Method, apparatus and system for switching between bandwidth portions

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, apparatus, and systems for switching between bandwidth parts in wireless communications. In one embodiment, disclosed is a method performed by a wireless communication node. The method includes: configuring a first type of bandwidth part (BWP) for a wireless communication device, wherein the first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; configuring at least two second types of BWPs for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two second types of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmissions with respect to the wireless communication device, respectively; and transmitting indication information about a second type of BWP of the at least two second types of BWPs to the wireless communication device, wherein the indication information indicates a service type of a planned transmission of the wireless communication node on the first type of BWP.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to methods, apparatus, and systems for switching between bandwidth portions in wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] In order to provide a larger system and better user experience in the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network, NR base stations can generally support large bandwidths. For example, below 6GHz, NR base stations can support a maximum bandwidth of 400MHz through a single carrier. Allowing user equipment (UE) to support such a large system bandwidth will increase the cost and power consumption of the UE. Therefore, the concept of bandwidth part (BWP) is introduced in the 5G system. BWP refers to continuous bandwidth. The UE does not need to support data transmission and reception within the entire system bandwidth, but only needs to support data transmission and reception within the bandwidth of the BWP.

[0003] In the existing 5G system, each UE is equipped with up to four pairs of BWPs on each carrier. Each pair of BWPs includes an uplink BWP and a downlink BWP. A UE can only have one pair of activated BWPs at a time. The base station can choose to activate different BWPs according to the service changes of different UEs.

[0004] The existing 5G system does not support multicast services. The above-mentioned BWP design is mainly designed for unicast services. With the widespread application of multicast services in the fields of Internet of Things, public safety, autonomous driving, entertainment multimedia, etc., the 5G system may be designed with a dedicated BWP to support multicast services. UEs that support multicast services generally also support unicast services. Accordingly, the UE generally receives or transmits unicast data on a unicast BWP, and receives multicast data on a multicast BWP. Due to the different attributes of unicast and multicast services, an effective way is needed to enable the UE to switch from a unicast BWP to a multicast BWP for data reception, or to enable the UE to switch from a multicast BWP to a unicast BWP for data reception and transmission.

[0005] Therefore, existing systems and methods for BWP configuration in wireless communications are not entirely satisfactory. Summary of the invention

[0006] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve problems associated with one or more problems presented in the prior art, as well as to provide additional features that will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

[0007] In one embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication node is disclosed. The method includes: configuring a first type of bandwidth part (BWP) for the wireless communication device, wherein the first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; configuring at least two second types of BWPs for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two second types of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission with respect to the wireless communication device, respectively; and transmitting indication information about a BWP in the at least two second types of BWPs to the wireless communication device, wherein the indication information indicates a service type that the wireless communication node plans to transmit on the first type of BWP.

[0008] In another embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication node is disclosed. The method includes: configuring a first type of bandwidth part (BWP) for the wireless communication device, wherein the first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; configuring at least two second types of BWPs for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two second types of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission with respect to the wireless communication device, respectively; and transmitting indication information about the first type of BWP to the wireless communication device, wherein the indication information indicates that the service of the wireless communication node on the first type of BWP is terminated.

[0009] In another embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication device is disclosed. The method includes: receiving a configuration of a first type of bandwidth part (BWP) from a wireless communication node, wherein the first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; receiving a configuration of at least two second types of BWPs for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two second types of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission with respect to the wireless communication device, respectively; and receiving indication information about a BWP in the at least two second types of BWPs from the wireless communication node, wherein the indication information indicates a service type that the wireless communication node plans to transmit on the first type of BWP.

[0010] In yet another embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication device is disclosed. The method includes: receiving a configuration of a first type of bandwidth part (BWP) from a wireless communication node, wherein the first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; receiving a configuration of at least two second types of BWPs for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two second types of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission with respect to the wireless communication device, respectively; and receiving indication information about the first type of BWP from the wireless communication node, wherein the indication information indicates that the wireless communication node's service on the first type of BWP is terminated.

[0011] In various embodiments, a wireless communication node configured to perform a method disclosed in a certain embodiment is disclosed.

[0012] In yet another embodiment, a wireless communication device configured to perform the method disclosed in a certain embodiment is disclosed.

[0013] In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing a method disclosed in a certain embodiment is disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the following figures. The accompanying drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and only describe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, the accompanying drawings should not be considered to limit the breadth, scope or applicability of the present disclosure. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of description, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0015] Figure 1 An exemplary communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented.

[0016] Figure 2 A block diagram of a base station (BS) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 3 A flow chart of a method performed by a BS for switching between bandwidth parts according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 4 A block diagram of a user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 5A flow chart of a method performed by a UE for switching between bandwidth parts according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the present disclosure. It is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order and / or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or behaviors in a sample order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0021] A typical wireless communication network includes one or more base stations (commonly referred to as "BS"), each of which provides a geographical radio coverage area, and one or more wireless user equipment terminals (commonly referred to as "UE") that can transmit and receive data within the radio coverage area. The UE can be configured with different types of bandwidth parts (BWP) (e.g., multicast BWP and unicast BWP). The present teachings disclose systems and methods for UEs to efficiently switch from unicast BWP to multicast BWP, and then efficiently switch from multicast BWP to unicast BWP.

[0022] The method disclosed in the present teachings may be implemented in a wireless communication network, wherein a BS and a UE may communicate with each other via a communication link (e.g., via a downlink radio frame from the BS to the UE, or via an uplink radio frame from the UE to the BS). In various embodiments, the BS in the present disclosure may be referred to as a network side, and may include or be implemented as a next generation Node B (gNB), an E-UTRAN Node B (eNB), a transmission / reception point (TRP), an access point (AP), etc.; and the UE in the present disclosure may be referred to as a terminal, and may include or be implemented as a mobile station (MS), a station (STA), etc. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS and the UE may be described herein as non-limiting examples of a "wireless communication node" and a "wireless communication device", respectively, which may implement the method disclosed herein, and may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0023] Figure 1 1 shows an exemplary communication network 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented. Figure 1As shown, an exemplary communication network 100 includes a base station (BS) 101 and a plurality of UEs (UE 1 110, UE 2 120 ... UE3 130), wherein BS 101 can communicate with the UEs according to a wireless protocol. Each UE can be configured with a first type of BWP and at least two second type of BWPs. The first type of BWP is a single BWP that is not paired with another first type of BWP. The at least two second type of BWPs include two BWPs with opposite link directions, an uplink BWP and a downlink BWP. In one embodiment, the first type of BWP is configured for transmission based on broadcast or multicast to the UE; and each second type of BWP is configured for unicast transmission to and from the UE. In one embodiment, the UE can be configured with multiple first type of BWPs and one or more groups of second type of BWPs.

[0024] Figure 2 1 shows a block diagram of a base station (BS) 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. BS 200 is an example of a node or device that can be configured to implement the various methods described herein. Figure 2 As shown, BS 200 includes a housing 240 that contains a system clock 202, a processor 204, a memory 206, a transceiver 210 including a transmitter 212 and a receiver 214, a power module 208, a BWP configurator 220, an indication information generator 222, a feedback analyzer 224, and a BWP activator 226.

[0025] In the present embodiment, system clock 202 provides timing signals to processor 204 for controlling the timing of all operations of BS 200. Processor 204 controls the general operation of BS 200 and may include one or more processing circuits or modules, such as a central processing unit (CPU) and / or a general purpose microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), controller, state machine, gating logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machine, or any combination of any other suitable circuits, devices, and / or structures capable of performing computations or other manipulations of data.

[0026] The memory 206, which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), may provide instructions and data to the processor 204. A portion of the memory 206 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The processor 204 typically performs logic and arithmetic operations based on program instructions stored in the memory 206. The instructions (also known as software) stored in the memory 206 may be executed by the processor 204 to perform the methods described herein. The processor 204 and the memory 206 together form a processing system that stores and executes software. As used herein, "software" refers to any type of instruction, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, etc., which can configure a machine or device to perform one or more desired functions or processes. Instructions may include code (e.g., in source code format, binary code format, executable code format, or any other suitable code format). When executed by one or more processors, the instruction causes the processing system to perform the various functions described herein.

[0027] The transceiver 210 including a transmitter 212 and a receiver 214 allows the BS 200 to transmit data to and receive data from a remote device (e.g., a UE or another BS). The antenna 250 is typically connected to the housing 240 and electrically coupled to the transceiver 210. In various embodiments, the BS 200 includes (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and multiple transceivers. In one embodiment, the antenna 250 is replaced by a multi-antenna array 250, which can form multiple beams, each beam pointing in a different direction. The transmitter 212 can be configured to wirelessly transmit data packets with different data packet types or functions, which are generated by the processor 204. Similarly, the receiver 214 is configured to receive data packets with different data packet types or functions, and the processor 204 is configured to process data packets of multiple different data packet types. For example, the processor 204 can be configured to determine the type of data packet and process the data packet and / or the field of the data packet accordingly.

[0028] In wireless communication, BS 200 can use BWP to transmit data to UE and receive data from UE. In this example, BWP configurator 220 can configure a first type of BWP for UE and configure at least two second type of BWP for UE. The first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to UE; and the at least two second type of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission with respect to UE, respectively. In the first type of BWP and the at least two second type of BWPs, for one link direction, at most one BWP is activated at a time. Each BWP of the first type of BWP and the at least two second type of BWPs is configured with: time-frequency domain location information; control resource set (CORESET); and / or search space. In one embodiment, a single BWP is configured for broadcast or multicast based transmission; and each of the at least two second type of BWPs is configured for unicast transmission.

[0029] In one embodiment, the indication information generator 222 may generate indication information. The indication information indicates the type of service that the BS 200 plans to transmit on a single BWP. The indication information generator 222 then transmits the indication information about the BWP in at least two second-type BWPs to the UE via the transmitter 212. In one example, the indication information may be carried by a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set (CORESET) of the BWP. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a predetermined radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is different from the RNTI used to scramble the CRC of the physical downlink control channel, which is used to schedule services on the BWP. In another example, the indication information is carried by a media access control (MAC) control unit (CE) on a physical downlink shared channel on the BWP based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism. In either example, the indication information may include an RNTI for scrambling the CRC of the physical downlink control channel for the planned transmission of the wireless communication node on a single BWP.

[0030] In one embodiment, the indication information generator 222 may generate indication information. The indication information indicates that the service of the BS 200 on the single BWP is terminated. The indication information generator 222 then transmits the indication information about the single BWP to the UE via the transmitter 212. The indication information may be carried by one of: a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set (CORESET) of the single BWP; and a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) on a physical downlink shared channel on the single BWP. The configuration of the physical downlink shared channel may be indicated by the physical downlink control channel.

[0031] In one example, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is used to scramble the CRC of a physical downlink control channel used to schedule services on a single BWP of multiple UEs associated with BS 200. Each of the multiple UEs can perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on the RNTI. After receiving the indication information about the single BWP, the multiple UEs will switch to their respective second type of BWP.

[0032] In another example, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is a cell RNTI configured for the UE to receive data on a BWP of at least two second types of BWPs. The UE may perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on the cell RNTI, and upon receiving indication information about a single BWP, switch to the BWP according to a predetermined protocol.

[0033] In yet another example, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). The RNTI is selected from a group including a first RNTI and a second RNTI. The first RNTI is used to scramble the CRC of a physical downlink control channel, which is used to schedule services on a single BWP. The second RNTI is a cell RNTI, which is configured for a wireless communication device to receive data on a BWP in at least two second types of BWPs based on a predetermined protocol. The UE can perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on both the first RNTI and the second RNTI.

[0034] The feedback analyzer 224 in this example may receive and analyze feedback from the UE via the receiver 214, the feedback indicating whether the UE will switch to a single BWP to receive data. The UE may decide whether to switch to a single BWP based on at least one selected from the following group: a service type planned for transmission; a status of unicast data communication of the UE; an interest of the UE; a service requirement of the UE; and a service priority regarding the UE. In one embodiment, the feedback analyzer 224 may determine that no feedback regarding the indication information is received from the UE; and determine, based on a predetermined protocol, whether the UE will switch to a single BWP to receive data when no feedback is received. After the feedback analyzer 224 determines that the UE will switch to a single BWP to receive data, the BWP activator 226 in this example may deactivate the BWP in which the UE is currently located and enable the single BWP to be in an activated state after the switching delay.

[0035] Upon receiving the indication information about the single BWP, the UE may switch to a BWP that is one of: the most recent BWP that the UE was in before switching to the single BWP; the initial BWP configured for the UE; and the default BWP configured for the UE. In one embodiment, if the UE receives the indication information and signaling inconsistent with the indication information in the same time slot, the UE may ignore the inconsistent signaling and execute according to the service termination of BS200 on the single BWP.

[0036] The power module 208 may include a power source such as one or more batteries and a power regulator to provide power to the Figure 2 Each of the above modules in provides regulated power. In some embodiments, if BS 200 is coupled to a dedicated external power source (eg, a wall outlet), power module 208 may include a transformer and a power regulator.

[0037] The various modules discussed above are coupled together via bus system 230. Bus system 230 may include a data bus, and in addition to the data bus, may include, for example, a power bus, a control signal bus, and / or a status signal bus. It should be understood that the modules of BS 200 may be operably coupled to each other using any suitable technology and medium.

[0038] although Figure 2 Many separate modules or components are shown in FIG. 1 , but a person skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more modules may be combined or implemented together. For example, the processor 204 may implement not only the functions described above with respect to the processor 204, but may also implement the functions described above with respect to the BWP configurator 220. On the contrary, Figure 2 Each module shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented using multiple individual components or elements.

[0039] Figure 3 According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a BS (eg Figure 2 Flowchart of a method 300 for switching between BWPs performed by a BS 200 in FIG. 1 . At operation 302, the BS configures a BWP of a first type including a single BWP for a UE for downlink transmission to the UE. At operation 304, the BS configures at least two BWPs of a second type for the UE, which include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmission of the UE, respectively. At operation 306, the BS transmits indication information to the UE on a BWP of at least two BWPs of the second type, the indication information indicating a type of service planned to be transmitted on the BWP of the first type. At operation 308, the BS determines whether feedback about the indication information is received from the UE. At operation 310, the BS determines whether the UE will switch to the BWP of the first type based on a predetermined protocol and whether feedback is received. Figure 3 The order of operations shown may be changed according to different embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram of a UE 400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 400 is an example of a device that can be configured to implement the various methods described herein. Figure 4 As shown, UE 400 includes a housing 440, which contains a system clock 402, a processor 404, a memory 406, a transceiver 410 including a transmitter 412 and a receiver 414, a power module 408, a BWP configuration determiner 420, an indication information analyzer 422, a BWP switching determiner 424 and a BWP activator 426.

[0041] In this embodiment, the system clock 402, processor 404, memory 406, transceiver 410, and power module 408 operate in a manner similar to the system clock 202, processor 204, memory 206, transceiver 210, and power module 208 in BS 200. Antenna 450 or multiple antenna array 450 is typically attached to housing 440 and electrically coupled to transceiver 410.

[0042] The BWP configuration determiner 420 in this example may receive a first type of BWP and at least two second type of BWPs from a BS. The first type of BWP includes a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the UE 400; and the at least two second type of BWPs include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmissions with respect to the UE 400, respectively. Among the first type of BWP and the at least two second type of BWPs, at most one BWP is activated in one link direction at a time. Each of the first type of BWP and the at least two second type of BWPs is configured with: time-frequency domain location information; a control resource set (CORESET); and / or a search space. In one embodiment, a single BWP is configured for broadcast or multicast based transmission; and each of the at least two second type of BWPs is configured for unicast transmission.

[0043] The indication information analyzer 422 in this example receives and analyzes indication information about a BWP in at least two second types of BWPs from the BS via the receiver 414. The indication information indicates the type of service that the BS plans to transmit on a single BWP. In one example, the indication information is carried by a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set (CORESET) of the BWP. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a predetermined radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is different from the RNTI used to scramble the CRC of the physical downlink control channel, which is used to schedule services on the BWP. In another example, the indication information is carried by a media access control (MAC) control unit (CE) on a physical downlink shared channel on the BWP based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism. In either example, the indication information may include an RNTI for scrambling the CRC of the physical downlink control channel for the planned transmission of the BS on a single BWP. In one embodiment, the indication information analyzer 422 may receive the indication information and signaling inconsistent with the indication information in the same time slot. In this case, UE 400 may perform according to the service termination of the BS on a single BWP while ignoring inconsistent signaling.

[0044] In one embodiment, the indication information analyzer 422 receives and analyzes indication information about a single BWP from the BS via the receiver 414. The indication information indicates that the BS's service on the single BWP ends. The indication information may be carried by one of the following: a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set (CORESET) of a single BWP; and a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) on a physical downlink shared channel on a single BWP. The configuration of the physical downlink shared channel is indicated by the physical downlink control channel.

[0045] In one embodiment, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is used to scramble the CRC of the physical downlink control channel, which is used to schedule services on a single BWP of multiple UEs associated with the BS. Each of the multiple UEs can perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on the RNTI. After receiving the indication information about the single BWP, the multiple UEs will switch to their respective second type of BWP.

[0046] In another embodiment, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which is a cell RNTI configured for the UE 400 to receive data on a BWP in at least two second-type BWPs. The UE 400 may perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on the cell RNTI. The UE 400 may switch to the BWP according to a predetermined protocol after receiving indication information about a single BWP.

[0047] In yet another embodiment, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) selected from a group including a first RNTI and a second RNTI. The first RNTI is used to scramble the CRC of a physical downlink control channel, which is used to schedule traffic on a single BWP. The second RNTI is a cell RNTI that is configured for the UE 400 to receive data on a BWP in at least two second types of BWPs based on a predetermined protocol. The UE 400 can perform detection on the physical downlink control channel based on both the first RNTI and the second RNTI.

[0048] The BWP switching determiner 424 in this example determines whether to switch to a single BWP based on at least one selected from the following group: a service type planned for transmission; a state of unicast data communication of the UE 400; an interest of the UE 400; a service requirement of the UE 400; and a service priority for the UE. After receiving the indication information about the single BWP, the BWP switching determiner 424 may determine that the UE 400 will switch to a BWP that is one of the following: the most recent BWP that the UE 400 was in before switching to the single BWP; an initial BWP configured for the UE 400; and a default BWP configured for the UE 400.

[0049] The BWP switching determiner 424 in this example can make a decision whether to switch to a single BWP to receive data. In one embodiment, the BWP switching determiner 424 can transmit feedback to the BS via the transmitter 412. The feedback indicates whether the UE 400 will switch to a single BWP to receive data. In another embodiment, the BWP switching determiner 424 can determine that it is not necessary to transmit feedback about the decision based on a predetermined protocol. After the BWP switching determiner 424 determines to switch to a single BWP to receive data, the BWP activator 426 can deactivate the BWP that the UE 400 is currently in, and activate the single BWP after the switching delay.

[0050] The various modules discussed above are coupled together via a bus system 430. The bus system 430 may include a data bus, and in addition to the data bus, may include, for example, a power bus, a control signal bus, and / or a status signal bus. It should be understood that the modules of the UE 400 may be operably coupled to each other using any suitable technology and medium.

[0051] although Figure 4 Many separate modules or components are shown in FIG. 4 , but a person skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more modules may be combined or implemented together. For example, the processor 404 may implement not only the functions described above with respect to the processor 404, but may also implement the functions described above with respect to the BWP configuration determiner 420. On the contrary, Figure 4 Each module shown may be implemented using multiple individual components or elements.

[0052] Figure 5 According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE (eg Figure 4 4. The method 500 for switching between BWPs performed by a UE 400 in FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 500 for switching between BWPs performed by a UE 400 in FIG. 4. At operation 502, the UE receives indication information from the BS, the indication information indicating a service type of a planned transmission on a first type of BWP. At operation 504, the UE determines whether the service type is a default service type for the UE to switch to the first type of BWP without feedback. If so, the process proceeds to operation 506, where the UE switches to the first type of BWP without providing feedback to the BS. Otherwise, the process proceeds to operation 510.

[0053] At operation 510, the UE determines whether to switch to the first type of BWP. If yes, the process proceeds to operation 512, in which the UE transmits feedback to the BS and switches to the first type of BWP. Otherwise, the process proceeds to operation 514, in which the UE transmits feedback to the BS and remains on the current BWP without switching. Figure 5 The order of operations shown may be changed according to different embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0054] Now, different embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Note that the features of the embodiments and examples in the present disclosure can be combined with each other in any way without conflict.

[0055] In the first embodiment, the BS configures a first type of BWP and at least two second type of BWPs for the UE. The at least two second type of BWPs include a downlink BWP and a corresponding uplink BWP. The first type of BWP is a unidirectional BWP, and there is no paired first type of BWP corresponding to the opposite link direction. When a second type of BWP having a link direction opposite to the first type of BWP is activated, the first type of BWP can be paired with the activated second type of BWP. The BWP configuration information includes the frequency domain position of the BWP, the CORESET resources of each first type and second type of BWP, and the search space of the BWP. At the same time, for the link direction, the UE has only one BWP in the activated state. That is, at most one UE's uplink BWP is in the activated state at a time; and at most one UE's downlink BWP is in the activated state at a time.

[0056] The first type of BWP can be used to support the transmission of multicast services. For multicast services, the base station can send the same data to multiple UEs by using one resource on the BWP. When the number of users is relatively large, the base station can achieve very high spectrum efficiency. This can be widely used in the Internet of Things, public safety, autonomous driving, entertainment multimedia and other fields. This type of BWP is called a multicast BWP. The second type of BWP can be used to support traditional unicast services. This type of BWP is called a unicast BWP.

[0057] Without loss of generality, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the UE resides on the second type of BWP, that is, the second type of BWP is in an activated state. The base station can transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on the CORESET of the second type of BWP. The PDCCH carries indication information indicating the type of service planned to be transmitted on the first type of BWP.

[0058] On the UE side, the UE performs detection on the PDCCH. Based on the detected service type indication information, the UE can determine whether to switch to the first type of BWP, and transmit feedback to the base station to indicate whether to switch to the first type of BWP. In this scheme, the UE has relatively large autonomy in determining whether to switch to the first type of BWP. For example, the UE can determine whether to switch to the first type of BWP based on the service type indication information, the current reception or transmission status of its unicast service, the UE's interests, etc. For example, assume that the UE detects the PDCCH while still processing data on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on the second type of BWP. If the data on the second type of BWP is correctly detected, the UE can transmit feedback to the base station to indicate switching to the first type of BWP; if the data on the second type of BWP is not correctly detected, the UE may then transmit feedback to the base station to indicate continuing to stay on the second type of BWP so that the base station can continue to schedule services on the second type of BWP.

[0059] When the UE switches to the first type of BWP, the second type of BWP that the UE is currently in is deactivated, and the first type of BWP becomes active after the BWP switching delay. If the terminal decides to switch to the first type of BWP, the terminal may also stay on the second type of BWP for a period of time before switching to the first type of BWP. Before switching to the first type of BWP, the second type of BWP remains active except for the BWP switching delay.

[0060] In addition, the base station and the UE may also have a predetermined agreement on whether it is necessary to feedback to the base station whether to switch to the first type of BWP. For example, they may agree that feedback to the base station is required only when the UE determines to switch to the first type of BWP. That is, no feedback means that the UE does not switch to the first type of BWP. Alternatively and equivalently, the base station and the UE may also agree that feedback to the base station is required only when the UE determines not to switch to the first type of BWP. That is, no feedback means that the UE will switch to the first type of BWP.

[0061] The base station and the terminal UE may agree in advance that for one or more specified service types transmitted on the first type of BWP, the terminal will switch to the first type of BWP by default after receiving the service type indication information. In this case, the terminal does not need to transmit feedback to the base station to indicate BWP switching.

[0062] For a PDCCH indicating a service type of a first type of BWP and transmitted on a second type of BWP, the PDCCH uses a predetermined RNTI as a mask for the CRC part of the PDCCH. The mask is different from the mask for the CRC part of the PDCCH configured for scheduling services on the second type of BWP.

[0063] The service type indication information carried by the PDCCH may be an RNTI. The RNTI is used as a mask for the CRC part of the PDCCH transmitted on the first type of BWP. If the UE switches to the first type of BWP, the RNTI may be used to detect service data transmitted on the first type of BWP. Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing data processing performed by a terminal according to received indication information indicating a service type on a first type of BWP is shown.

[0064] On the base station side, the base station may select different processing mechanisms based on the determination of whether the UE is to switch to the first type of BWP. The determination may be based on feedback from the UE and / or a predetermined agreement between the base station and the UE. For example, if the UE sends feedback indicating that the UE will not switch to the first type of BWP, the base station may continue to schedule unicast services for the UE on the second type of BWP. In another example, if the UE sends feedback indicating that the UE will switch to the first type of BWP, the base station transmits multicast services on the first type of BWP. When the base station transmits multicast services and determines the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and resource allocation, the base station may consider the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the location of the UE. The base station may determine the MCS and resource allocation based on multiple UEs receiving data on the first type of BWP.

[0065] In this embodiment, the UE can decide whether to switch to the first type of BWP to receive the service based on its own service requirements and service priority. This improves the user experience while reducing the power consumption of the UE. The base station can accurately know whether the UE is on the first type of BWP or the second type of BWP based on feedback from the UE or a predetermined protocol. This avoids ambiguity about where the UE's carrier is, which makes the scheduling strategy suitable for the type of BWP where the UE is located. Therefore, the spectrum efficiency of the system is effectively improved.

[0066] In the second embodiment, the BWP configuration and indication information transmission are similar to those in the first embodiment, except that the indication information indicating the service type to be transmitted on the first type of BWP is carried by the MAC CE on the second type of BWP. In addition, the MAC CE also indicates the residence time information of the UE staying on the first type of BWP. If the base station configures multiple first type BWPs for the UE, the MAC CE may also carry the index information of the multiple first type BWPs. Compared with the first embodiment, the MAC CE in the second embodiment is transmitted in one PDSCH. In addition, HARQ can be performed, which provides higher communication reliability.

[0067] In a third embodiment, switching from a multicast BWP to a unicast BWP is considered. The BS configures a first type of BWP and at least two second type of BWPs for the UE. The at least two second type of BWPs include a downlink BWP and a corresponding uplink BWP. The first type of BWP is a unidirectional BWP, and there is no paired first type of BWP corresponding to the opposite link direction. When a second type of BWP with a link direction opposite to the first type of BWP is activated, the first type of BWP can be paired with the activated second type of BWP. At the same time, for the link direction, the UE has only one BWP in an activated state. That is, at most one UE's uplink BWP is in an activated state at a time; and at most one UE's downlink BWP is in an activated state at a time.

[0068] Without loss of generality, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the UE resides on the first type of BWP, that is, the first type of BWP is in an activated state. The base station can transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on the CORESET of the first type of BWP. The PDCCH carries indication information indicating the end of the service of the first type of BWP.

[0069] In addition, the above PDCCH uses RNTI as a mask for the CRC of the PDCCH. The RNTI can be one of the following two types: a first type of RNTI corresponding to the PDCCH used to schedule services on the first type of BWP; and a second type of RNTI, which is a cell RNTI allocated to the UE by the base station for the second type of BWP.

[0070] The first type of RNTI is associated with a service on a first type of BWP. This type of RNTI is usually shared by multiple UEs. When the base station uses the first type of RNTI, it means that the service associated with the RNTI has ended. The UE receiving the information with the first type of RNTI will switch to its respective second type of BWP. In addition, according to the first embodiment, the RNTI is the same as the RNTI carried by the indication information indicating the service of the first type of BWP and transmitted on the second type of BWP.

[0071] The second type of RNTI can be UE-specific and used for service scheduling of PDSCH or PUSCH on the second type of BWP. Therefore, usually only one UE receives the service end indication information of the first type of BWP. This is very suitable for the following scenario: the service on the first type of BWP has not ended, but the UE needs to switch to the second type of BWP as soon as possible due to the need to receive higher priority services (such as ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) services, etc.).

[0072] In addition, the above-mentioned service end indication information can be carried by the MAC CE on the first type of BWP. The MAC CE is transmitted in the PDSCH. The time-frequency position, MCS, etc. corresponding to the PDSCH are indicated by the PDCCH. The PDCCH can use the RNTI as a mask for the CRC of the PDCCH. The RNTI can be one of the following two types: a first type of RNTI corresponding to the PDCCH used to schedule services on the first type of BWP; and a second type of RNTI, which is a cell RNTI allocated to the UE by the base station for the second type of BWP.

[0073] In addition, the base station may pre-configure the RNTI type related to the service end indication information of the first type of BWP for the UE. There may be three situations. In situation A, the RNTI is configured as the first type of RNTI. In situation B, the RNTI is configured as the second type of RNTI. In situation C, the RNTI is configured as the first type of RNTI or the second type of RNTI.

[0074] For case A, the UE needs to use the first type of RNTI to detect the received PDCCH. For case B, the UE needs to use the second type of RNTI to detect the received PDCCH. For case C, when transmitting the service end indication information of the first type of BWP, the base station can use the first type of RNTI or the second type of RNTI to detect the received PDCCH. For case C, for the UE, the selection of the RNTI type at the base station may be random and unknown. Accordingly, the UE needs to use the first type of RNTI and the second type of RNTI respectively to detect the received PDCCH.

[0075] On the UE side, the UE performs detection on the PDCCH and / or all MAC CEs corresponding to the PDCCH. When the terminal UE detects the service end indication information, it switches to the second type of BWP according to the predetermined protocol between the base station and the UE. The second type of BWP can be one of the following: the latest second type of BWP where the UE resides before switching to the first type of BWP; the initial second type of BWP configured by the base station for the UE; and the default second type of BWP configured by the base station for the UE. Each of the above-mentioned second type of BWPs is one of a pair of BWPs (i.e., a downlink BWP and a corresponding uplink BWP).

[0076] In addition, in the same time slot, if the UE detects the signaling carrying the service end indication and the additional signaling inconsistent with the signaling at the same time, the UE performs processing according to the signaling carrying the service end indication and ignores the additional signaling inconsistent with the signaling. In one example, the signaling carrying the service end indication may be transmitted only to the UE, while the additional signaling is transmitted to multiple UEs including the UE.

[0077] Based on this embodiment, the UE can quickly switch to the second type of BWP when the service of the first type of BWP ends. Therefore, the base station can quickly use the second type of BWP to schedule the UE, which improves resource efficiency. This can also help the UE reduce its power consumption related to unnecessary detection at the first type of BWP.

[0078] Although various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented only by way of example and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict exemplary architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood by these persons that the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary architectures or configurations shown, but may be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0079] It should also be understood that any reference to an element using names such as "first," "second," etc., herein does not generally limit the number or order of these elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements may be used, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0080] In addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols, etc., that may be cited in the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0081] Those of ordinary skill in the art should also understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs or design code combined with instructions (for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies.

[0082] In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above with respect to their functions. Whether this function is implemented as hardware, firmware or software or a combination of these technologies depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. Skilled technicians can implement the described functions in various ways for each specific application, but the decision of this implementation will not lead to deviation from the scope of this disclosure. According to various embodiments, processors, devices, components, circuits, structures, machines, modules, etc. can be configured to perform one or more functions described herein. The term "configured to" or "configured for" used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refers to a processor, device, component, circuit, structure, machine, module, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed and / or arranged to perform a specified operation or function.

[0083] In addition, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may also include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration for performing the functions described herein.

[0084] If implemented in software, these functions can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media include any medium that can transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the required program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0085] In this application, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0086] In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, memory or other memory and communication components may be used. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description describes the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it is apparent that any appropriate functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present disclosure. For example, the functions illustrated as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are merely references to appropriate devices for providing the functions, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0087] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as described in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless communication node, the method comprising: configuring a first type of bandwidth portion (BWP) for a wireless communication device, wherein the first type of BWP comprises a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; configuring at least two BWPs of a second type for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two BWPs of a second type include two BWPs respectively configured for uplink transmission and downlink transmission with respect to the wireless communication device; transmitting indication information to the wireless communication device on a second type of BWP among the at least two second type of BWPs, wherein the indication information indicates a service type of a planned transmission of the wireless communication node on the first type of BWP; and Feedback from the wireless communication device is awaited, wherein the feedback indicates whether the wireless communication device will switch to the first type of BWP to receive data.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Among the BWP of the first type and the at least two BWPs of the second type, at most one BWP is active in one link direction at a time.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first type of BWP and each of the at least two second type of BWPs are configured with at least one selected from the following group: Time-frequency domain location information; Control resource set CORESET) and Search space.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first type of BWP is configured for broadcast or multicast based transmission; as well as Each of the at least two BWPs of the second type is configured for unicast transmission.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The indication information is carried by a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set CORESET of the BWP of the second type; The cyclic redundancy check CRC of the physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a predetermined radio network temporary identifier RNTI; as well as The predetermined RNTI is different from a RNTI used to scramble a CRC of a physical downlink control channel used to schedule traffic on the second type of BWP.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The indication information is carried by a medium access control MAC control element CE on a physical downlink shared channel on the second type of BWP based on a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ mechanism.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The indication information includes an RNTI for scrambling a CRC of a physical downlink control channel for the planned transmission of the wireless communication node on the first type of BWP.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Feedback is received from the wireless communication device.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The wireless communication device makes a decision whether to switch to the first type of BWP based on at least one selected from the following group: The type of service planned to be transmitted; a status of unicast data communications of the wireless communication device; an interest in the wireless communication device; The service requirements of the wireless communication device; and A service priority for the wireless communication device.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining that no feedback regarding the indication information is received from the wireless communication device; as well as A determination is made based on a predetermined protocol whether the wireless communication device will switch to the first type of BWP to receive data.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining that the wireless communication device is to switch to the first type of BWP to receive data; as well as The second type of BWP is deactivated so that the first type of BWP becomes activated after a switching delay.

12. A method performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: receiving, from a wireless communication node, a configuration of a first type of bandwidth portion BWP, wherein the first type of BWP comprises a single BWP configured for downlink transmission to the wireless communication device; receiving a configuration of at least two BWPs of a second type for the wireless communication device, wherein the at least two BWPs of the second type include two BWPs configured for uplink and downlink transmissions, respectively, with respect to the wireless communication device; receiving indication information from the wireless communication node on a second type of BWP among the at least two second type of BWPs, wherein the indication information indicates a service type that the wireless communication node plans to transmit on the first type of BWP; and A determination is made whether to transmit feedback to the wireless communication node, wherein the feedback indicates whether the wireless communication device is to switch to the first type of BWP to receive data.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Among the BWP of the first type and the at least two BWPs of the second type, at most one BWP is active in one link direction at a time.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first type of BWP and each of the at least two second type of BWPs are configured with at least one selected from the following group: Time-frequency domain location information; Control resource set CORESET; and Search space.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein: The first type of BWP is configured for broadcast or multicast based transmission; and Each of the at least two BWPs of the second type is configured for unicast transmission.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein: The indication information is carried by a physical downlink control channel on a control resource set CORESET of the BWP of the second type; The cyclic redundancy check CRC of the physical downlink control channel is scrambled by a predetermined radio network temporary identifier RNTI; as well as The predetermined RNTI is different from a RNTI used to scramble a CRC of a physical downlink control channel used to schedule traffic on the second type of BWP.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein: The indication information is carried by a medium access control MAC control element CE on a physical downlink shared channel on the second type of BWP based on a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ mechanism.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein: The indication information includes an RNTI for scrambling a CRC of a physical downlink control channel for the planned transmission of the wireless communication node on the first type of BWP.

19. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Feedback is transmitted to the wireless communication node.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining whether to switch to the first type of BWP based on at least one selected from the following group: The type of service planned to be transmitted; a status of unicast data communications of the wireless communication device; an interest in the wireless communication device; The service requirements of the wireless communication device; and A service priority for the wireless communication device.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising: making a decision whether to switch to the first type of BWP to receive data; as well as Based on a predetermined protocol, it is determined that no feedback regarding the decision needs to be communicated.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising: Determine to switch to the BWP of the first type to receive data; as well as The second type of BWP is deactivated so that the first type of BWP becomes activated after a switching delay.

23. A wireless communication node comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to read instructions from the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

24. A wireless communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to read instructions from the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 22.

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