transmit a DCI format intended for a specific UE 102 in the USS.

[0141] Here, the RNTI assigned to the UE 102 can be used for the transmission of the DCI (transmission of the PDCCH). Specifically, the CRC (cyclic redundancy check) parity bits (also referred to as CRC for short) generated based on the DCI (or DCI format) are attached to the DCI, and after the attachment, the CRC parity bits are scrambled by the RNTI. The UE 102 can attempt to decode the DCI attached with the CRC parity bits scrambled by the RNTI, and detect the PDCCH (i.e., DCI, DCI format). That is, the UE 102 can decode the PDCCH using the CRC scrambled by the RNTI.

[0142] When the control resource set spans multiple OFDM symbols, the control channel candidate may be mapped to multiple OFDM symbols or may be mapped to a single OFDM symbol. One DL control channel element may be mapped on an RE defined by a single PRB and a single OFDM symbol. If more than one DL control channel element is used for a single DL control channel transmission, DL control channel element aggregation may be performed.

[0143] The number of aggregated DL control channel elements is referred to as the DL control channel element aggregation level. The DL control channel element aggregation level may be 1 or 2 to an integer power. The gNB 160 may inform the UE 102 which control channel candidates are mapped to each subset of OFDM symbols in the control resource set. If one DL control channel is mapped to a single OFDM symbol and does not span multiple OFDM symbols, DL control channel element aggregation is performed within one OFDM symbol, i.e., multiple DL control channel elements are aggregated within one OFDM symbol. Otherwise, DL control channel elements may be aggregated in different OFDM symbols.

[0144] DCI formats may be classified into at least 4 types for PDSCH and PUSCH scheduling: DL conventional (also referred to as DCI format 1_1), UL conventional (also referred to as DCI format 0_1), DL fallback (also referred to as DCI format 1_0), and UL fallback (also referred to as DCI format 0_0). In addition, there may be some other types for control signaling. In addition, some more types (e.g., DCI formats 0_2, 0_3, 1_2, and 1_3) may be defined for scheduling one or more PUSCHs and one or more PDSCHs, which may be applicable to NR-based unlicensed access (NR-U) cells. Table X5 shows an example of a set of DCI format types.

[0145] Table X6

[0146]

[0147] The DL conventional DCI format and the UL conventional DCI format may have the same DCI payload size. The DL fallback DCI format and the UL fallback DCI format may have the same DCI payload size. Tables X6, X7, X8 and X9 show examples of DCI formats 0_0, 0_1, 1_0 and 1_1, respectively. "Mandatory" may mean that the information field is always present, regardless of the RRC (re)configuration. "Optional" may mean that the information field may or may not be present depending on the RRC (re)configuration. In the DL fallback DCI format and the UL fallback DCI format, all information fields are mandatory, so that their DCI payload size is fixed, regardless of the RRC (re)configuration.

[0148] Table X6

[0149]

[0150] Table X7

[0151]

[0152]

[0153] Table X8

[0154]

[0155] Table X9

[0156]

[0157]

[0158] Figure 7 Several examples of parameters are shown. Parameter #1 (μ=0) can be a basic parameter. For example, a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz in the frequency domain and 2048 in the time domain K TS+CP length (e.g., 512 K TS, 160 K TS or 144 K TS) defines the RE of the basic parameters, where Ts represents the baseband sampling time unit defined as 1 / (15000*2048) seconds. For the μth parameter, the subcarrier spacing can be equal to 15*2 μ , and the effective OFDM symbol length NuTs = 2048*2 -μ K Ts. This makes the symbol length 2048*2 -μ κTs+CP length (e.g., 512*2 -μ κTs, 160*2 -μ κTs or 144*2 -μκTs). Note that κ=64, Ts=1 / (Δf max ·N f ), Δf max =480·10 3 Hz (i.e., Δf when μ=5), and N f = 4096. In other words, the subcarrier spacing of the μ+1th parameter is twice that of the μth parameter, and the symbol length of the μ+1th parameter is half that of the μth parameter. Figure 7 Four parameters are shown, but the system may support another number of parameters.

[0159] Figure 8 Shows Figure 7 A set of examples of subframe structures with the parameters shown in . These examples are based on a slot configuration set to 0. One slot includes 14 symbols, the slot length of the μ+1th parameter is half the slot length of the μth parameter, and the number of slots in the final subframe (e.g., 1 ms) is doubled. It should be noted that a radio frame may include 10 subframes and the radio frame length may be equal to 10 ms.

[0160] Fig. 9 Shows Figure 7 Another set of examples of subframe structures with the parameters shown in . These examples are based on a slot configuration set to 1. One slot includes 7 symbols, the slot length of the μ+1th parameter is half the slot length of the μth parameter, and the number of slots in the final subframe (i.e., 1 ms) is doubled.

[0161] A downlink physical channel may correspond to a set of resource elements that carry information from a higher layer. A downlink physical channel may include a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). A downlink physical signal corresponds to a set of resource elements used by the physical layer, but may not carry information from a higher layer. A downlink physical signal may include a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0162] An uplink physical channel may correspond to a set of resource elements that carry information from a higher layer. An uplink physical channel may include a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical random access channel (PRACH). An uplink physical signal may be used by the physical layer but may not carry information from a higher layer. An uplink physical signal may include a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS), and a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0163] The synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) may consist of a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal (PSS, SSS), each of which occupies 1 symbol and 127 subcarriers, and the PBCH spans 3 OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but leaves an unused portion for the SSS in the middle on one symbol. For conventional NR operation, the PSS and SSS may be located in different OFDM symbols between one OFDM symbol gap, with the PSS first and the SSS next. The periodicity of the SSB may be configured by the network, and the time position at which the SSB may be sent is determined by the subcarrier spacing. Multiple SSBs may be transmitted within the frequency span of the carrier. The physical cell identifiers (PCIs) of these SSBs may not necessarily be unique, i.e., different SSBs may have different PCIs. However, when the SSB is associated with SIB 1 (also known as the remaining minimum system information (RMSI)), the SSB may correspond to a single cell with a unique NR cell global identifier (NCGI). Such an SSB may be referred to as a cell-defined SSB (CD-SSB). The PCell may always be associated with a CD-SSB located on the synchronization raster.

[0164] A slot format indicator (SFI) may be defined to specify the format of one or more time slots. Using the SFI, the UE 102 may be able to derive at least those symbols that are "DL", "UL" and "unknown" in a given time slot, respectively. In addition, it may also indicate those symbols that are "reserved" in a given time slot. Using the SFI, the UE 102 may also be able to derive the number of time slots whose format the SFI indicates. The SFI may be configured via a dedicated RRC configuration message. Alternatively and / or in addition, the SFI may be signaled by a group common PDCCH (e.g., a PDCCH with an SFI-RNTI). Also alternatively and / or in addition, the SFI may be broadcast via a master information block (MIB) or remaining minimum system information (RMSI).

[0165] For example, each SFI can express up to 8 combinations of "DL", "UL", "unknown", and "reserved", each of which includes N 时隙,μ 符号 More specifically, given that N 时隙,μ 符号=14, one combination can be "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown", "unknown". Another combination can be all "DL", i.e., "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL". Another combination can be all "UL", i.e., "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL", "UL". Another combination can be a combination of "DL", "UL" and "reserved", such as "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "DL", "reserved", "reserved", "reserved", "reserved", "UL".

[0166] "DL" symbols can be used for DL ​​reception and CSI / RRM measurements at UE 102. "UL" symbols can be used for UL transmission at UE 102. "Unknown" resources can also be referred to as "flexible" resources and can be covered by at least a DCI indication. If not covered by a DCI and / or SFI indication, "unknown" can be used to achieve the same value as "reserved". On "unknown" symbols, UE 102 may be allowed to take any DL and UL transmissions configured by higher layers, except where the "unknown" symbols are covered by a DCI indicating another direction and any DL and UL transmissions indicated by the DCI. For example, periodic CSI-RS, periodic CSI-IM, semi-persistently scheduled CSI-RS, periodic CSI reports, semi-persistently scheduled CSI reports, periodic SRS transmissions, primary synchronization signals (PSS) / secondary synchronization signals (SSS) / PBCH configured by higher layers can be assumed (i.e., for DL, it is assumed to exist and be able to perform reception, and for UL, it is assumed to be able to perform transmission).

[0167] Covering "unknown" symbols by DCI means that the UE 102 may have to assume only the DL and UL transmissions indicated by the DCI indication (PDSCH transmission, PUSCH transmission, aperiodic CSI-RS transmission, aperiodic CSI-IM resources, aperiodic SRS transmission). Covering "unknown" symbols by SFI means that the UE 102 may have to assume the symbol as "DL", "UL", or "reserved" according to the SFI indication. If the UE 102 assumes aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and / or aperiodic CSI-IM resources, the UE 102 may perform CSI and / or RRM measurements based on the aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and / or aperiodic CSI-IM resources. If the UE 102 does not assume aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and / or aperiodic CSI-IM resources, the UE 102 may not use aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and / or aperiodic CSI-IM resources for CSI and / or RRM measurements.

[0168] The UE 102 may have to monitor the PDCCH on certain "DL" or "unknown" symbols. There may be several options for monitoring the PDCCH. If all OFDM symbols allocated for a given control resource set (CORESET) are "DL", the UE 102 may assume that all OFDM symbols are valid for monitoring the PDCCH associated with the given CORESET. In this case, the UE 102 may assume that each PDCCH candidate in the CORESET maps to all OFDM symbols for time-first RE group (REG) to control channel element (CCE) mapping. If all OFDM symbols allocated for a given CORESET are "unknown", the UE 102 may assume that all OFDM symbols are valid for monitoring the PDCCH associated with the given CORESET. In this case, the UE 102 may assume that each PDCCH candidate in the CORESET maps to all OFDM symbols for time-first REG to CCE mapping.

[0169] If every OFDM symbol allocated for a given combination of CORESET and search space set is "UL" or "reserved", the UE 102 may assume that those OFDM symbols are invalid for monitoring the PDCCH associated with the given combination of CORESET and search space set. If some of the OFDM symbols allocated for a given combination of CORESET and search space set are "DL" and others are "UL" or "reserved", or if some of the OFDM symbols allocated for a given combination of CORESET and search space set are "unknown" and others are "UL" or "reserved", the UE 102 may not monitor the PDCCH in the CORESET.

[0170] NR-U may not support dedicated RRC configuration of RMSI and / or slot format. In this case, all symbols are assumed to be flexible by default.

[0171] Fig.10 1 is a block diagram illustrating one specific implementation of a gNB 1060 (an example of a gNB 160). The gNB 1060 may include a high-level processor 1001 (also referred to as a high-level processing circuit), a DL transmitter 1002, a UL receiver 1003, and an antenna 1004. The DL transmitter 1002 may include a PDCCH transmitter 1005 and a PDSCH transmitter 1006. The UL receiver 1003 may include a PUCCH receiver 1007 and a PUSCH receiver 1008. The high-level processor 1001 may manage the behavior of the physical layer (the behavior of the DL transmitter and the UL receiver, LBT, etc.) and provide high-level parameters to the physical layer. The high-level processor 1001 may obtain a transport block from the physical layer. The high-level processor 1001 may send / obtain high-level messages such as common and dedicated RRC messages and / or MAC messages to / from the high-level layers of the UE. The high-level processor 1001 may also set and / or store high-level parameters carried by the high-level messages. The higher layer processor 1001 may provide the PDSCH transmitter 1006 with a transport block and provide the PDCCH transmitter 1005 with transmission parameters related to the transport block. The UL receiver 1003 may receive the multiplexed uplink physical channel and the uplink physical signal via the receiving antenna and demultiplex them. The PUCCH receiver 1007 may provide the higher layer processor UCI. The PUSCH receiver 1008 may provide the received transport block to the higher layer processor 1001. The UL receiver 1003 may also sense the downlink channel on which the DL transmitter 1002 will perform downlink transmission.

[0172] Fig.111 is a block diagram showing a specific implementation of UE 1102 (an example of UE 102). UE 1102 may include a high-level processor 1111, a UL transmitter 1113, a DL receiver 1112, and an antenna 1114. UL transmitter 1113 may include a PUCCH transmitter 1117 and a PUSCH transmitter 1118. DL receiver 1112 may include a PDCCH receiver 1115 and a PDSCH receiver 1116. The high-level processor 1111 may manage the behavior of the physical layer (the behavior of the UL transmitter and the DL receiver, LBT, etc.) and provide high-level parameters to the physical layer. The high-level processor 1111 may obtain a transport block from the physical layer. The high-level processor 1111 may send / obtain high-level messages such as common and dedicated RRC messages and / or MAC messages to / from the high-level layer of the UE. The high-level processor 1111 may also set and / or store high-level parameters carried by the high-level message. The high-level processor 1111 may provide a transport block to the PUSCH transmitter and provide UCI to the PUCCH transmitter 1117. The DL receiver 1112 may receive multiplexed downlink physical channels and downlink physical signals via a receiving antenna and demultiplex them. The PDCCH receiver 1115 may provide DCI to a higher layer processor. The PDSCH receiver 1116 may provide a received transport block to the higher layer processor 1111. The DL receiver 1112 may also sense an uplink channel on which the UL transmitter 1113 will perform uplink transmission.

[0173] For downlink data transmission, UE 1102 may attempt to blindly decode one or more PDCCH (also known as control channel) candidates. This process is also referred to as monitoring of the PDCCH. The PDCCH may carry a DCI format for scheduling a PDSCH (also known as a shared channel or data channel). The gNB 1060 may transmit the PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH in a downlink timeslot. When a PDCCH is detected in a downlink timeslot, the UE 1102 may receive the corresponding PDSCH in the downlink timeslot. Otherwise, the UE 1102 may not perform PDSCH reception in the downlink timeslot.

[0174] Fig.12An example of a control resource unit and a reference signal structure is shown. In the frequency domain, a control resource set may be defined as a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs). For example, a control resource set may include PRB #i to PRB #i+3 in the frequency domain. A control resource set may also be defined as a set of OFDM symbols in the time domain. A control resource set may also be referred to as the duration of a control resource set or simply as the control resource set duration. For example, a control resource set may include three OFDM symbols in the time domain, i.e., OFDM symbol #0 to OFDM symbol #2. UE 102 may monitor the PDCCH in one or more control resource sets. A PRB set may be configured relative to each control resource set by dedicated RRC signaling (e.g., via dedicated RRC reconfiguration). The control resource set duration may also be configured relative to each control resource set by dedicated RRC signaling.

[0175] exist Fig.12 In the control resource unit and reference signal structure shown, the control resource unit is defined as a group of resource elements (REs). Each control resource unit includes all REs (i.e., 12 REs) within a single OFDM symbol and within a single PRB (i.e., 12 consecutive subcarriers). The REs to which the reference signal (RS) is mapped can be counted as those REs, but the RS REs are not available for PDCCH transmission, and the PDCCH is not mapped on the RS REs.

[0176] A plurality of control resource elements may be used for transmission of a single PDCCH. In other words, one PDCCH may be mapped to REs included in a plurality of control resource elements. Fig.12 An example is shown in which UE 102 performs blind decoding on PDCCH candidates assuming that multiple control resource elements located at the same frequency carry one PDCCH. RS used for PDCCH demodulation may be included in all resource elements to which the PDCCH is mapped. REs used for RS may not be available for PDCCH transmission or corresponding PDSCH transmission.

[0177] Fig.13 An example of control channel and shared channel multiplexing is shown. The starting and / or ending position of the PDSCH may be indicated via the scheduling PDCCH. More specifically, the DCI format of the scheduled PDSCH may include an information field for indicating the starting and / or ending position of the scheduled PDSCH.

[0178] UE 102 may include a high-level processor configured to obtain public and / or dedicated high-level messages. Public and / or dedicated high-level messages may include system information and / or high-level configuration / reconfiguration information. Based on the system information and / or high-level configuration, UE 102 performs a physical layer reception and / or transmission process. UE 102 may also include a PDCCH receiving circuit configured to monitor PDCCH. PDCCH may carry a DCI format for scheduling PDSCH. In addition and / or alternatively, PDCCH may carry a DCI format for scheduling PUSCH. UE 102 may also include a PDSCH receiving circuit configured to receive PDSCH when a corresponding PDCCH is detected. UE 102 may also include a PUCCH transmission circuit configured to transmit a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback related to PDSCH. In addition and / or alternatively, UE 102 may also include a PDSCH transmission circuit configured to transmit PDSCH when a corresponding PDCCH is detected.

[0179] The gNB 160 may include a high-level processor configured to send common and / or dedicated high-level messages. The common and / or dedicated high-level messages may include system information and / or high-level configuration / reconfiguration information. Based on the system information and / or high-level configuration, the gNB 160 performs a physical layer reception and / or transmission process. The gNB 160 may also include a PDCCH transmission circuit configured to transmit a PDCCH. The PDCCH may carry a DCI format for scheduling a PDSCH. In addition and / or alternatively, the PDCCH may carry a DCI format for scheduling a PUSCH. The gNB 160 may also include a PDSCH transmission circuit configured to transmit the PDSCH when transmitting the corresponding PDCCH. The gNB 160 may also include a PUCCH reception circuit configured to receive a PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback related to the PDSCH. In addition and / or alternatively, the gNB 160 may also include a PUSCH reception circuit configured to receive the PUSCH when a corresponding PDCCH is detected.

[0180] UE 102 may monitor PDCCH candidates in a control resource set. A PDCCH candidate set may also be referred to as a search space. A control resource set may be defined by a set of PRBs in the frequency domain and a duration in units of OFDM symbols in the time domain.

[0181] For each serving cell, higher layer signaling (such as common RRC messages or UE-specific RRC messages) may configure one or more PRB sets for PDCCH monitoring for UE 102. For each serving cell, higher layer signaling (such as common RRC messages or UE-specific RRC messages) may also configure the control resource set duration for PDCCH monitoring for UE 102.

[0182] For each serving cell, higher layer signaling configures P control resource sets for the UE. For control resource set p, where 0 <= p < P, the configuration includes: a first symbol index provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-start-symb; the number of consecutive symbols provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-time-duration; a set of resource blocks provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-freq-dom; the CCE to REG mapping provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-trans-type (also referred to as CORESET-CCE-to-REG-mapping); in the case of an interleaved CCE to REG mapping, the REG bundle size provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-REG-bundle-size; and the antenna port quasi co-location provided by the higher layer parameter CORESET-TCI-StateRefld. If the UE is not configured with the higher layer parameter CORESET-TCI-StateRefld, the UE may assume that the DMRS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception and the DMRS antenna port associated with PBCH reception in the USS are quasi co-located with respect to delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters.

[0183] For each serving cell for which the UE is configured to monitor the PDCCH and for each DCI format having a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI, SPS-RNTI, and / or grant-free RNTI, the UE is configured to be associated with a control resource set. These associations may include an association with a set of control resource sets via the higher layer parameter DCI-to-CORESET-map. For each control resource set in the set of control resource sets, these associations may include: an association with the number of PDCCH candidates for each CCE aggregation level L via the higher layer parameter CORESET-candidates-DCI; an association with the PDCCH monitoring periodicity for k p time slots via the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-period-DCI; an association with the PDCCH monitoring offset for o p time slots via the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-offset-DCI, where 0 <= o p < k p; and an association with a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot via a higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern, the PDCCH monitoring pattern indicating one or more first symbols of a control resource set within a slot for PDCCH monitoring. If the UE 102 is configured with the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern, the UE 102 may assume that non-slotted scheduling is configured in addition to slotted scheduling. If the UE 102 is not configured with the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern, the UE 102 may assume that non-slotted scheduling is not configured and only slotted scheduling is configured.

[0184] Fig.14 PDCCH monitoring occasions for slotted scheduling (also known as Class A resource allocation) are shown. PDCCH monitoring occasions may be OFDM symbols for which PDCCH monitoring is configured via search space configuration. A search space set may be identified for a combination of a control resource set, a DCI format (or a DCI format group including DCI formats with the same DCI payload size). Fig.16 In the example shown, two search space sets are shown - search space set #0 and search space set #1. Search space set #0 and search space set #1 are both associated with the same CORESET. The configuration of the CORESET (such as CORESET-start-symb, CORESET-time-duration, CORESET-freq-dom, CORESET-trans-type, CORESET-REG-bundle-size, CORESET-TCI-StateRefld) applies to both search space set #0 and search space set #1. For example, CORESET-time-duration set to 3 symbols applies to both search space sets. Search space set #0 can be associated with a specific DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1, fallback DCI format), and search space set #1 can be associated with another specific DCI format (e.g., DCI format 2, conventional DCI format). For search space set #0, the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-period-DCI is set to 2 slots, while for search space set #1, the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-period-DCI is set to 1 slot. Therefore, DCI format 1 can be potentially transmitted and / or monitored in every 2 slots, while DCI format 2 can be potentially transmitted and / or monitored in every slot.

[0185] Fig.15FIG. 2 shows the PDCCH monitoring opportunities for non-slotted scheduling. Fig.15 In the example shown, two search space sets are shown - search space set #2 and search space set #3. Search space set #2 and search space set #3 are both associated with the same CORESET. The CORESET may or may not be associated with Fig.15 The higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-period-DCI for search space set #2 and search space set #3 is set to 1 time slot.

[0186] In addition, the high-level parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern is configured separately for search space set #2 and search space set #3. The high-level parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern can use a bitmap scheme to indicate the OFDM symbol on which the PDCCH is monitored. More specifically, the high-level parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern of each search space set may include 14 bits, and the first to 14th bits correspond to OFDM symbols #0 to OFDM symbols #13, respectively. Each bit indicates whether the PDCCH is monitored on the corresponding OFDM symbol (for example, "0" indicates no PDCCH monitoring, and "1" indicates PDCCH monitoring, or vice versa). In this example, the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern of search space set #2 indicates OFDM symbol #0 and OFDM symbol #7 for PDCCH monitoring, where the higher layer parameter CORESET-monitor-DCI-symbolPattern of search space set #3 indicates OFDM symbols #0, #2, #4, #6, #8, #10, #12 for PDCCH monitoring. Note that these PDCCH monitoring apply to the time slots specified by CORESET-monitor-period-DCI and CORESET-monitor-offset-DCI.

[0187] A control channel element may include 6 resource element groups (REGs), where one resource element group is equal to one resource block on one OFDM symbol. The resource element groups within a control resource set are numbered in ascending order, starting with the first OFDM symbol and the smallest numbered resource block in the control resource set as 0, in a time-first manner. The UE may be configured with multiple control resource sets. Each control resource set may be associated with only one CCE to REG mapping. The CCE to REG mapping of a control resource set may be interleaved or non-interleaved, as configured by the higher-level parameter CORESET-CCE-REG-mapping-type. The REG bundle size is configured by the higher-level parameter CORESET-REG-bundle-size. For non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping, the REG bundle size is 6. For interleaved CCE to REG mapping, when CORESET-time-duration is set to 1, the REG bundle size is 2 or 6 for CORESET, and when CORESET-time-duration N CORESET symb When set to greater than 1, for CORESET, the REG bundle size is N CORESET symb or 6. The UE may assume that: if the higher layer parameter CORESET-precoder-granularity is equal to CORESET-REG-bundle-size, the same precoding is used in the frequency domain in the REG bundle; and if the higher layer parameter CORESET-precoder-granularity is equal to the number of consecutive RBs in the frequency domain within the CORESET, the same precoding is used in the frequency domain in all REGs within consecutive RBs in the CORESET.

[0188] Each control resource set consists of a set of numbered from 0 to N CCE,p,kp -1 CCE, where N CCE,p,kp is the monitoring period k p The number of CCEs in the control resource set p within the PDCCH. The PDCCH candidate set monitored by the UE is limited according to the PDCCH UE-specific search space. The PDCCH UE-specific search space S for CCE aggregation level L (L) kp Defined by a set of PDCCH candidates for CCE aggregation level L. L can be one of 1, 2, 4, and 8.

[0189] PDSCH and / or PUSCH RE mapping may be affected by higher layer signaling and / or layer 1 signaling (such as PDCCH with DCI formats 1 and 2). For PDSCH, the modulated complex-valued symbols may be mapped to REs that satisfy all of the following conditions: are located in a resource block allocated for transmission; are considered available for PDSCH according to the rate matching resource set configuration and / or indication; are not used for CSI-RS; are not used for phase tracking RS (PT-RS); are not reserved for SS / PBCH; and are not considered "reserved".

[0190] To decode the PDSCH based on the detected PDCCH, the UE may be configured with any of the higher layer parameters: rate-match-PDSCH-resource-set including one or more pairs of reserved RBs (high layer parameter rate-match-PDSCH-resource-RBs, also referred to as bitmap-1) and the reserved symbols to which the reserved RBs apply (high layer parameter rate-match-PDSCH-resource-symbols, also referred to as bitmap-2); rate-match-resources-v-shift including LTE-CRS-vshift; rate-match-resources-antenna-port including 1, 2, or 4 ports of the LTE-CRS antenna port; rate-match-CORESET including the CORESET-ID configured to the CORESET that the UE 102 monitors. The UE 102 may have to determine the PDSCH RE mapping based on the set of rate matching configurations provided. To decode the PDSCH, the UE 102 rate matches the REs surrounding the detected PDCCH corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH. UE 102 may not desire to handle the case where PDSCH DMRS REs overlap (even partially), where any RE is indicated by rate matching configurations rate-match-PDSCH-resource-set and rate-match-resources-v-shift and rate-match-resources-antenna-port and rate-match-CORESET.

[0191] If the UE 102 receives a PDSCH but does not receive a corresponding PDCCH, or if the UE 102 receives a PDCCH indicating a SPS PDSCH release, the UE 102 may generate a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit. If the high-level parameter PDSCH-CodeB / ockGroupTransmission is not provided to the UE 102, the UE 102 may generate a HARQ-ACK information bit for each transport block. It is expected that the UE 102 will not be instructed to transmit HARQ-ACK information received by more than two SPS PDSCHs in the same PUCCH. For each physical cell group, the UE 102 may be configured with a high-level parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook indicating the PDSCH HARQ-ACK codebook type. The PDSCH HARQ-ACK codebook may be semi-static (also referred to as a Class 1 HARQ-ACK codebook) or dynamic (also referred to as a Class 2 HARQ-ACK codebook). This is applicable to both CA and non-CA operations, and may correspond to the L1 parameter "HARQ-ACK codebook".

[0192] UE 102 may report HARQ-ACK information for corresponding PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release only in the HARQ-ACK codebook, and the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information in the time slot indicated by the value of the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the corresponding DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1). If UE 102 successfully receives PDCCH or SPS PDSCH release, the value of the corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit may be substantially set to ACK. If UE 102 does not successfully receive (i.e., fails to receive) PDCCH or SPS PDSCH release, the value of the corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit may be substantially set to NACK. UE 102 may report a NACK value of the HARQ-ACK information bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook, and the UE transmits the NACK value in the time slot not indicated by the value of the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the corresponding DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1). If the higher layer parameter pdsch-AggregationFactor is provided to UE 102, then N repeat PDSCH is the value of pdsch-AggregationFactor, otherwise, N repeat PDSCH = 1. UE 102 may report only repeat PDSCH The HARQ-ACK information of the last time slot in the time slots.

[0193] If the UE reports an M for a candidate PDSCH reception scheduled by DCI format 1_0 and having a counter DAI field value of 1 on the PCell A,c If the HARQ-ACK information in the PUSCH or PUCCH in the timing is only for SPS PDSCH release or only for PDSCH reception, the UE can determine the HARQ-ACK codebook used only for SPS PDSCH release or only for PDSCH reception, for example, a 1-bit HARQ-ACK codebook. Otherwise, the HARQ-ACK codebook may be more than 1 bit.

[0194] In some cases, the HARQ-ACK information bit may be automatically set to a fixed value (e.g., NACK or ACK) without involving PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release reception. For example, if the UE is configured with pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook=semi-static, the UE 102 may report a NACK value for the HARQ-ACK information bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook, and the UE transmits the NACK value in a time slot not indicated by the value of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in the corresponding DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1).

[0195] Another case in which the HARQ-ACK information bit may be automatically set to a fixed value (e.g., NACK or ACK) without involving PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release reception is if the timing for candidate PDSCH reception may be responsive to a PDCCH having a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1), and if the higher-level parameter maxNrofCodeWordsScheduledByDCI indicates reception of two transport blocks, when the UE receives a PDSCH having one transport block, the HARQ-ACK information is associated with the first transport block, and if the higher-level parameter harq-ACK-SpatialBundlingPUCCH is not provided, the UE 102 may generate a NACK for the second transport block, and if the higher-level parameter harq-ACKSpatialBundlingPUCCH is provided, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information with an ACK value for the second transport block.

[0196] Another case in which the HARQ-ACK information bit may be automatically set to a fixed value (e.g., NACK or ACK) without involving PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release reception is if UE 102 is configured by the higher layer parameter maxNrofCodeWordsScheduhdByDCI to receive two transport blocks for the active DL BWP of serving cell c, and if UE 102 receives one transport block, UE 102 may assume an ACK for the second transport block.

[0197] Another case in which the HARQ-ACK information bit can be automatically set to a fixed value (e.g., NACK or ACK) without involving PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release reception is that UE 102 can be set to a NACK value of any HARQ-ACK information in the HARQ-ACK codebook corresponding to PDSCH reception or SPS PDSCH release scheduled by a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1), and UE 102 detects the NACK value in a PDCCH monitoring opportunity, which is after the UE detects the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1) that schedules PUSCH transmission.

[0198] NR may support code block group based transmission for PDSCH and PUSCH. If the higher layer parameter PDSCH-CodeBlockGroupTransmission for the serving cell is provided to UE 102, UE 102 may receive PDSCH including code block groups (CBGs) of transport blocks, and UE 102 may be provided with a higher layer parameter maxCodeBlockGroupsPerTransportBlock indicating the maximum number N of HARQ-ACK information bits used to generate corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits for transport block reception of the serving cell. CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK CBGs, where for the number of C code blocks (CBs) in a transport block, UE 102 may determine the number of CBGs as N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK =min(N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK ,C).

[0199] For CBG-based PDSCH reception, if the UE 102 successfully decodes all CGs in a given CBG of a TB, the value of the HARQ-ACK information bit corresponding to the CBG may be substantially set to ACK. If the UE 102 does not successfully decode (i.e., fails to decode) at least one CG in a given CBG of a TB, the value of the HARQ-ACK information bit corresponding to the CBG may be substantially set to NACK. In addition, in some cases, the HARQ-ACK information bit for a given CBG may be automatically set to a fixed value (e.g., NACK or ACK) without involving the reception of the associated CB.

[0200] For example, the HARQ-ACK codebook includes N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK HARQ-ACK information bits, and if N CBG / TB HARQ-ACK <N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK , then UE 102 may generate the last N for the transport block in the HARQ-ACK codebook CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK to N CBG / TB HARQ-ACK The NACK value of the HARQ-ACK information bit.

[0201] Another case in which the HARQ-ACK information bits for a CBG are automatically set to ACK without involving the reception of the associated CB is that if UE 102 generates a HARQ-ACK codebook in response to a retransmission of a transport block, which retransmission corresponds to the same HARQ process as a previous transmission of the transport block, then UE 102 can generate an ACK for each CBG that UE 102 correctly decoded in the previous transmission of the transport block.

[0202] Another case in which the HARQ-ACK information bit for a CBG is automatically set to a certain value without involving the reception of the associated CB is if the UE 102 receives a PDSCH or SPS PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH with a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0), or the UE detects a SPS PDSCH release, and if the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook=semi-static, the UE may repeat N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK HARQ-ACK information for transport blocks in PDSCH or for SPS PDSCH release to generate N CBG / TB,max HARQ-ACK HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0203] The 5G NR system may be an operating licensed spectrum owned by a cellular operator. In addition and / or alternatively, the 5G NR system may operate in an unlicensed spectrum as a supplementary tool for operators to enhance the services provided by operators. NR-based unlicensed access (NR-U) may be applicable to unlicensed bands below 6 GHz and above 6 GHz (e.g., 5 GHz, 37 GHz, 60 GHz). The NR-U cell may operate in a TDD band together with an LTE-based anchor cell or an NR-based anchor cell (i.e., an independent NR cell). In addition, independent operation of NR-U in an unlicensed spectrum is also possible.

[0204] To ensure fair coexistence with another NR-U node and / or another radio access technology (RAT) node such as a wireless LAN node, the gNB 160 and / or the UE 102 may have to perform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure before its transmission. The LBT procedure is also known as a channel access procedure. There may be several types of channel access (CA) procedures.

[0205] Fig.16 The first type of channel access procedure is shown. The first type of channel access procedure may be used for downlink transmissions including PDSCH and PDCCH. d After sensing the channel idle for the first time during the CA slot duration in step S1, gNB 160 may transmit transmissions including PDSCH and PDCCH on the carrier on which the NR-U cell transmission was performed; and after the counter N is zero in step 4. The counter N is adjusted by sensing the channel for additional CA slot duration according to steps S1 to S6. In step S1, gNB 160 may set N=N init , where N init is a random number uniformly distributed between 0 and CWp and proceeds to step S4. In step 2, if N>0 and gNB 160 chooses to decrement the counter, gNB 160 may set N=N-1. In step S3, gNB 160 may sense the channel for the duration of the additional CA slot and if the channel is idle for the duration of the additional CA slot, proceed to step S4, otherwise proceed to step S5. In step S4, if N=0, gNB 160 may stop, otherwise proceed to step S2. In step S5, gNB 160 may sense the channel until the additional delay duration T d A busy CA time slot is detected within 1 second or an additional delay time T is detected d All time slots within are free. In step S6, if the additional delay duration T d If the channel is sensed to be idle during all CA time slot durations in the gNB, gNB 160 may proceed to step S4, otherwise proceed to step S5.

[0206] Fig.17 An example of a delay in transmission is shown. If gNB 160 does not transmit a transmission including PDSCH / PDCCH on the carrier on which the NR-U cell transmission is performed after step 4 in the process, then if when gNB 160 is ready to transmit PDSCH / PDCCH, at least for the CA slot duration T sl The channel is sensed to be idle, and if the delay duration T immediately preceding the transmission d gNB 160 may transmit a transmission including PDSCH / PDCCH on the carrier if it has sensed that the channel is idle during all CA slot durations in the CA slot duration T. sl The channel is not sensed to be idle during the delay period T immediately preceding the expected transmission. d If the channel is not sensed to be idle during any CA time slot duration in d After sensing that the channel is about to be idle within the CA time slot duration in , gNB 160 enters step S1. Delay duration T d It may include a duration T f = 16μs, followed by m p The duration of each CA time slot is T sl =9μs, and T f Including T f The duration of the idle CA slot at the beginning is T sl If the gNB 160 senses the channel during the CA slot duration and the power detected by the gNB 160 for at least 4 μs during the CA slot duration is less than the energy detection threshold X Thresh , then the time slot duration T sl is idle. Otherwise, the CA time slot duration is T sl By using the above transmission delay, more than one cell whose locations are geometrically separated can successfully obtain channel access at the same time, and thus frequency reuse between cells can be achieved.

[0207] CW min,p ≤CW p ≤CW max,p It is a competition window. CW p The adjustment may be performed by gNB 160. CW may be selected before step S1 of the above process min,p and CW max,p m may be derived based on the channel access priority level associated with the gNB transmission.p , CW min,p and CW max,p .

[0208] Fig.18 An example of channel access priority levels for downlink transmissions is shown. In this example, there are 4 levels, and a smaller index may correspond to a higher priority. For each level, a parameter set for the channel access procedure is defined. A parameter set for level p may include m p , CW min,p , CW mcot,p , T mcot,p and allowed CW p Size, where T mcot,p is referred to as the Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MOOT). A gNB 160 that obtains channel access with priority level p may not be allowed to transmit continuously for more than T on the carrier on which it performs NR-U cell transmission. mcot,p time period.

[0209] Similarly, UE 102 may use the first type of channel access procedure for uplink transmissions including PUSCH and / or PUCCH. The above-mentioned channel access procedure including steps S1 to S6 may be used with "gNB 160" replaced by "UE 102", "PDSCH / PDCCH" replaced by "PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS", and an uplink channel access priority level. Fig.19 An example of channel access priority levels for uplink transmission is shown.When the first type of channel access procedure is used for uplink transmission, it may also be referred to as a Type 1 UL channel access procedure.

[0210] Fig. 20 A second type of channel access procedure is shown. The second type of channel access procedure may be used for downlink transmissions that include discovery signal transmissions and do not include PDSCH. The discovery signal may include SS / PBCH, CSI-RS, and / or control resource sets. Compared to the first type of channel access procedure, the second type of channel access procedure may make channel access easier because the discovery signal may not occupy a longer transmission duration than the PDSCH transmission. gNB 160 may sense that the channel is idle for at least T drs =25 μs sensing interval and if the duration of the transmission is less than 1 ms, immediately after that, a transmission including the discovery signal but not including the PDSCH is transmitted on the carrier on which the NR-U cell transmission was performed. drs It may include a duration T f = 16 μs, followed by a CA slot duration T sl =9μs, and T f Included in Tf The duration of the idle CA slot at the beginning is T sl If in T drs If the channel is sensed to be idle within the time slot duration of T drs The inside is free.

[0211] Fig.21 A third type of channel access procedure is shown. The channel sensing scheme of the third type of channel access procedure is almost the same as that of the second type of channel access procedure. The third type of channel access procedure may be used for uplink transmission, which uplink transmission will be transmitted within the COT obtained on the gNB 160 side through the first type of channel access procedure. In this example, the gNB 160 performs the first type of channel access procedure just before the common control PDCCH (CC-PDCCH) transmission. The CC-PDCCH may also be referred to as a PDCCH with a CRC scrambled by a common control RNTI (CC-RNTI). In the DCI format carried by the CC-PDCCH, several bit fields may be included, including bit fields for indicating "UL offset" and "UL duration". If the UL offset and duration d is indicated by the CC-PDCCH for subframe n, the UE 102 does not need to receive any downlink physical channels and / or physical signals in time slots n+l+i (where i=0, 1, ..., d-1), and those time slots may have to be covered by MOOT obtained on the gNB 160 side through channel access for CC-PDCCH transmission. If the UE uses a Type 2 channel access procedure for transmissions including PUSCH, the UE may be allowed to receive the PUSCH after sensing that the channel is idle for at least T short_ul = 25 μs, followed by a PUSCH transmission. short_ul Including duration T f = 16 μs, followed by a CA slot duration Tsl = 9μs, and Tf is included in T f The duration of the idle CA slot at the beginning is T sl If in T short_ul If the channel is sensed to be idle during the CA time slot duration of T short_ul The first type of channel access procedure may also be referred to as a type 2 UL channel access procedure. Note that another type of PDCCH for time slot n (e.g., a PDCCH with DCI formats 0_0, 0_1, 0_2, 0_3, 1_0, 1_1, 1_2, 1_3) may also indicate "UL offset" and "UL duration". In this case, the UE may also be allowed to use the third type of channel access procedure if configured.

[0212] Fig. 22 102 . The fourth type of channel access procedure is shown. The channel sensing scheme of the fourth type of channel access procedure is almost the same as that of the second type of channel access procedure and the third type of channel access procedure. The fourth type of channel access procedure may be used for downlink transmissions that include PUSCH but do not include PDSCH and are to be transmitted within the COT obtained on the UE 102 side through the first type of channel access procedure. If the PUSCH transmission indicates COT sharing, the gNB 160 may be allowed to sense that the channel is idle for at least T pdcch = 25 μs, immediately after the sensing interval, a transmission including PDCCH but not PDSCH is transmitted on the same carrier, if the duration of the PDCCH is less than or equal to two OFDM symbol lengths, it should contain at least downlink feedback information (DFI) and a UL grant to the UE from which the PUSCH transmission indicating COT sharing was received. pdcch Including duration T f = 16 μs, followed by a time slot duration T sj =9μs, and T f Included in T f The duration of the idle time slot at the beginning is T sl If in T pdcch If the channel is sensed to be idle within the time slot duration of T pdcch The inside is free.

[0213] To avoid collisions with transmissions from other nodes, the size of the contention window (CW) may be changed based on the number of collisions or equivalent. If a collision is observed at a node, the node may have to increase the CW size. If no collisions are observed, the node may be allowed to decrease the CW size. Fig.23 An example of CW size adjustment is shown. This example assumes that the number of available CW sizes is 7, namely CW#0 to CW#6. If a conflict is observed, the CW size is increased to the CW size with the next higher index, except for the CW size of CW max In this case, the CW size remains CW max If no conflicts are observed, the CW size may fall back to CW regardless of the previous CW size. min .

[0214] A possible metric for the gNB's decision on whether a collision for the PDSCH occurred may be the HARQ-ACK feedback from the UE 102. Another possible metric for the gNB's decision on whether a collision occurred in the PDCCH may be the PUSCH from the UE 102. For the uplink, a possible metric for the UE's decision on whether a collision for the PUSCH occurred may be whether to request an uplink retransmission.

[0215] Fig.40 An example of LBT for transmissions utilizing directional beams is shown. The gNB 160 may perform transmission beam scanning utilizing multiple narrow Tx beams (e.g., Tx beams #1, #2, and #3). Immediately prior to signal transmission utilizing any Tx beam, the gNB 160 may have to perform LBT. In this example, the gNB 160 performs channel sensing by utilizing a wider beam (Rx beam #0) in the horizontal plane (e.g., an omnidirectional Rx beam). LBT parameters (counters, CWS, channel access level, COT, etc.) may be managed for each node. For example, counters and CWS may be managed for each node. In this case, once the counter reaches zero, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission utilizing any one of the Tx beams, and maintain a single CWS by referencing conflicts (e.g., NACKs) across all Tx beams.

[0216] In addition and / or alternatively, some links may be defined from a Tx beam for transmission to an Rx beam for channel sensing for transmission, or vice versa. For example, each of Tx beams #1, #2, and #3 corresponds to Rx beam #0. In this case, LBT parameters may be managed for each Rx beam. For example, counters and CWS may be managed for each node. Once the counter for a given Rx beam reaches zero, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using any one of the Tx beams linked to the given Rx beam, and maintain a single CWS for the given Rx beam by referring to conflicts on all Tx beams linked to the given Rx beam. The COT may be graphed according to the Rx beam. Within the COT of a given Rx beam, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using any one of the Tx beams corresponding to the given Rx beam, subject to Cat-1 or Cat-2 LBT. Alternatively, the counter or CWS may be managed for Rx beams, while other parameters may be managed for nodes. For example, a counter is managed for each Rx beam, and once the counter reaches zero, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using any of the Tx beams linked to the Rx beam. On the other hand, for CWS adjustment for Rx beam #0, conflicts on all Tx beams (including Tx beams #1, #2, and #3 and any other beams of the gNB 160) may be considered.

[0217] Cat-1 LBT is a channel access procedure without channel sensing. Cat-2 LBT is a channel access procedure with single channel sensing. Cat-2 LBT may also be referred to as a Category 2 channel access procedure. Cat-1 LBT and Cat-2 LBT may be allowed only inside the COT. Cat-3 LBT is a channel access procedure with random backoff on the fixed CW side. Cat-4 LBT is a channel access procedure with random backoff on the adaptive CW side. Cat-4 LBT may also be referred to as a Category 1 channel access procedure.

[0218] The Tx beam may correspond to some physical channels or physical signals. For example, each Tx beam may correspond to a corresponding quasi-co-location (QCL) hypothesis source. The QCL hypothesis source may include SS / PBCH, CSI-RS, PT-RS, NR-U discovery signal / channel that may include SS / PBCH, etc. Therefore, it should be noted that the above-mentioned "Tx beam" may be interpreted as a corresponding physical channel or physical signal. Alternatively and / or in addition to this, the Tx beam may correspond to a certain transmission antenna configuration, such as a weight vector for a transmission antenna array. In this case, the above-mentioned "Tx beam" may be interpreted as a corresponding antenna configuration. Similarly, the Rx beam may correspond to a certain receiving antenna configuration, such as a weight vector of a receiving antenna array. In this case, the above-mentioned "Rx beam" may be interpreted as a corresponding antenna configuration.

[0219] If the beamforming gain used for channel sensing is different from the beamforming gain used for corresponding transmission, the threshold for channel sensing may need to be adjusted. For example, the antenna gain ratio between the Rx antenna configuration and the Tx antenna configuration in a given direction (e.g., the direction to the target UE, the center direction of the Tx beam main lobe, the peak direction of the Tx beam main lobe) can be used for threshold adjustment. More specifically, if the antenna gain in the center direction of Tx beam #1 is 20dBi, and the antenna gain in the same direction of Rx beam #0 (which is linked to Tx beam #1) is 2dBi, the threshold for channel sensing using Rx beam #0 can be reduced by 18dBi compared to the non-directional transmission case.

[0220] Fig.41An example of LBT for transmissions utilizing directional beams is shown. The gNB 160 is capable of using multiple narrow Tx beams (e.g., Tx beams #1, #2, and #3) for transmission, and multiple narrow Rx beams (e.g., Rx beams #1, #2, and #3) for reception. Immediately before utilizing any Tx beam for signal transmission, the gNB 160 may have to perform LBT. Some links (e.g., 1 to 1 mapping) may be defined from the Tx beam used for transmission to the Rx beam used for channel sensing for transmission, or vice versa. For example, Tx beams #1, #2, and #3 correspond to Rx beams #1, #2, and #3, respectively. Immediately before utilizing a given Tx beam for transmission, it may be necessary to perform LBT using the Rx beam linked to the given Tx beam. In other words, once the gNB 160 obtains the channel by using LBT using a given Rx beam, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using the Tx beam linked to the given Rx beam. LBT parameters may be managed for each Tx beam. The COT may be graphed according to the Tx beam. Within the COT of a given Tx beam, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using the given Tx beam subject to Cat-1 or Cat-2 LBT. In addition, some LBT parameters may be managed for each node. For example, a single counter may be generated and updated for each Tx beam, while a single CWS for each node may be adjusted by considering conflicts on all Tx beams. The COT may be graphed according to the node. Within the COT, the gNB 160 may be allowed to perform transmission using any one of the Tx beams subject to Cat-1 or Cat-2 LBT.

[0221] Figure 42 shows an example of a subband configuration. An NR band may include one or more NR carriers (also referred to simply as carriers). A carrier may include one or more BWPs. BWP#0 (also referred to as an initial BWP or initial DL BWP, which may be configured by a master information block (MIB), a system information block type 1 (SIB 1), or an equivalent of a PCell) may have a 20 MHz bandwidth. Other BWPs may have a bandwidth in multiples of 20 MHz. Each subband may include a bandwidth of 20 MHz or a bandwidth in multiples of 20 MHz and is defined within a BWP. BWP#0 may consist of a single 20 MHz subband. Any other BWP may consist of one or more subbands. A subband may be a unit of frequency scheduling. A subband may also be referred to as a subchannel, a channel access bandwidth, etc. A high-level configuration of a BWP may include the configuration of a subband in a BWP. Alternatively, a subband may be configured by using frequency domain resource allocation in a CORESET configuration. A subband may be an upper limit on resources that can be scheduled by a single DCI. In other words, PDSCH / PUSCH resource allocation is defined within a subband, not across subband boundaries. Subbands can be the unit of LBT. Subbands can be the unit of CORESET configuration. CORESET frequency resource allocation is defined within a subband, not across subband boundaries.

[0222] Additionally and / or alternatively, the CORESET configuration may include information for indicating frequency repetition of the CORESET. For example, if the CORESET configuration includes an information element for frequency repetition, the frequency repetition of the CORESET may be considered enabled. If the CORESET configuration does not include an information element for frequency repetition, the frequency repetition of the CORESET may be considered disabled. The information element for frequency repetition may include one or more of the following: 1) a frequency domain repetition factor (i.e., the number of frequency domain repetitions), 2) a frequency domain spacing between adjacent repetitions, etc. If the UE 102 is configured with enabled repetition, the UE 102 may assume that the same set of PDCCHs are transmitted in those repeated CORESETs.

[0223] A PDCCH in a CORESET in a given sub-band may be able to schedule PDSCH only in the same sub-band. For example, a DCI format for scheduling PDSCH / PUSCH in an NR-U cell may include a frequency domain resource allocation field - bits, where if DCI is detected in the UE-specific search space and the requirement for the total number of different DCI sizes is met, then N may be the size of the bandwidth of the subband in which the PDCCH carrying the DCI is detected. Otherwise (e.g., if DCI is detected in the common search space), N may be the size of the bandwidth of the subband corresponding to the initial BWP (i.e., BWP#0). N may be represented by the RB number.

[0224] In a BWP, gNB 160 may perform channel sensing in each subband and may transmit signals (PDCCH, PDSCH, etc.) in the subband on which gNB 160 successfully obtains channel access. UE 102 may be able to monitor PDCCH in multiple CORESETs corresponding to different subbands. gNB 160 may manage LBT parameters for each subband, alternatively for each BWP, or alternatively for each cell. In addition and / or alternatively, some of the LBT parameters may be managed for each subband, and other parameters may be managed in a different manner (e.g., for each BWP or each cell).

[0225] In a BWP, UE 102 may perform channel sensing in each subband and may transmit signals (PUCCH, PUSCH, etc.) in the subband on which UE 102 successfully obtains channel access. gNB 160 may be able to monitor signals in each subband. UE 102 may manage LBT parameters for each subband, alternatively for each BWP, or alternatively for each cell. In addition and / or alternatively, some of the LBT parameters may be managed for each subband, and other parameters may be managed in a different manner (e.g., for each BWP or each cell).

[0226] In addition and / or alternatively, the PDCCH in each sub-band may be able to schedule the PDSCH in the entire bandwidth of the BWP. For example, the DCI format for scheduling PDSCH / PUSCH in the NR-U cell may include a frequency domain resource allocation field— bits, where N may be the bandwidth size of the active BWP. In the BWP, assuming that the entire bandwidth of the BWP is available for PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, the gNB 160 may prepare the PDSCH / PUSCH. The gNB 160 may perform channel sensing in each subband and may transmit the prepared PDSCH only on the subbands where LBT was successful. On the subbands where LBT failed, the PDSCH resources (e.g., REs or RBs) may have to be truncated (i.e., the PDSCH is not mapped to physical resources) so that PDSCH transmission does not occur in those subbands. Regarding the PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH, multiple PDCCHs that schedule the same PDSCH may be prepared. These PDCCHs may be assumed to be mapped in different subbands in the BWP. The PDCCH in the subband on which the gNB 160 successfully obtains channel access may be transmitted, while the PDCCH in the subband on which the gNB 160 did not successfully obtain channel access may not be transmitted.

[0227] In this case, if the gNB 160 obtains channel access in more than one subband, the UE 102 may detect more than one PDCCH scheduling the same PDSCH. Scheduling the same PDSCH may mean that the DCI in the PDCCH has the same value in each information field and CRC. Alternatively, this may mean that the DCI in the PDCCH indicates the same set of PDSCH parameters, such as allocated resources, counter DAI, PUCCH resources, etc. Alternatively, this may mean that those PDCCHs are repeated in a repeated CORESET (i.e., a CORESET with frequency domain repetition). If the UE 102 may detect more than one PDCCH scheduling the same PDSCH, the UE may have to discard all but one of the PDCCHs. In other words, only one PDCCH is considered valid, while all other detected PDCCHs are considered invalid. Alternatively, the UE 102 may treat those multiple detected PDCCHs as a single detected PDCCH, and the repetition indication for the multiple detected PDCCHs may be applied only once.

[0228] The above principle may be applied to another type of DCI (e.g., DCI formats 0_0, 0_1, 2_0, 2_1, 2_2, 2_3) instead of DCI scheduling PDSCH. For example, gNB 160 may transmit multiple PDCCHs with DCI format 2_2 in the multiple sub-bands in the BWP. If UE 102 detects multiple PDCCHs with DCI format 2_2 in the multiple sub-bands, the TPC command of only one PDCCH in the PDCCHs with DCI format 2_2 may be applied, and the TPC commands of the other PDCCHs may not be applied.

[0229] The frequency domain resource allocation field in the DCI in the PDCCH may indicate that the allocated resources (e.g., resource blocks) include resources on sub-bands to which the gNB 160 did not actually map the PDSCH due to channel access failure. In the absence of any supplementary information, a UE 102 detecting the DCI may assume that the PDSCH is mapped to resources in those sub-bands.

[0230] Alternatively, the UE 102 may utilize some supplementary information so that the UE 102 may perform PDSCH decoding assuming that the PDSCH is not mapped to resources in those sub-bands. The supplementary information may be the result of PDCCH detection in the sub-band. In addition and / or alternatively, the supplementary information may be information provided by CC-PDCCH or SFI PDCCH. In addition and / or alternatively, the supplementary information may be information provided by DCI format 2_1 (also referred to as preemption indication).

[0231] Based on the results of the PDCCH detection in the sub-bands, the UE 102 may perform PDSCH decoding assuming that the PDSCH is not mapped to the resources in those sub-bands. More specifically, for example, if the UE 102 is configured with repetitions of a CORESET, the UE 102 may assume that multiple PDCCHs scheduling a single PDSCH are transmitted in all repetitions of the CORESET. If the UE 102 does not detect a PDCCH in a given sub-band, the UE 102 may assume that the PDSCH resources scheduled in the sub-band are not available for PDSCH transmission and that the PDSCH is punctured on those PDSCH resources (i.e., prepared for mapping but not actually mapped). On the other hand, if the UE 102 detects a PDCCH in a given sub-band, the UE 102 may assume that the PDSCH resources scheduled in the sub-band are available for PDSCH transmission.

[0232] Based on the information provided by CC-PDCCH or SFI PDCCH, UE 102 may perform PDSCH decoding assuming that PDSCH is not mapped to resources in those subbands. For example, a SFIPDCCH indicating a slot format (e.g., a PDCCH with DCI format 2_0 or a PDCCH with a DCI format indicating a slot format) may be transmitted in each subband of the BWP. 参考 It can be configured by high-level parameters. Each SFI PDCCH may indicate the slot format and / or COT structure in the corresponding sub-band to which the SFI PDCCH is mapped.

[0233] The slot format may include one or more of the following: 1) a slot configuration period P, 2) a slot d having only downlink symbols 时隙 3) number of downlink symbols d 符号 4) time slots u with only uplink symbols 时隙 , 5) uplink symbol u 符号 The number of slot configurations. The time slot configuration period P milliseconds includes a subcarrier spacing configuration μ 参考 S = P·2 μ参考 In the S time slots, the first d时隙 A time slot consists of only downlink symbols, and the last u时隙 A time slot includes only uplink symbols. 时隙 d after the time slot 符号 The symbol is a downlink symbol. u时隙 u before the time slot 符号 Symbols are uplink symbols. The remaining (Sd 时隙 -u 时隙 )·N 时隙 符号 -d 符号 -u系统 The symbol may be a flexible symbol. The time slot configuration period P may be assumed to be the remaining COT duration. The time slot format may include multiple groups of combinations in 1) to 5) above. In this case, it may be assumed that the total length of multiple time slot configuration periods is the remaining COT duration.

[0234] Alternatively and / or in addition, the time slot format may include one or more of the following: 1) downlink symbol d 符号 The number of, 2) flexible symbol f 符号 , 3) the number of uplink symbols u 符号 In the first symbol onto which the SFI PDCCH is mapped, the first d 符号 Symbol is a downlink symbol. Next f 符号 The symbol is a flexible symbol followed by u 符号 Uplink symbol. The time slot configuration period P can be equal to d 系统 +f 系统 +u 系统 The slot configuration period P may be assumed to be the remaining COT duration starting from the first symbol on which the SFI PDCCH is mapped. The slot format may include multiple groups of combinations in 1) to 3) above. In this case, the nth group d 符号 The downlink symbol can be obtained from the n-1th group u 符号 The next symbol of the uplink symbol starts. It can be assumed that the total length of the multiple slot configuration period is the remaining COT duration.

[0235] Alternatively and / or in addition, the aforementioned configuration of one or more (e.g., up to 512) groups (i.e., entries) may be configured by a high-level parameter. The SFI PDCCH may have a first bit field (e.g., a 9-bit field) to indicate the index of the entry whose corresponding time slot format configuration is applied. In addition, a second bit field may also be included in the SFI PDCCH. The second bit field may indicate the start of the remaining COT within the COT structure indicated by the first bit field. For example, the time slot format configuration indicated by the first bit field may include a combination of N groups of the following items: 1) downlink symbol d 符号 The number of, 2) flexible symbol f 符号 , 3) the number of uplink symbols u 符号 The second bit field may indicate one of three states, each of which corresponds to the first downlink symbol of a corresponding combination of 1), 2), and 3). The indicated symbol may be considered as the starting symbol of the remaining COT, and / or the indicated symbol may be considered as the first symbol to which the detected SFI PDCCH is mapped in the symbol set.

[0236] More specifically, within the DL COT, the gNB 160 may transmit an SFI PDCCH at the beginning of each slot. At multiple slots within the same COT, the gNB may transmit multiple SFI PDCCHs with the first bit field indicating the same slot format configuration and the second bit field indicating different values. The value of each field in the second bit field may correspond to a corresponding SFI PDCCH position within the indicated slot format.

[0237] In addition to DL / flexible / UL, the slot format indication / configuration may also be able to indicate unoccupied symbols. For example, the slot format may also include unoccupied symbols. 符号 Regardless of the number of DL / flexible / UL symbol sets, only one SFI PDCCH may contain 符号 value. The indicated unoccupied symbols may be concatenated with the indicated DL / flexible / UL symbols at the end, where the remaining COT does not include those unoccupied symbols. gNB 160 may set the symbols to be outside the COT and unoccupied. UE 102 may assume that the unoccupied symbols are not covered by the DL COT and may not be allowed to use Cat-1 or Cat-2 LBT for UL transmissions on those unoccupied symbols. Unoccupied may also be referred to as outside the COT.

[0238] If the UE 102 does not detect some physical signals (e.g., known physical signals described below) at the beginning of the time slot, but if the UE 102 detects the physical signal in the middle of the time slot, the UE 102 may assume that the remainder of the time slot (i.e., the portion on and after the symbol to which the physical signal is mapped) is filled with downlink symbols. Symbols before the symbol to which the physical signal is mapped may be assumed to be filled with unoccupied symbols. If the UE 102 does not detect a physical signal at all in a given time slot, the UE 102 may assume that all symbols in the time slot are filled with unoccupied symbols.

[0239] The PDCCH in different sub-bands may contain different slot format field values, and the downlink portion may have to be aligned between the slot formats in the PDCCH, and likewise the uplink portion may have to be aligned between the slot formats in the PDCCH. In other words, in this example, the COT is signaled for each sub-band (e.g., the start timing of the COT, the duration of the COT, the end timing of the COT, or any combination thereof), and the DL / flexible / UL configurations within the COT are aligned between the sub-bands.

[0240] In another example, the SFI PDCCH may be transmitted in one subband in the BWP, where the subband may need to be each subband in which the gNB 160 successfully obtains channel access. The UE 102 may monitor the SFI PDCCH in all or some of the subbands. The SFI PDCCH may include a first bit field indicating a slot format, where the aforementioned slot format indication and / or configuration may be applicable. The SFI PDCCH may also include a second bit field indicating the channel occupancy status of all subbands in the BWP. A simple option to indicate the channel occupancy status of all subbands may be a bitmap-based indication. The size of the second bit field may be equal to the number of subbands, and each bit corresponds to a corresponding subband. If the gNB 160 successfully obtains Cat-4 based channel access in a given subband and the SFI PDCCH is transmitted within the DL COT based on the channel access, the value of the bit corresponding to the given subband may be set to one. If the gNB 160 does not successfully obtain Cat-4 based channel access in a given subband, or the SFI PDCCH is transmitted outside the DL COT, the value of the bit corresponding to the given subband may be set to zero. The values ​​(i.e., ones and zeros) may be reversed. The time slot format indicated by the first bit field may only apply to the subband indicated by the second bit field as being within the DL COT. The time slot format indicated by the first bit field may not apply to the subband indicated by the second bit field as being outside the DL COT. Regardless of the indicated time slot format, resources in the subband indicated by the second bit field as being outside the DL COT may be considered unoccupied.

[0241] In another example, a combination of the above signaling may be used. More specifically, the SFI PDCCH may be transmitted in a subband in the BWP, where the subband may need to be each subband in the subband in which the gNB 160 successfully obtains channel access. The UE 102 may monitor the SFI PDCCH in all or some of the subbands, and may detect the SFI PDCCH actually transmitted by the gNB 160. At the same time, the CC-PDCCH indicating the COT duration may be transmitted in each subband in the BWP. The UE 102 may obtain the timeslot format based on the SFI PDCCH. The UE 102 may obtain information whether each subband is occupied (i.e., within the COT) based on the CC-PDCCH in the corresponding subband. The timeslot format indicated by the SFI PDCCH may only apply to the subbands indicated by the CC-PDCCH as occupied. Regardless of the slot format indicated by the SFI PDCCH, resources indicated by the CC-PDCCH as being in a sub-band outside the DL COT may be considered unoccupied.

[0242] Based on the preemption indication, UE 102 may perform PDSCH decoding assuming that the PDSCH is not mapped to resources in those subbands. For example, gNB 160 schedules PDSCH in a time slot, and the scheduling PDCCH indicates that the frequency domain resources of the PDSCH are mapped to resources in one or more subbands. However, due to LBT failure, some of the subbands are not actually available for PDSCH transmission. In this case, gNB 160 may transmit a preemption indication in the next or later time slot. The preemption indication indicates that the PDSCH transmission in the subband is interrupted (truncated). If UE 102 detects the preemption indication, UE 102 may decode the PDSCH by assuming that there is no PDSCH transmission in the subband but only uses other subbands to transmit PDSCH. In this case, the granularity of the resources that may be interrupted may be a subband or multiples of a subband. More specifically, if the UE detects DCI format 2_1 for a serving cell from a configured set of serving cells, the UE may assume that there is no transmission to the UE in the PRBs and symbols indicated by DCI format 2_1 of a set of PRBs and a set of symbols from the last monitoring period. The indication of DCI format 2_1 does not apply to the reception of SS / PBCH blocks. The indication granularity of the time-frequency resources is configured by higher layer parameters. The set of PRBs may be set equal to the bandwidth of the sub-band.

[0243] Figure 43 shows an example of a PDCCH monitoring opportunity. At the beginning of a transmission burst, a known physical signal may be transmitted. If UE 102 detects a known signal in a time slot, UE 102 may start monitoring the PDCCH in the same time slot or the next time slot. The known signal may be referred to as a trigger signal. When the NR-U cell is configured, the possible position of the trigger signal may also be configured by high-level signaling. Each of the possible positions may be related to a corresponding PDCCH monitoring opportunity. Once UE 102 detects a trigger signal in a given position, UE 102 may monitor the PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring opportunity derived from the position of the trigger signal detected in the time slot. If UE 102 is configured to have a search space set, each search space set having a periodicity longer than or equal to one time slot, it is not expected that UE 102 monitors other PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the same time slot. In the next time slot and later time slots, UE 102 may follow the search space configuration to determine the PDCCH monitoring opportunity. Possible signal structures of the trigger signal may be PSS / SSS, CSI-RS, PT-RS, wideband DMRS for PDCCH, or a Wi-Fi preamble-like preamble.

[0244] Even if the trigger signal adopts a structure similar to PSS / SSS, the structure may not be exactly the same as conventional PSS / SSS in order to be distinguished from conventional PSS / SSS. A first option is to use a dedicated sequence that is not allowed for conventional PSS / SSS in the NR-U band. Alternatively or in addition, the relative position between PSS and SSS is different from the relative position between conventional PSS / SSS, for example, the positions of PSS and SSS may be interchangeable. In addition and / or alternatively, PSS and SSS may be located in adjacent OFDM symbols with the same frequency position, or in the same OFDM symbol with different frequency positions. Unlike conventional PSS / SSS, the center frequency of the trigger signal may not be aligned with the frequency raster (i.e., a multiple of 100kHz).

[0245] When considering the initial partial slots, there may be two aspects. One aspect is the PDSCH mapping, and the other aspect is the PDCCH monitoring interval. Four options may be identified as possible candidates for PDSCH transmission in partial slots, at least the first PDSCH transmitted in a DL transmission burst. Option 1 is to use PDSCH, as used in Rel-15NR. Option 2 is truncated PDSCH depending on the LBT result. Option 3 is PDSCH mapping type B with a duration other than 2 / 4 / 7 symbols. Option 4 is PDSCH across slot boundaries.

[0246] Six different examples can be considered in terms of PDCCH / PDSCH structure and PDCCH / PDSCH processing. Case A and Case B are examples of Option 1. In Case A, the initial partial time slots are filled with several groups of scheduled PDCCHs and scheduled PDSCHs. The PDCCHs are transmitted in several PDCCH monitoring opportunities within the initial partial time slots, and each of the PDCCHs uses PDSCH mapping type B for scheduling the corresponding PDSCH. From the perspective of UE 102, the behavior is the same as the PDCCH monitoring capability of Case 2. From the perspective of gNB 160, the first PDCCH generation must be after a successful LBT, while gNB 160 can start preparing transport blocks for the first PDSCH before obtaining channel access. On the other hand, the duration of the second PDSCH needs to be adjusted based on the timing of the successful LBT. Therefore, the processing of the second PDSCH and the corresponding PDCCH must be performed after channel access.

[0247] Case 2, PDCCH monitoring capability is a UE feature that supports PDCCH monitoring over any span of up to 3 consecutive OFDM symbols in a slot. For PDSCH mapping type A, the duration is between the first OFDM symbol of the slot and the last OFDM symbol of the scheduled PDSCH resources in the slot. For PDSCH mapping type B, the duration is the number of OFDM symbols of the scheduled PDSCH resources signaled. For PDSCH mapping type B, the PDSCH duration is 2, 4 or 7 OFDM symbols for normal cyclic prefix, or 2, 4, 6 OFDM symbols for extended cyclic prefix.

[0248] The difference between Case B and Case A is the number of PDCCH monitoring opportunities within the initial partial time slot. The number in Case B is only one, where several PDCCHs are transmitted. From the UE perspective, the PDCCH monitoring processing requirements are not as much as in Case A because there are fewer monitoring opportunities within the initial partial time slot. However, since gNB 160 needs to complete the scheduling of the second PDSCH before the first PDCCH transmission, Case B may require more processing power on the gNB 160 side compared to Case A.

[0249] Case C involves options 2 and 3. In Case C, the initial partial timeslots are filled with a single scheduled PDCCH and a single scheduled PDSCH. The gNB 160 starts PDSCH preparation before acquiring the channel, and just after a successful LBT, the gNB generates the PDCCH and transmits the PDCCH before the PDSCH. The duration of the actual transmission PDSCH is shorter than the assumed duration of the preparation. Therefore, truncation or rate matching needs to be applied to the PDSCH. Some information related to the modified duration (e.g., a duration other than 2 / 4 / 7 symbols) may be carried in the scheduling PDCCH since PDCCH generation starts after the LBT. From the perspective of UE 102, the processing requirements for Case C are almost the same as those for Case B.

[0250] In case C, even if gNB 160 does not update the PDCCH content based on when the gNB successfully obtains channel access, the actual time domain allocation of the PDSCH may differ from the assumptions of PDSCH preparation that affect the PDCCH content. Therefore, UE 102 may interpret the PDCCH content differently than when UE 102 receives the PDCCH in a higher layer configured PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

[0251] For example, when the UE 102 receives a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion configured by a higher layer, the value m of the time domain resource allocation field of the DCI provides the row index m + 1. The index row defines the slot offset K0, the start and length indicator SLIV, or directly defines the start symbol S and the allocation length L, and the PDSCH mapping type to be assumed in PDSCH reception. The slot allocated to the PDSCH is where n is the slot having the scheduling DCI, and K0 is based on the parameters of the PDSCH, and μ PDSCH and μ PDCCH are the subcarrier spacing configurations of the PDSCH and the PDCCH, respectively. The start symbol S relative to the start of the slot and the number of consecutive symbols L counted from the symbol S allocated to the PDSCH are determined according to the start and length indicator SLIV: if (L - 1) ≤ 7, then SLIV = 14(L - 1) + S, otherwise SLIV = 14(14 - L1) + (14 - 1 - S), where 0 < L ≤ 14 - S. The transport block size can be determined based on S and L.

[0252] When the UE 102 receives a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion configured by a higher layer, the slot allocated to the PDSCH can be derived using the above method. The time domain resource allocation is determined by S and L. The transport block size can be determined based on S' and L', where S' = S - X and L' = L + X. X can be signaled by the same PDCCH. Alternatively, X is the offset between the PDCCH monitoring occasion and the position of the actually received PDCCH in the slot.

[0253] Case D is related to Option 2. The difference between Case D and Case C is the PDCCH content. In Case D, the gNB 160 prepares the PDCCH before obtaining the channel. Therefore, the DCI cannot indicate the exact time domain resource allocation. The duration can be associated with the time domain position of the actually transmitted PDCCH. From the perspective of the UE, the processing requirements of Case D are almost the same as those of Case B.

[0254] In Case D, even if the gNB 160 does not update the PDCCH content based on when the gNB successfully obtains channel access, the actual time domain allocation of the PDSCH can be different from the assumption of the PDSCH preparation that affects the PDCCH content. Therefore, the UE 102 can interpret the PDCCH content in a different way from the case when the UE 102 receives a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion configured by a higher layer.

[0255] For example, when the UE 102 receives a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion configured by a higher layer, the value m of the time domain resource allocation field of the DCI provides the row index m + 1. The index row defines the slot offset K0, the start and length indicator SLIV, or directly defines the start symbol S and the allocation length L, and the PDSCH mapping type to be assumed in PDSCH reception. The slot allocated to the PDSCH is where n is the slot having the scheduling DCI, and K0 is based on the parameters of the PDSCH, and μ PDSCH and μ PDCCH are the subcarrier spacing configurations of the PDSCH and the PDCCH, respectively. The start symbol S relative to the start of the slot and the number of consecutive symbols L counted from the symbol S allocated to the PDSCH are determined according to the start and length indicator SLIV: if (L - 1) ≤ 7, then SLIV = 14(L - 1) + S, otherwise SLIV = 14(14 - L1) + (14 - 1 - S), where 0 < L ≤ 14 - S. S represents the index of the start symbol of the PDSCH time domain resource allocation, and L represents the length of the PDSCH time domain resource allocation. The PDSCH mapping type is set to type A or type B.

[0256] When the UE 102 receives a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion configured by a higher layer, the slot allocated to the PDSCH can be derived by using the above method. The start symbol S' can be set to S + X, where X is the offset between the PDCCH monitoring occasion and the actual received PDCCH position in the slot. For normal CP, the duration can be set to min(L, min(S' + L, 14) - S'), and for extended CP, the duration can be set to min(L, min(S' + L, 12) - S'), so that the end point of the PDSCH time domain allocation does not exceed the end boundary of the slot. The transport block size can be determined based on the time domain resource allocation assumptions S and L.

[0257] Case E is similar to Case C in terms of PDCCH and PDSCH processing. In Case C, the PDSCH of the initial slot is shifted and mapped across the slot boundary to the next slot. Therefore, Case E involves Option 4. The duration of the actually transmitted PDSCH is the same as the assumed duration prepared. The gNB 160 can adjust the duration of the PDSCH in the next slot based on the timing of LBT in the initial partial slot, so that the end of the PDSCH in the next slot is aligned with the next slot boundary.

[0258] Case F also relates to Option 4. The difference between Case F and Case E is the PDCCH content. In Case D, as in Case D, gNB 160 prepares the PDCCH before obtaining the channel. Therefore, the DCI cannot indicate the accurate time-domain resource allocation. The actual time-domain resource allocation may be associated with the time-domain position of the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH. From the perspective of UE 102, the processing requirements of Case F are almost the same as those of Case B.

[0259] In Case F, even if gNB 160 does not update the PDCCH content based on when the gNB successfully obtains channel access, the actual time-domain allocation of the PDSCH may be different from the assumption of the PDSCH preparation that affects the PDCCH content. Therefore, UE 102 may interpret the PDCCH content in a different way from the situation when UE 102 receives the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring occasion configured at the higher layer.

[0260] For example, when UE 102 receives the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring occasion configured at the higher layer, the value m of the time-domain resource allocation field of the DCI provides the row index m + 1. The index row defines the slot offset K0, the start and length indicator SLIV, or directly defines the start symbol S and the allocation length L, and the PDSCH mapping type to be assumed in the PDSCH reception. The slot allocated to the PDSCH is where n is the slot having the scheduling DCI, and K0 is based on the parameters of the PDSCH, and μ PDSCH and μ PDCCH are the subcarrier spacing configurations of the PDSCH and the PDCCH, respectively. The start symbol S relative to the start of the slot and the number of consecutive symbols L counted from the symbol S allocated to the PDSCH are determined according to the start and length indicator SLIV: if (L - 1) ≤ 7, then SLIV = 14(L - 1) + S, otherwise SLIV = 14(14 - L1) + (14 - 1 - S), where 0 < L ≤ 14 - S. S represents the index of the start symbol of the PDSCH time-domain resource allocation, and L represents the length of the PDSCH time-domain resource allocation. The PDSCH mapping type is set to type A or type B.

[0261] When UE 102 receives the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring occasion configured at the higher layer, the slot allocated to the PDSCH can be derived using the above method. The start symbol S' can be set to S + X, where X is the offset between the PDCCH monitoring occasion and the actual received PDCCH position in the slot. The duration can be set to L. The transport block size can be determined based on the time-domain resource allocation assumptions S and L.

[0262] Figure 44 shows an example of a trigger signal and CORESET resource allocation. Once UE 102 detects a trigger signal, UE 102 can monitor the PDCCH in the CORESET that is multiplexed with the trigger signal in the frequency domain. In this case, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is derived from the time domain position of the detected trigger signal.

[0263] Figure 45 shows an example of trigger signal and CORESET resource allocation. In this example, the trigger signal and the corresponding CORESET are multiplexed in the time domain. Also in this case, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is derived from the time domain position of the detected trigger signal.

[0264] Alternatively and / or in addition, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity may be derived from the time domain position of the detected trigger signal and the relationship between the CORESET frequency resource allocation and the frequency position of the trigger signal. More specifically, if the configured CORESET resources overlap with the trigger signal in the frequency domain, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is just after the trigger signal position in the time domain. If the configured CORESET resources do not overlap with the trigger signal in the frequency domain, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts on the same symbol as the trigger signal position in the time domain.

[0265] In the PDCCH monitoring opportunity related to the detected trigger signal, the SFI using DCI format 2_0 (also known as SFI PDCCH) or common control PDCCH (CC-PDCCH) or equivalent can be monitored. Unlike NR operation in licensed bands, SFI for NR-U can only support up to one DL-UL switching point.

[0266] Fig.30Examples of SFI configuration and SFI signaling are shown. An RRC message (e.g., a dedicated RRC message, a common RRC message, or a broadcast RRC message) may include an information element for configuring one or more (e.g., less than or equal to the number of configured service cells) SFI combination sets, which may also be referred to as SlotFormatCombinationsPerCell. The RRC message may also include an information element for configuring one or more (e.g., N) slot format combination configuration sets, which are referred to as SFI combinations or slotFormatCombinations. Each slot format combination configuration in the slot format combination configuration may include a slot format combination and a slot format combination ID. Each SFI combination set in the SFI combination set may be applied to a corresponding cell or a corresponding LBT subband. The configuration of each SFI combination set in the SFI combination set may include: a serving cell ID (or LBT subband ID), which is the ID of the serving cell to which slotFormatCombinations apply; a subcarrier spacing, which is the reference subcarrier spacing of the time slot format combination; one or more (e.g., integers with values ​​up to 512) time slot format combination IDs, which are used in the DCI to specify the (starting) position (bit) of the slotFormatCombinationld (SFI index) of the serving cell (servingCellld) within the DCI payload. Each entry of the one or more time slot format combinations may include a time slot format combination ID and one or more (e.g., for SFI combination i (i=1, 2, ..., N), M i is an integer up to 256) slot format combinations of consecutive slots. The number of slot formats indicated by a corresponding entry may be the same as or different from that of one entry in another entry.

[0267] The DCI format carried by the GC-PDCCH may include a bit field (also referred to as an SFI index field) for indicating an entry in the configured slot format combination. The bit field size may be determined by using the number of configured slot format combinations. The SFI index field value in the DCI format indicates to the UE the slot format of each of the multiple slots of each DL BWP or each ULBWP starting from the slot in which the UE detects the DCI format. In a non-NR-U service cell (i.e., an NR service cell operating in a licensed band), the number of slots may be equal to or greater than the PDCCH monitoring periodicity of the DCI format carrying the SFI. In an NR-U service cell, the number of slots may be allowed to be less than the PDCCH monitoring periodicity of the DCI format carrying the SFI. The SFI index field includes max{[log2(maxSFIindex+1)],1} bits, where maxSFIindex is the maximum value of the value provided by the corresponding slotFormatCombinationld. The slot format is identified by the corresponding format index as provided in Table 1, where "D" represents a downlink symbol, "U" represents an uplink symbol, and "F" represents a flexible symbol. The SFI Index field set to n may indicate the Mth slot starting from the slot in which the UE 102 detects the DCI format. n The slot format of the time slot, and each slot format included in the slot format combination with the slot format combination ID equal to n corresponds to M n The time slot format in Table 1 is applicable to both NR-U serving cells and non-NR-U serving cells.

[0268] Table 1: Timeslot format.

[0269]

[0270]

[0271] The GC-PDCCH carrying SFI may be applicable to a BWP including more than one LBT sub-band, wherein the operation of a BWP with more than one LBT sub-band may also be referred to as wideband operation.

[0272] Fig.31Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown. LBT may be performed based on LBT subbands. When the gNB 160 obtains channel access on a given LBT subband after performing LBT, the gNB 160 may transmit a GC-PDCCH at the beginning portion of the transmission initiated by the LBT. The GC-PDCCH may carry a DCI format for indicating the time slot format of the LBT subband in which the GC-PDCCH is detected. Such a GC-PDCCH may be referred to as a non-periodic GC-PDCCH hereinafter. Note that the beginning portion may be a portion including a start symbol of a transmission, but it does not necessarily always mean it. The beginning portion may be a position relatively close to the beginning within the transmission, and there may be one or several symbols and / or fractional symbols between the beginning of the transmission and the start symbol of the symbol carrying the GC-PDCCH.

[0273] The time slot at which the UE 102 detects the GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband may be different from or the same as the time slot at which the UE 102 detects the GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband. Even if they are detected in the same time slot, the symbol at which the UE 102 detects the GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband may be different from or the same as the symbol at which the UE 102 detects the GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband. The UE 102 may not expect a symbol indicated as DL by a GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband to be indicated as UL by another GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband in the same BWP. The UE 102 may not expect a symbol indicated as UL by a GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband to be indicated as DL by another GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband in the same BWP.

[0274] If DL transmissions using some but not all LBT subbands within a BWP are allowed, but UL transmissions using some but not all LBT subbands within a BWP are not allowed, then the alignment restrictions between LBT subbands may be different between DL and UL. For example, a symbol indicated as DL by a GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband may be able to be indicated as DL or flexible by another GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband in the same BWP, although the UE 102 may not expect a symbol indicated as UL by a GC-PDCCH in a given LBT subband to be indicated as DL or flexible by another GC-PDCCH in another LBT subband in the same BWP.

[0275] A UE 102 capable of PDCCH reception and / or PDSCH reception in the initial portion of the time slot may have to monitor the GC-PDCCH with a periodicity shorter than the time slot length (e.g., 1 ms for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz and 0.5 ms for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz). For example, a GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunity may start every 2 OFDM symbols, but the minimum interval of a normal PDCCH monitoring opportunity may be 1 OFDM symbol (i.e., a normal PDCCH monitoring opportunity may be able to start at every OFDM symbol). If a given GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunity includes a symbol indicated as flexible by a previous GC-PDCCH, the UE 102 may follow the same GC-PDCCH monitoring process, i.e., the UE 102 may monitor the GC-PDCCH. On the other hand, given that a GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunity fully or partially includes symbols indicated by a previous GC-PDCCH as DL or UL, UE 102 may not have to monitor GC-PDCCH in GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities except for GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities within the first 3 symbols in a time slot. In other words, UE 102 may have to always monitor GC-PDCCH in GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities within the first 3 symbols in a time slot, while UE 102 may be allowed to skip monitoring of GC-PDCCH in other GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities that overlap with symbols indicated by a previous GC-PDCCH as DL or UL.

[0276] Fig.32 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown. LBT may be performed based on LBT subbands. The gNB 160 may preferably periodically transmit GC-PDCCH on a given LBT subband, and the UE 102 may preferably monitor the GC-PDCCH on the LBT subband at periodic monitoring occasions. Such GC-PDCCH may be referred to as periodic GC-PDCCH hereinafter. The GC-PDCCH may carry a DCI format for indicating the slot format of the LBT subband in which the GC-PDCCH is detected, and the GC-PDCCH may also carry a DCI format for indicating the slot format of another LBT subband. Alternatively and / or in addition, the GC-PDCCH may carry a DCI format for indicating the slot format of the LBT subband in which the GC-PDCCH is detected, and the DCI format may also indicate the slot format of another LBT subband. The other LBT subbands may be LBT subbands in the same BWP of the same service. Alternatively, the other LBT sub-band may be an LBT sub-band in a different BWP in another serving cell.

[0277] Fig.33Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown. In this example, both aperiodic GC-PDCCH and periodic GC-PDCCH are used. The gNB 160 may transmit the aperiodic GC-PDCCH in each LBT subband, while the gNB 160 may transmit the periodic GC-PDCCH in a given (but not limited to one) LBT subband. The contents of the aperiodic GC-PDCCH and the periodic GC-PDCCH may have to be aligned. More specifically, symbols indicated as DL, UL and / or flexible by the aperiodic GC-PDCCH may have to be indicated as DL, UL and / or flexible, respectively, by the periodic GC-PDCCH, and the UE 102 may not expect them to be indicated as different values. Alternatively and / or in addition, symbols indicated as DL, UL and / or flexible by the aperiodic GC-PDCCH may be indicated as different values ​​and thus covered by the periodic GC-PDCCH. Alternatively and / or in addition, symbols indicated as DL and UL by aperiodic GC-PDCCH may have to be indicated as DL and UL by periodic GC-PDCCH, while symbols indicated as flexible by aperiodic GC-PDCCH may be indicated as DL and UL and thus covered by periodic GC-PDCCH.

[0278] The PDCCH monitoring opportunity configuration (eg, search space configuration) of the aperiodic GC-PDCCH and the periodic GC-PDCCH may be separately provided by corresponding dedicated configuration messages via dedicated RRC signaling.

[0279] The entries of the SFI combination of non-periodic GC-PDCCH and periodic GC-PDCCH may be provided by the same dedicated configuration message via dedicated RRC signaling. Alternatively, the set of entries for the SFI combination of non-periodic GC-PDCCH and periodic GC-PDCCH may be provided separately by different dedicated configuration messages via dedicated RRC signaling. Also alternatively, the set of entries for the SFI combination of non-periodic GC-PDCCH for the initial BWP and other GC-PDCCH (including all periodic GC-PDCCHs, non-periodic GC-PDCCHs for non-initial BWPs for PCells, and non-periodic GC-PDCCHs for SCells) may be provided separately via public RRC signaling (e.g., included in broadcast information such as system information) and dedicated RRC signaling, respectively. Alternatively, a set of entries for the SFI combination of periodic GC-PDCCH and other GC-PDCCH for PCell (including all non-periodic GC-PDCCH, periodic GC-PDCCH for non-initial BWP of PCell, and non-periodic GC-PDCCH for SCell) may be provided separately via public RRC signaling (e.g., included in broadcast information such as system information) and dedicated RRC signaling, respectively. If the entries are configured by public RRC signaling, the number of entries may be less than the above configuration. The entries may be pre-configured (i.e., fixed in the system) rather than configured via public RRC signaling.

[0280] The contents of the aperiodic GC-PDCCH and the periodic GC-PDCCH may be of different types. For example, the aperiodic GC-PDCCH may indicate a slot format, as described below, and the periodic GC-PDCCH may indicate the location of the UL portion of the COT, where the UL portion may be indicated by a combination of an offset of a start symbol of the UL portion and a duration of the UL portion. In another example, even if the aperiodic GC-PDCCH may indicate a slot format, as described below, the UE 102 may treat the indicated DL portion as DL but may ignore the indicated UL portion. At the same time, even if the periodic GC-PDCCH may indicate a slot format, as described below, the UE 102 may treat the indicated UL portion as UL but may ignore the indicated DL portion.

[0281] Alternatively, the contents of the aperiodic GC-PDCCH and the periodic GC-PDCCH may be of the same type.For example, both the aperiodic GC-PDCCH and the periodic GC-PDCCH may indicate a slot format, as described below.

[0282] Fig.34 Dynamic SFI signaling for wideband operation is shown. In this example, both aperiodic GC-PDCCH and periodic GC-PDCCH are used. Fig.33The difference in the example in is that the grouping is applied to LBT subband #0 and LBT subband #1. The non-periodic GC-PDCCH can be transmitted / monitored by group (i.e., on one LBT subband within the group). The periodic GC-PDCCH indicating the time slot format of the grouped LBT subbands can be transmitted / monitored by group (i.e., on one LBT subband within the group). The periodic GC-PDCCH can indicate the time slot format of all LBT subbands within the group.

[0283] The GC-PDCCH may be transmitted multiple times by gNB 160 within the COT. Multiple GC-PDCCHs detected by UE 102 at different monitoring occasions may indicate the slot format of the same slot.

[0284] Fig.35An example of SFI configuration and SFI signaling is shown. In this example, the COT includes an initial partial DL time slot, followed by 4 full DL time slots, a special time slot (e.g., time slot format #28 in Table 1), and then 2 full UL time slots, where a special time slot is a time slot that includes a DL portion followed by a gap and then a UL portion. The time slots for which the SFI is indicated by a single SFI combination may correspond to a single COT. The gNB 160 may provide an RRC configuration for configuring multiple SFI combinations. Some of the SFI combinations may indicate the same DL / UL configuration of the COT, but may correspond to different GC-PDCCH transmission timings and GC-PDCCH monitoring occasions. Before a GC-PDCCH is detected in time slot 1 (i.e., the starting time slot of the COT), the UE 102 does not detect any GC-PDCCH in the middle of time slot 1 for which the SFI indicates a GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunity. Therefore, the UE 102 may monitor the GC-PDCCH at the GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the middle of time slot 1. If the UE 102 detects a GC-PDCCH in the middle of slot 1, the UE 102 may assume that an initial partial slot is present in slot 1 and that the initial partial slot includes the detected GC-PDCCH. The value of the SFI index field of the GC-PDCCH in the initial partial slot may indicate SFI combination #0, which includes SFI #0 for slot 1 (i.e., the initial partial slot), SFI #0 for slots 2, 3, 4, and 5, SFI #28 for slot 6, and SFI #1 for slots 7 and 8. The UE 102 may know that slot 1 is an initial partial slot because the UE 102 has detected the GC-PDCCH in the middle of slot 1. Therefore, the UE 102 may assume that the OFDM symbols preceding the GC-PDCCH in slot 1 are not occupied by a transmission containing a GC-PDCCH (e.g., assuming that it is indicated as flexible by the GC-PDCCH), even though the slot format signaled by slot 1 indicates that those symbols are DL symbols. The value of the SFI index field of the GC-PDCCH in slot 2 may indicate SFI combination #1, which includes SFI #0 for slots 2, 3, 4, and 5, SFI #28 for slot 6, and SFI #1 for slots 7 and 8. The same principle may apply to the GC-PDCCH in slots 3 to 8. Alternatively and / or in addition, the initial part of the slot may be indicated by the slot format. For example, Table 1 may additionally include a single slot format indicating that at least one OFDM symbol in the slot is not occupied by the current transmission and the end part of the same slot is occupied by the current transmission.In another example, Table 1 may further include a plurality of slot formats, each slot format indicating that at least one OFDM symbol in the slot is not occupied by the current transmission, while the end portion of the same slot is occupied by the current transmission, and the plurality of slot formats may correspond to different numbers of unoccupied (e.g., flexible) OFDM symbols at the beginning of the slot and / or different numbers of occupied (e.g., DL) OFDM symbols at the end of the slot. The additional entries described in Table 2 may be added by overwriting the reserved entries in Table 1. Alternatively, the additional entries may be added by overwriting all or some of the entries in Table 1 entries 46 to 54, which correspond to UL to DL switching in the middle of the slot. The slot format in Table 2 may be applicable to NR-U serving cells, but not to non-NR-U serving cells. If the serving cell is NR-U, the additional entries may be used. Otherwise, UE 102 may use only the entries in Table 1. Alternatively, the use of the additional entries may be configured by RRC signaling. In this case, if RRC configuration is provided, the additional entries may be used. Otherwise, UE 102 may use only the entries in Table 1.

[0285] Table 2: Additional time slot format.

[0286]

[0287] Fig.36An example of SFI configuration and SFI signaling is shown. In this example, the COT includes an initial partial DL time slot, followed by 4 full DL time slots, a special time slot (e.g., time slot format #28 in Table 1), and then 2 full UL time slots. The gNB 160 may provide an RRC configuration for configuring multiple SFI combinations. One of the SFI combinations may indicate the DL / UL configuration of the COT and may correspond to all GC-PDCCH transmission timings and all GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities. In any of the GC-PDCCH transmission timings and GC-PDCCH monitoring opportunities within the COT, the SFI index field of the GC-PDCCH may indicate the same SFI combination, which includes SFI#0 for time slot 1 (i.e., the initial partial time slot), SFI#0 for time slots 2, 3, 4, and 5, SFI#28 for time slot 6, and SFI#1 for time slots 7 and 8. In addition, the GC-PDCCH may also have a bit field to indicate additional information, where the additional information may change according to the GC-PDCCH transmission timing and the GC-PDCCH monitoring timing. For example, the additional information may indicate the position of a certain time slot (preferably the starting time slot, but it works with another type of time slot, such as the ending time slot or the time slot in which the GC-PDCCH is detected) of the time slot indicated by the detected GC-PDCCH that also carries relevant information. The position may be a position relative to the time slot in which the GC-PDCCH carrying the relevant information is detected (also called a time slot offset or a time domain offset from a time slot unit). The starting position indicated by the relevant information may also be the position where the current COT starts. Alternatively, the starting time slot indicated by the relevant information may not always be the same as the time slot in which the current COT starts. In addition and / or alternatively, the position may be the position in which the GC-PDCCH carrying the relevant information is detected within a radio frame, and the additional information may indicate the time slot index of the starting time slot within the radio frame.

[0288] The scheme is also applicable to wideband operation. The CG-PDCCH may include a single SFI index field, and the value of the SFI index field may be applied to multiple LBT sub-bands. In addition and / or alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple SFI index fields, and the value of each SFI index field may be applied to the corresponding LBT sub-band. The CG-PDCCH may include a single bit field for indicating the COT start timing, and the value of the bit field may be applied to multiple LBT sub-bands. In addition and / or alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple bit fields for indicating the COT start timing, and the value of each bit field may be applied to the corresponding LBT sub-band. The CG-PDCCH may include a single SFI index field and multiple bit fields for indicating the COT start timing. Alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple SFI index fields and a single bit field for indicating the COT start timing.

[0289] Fig.37 An example of SFI configuration and SFI signaling is shown. In this example, the time slot in which the SFI is indicated by the GC-PDCCH ends with the end of the partial UL time slot. The time slot format of the end partial UL time slot can be indicated by one or more additional entries (i.e., additional formats) of Table 1. For example, the entries described in Table 3 can be added in Table 1. Each additional entry in the additional entries may indicate a time slot format consisting of continuous UL symbols and continuous flexible symbols, and starts with a UL symbol and ends with a flexible symbol. Additional entries can be added by overwriting the reserved entries in Table 1. Alternatively, additional entries can be added by overwriting all or some of the entries in Table 1 entries 46 to 54, which correspond to UL to DL switching in the middle of the time slot. The time slot format in Table 3 is applicable to NR-U serving cells, but not to non-NR-U serving cells. If the serving cell is NR-U, the additional entries can be used. Otherwise, UE 102 can use only the entries in Table 1. Alternatively, the use of the additional entries can be configured by RRC signaling. In this case, if RRC configuration is provided, the additional entries can be used. Otherwise UE 102 may use only the entries in Table 1.

[0290] Table 3: Additional time slot format.

[0291]

[0292]

[0293] To indicate the slot format of the ending partial UL timeslot, gNB 160 may need to provide RRC signaling for configuring multiple SFI combinations corresponding to different ending partial UL timeslot structures and send a GC-PDCCH with the SFI index field set to an appropriate value (i.e., a value corresponding to the ending partial UL timeslot structure expected by gNB 160). If UE 102 detects a GC-PDCCH with the indicated SFI combination ending in a slot format that ends with one or more flexible symbols, UE 102 may assume that those flexible symbols are not occupied by the transmission of the GC-PDCCH and that those flexible symbols are outside the COT of the transmission of the GC-PDCCH, while UL symbols in the same slot may be considered to be inside the COT.

[0294] The scheme may also be applied to wideband operation. The CG-PDCCH may include a single SFI index field, and the value of the SFI index field may be applied to multiple LBT sub-bands. In addition and / or alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple SFI index fields, and the value of each SFI index field may be applied to a corresponding LBT sub-band.

[0295] Fig.38 An example of SFI configuration and SFI signaling is shown. In this example, the time slot for which SFI is indicated by GC-PDCCH ends with the end partial UL time slot. The reason may be that the COT starts in the middle of the starting time slot, and therefore the maximum COT duration starts immediately after a successful channel access must end in the middle of the last time slot. The time slot format of the end partial UL time slot can be indicated as a UL time slot, i.e. a normal time slot that is fully occupied by UL symbols. In addition, the GC-PDCCH may also have a bit field to indicate additional information, where the additional information may change according to the end partial UL time slot structure.

[0296] For example, the additional information may indicate a selected one of the possible time slot formats. The possible time slot formats may be defined in Table 3 separately from Table 1 (and may also include an entry, such as entry SFI#0 in Table 1, for indicating that the time slot is not an ending partial UL time slot), and the bit field may be set to a value corresponding to one of X0 to X12. If the UE 102 detects a GC-PDCCH, where the SFI index field indicates that the COT ends with a UL time slot, and the additional bit field indicates that the end slot is an ending partial UL time slot, the UE 102 may assume the end slot in the ending partial UL time slot indicated by the additional bit field, but may not assume the end slot in the normal time slot indicated by the SFI index field.

[0297] In another example, the additional information may indicate the COT length. The COT length may be represented by the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time slots, or a combination thereof within the COT. If the COT length is signaled to the UE 102, the UE 102 may derive the end timing of the COT based on the signaled COT length and a reference timing (e.g., a COT start timing). The COT start timing as a reference may be determined by the detection timing of the first GC-PDCCH, the SFI indicated by which is the same as the current GC-PDCCH. In addition and / or alternatively, the COT start timing may be determined by detecting the timing of the current GC-PDCCH and the aforementioned bit field for indicating the starting time slot position. The reference for determining the end timing of the COT may be the position of symbol #0 of the starting time slot of the COT, or may be the position of the earliest occupied OFDM symbol of the starting time slot.

[0298] In yet another example, the additional information may indicate the remaining COT length. The COT length may be represented by the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time slots, or a combination thereof within the COT. If the remaining COT length is signaled to the UE 102, the UE 102 may derive the end timing of the COT based on the signaled remaining COT length and a reference timing (e.g., the start or end OFDM symbol of the time slot in which the relevant GC-PDCCH is detected, the start or end OFDM symbol of the time slot in which the relevant GC-PDCCH is detected, or the start OFDM symbol of the next time slot).

[0299] The scheme may also be applied to broadband operation. The CG-PDCCH may include a single SFI index field, and the value of the SFI index field may be applied to multiple LBT sub-bands. In addition and / or alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple SFI index fields, and the value of each SFI index field may be applied to the corresponding LBT sub-band. The CG-PDCCH may include a single bit field for indicating the end portion UL structure, COT length, or remaining COT length, and the value of the bit field may be applied to multiple LBT sub-bands. In addition and / or alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple bit fields for indicating the end portion UL structure, COT length, or remaining COT length, and the value of each bit field may be applied to the corresponding LBT sub-band. The CG-PDCCH may include a single SFI index field and multiple bit fields for indicating the end portion UL structure, COT length, or remaining COT length. Alternatively, the CG-PDCCH may include multiple SFI index fields and a single bit field for indicating the end portion UL structure, COT length, or remaining COT length.

[0300] Fig.39 An example of SFI configuration and SFI signaling is shown. In this example, the time slot in which SFI is indicated by GC-PDCCH includes more than one DL to UL or UL to DL switching point and / or ends with the end of a partial UL time slot. The structure of the UL partial time slot in the middle of the time slot in which SFI is indicated by GC-PDCCH (such as the 5th time slot from the left in the figure) can be indicated by the SFI index field of GC-PDCCH as described above, and the structure of the UL partial time slot at the end of the time slot in which SFI is indicated by GC-PDCCH (such as the 8th time slot from the left in the figure) can be indicated by the aforementioned additional information. This scheme can also be applied to broadband operation.

[0301] A UE 102 scheduling a UL transmission may determine a type of LBT for the UL transmission taking into account whether the UL transmission will be completed within the COT explicitly and / or implicitly signaled by the gNB 160. For example, if the entire UL transmission is scheduled to be transmitted within the COT, then 102 may be allowed to perform Cat-2 LBT for the UL transmission. If at least a portion of the UL transmission will be transmitted outside of the COT, then 102 may not be allowed to perform Cat-2 LBT for the UL transmission, and therefore, Cat-4 LBT for the UL transmission may be performed.

[0302] Fig.40 A method for a UE communicating with a base station is shown. The method may include obtaining radio resource control (RRC) configuration information (step 4001). The RRC configuration information may indicate a monitoring opportunity. The method may also include monitoring a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band (step 4002). The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to the first sub-band. The second time slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band. The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0303] Fig.41 A method for a base station for communicating with a UE is shown. The method may include sending radio resource control (RRC) configuration information (step 4101). The RRC configuration information may indicate a monitoring opportunity. The method may also include transmitting a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) having a first downlink control (DCI) format in a first sub-band (step 4102). The first DCI format may include a first information field and a second information field. The first information field may indicate a first time slot format combination. The second information field may indicate a second time slot format combination. The first time slot format combination may be applicable to a first sub-band.

[0304] The second slot format combination may be applicable to the second sub-band.The first sub-band and the second sub-band may be included in the same downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP).

[0305] It should be noted that the decision as to whether a given channel and / or data (including TB and CB) is successfully received may be made by reference to cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits appended to the given channel and / or data.

[0306] It should be noted that various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention defined by the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed according to different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0307] It should be noted that in most cases, UE 102 and gNB 160 may have to assume the same procedures. For example, when UE 102 follows a given procedure (e.g., the above-described procedure), gNB 160 may also have to assume that UE 102 follows the procedure. In addition, gNB 160 may also have to perform a corresponding procedure. Similarly, when gNB 160 follows a given procedure, UE 102 may also have to assume that gNB 160 follows the procedure. In addition, UE 102 may also have to perform a corresponding procedure. The physical signals and / or channels received by UE 102 may be transmitted by gNB 160. The physical signals and / or channels transmitted by UE 102 may be received by gNB 160. The higher-layer signals and / or channels (e.g., dedicated RRC configuration messages) obtained by UE 102 may be sent by gNB 160. The higher-layer signals and / or channels (e.g., dedicated RRC configuration messages) sent by UE 102 may be obtained by gNB 160. It should be noted that the names of physical channels and / or signals described herein are examples.

[0308] The term "computer-readable medium" refers to any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or processor. As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" may refer to a non-transitory and tangible computer-readable medium and / or a processor-readable medium. By way of example and not limitation, a computer-readable medium or a processor-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer or processor. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Optical disks, where magnetic disks usually reproduce data magnetically, optical disks reproduce data optically using lasers.

[0309] It should be noted that one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in hardware and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or performed using a chipset, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or an integrated circuit, etc.

[0310] Each of the methods disclosed herein includes one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. These method steps and / or actions may be interchangeable with each other and / or combined into a single step without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for the correct operation of the method, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0311] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components shown above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the systems, methods and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0312] The program running on the gNB 160 or UE 102 according to the system and method is a program that controls the CPU, etc. in a manner that realizes the functions according to the system and method (a program that causes the computer to operate). Then, the information processed in these equipments is temporarily stored in the RAM while being processed. Subsequently, the information is stored in various ROMs or HDDs, and is read by the CPU whenever necessary for modification or writing. As a recording medium on which the program is stored, any of a semiconductor (e.g., ROM, nonvolatile memory card, etc.), an optical storage medium (e.g., DVD, MO, MD, CD, BD, etc.), a magnetic storage medium (e.g., a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, etc.), etc. is possible. In addition, in some cases, the above-mentioned functions according to the system and method are realized by running the loaded program, and in addition, the functions according to the system and method are realized based on instructions from the program and in combination with an operating system or other application programs.

[0313] In addition, in the case where the program is available on the market, the program stored on a portable recording medium may be distributed, or the program may be transferred to a server computer connected via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the storage device in the server computer is also included. In addition, some or all of the gNB 160 and UE 102 according to the above-mentioned system and method may be implemented as LSI, which is a typical integrated circuit. Each functional block of the gNB 160 and UE 102 may be built into a chip separately, and some or all of the functional blocks may be integrated into the chip. In addition, the technology of the integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and the integrated circuit for the functional block may be implemented using a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, if an integrated circuit technology that replaces LSI emerges as semiconductor technology continues to advance, an integrated circuit applying the technology may also be used.

[0314] In addition, each functional block or various features of the base station device and terminal device used in each of the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented or executed by a circuit (usually an integrated circuit or multiple integrated circuits). The circuit designed to perform the functions described in this specification may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a dedicated or general-purpose integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices or discrete hardware components or a combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or alternatively, the processor may be a conventional processor, a controller, a microcontroller or a state machine. The general-purpose processor or each of the above-mentioned circuits may be configured by a digital circuit, or may be configured by an analog circuit. In addition, when the technology of making an integrated circuit that replaces the current integrated circuit appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology, the integrated circuit produced by the technology can also be used.

Claims

1. A user equipment UE communicating with a base station, the UE comprising: A high-level processing unit, configured to obtain radio resource control RRC configuration information, wherein the RRC configuration information indicates a configuration of downlink control information DCI format 2_0; and A receiving unit configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH having the DCI format 2_0, wherein The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field, The first information field indicates the remaining channel occupancy duration, and The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from the first OFDM symbol of the time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

2. A base station for communicating with a user equipment UE, the base station comprising: A high-level processing unit, configured to send radio resource control RRC configuration information, wherein the RRC configuration information indicates a configuration of a downlink control information DCI format 2_0; and A transmission unit, which is configured to transmit a physical downlink control channel PDCCH having the DCI format 2_0, wherein The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field, The first information field indicates the remaining channel occupancy duration, and The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from the first OFDM symbol of the time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

3. A method for a user equipment UE communicating with a base station, the method comprising: Acquire radio resource control RRC configuration information, where the RRC configuration information indicates configuration of downlink control information DCI format 2_0; and Monitoring the physical downlink control channel PDCCH having the DCI format 2_0, wherein The DCI format 2_0 includes a first information field, The first information field indicates the remaining channel occupancy duration, and The remaining channel occupancy duration is represented as the number of OFDM symbols starting from the first OFDM symbol of the time slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is detected.

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