Method and apparatus for resource allocation for eMBB / URLLC

Abstract

This application relates to a method and apparatus for resource allocation for EMBB / URLLC in 3GPP 5G technology. A method performed by a base station (BS) for resource allocation includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), signaling indicating unavailable resources on a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a particular type of communication; and transmitting, to the UE, an indicator indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application generally relate to 5G wireless communication technologies in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and more particularly, to techniques for resource allocation for enhanced mobile broadband / ultra reliability low latency communications (EMBB / URLLC). BACKGROUND

[0002] In 3GPP Release 17, 5G New Radio (NR)-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications aim to address new use cases with IoT-type requirements that cannot be met by LTE enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) applications and LTE narrowband (NB)-IoT applications. For example, IoT-type requirements include low complexity, enhanced coverage, long battery life, massive number of devices, higher data rates, and / or lower latency. 3GPP 5G NR-IoT applications aim to meet some of these requirements that cannot be achieved by LTE eMTC applications and LTE NB-IoT applications. In view of this, resource allocation techniques for EMBB / URLLC using in-band NR-IoT are developed. SUMMARY

[0003] Some embodiments of the present application provide a method for wireless communication performed by a base station (BS). The method includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), signaling indicating unavailable resources on a carrier, where the unavailable resources are reserved for a particular type of communication; and transmitting, to the UE, an indicator indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier, where the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources.

[0004] Some embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; receiving circuitry; transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry, and the transmitting circuitry, where the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-mentioned method performed by a BS.

[0005] Some embodiments of the present application provide a method for wireless communication performed by a UE. The method includes receiving, from a BS, signaling indicating unavailable resources on a carrier, where the unavailable resources are reserved for a particular type of communication; and receiving, from the BS, an indicator indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier, where the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources.

[0006] Some embodiments of the application provide an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; receiving circuitry; transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry, and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-referenced method performed by a UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] The description of the application presented herein is made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which is described a particular embodiment of the application. These figures depict only examples of the application and are not limiting in scope.

[0008] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating a wireless communication system is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0009] Figure 2 An exemplary IoT sub-band deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0010] Figure 3 Another exemplary IoT sub-band deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0011] Figure 4 An exemplary physical resource block (PRB) deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0012] Figure 5 A further exemplary IoT sub-band deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0013] Figure 6A An additional exemplary IoT sub-band deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0014] Figure 6B A further exemplary IoT sub-band deployment is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0015] Figure 7 A flow diagram illustrating a method for wireless communication is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0016] Figure 8 Another flow diagram illustrating a method for wireless communication is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application.

[0017] Figure 9 A block diagram illustrating an exemplary apparatus is described in accordance with some embodiments of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The detailed description of the drawings is meant to be a description of the preferred embodiment of the present application and is not meant to represent the only form in which the present application can be practiced. It is understood that the same or equivalent functions can be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present application.

[0019] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, embodiments are provided under a specific network architecture and new service scenarios, such as 3GPP 5G, 3GPP LTE Release 8, etc. It can be considered that all embodiments in the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems as the network architecture and new service scenarios develop; and in addition, the terms listed in the present application can change, which should not affect the principles of the present application.

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present application is shown.

[0021] As shown in Figure 1 Wireless communication system 100 includes at least one user equipment (UE) 101 and at least one base station (BS) 102. In particular, for illustrative purposes, wireless communication system 100 includes three UEs 101 (e.g., UE 101a, UE 101b, and UE 101c) and one BS 102. Although a specific number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in Figure 1 Although a specific number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in

[0022] UE 101 can include a computing device such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a smart television (e.g., a television connected to the Internet), a set-top box, a game console, a security system (including security cameras), a vehicle onboard computer, a network device (e.g., a router, switch, and modem), or the like. According to some embodiments of the present application, UE 101 can include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a device with a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device capable of sending and receiving communication signals on a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present application, UE 101 includes a wearable device such as a smart watch, a fitness band, an optical head-mounted display, or the like. Further, UE 101 can be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile device, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art. UE 101 can communicate directly with BS 102 via uplink (UL) communication signals.

[0023] In some embodiments of the present application, each of the UEs 101 can have deployed IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, the UE 101a can implement IoT applications and can be named as an IoT UE, while the UEs 101b and 101c can implement eMBB applications and / or URLLC applications and can be named as eMBB UEs, URLLC UEs, or eMBB / URLLC UEs. It can be considered that the specific type of applications deployed in the UEs 101 can vary and is not limited.

[0024] The BSs 102 can be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments of the present application, each of the BSs 102 can also be referred to as an access point, an access terminal, a base station, a base station unit, a macrocell, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a gNB, a home NodeB, a relay node, or an appliance, or be described using other terminology understood in the art. The BSs 102 are generally part of a radio access network that can include one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding BSs 102.

[0025] The wireless communication system 100 can be compatible with any type of network capable of sending and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with wireless communication networks, cellular phone networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) based networks, code division multiple access (CDMA) based networks, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) based networks, LTE networks, 3GPP based networks, 3GPP 5G networks, satellite communication networks, high altitude platform networks, and / or other communication networks.

[0026] In some embodiments of the present application, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with 5G NR of the 3GPP protocol, where the BSs 102 transmit data using an OFDM modulation scheme on the DL and the UEs 101 transmit data on the UL using a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) or an OFDM scheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system 100 can implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, such as WiMAX, among other protocols.

[0027] In some embodiments of the present application, the BSs 102 can communicate using other communication protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocols. Also, in some embodiments of the present application, the BSs 102 can communicate over licensed spectrum, while in other embodiments, the BSs 102 can communicate over unlicensed spectrum. The present application is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol. In still other embodiments of the present application, the BSs 102 can communicate with the UEs 101 using 3GPP 5G protocols.

[0028] In 3GPP LTE eMTC protocol, the physical layer channel design is based on 1.4MHz bandwidth, since 1.4MHz is the smallest LTE bandwidth supported. With the smallest bandwidth of 1.4MHz, eMTC devices can greatly reduce the cost and implementation complexity. The 1.4MHz bandwidth includes 6 PRBs, in which LTE primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) are accommodated. Therefore, a UE with 1.4MHz bandwidth capability can access a wideband carrier with bandwidth larger than 1.4MHz. Furthermore, to exploit the frequency diversity gain, a UE with 1.4MHz bandwidth capability can dynamically change its operating bandwidth from one sub-band to another, where each sub-band has a bandwidth of 1.4MHz.

[0029] In 3GPP NR Release 17, the minimum bandwidth is defined as 5MHz. PSS, SSS, and PBCH are designed to occupy 20 resource blocks (RBs) regardless of subcarrier spacing. Therefore, for NR IoT applications, if the minimum bandwidth is less than 5MHz with 15kHz subcarrier spacing, or if the minimum bandwidth is less than 10MHz with 30kHz subcarrier spacing, it is inevitable to redesign the new PSS / SSS / PBCH, which leads to huge standardization effort. Therefore, for 15kHz subcarrier spacing, 5MHz should be the minimum bandwidth for NR IoT applications. In addition, for 30kHz subcarrier spacing, 10MHz should be the minimum bandwidth for NR IoT applications.

[0030] Generally, compared to LTE, NR achieves higher frequency utilization efficiency. In TS 38.101, for each combination of subcarrier spacing and carrier bandwidth for FR1, the maximum number of available resource blocks (RBs) is listed in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101, where the maximum number of available RBs depends on the subcarrier spacing and the carrier bandwidth. For example, as specified in TS 38.101, for 5MHz bandwidth capability with 15kHz subcarrier spacing, the maximum number of available RBs is 25; for 10MHz bandwidth capability with 30kHz subcarrier spacing, the maximum number of available RBs is 24; and for 20MHz bandwidth capability with 15kHz subcarrier spacing, the maximum number of available RBs is 106.

[0031] Nevertheless, guard bands are necessary to avoid interference between adjacent carriers. Table 5.3.3-1 of TS 38.101 further defines equations for calculating the minimum guard band. For example, the minimum guard band for a 5MHz bandwidth capability with 15kHz subcarrier spacing is 242.5kHz; the minimum guard band for a 10MHz bandwidth capability with 30kHz subcarrier spacing is 665kHz; and the minimum guard band for a 20MHz bandwidth capability with 15kHz subcarrier spacing is 452.5kHz.

[0032] There are two guard bands on each side of a 5MHz carrier bandwidth using 25 RBs with 15kHz subcarrier spacing. Since an RB is 180kHz, and for a 15kHz subcarrier spacing and a 5MHz carrier bandwidth, each guard band is at least 242.5kHz, thus at least 2 RBs are needed to accommodate the 242.5kHz guard band. In this sense, 2 RBs are left empty on each side as guard bands. For a 10MHz carrier bandwidth with 30kHz subcarrier spacing, an RB is 360kHz. Thus, a 665kHz guard band is implemented by 2 RBs. Therefore, 2 RBs are left empty as guard bands. When NR IoT is deployed with a 5MHz carrier bandwidth or a 10MHz carrier bandwidth, there are certain RBs left empty on each side of the 5MHz carrier bandwidth or the 10MHz carrier bandwidth as guard bands.

[0033] However, such NR IoT deployment can cause some problems for existing resource allocation for eMBB / URLLC transmission. In NR Release 15, two types of resource allocation indication are specified for frequency domain resource allocation: Type 0 is a bitmap-based indication, where each bit of the bitmap indicates a resource block group (RBG); and Type 1 is an RIV-based indication, which has a contiguous PRB allocation.

[0034] Generally, resource allocation Type 0 supports both contiguous and non-contiguous PRB allocation and has a scheduling granularity per RBG. Resource allocation Type 1 can only support contiguous PRB allocation. In detail, for Type 0 resource allocation, resource block assignment information in downlink control information (DCI) includes a bitmap indicating the RBGs allocated to the scheduled UE, where an RBG is a group of contiguous virtual resource blocks defined by a higher layer parameter rbg-Size configured by PDSCH-Config and the size of the carrier bandwidth part defined in Table 5.1.2.2.1-1 of TS 38.101. For example, Table 5.1.2.2.1-1 specifies that, with respect to bandwidth part size "73-144", configuration 1 is 8 for nominal RBG size P, and configuration 2 is 16 for nominal RBG size P. In other words, if there are 73 to 144 RBs in the bandwidth, one RBG contains 8 RBs for configuration 1 or 16 RBs for configuration 2, respectively.

[0035] Existing NR UEs are very costly in terms of implementation, complexity, and power consumption. For example, an NR UE can need 100 bandwidth for FR1 or 200 MHz bandwidth for FR2, at least 2 Rx antennas or 4 Rx antennas, dynamic time division duplex (TDD), 15 kHz, 30 kHz, or 60 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) for FR1, no always-on signal, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust existing NR features in terms of cost, implementation complexity, and power consumption for NR IoT use cases. In addition, existing NR coverage can not meet the requirements of NR IoT applications. Therefore, coverage enhancement for NR IoT applications is also necessary.

[0036] Basically, a BS can avoid interference between eMBB / URLLC applications and IoT applications on the guard band by not scheduling resource block groups (RBGs) that overlap with the carrier bandwidth of IoT applications. However, this solution can result in resource waste, especially when there are a total of sixteen PRBs within one RBG, but only one PRB within the RBG overlaps with the carrier bandwidth of IoT applications, while the other fifteen PRBs within the same RBG do not overlap with the carrier bandwidth of IoT applications.

[0037] Embodiments of the present application aim to provide solutions for resource allocation of wideband carriers in order to further improve channel utilization efficiency and avoid potential interference between eMBB / URLLC and IoT applications. More details about embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0038] Figure 2 An exemplary IoT sub-band deployment according to some embodiments of the present application is illustrated. Figure 2 Embodiments of the present application deploy NR IoT applications in a wideband carrier within one slot. As illustrated inFigure 2 In some embodiments, a wideband carrier with 20MHz bandwidth in one slot is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, a sub-band 201 with 5MHz bandwidth is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, as in Figure 2 In some embodiments, a wideband carrier with 20MHz bandwidth in one slot is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, a sub-band 201 with 5MHz bandwidth is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, as in

[0039] The synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block is also named SSB or NR SSB. In some embodiments, the SSB can be transmitted using 15 kHz subcarrier spacing and occupies 20 RBs in the frequency domain. When deploying NR IoT applications, one simple approach is to reuse the existing SSB and initial access procedure for IoT UEs so that the IoT UEs can access the channel. Therefore, the IoT UEs should have a minimum 5MHz bandwidth capability with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing or a minimum 10MHz bandwidth capability with 30 kHz subcarrier spacing in order to reuse the existing NR SSB to access the channel without designing a new SSB.

[0040] In some embodiments, a wideband carrier with 20MHz bandwidth in one slot is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, a sub-band 201 with 5MHz bandwidth is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, as in Figure 2 In some embodiments, a wideband carrier with 20MHz bandwidth in one slot is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, a sub-band 201 with 5MHz bandwidth is used for deployment of NR IoT applications, as in

[0041] Reference is made to Figure 2 For the entire 20MHz carrier bandwidth, there are 106 RBs with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, as defined in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101. Correspondingly, the RBG size is 8 in configuration 1 or 16 in configuration 2 according to Table 5.1.2.2.1-1 of TS 38.214. When one RBG contains one or more RBs intentionally left empty as a guard band for the 5MHz carrier bandwidth of NR IoT applications, and the RBG is assigned to an eMBB / URLLC UE, this eMBB / URLLC UE does not know which RBs within the RBG it should not use for UL transmission, or it does not know which RBs around it should assume DL transmission uses rate matching within the RBG. Obviously, interference can be caused between the eMBB / URLLC UE and the IoT UE in the guard band.

[0042] For simplicity, the BS (e.g., as in Figure 1The BS 102 shown in FIG. 1) can avoid this interference by not scheduling RBGs that overlap with the carrier bandwidth of the NR IoT application. However, this can result in resource waste, especially when there is only one PRB of the RBG that overlaps with the IoT carrier bandwidth. For example, for a 20MHz bandwidth of configuration 2, one RBG contains 16 PRBs. If only the topmost or bottommost PRB of the RBG overlaps with the IoT carrier bandwidth, the other 15 PRBs within the RBG are wasted.

[0043] Furthermore, to exploit the frequency diversity gain, the NR IoT can perform frequency hopping in units of the minimum IoT bandwidth (e.g., 5MHz bandwidth). After the initial access procedure, the IoT UE (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1) or the IoT BS (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1) can hop from one 5MHz bandwidth to another 5MHz bandwidth. This frequency hopping is similar to the LTE eMTC application. Such frequency hopping can result in a dynamic guard band in the frequency domain, which makes the interference more variable or dynamic without a solution to avoid the potential interference between the eMBB / URLLC UEs and the IoT UE in the guard band. Figure 1 Figure 1 The BS 102 shown in FIG. 1) can hop from one 5MHz bandwidth to another 5MHz bandwidth. This frequency hopping is similar to the LTE eMTC application. Such frequency hopping can result in a dynamic guard band in the frequency domain, which makes the interference more variable or dynamic without a solution to avoid the potential interference between the eMBB / URLLC UEs and the IoT UE in the guard band.

[0044] Figure 3 Another exemplary IoT sub-band deployment according to some embodiments of the present application is illustrated. Figure 3 Embodiments of the present application provide information to indicate the guard band based on the sub-band for the carrier. Radio resource control (RRC) signaling can be used to configure the sub-band size and the corresponding sub-carrier spacing for the eMBB / URLLC UE. Based on the NR IoT bandwidth, the eMBB / URLLC UE knows how to divide the wideband carrier into sub-bands. Furthermore, based on the NR IoT sub-carrier spacing, the eMBB / URLLC UE knows how many PRBs to reserve on each side of this sub-band as a guard band when using the sub-band to deploy the NR IoT application.

[0045] In some embodiments of the present application, the NR IoT bandwidth is fixed to 5MHz, and the sub-carrier spacing for the NR IoT bandwidth is fixed to 15kHz. In some other embodiments, the NR IoT bandwidth is fixed to 10MHz, and the sub-carrier spacing for the NR IoT bandwidth is fixed to 30kHz. In some additional embodiments, the NR IoT bandwidth can be configured among 2.5MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz, or other bandwidths, and the sub-carrier spacing for the NR IoT bandwidth can be configured among 15kHz, 30kHz, or other values.

[0046] In particular, according to Figure 3 ​In an embodiment, a wideband carrier with a bandwidth of 20 MHz is divided into four subbands, namely subbands 301 to 304, and each subband has a bandwidth equal to the NR IoT bandwidth, namely, 5 MHz. These subbands are used to deploy NR IoT applications, eMBB applications, and / or URLLC applications. For example, subband 303 in time slot 1 and subband 301 in time slot 2 include SS / PBCH blocks for deploying NR IoT applications, such as Figure 3 Each of the subband 303 in time slot 1 and the subband 301 in time slot 2 may be named as an IoT subband or an NR IoT subband. Figure 1 UE 101a) or IoT BS (e.g., Figure 1 BS 102 shown in FIG may hop from subband 303 within time slot 1 to subband 301 within time slot 2.

[0047] In some embodiments of the present application, a new field is introduced in the DCI for indicating to the eMBB / URLLC UE the location of the subband in which the NR IoT application is deployed. For example, the DCI for scheduling PDSCH or the DCI for scheduling PUSCH may include a new field to indicate the location of the subband in which the NR IoT application is deployed. After receiving this DCI, the eMBB / URLLC UE can identify the NR IoT subband location. With this NR IoT subband location, under the predefined subband size and subcarrier spacing, the eMBB / URLLC UE can know the subband that should be used in the NR IoT subband (for example, subband 303 in time slot 1 and subband 301 in time slot 2, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 A specific number of PRBs are reserved as guard bands on each side of the .

[0048] Several embodiments of this application provide details of the signaling used to indicate the NR IoT subband location.

[0049] In some embodiments of the present application, assuming that a wideband carrier contains a total of N subbands, an N-bit bitmap is included in the DL grant or UL grant to indicate the NR IoT subband locations, where each bit in the N-bit bitmap corresponds to one of the N subbands and indicates whether the subband is available for transmission. After receiving this DCI, the eMBB / URLLC UE should derive which subband is used for NR IoT applications.

[0050] Specifically, according to Figure 3 In an embodiment of the present invention, a wideband carrier of 20 MHz bandwidth is divided into four subbands, and thus at least one of a DL grant and an UL grant may include a 4-bit bitmap to indicate the NR IoT subband location. Figure 3After receiving the DCI of this 4-bit bitmap of '0010' in slot 1 corresponding to subbands 301 to 304 within slot 1 as shown in FIG. 3, the eMBB / URLLC UE can derive subband 303 in slot 1 for NR IoT application.

[0051] Similarly, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the DCI of this 4-bit bitmap of '1000' in slot 2 corresponding to subbands 301 to 304 within slot 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the eMBB / URLLC UE can derive subband 303 in slot 2 for NR IoT application. Figure 3 Figure 3 Similarly, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the DCI of this 4-bit bitmap of '1000' in slot 2 corresponding to subbands 301 to 304 within slot 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the eMBB / URLLC UE can derive subband 303 in slot 2 for NR IoT application.

[0052] In some additional embodiments of the disclosure, assuming a wideband carrier contains N subbands in total within one slot, an N-bit bitmap is included in the group common PDCCH to indicate the NR IoT subband location. For example, the DCI format 2 0, DCI format 2 1, or a new group common DCI format can include the N-bit bitmap. After receiving this group common PDCCH, the eMBB / URLLC UE shall derive which subband is used for NR IoT application. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the group common PDCCH can include a 4-bit bitmap corresponding to subbands 301 to 304 in slot 1 or a 4-bit bitmap corresponding to subbands 301 to 304 in slot 2. After receiving the 4-bit bitmap in the group common PDCCH, the eMBB / URLLC UE can derive subband 303 in slot 1 or subband 301 in slot 2 for NR IoT application. Figure 3

[0053] In some further embodiments of the disclosure, assuming only one subband is used for NR IoT application in a given slot on a given carrier, and assuming a wideband carrier contains N subbands in total within one slot, there are N possible locations for the IoT subband. A field with ceil(log2(N)) bits is sufficient to indicate which subband is used for NR IoT application. In some embodiments, this field is included in a specific DCI (e.g., DL grant or UL grant) transmitted to the eMBB / URLLC UE; and in additional embodiments, this field is included in a group common PDCCH (e.g., DCI format 2 0, DCI format 2 1, or a new group common DCI format) transmitted to the eMBB / URLLC UE.

[0054] ​​In some embodiments of the present application, considering that not all slots are used for NR IoT applications, the reserved state of the field indicating the NR IoT subband location in the DL grant or UL grant can be used to indicate that there is no NR IoT subband in a given slot for DL or UL transmission. If the group common PDCCH is used to indicate the NR IoT subband location, the reserved state of the field indicating the NR IoT subband can be used to indicate that there is no NR IoT subband in a given slot, where whether a given slot represents one given slot or multiple given slots depends on the configured group common PDCCH monitoring period.

[0055] Figure 4 An exemplary physical resource block (PRB) deployment according to some embodiments of the present application is illustrated. According to Figure 4 Embodiments, a wideband carrier within one slot is divided into 106 PRBs, i.e., PRB 0 to 105.

[0056] In particular, for 5MHz bandwidth with 15kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs on each side of the NR IoT subband are needed as guard bands; and if the NR IoT application uses only one 5MHz carrier bandwidth in a given slot on the wideband carrier, a total of 29 PRBs (25 PRBs listed in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101 + 4 PRBs in the guard bands) are not available for eMBB / URLLC transmission. For 10MHz bandwidth with 30kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs on each side of the NR IoT subband are also needed as guard bands; and if the NR IoT application uses only one 10MHz bandwidth carrier in a given slot on the wideband carrier, a total of 28 PRBs (24 PRBs listed in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101 + 4 PRBs in the guard bands) are not available for eMBB / URLLC transmission.

[0057] From the perspective of eMBB / URLLC UEs, only the knowledge of which PRBs are not available for eMBB / URLLC transmission is needed. Therefore, the starting PRB index and the specific number of consecutive PRBs are sufficient to indicate the unavailable PRBs. The unavailable PRBs can include the PRBs for IoT transmission and the PRBs in the guard bands, and all the PRBs for IoT transmission and guard bands are consecutive in the frequency domain. Several embodiments of the present application provide details of signaling for indicating the unavailable consecutive PRBs to eMBB / URLLC UEs, as follows.

[0058] In some embodiments of the present application, a new field included in the DCI can be used to indicate the unavailable contiguous PRBs to the eMBB / URLLC UE. For example, an indicator in the DCI is used to indicate the unavailable contiguous PRBs. Specifically, the indicator is included in the DCI for scheduling PDSCH, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH, or the group common PDCCH to indicate the unavailable contiguous PRBs to the eMBB / URLLC UE. The indicator in the DCI can indicate both the starting PRB index of the unavailable contiguous PRBs and the specific number of the unavailable contiguous PRBs. After receiving the indicator in the DCI, the eMBB / URLLC UE can identify the unavailable contiguous PRBs.

[0059] In some embodiments of the present application, the RRC signaling and the DCI are combined to indicate the unavailable contiguous PRBs to the eMBB / URLLC UE. For example, a new field indicating only the starting PRB index of the unavailable contiguous PRBs is included in the DCI, and the RRC signaling is used to configure the eMBB / URLLC UE with the specific number of the unavailable contiguous PRBs. The new field can be included in the DCI for scheduling PDSCH, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH, or the group common PDCCH. For example, this new field in the DCI indicates the starting PRB index of the unavailable contiguous PRBs. This new field in the DCI can indicate the offset from the first PRB of the wideband carrier within one slot.

[0060] More specifically, as shown in Figure 4 PRBs x to PRB x+M-l within PRBs 0 to 105 are deployed for NRIoT applications, i.e., a total of M contiguous PRBs are used by the NR IoT applications. According to the embodiments as described above, a new field in the DCI can indicate the offset from PRB 0 (i.e., x) in the wideband carrier within one slot, or indicate the starting PRB index of the unavailable contiguous PRBs (i.e., PRB x); while the RRC signaling transmits the length from PRB x to PRB x+M-l (i.e., M) to indicate the eMBB / URLLC UE with the specific number of the unavailable contiguous PRBs.

[0061] In some embodiments of the present application, RRC signaling is used to indicate the unavailable contiguous PRBs to eMBB / URLLC UEs. For example, RRC signaling is used to configure the PRB index and the specific number of the starting unavailable contiguous PRBs to eMBB / URLLC UEs. In these embodiments, no field in DCI is needed. Instead, DCI indicates the existence of unavailable PRBs, for example, one bit set to "1" in DCI is used to indicate that the RRC configured unavailable PRBs are unavailable in the scheduled slot, and one bit set to "0" in DCI is used to indicate that the RRC configured unavailable PRBs are available in the scheduled slot. These embodiments are only applicable to the non-frequency hopping case for NR IoT application.

[0062] Figure 5 Further exemplary IoT sub-band deployments according to some embodiments of the present application are illustrated. Figure 5 Embodiments of the present application provide information indicating unavailable PRBs based on a pattern. Similar to Figure 3 Embodiments of the present application, Figure 5 The wideband carrier in embodiments of the present application is divided into more than one sub-band. According to Figure 5 According to embodiments of the present application, 87 PRBs of the wideband carrier are divided into 3 sub-bands, for example, sub-band 1 contains PRBs 501 to 529, sub-band 2 contains PRBs 530 to 558, and sub-band 3 contains PRBs 559 to 587.

[0063] In particular, for 5MHz bandwidth and 15kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs are needed on each side of the NR IoT sub-band as guard bands; and if the NR IoT application uses only one carrier of 5MHz bandwidth on the wideband carrier in a given slot, a total of 29 PRBs (25 PRBs listed in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101 + 4 PRBs in the guard bands) are unavailable for eMBB / URLLC transmission. For 10MHz bandwidth and 30kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs are also needed on each side of the NR IoT sub-band as guard bands; and if the NR IoT application uses only one 10MHz bandwidth carrier on the wideband carrier in a given slot, a total of 28 PRBs (24 PRBs listed in Table 5.3.2-1 of TS 38.101 + 4 PRBs in the guard bands) are unavailable for eMBB / URLLC transmission.

[0064] In some embodiments of the present application, a plurality of patterns are predefined based on possible IoT carrier bandwidth locations, taking into account the frequency hopping of the NR IoT carrier bandwidth from one carrier bandwidth to another. For example, assume that the wideband carrier can be divided into N sub-bands, where each sub-band is equal to one NR IoT carrier bandwidth, and the NR IoT carrier can hop among the N sub-bands.

[0065] In some embodiments of the present application, RRC signaling is used to configure multiple patterns for eMBB / URLLC UEs, and each of the multiple patterns defines subbands reserved specifically for NR IoT applications. Both RRC signaling and / or DCI can be applied in these embodiments. For example, a field in DCI is used to indicate the current NR IoT pattern to eMBB / URLLC UEs. The field can be included in DCI for scheduling PDSCH, DCI for scheduling PUSCH, or group common PDCCH. The field in DCI can be used to indicate the index of the current NR IoT pattern within a predefined pattern. When more than one NR IoT carrier bandwidth is deployed in a wideband carrier, some patterns can be configured to indicate more than one subband reserved specifically for NR IoT applications. The content of each pattern can be further configured by RRC signaling.

[0066] More specifically, in Figure 5 embodiments, the subband for NR IoT applications employs a 5MHz bandwidth with 15kHz subcarrier spacing. As shown in Figure 5 , both subband 2 in slot 1 and subband 1 in slot 2 are used by NR IoT applications. According to embodiments as described above, RRC signaling can configure 3 patterns corresponding to subbands 1 to 3 respectively, where pattern 1 indicates that only subband 1 is reserved for NR IoT, pattern 2 indicates that only subband 2 is reserved for NR IoT, and pattern 3 indicates that only subband 3 is reserved for NR IoT. A field in DCI can include the pattern index to indicate which subband is used for NR IoT applications, for example, the index of pattern 2 indicating subband 2 in slot 1 is reserved for NR IoT, and / or the index of pattern 1 indicating subband 1 in slot 2 is reserved for NR IoT.

[0067] The specific content and way of each pattern within N subbands is described as follows. In some embodiments, each pattern is defined as the starting PRB index and the specific number of contiguous PRBs reserved for NR IoT applications (i.e., contiguous PRBs unavailable for eMBB / URLLC UEs). In some additional embodiments, each pattern is defined as a PRB-based bitmap, where each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one PRB of the carrier, and indicates whether the PRB is available for transmission.

[0068] For example, with respect to the preconfigured patterns corresponding to subbands 1 to 3 in Figure 5 , pattern 2 corresponds to 29 contiguous PRBs of subband 2 in slot 1 (i.e., PRB 530 to PRB 558 as shown in Figure 5 , which are unavailable for eMBB / URLC UEs. Pattern 2 can define the starting PRB index of the contiguous PRBs unavailable in subband 2 (i.e., PRB 530 as shown in Figure 5Mode 2 may also define a length of 29 PRBs (i.e., as shown in FIG5). Figure 5 1) to indicate the specific number of consecutive PRBs (i.e., 29 PRBs) that are unavailable in subband 2. Similarly, mode 1 corresponds to 29 consecutive PRBs (i.e., PRB 501 to PRB 529) of subband 1 in time slot 2, which are unavailable to eMBB / URLLC UEs.

[0069] In some embodiments of the present application, at least one of the predefined patterns is used to indicate that no resources on the carrier are reserved for NR IoT applications in a given timeslot. In other words, all resources are used by eMBB / URLLC applications.

[0070] Figure 6A Additional exemplary IoT subband deployments implementing PRB-based guard band indication according to some embodiments of the present application are described. Figure 6A , the wideband carrier within a time slot is divided into 87 PRBs, namely PRBs 601 to 687, where subband 1 contains PRBs 601 to 629, subband 2 contains PRBs 630 to 658, and subband 3 contains PRBs 659 to 687.

[0071] More specifically, as in Figure 6A As shown in Figure 1, subband 1 is used by NR IoT applications, where PRBs 601 to 629 contained in subband 1 are named as channel bandwidth. Figure 6A The two channel edges are clearly marked in , and two PRBs are reserved on each side of subband 1 as guard bands (i.e., Figure 6A ). PRBs 603 to 627 represent the transmission bandwidth and are used to transmit data for NR IoT applications.

[0072] Figure 6B Further exemplary IoT sub-band deployment according to some embodiments of the present application is described. Figure 6B The embodiment shows Figure 6A According to the embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6B In the embodiment, the wideband carrier within a time slot is divided into 93 PRBs, namely PRBs 601 to 693, where subband 1 includes PRBs 601 to 631, subband 2 includes PRBs 632 to 662, and subband 3 includes PRBs 663 to 693.

[0073] More specifically, as in Figure 6B As shown in FIG, subband 1 is used by NR IoT applications, where PRBs 601 to 631 contained in subband 1 are named as channel bandwidth, and two channel edges are identified.Figure 6B Three PRBs reserved as guard bands on each side of the sub-band 1 (i.e., as shown in PRBs 601-603 and 629-631 and PRBs 604-628 identified as transmission bandwidth for transmitting data for NR IoT applications. Figure 6B

[0074] Figure 6A 6B Embodiments of the present disclosure assume that the NR IoT bandwidth is the minimum bandwidth covering the NR SSB, e.g., 5MHz bandwidth of SSB using 15kHz subcarrier spacing, and does not allow frequency hopping from one 5MHz bandwidth to another 5MHz bandwidth. In some embodiments, the NR IoT carrier is always located in the minimum bandwidth covering the SS / PBCH block for initial access (i.e., cell-defining SSB). In some other embodiments, a frequency offset is needed to indicate the offset between the edge of the wideband carrier and the edge of the reserved for NR IoT sub-band. RRC signaling can be used to indicate this frequency offset. In response to indicating the frequency offset of the NR IoT sub-band to the eMBB / URLLC UE, based on knowing the minimum bandwidth used by the NR IoT sub-band (e.g., 5MHz bandwidth of SSB using 15kHz subcarrier spacing), the eMBB / URLLC UE can know the specific location of the NR IoT sub-band.

[0075] In some embodiments, the RRC signaling indicates the frequency offset between the lowest numbered PRB of the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block and the lowest numbered PRB of the frequency bandwidth reserved for NR IoT applications. After receiving the RRC signaling, the eMBB / URLLC UE can determine the specific location of the sub-band reserved for NR IoT applications.

[0076] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a new field is introduced in the DCI (e.g., DCI for scheduling PDSCH, DCI for scheduling PUSCH, or group common PDCCH) for indicating to the eMBB / URLLC UE the specific number of reserved PRBs for guard bands. For 5MHz bandwidth and 15kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs are needed on each side of the NR IoT sub-band as guard bands. For 10MHz bandwidth and 30kHz subcarrier spacing, two PRBs are also needed on each side of the NR IoT sub-band as guard bands. Therefore, two bits are enough to indicate the specific number of reserved PRBs for guard bands on each side of the NR IoT sub-band.

[0077] ​​For example, "00" in the DCI indicates that no PRBs are reserved in the NR IoT sub-band, and all PRBs assigned for eMBB / URLLC UEs can be used for DL or UL transmission; "01" in the DCI indicates that one PRB is reserved on each side of the NR IoT sub-band; "10" in the DCI indicates that two PRBs are reserved on each side of the NR IoT sub-band; and "11" in the DCI indicates that three PRBs are reserved on each side of the NR IoT sub-band.

[0078] In some embodiments of the present application, the subcarrier spacing of the NR IoT sub-band is indicated to the eMBB / URLLC UEs. In this way, the eMBB / URLLC UEs know the specific number of PRBs reserved as guard band of the NR IoT sub-band. In some other embodiments of the present application, RRC signaling is used to indicate the specific number of PRBs of the unavailable PRBs by RIV.

[0079] In some embodiments of the present application, one bit in the DCI (e.g., the DCI used for scheduling PDSCH, the DCI used for scheduling PUSCH, or group common PDCCH) is used to indicate to the eMBB / URLLC UEs whether the guard band of the NR IoT sub-band exists or not.

[0080] In some embodiments of the present application, for DL transmission, the eMBB / URLLC UEs assume to perform rate matching around the unavailable PRBs, and for UL transmission, the eMBB / URLLC UEs perform rate matching around the unavailable PRBs. Alternatively, it is also feasible that the data on the reserved PRBs is punctured by the eMBB / URLLC UEs. In some embodiments of the present application, for DL transmission, the eMBB / URLLC UEs assume that the data on the unavailable PRBs is punctured; and for UL transmission, the eMBB / URLLC UEs puncture the data on the unavailable PRBs. With all these embodiments, the network resources can be fully reused.

[0081] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating a method for wireless communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present application is shown. In the exemplary method 700 shown in FIG. 7, in operation 701, a BS (e.g., the BS 102 shown in FIG. 1) transmits signaling to a UE (e.g., the UE 101a shown in FIG. 1) indicating unavailable resources on a carrier, where the unavailable resources are reserved for a particular type of communication. In one example, the particular type of communication is machine type communication (MTC). Figure 7 Figure 1 In the exemplary method 700 shown in FIG. 7, in operation 702, the BS (e.g., the BS 102 shown in FIG. 1) transmits data to the UE (e.g., the UE 101a shown in FIG. 1) on the carrier, where the data is transmitted on the available resources of the carrier. Figure 1

[0082] ​​In operation 702, the BS transmits an indicator to a UE indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on a carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of unavailable resources.

[0083] For example, according to Figure 7 In an embodiment, the gNB transmits signaling to the eMBB / URLLC UE indicating that one subband is an unavailable resource on the carrier. The subband is reserved for NR IoT applications. Furthermore, the gNB transmits an indicator to the eMBB / URLLC UE indicating allocated resources for data transmission on the carrier. The allocated resources for the eMBB / URLLC UE have one or more PRBs that overlap with the subband. Therefore, the gNB can transmit data to the eMBB / URLLC UE on the remaining resources.

[0084] More specifically, in one example, the gNB transmits a DCI to an eMBB / URLLC UE indicating that one subband is an unavailable resource on the carrier. The subband is reserved for NR IoT applications. Furthermore, the gNB transmits an indicator to the eMBB / URLLC UE indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier. The allocated resources for the eMBB / URLLC UE have one or more PRBs that overlap with the subband. Therefore, the gNB can receive data from the eMBB / URLLC UE on the remaining resources.

[0085] In some embodiments of the present application, in exemplary method 700, the BS further receives data on the remainder of the allocated resources excluding at least a portion of the unavailable resources from the UE.

[0086] In some embodiments of the present application, in exemplary method 700, the BS further transmits data on the remainder of the allocated resources excluding at least a portion of the unavailable resources to the UE.

[0087] In some embodiments of the present application, in exemplary method 700, the BS further transmits RRC signaling for configuring the bandwidth and subcarrier spacing of the subband to the UE.

[0088] The details described in all the above embodiments of this application (e.g., how to allocate resources for broadband carriers, how to improve channel utilization efficiency, and how to avoid potential interference between eMBB / URLLC and IoT applications) are applicable to the following embodiments: Figure 7 The embodiment shown in .

[0089] Figure 8 Another flow chart illustrating a method for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present application. Figure 8 In the exemplary method 800 shown in FIG. 8 , in operation 801, a UE (e.g., Figure 11a) from a BS (e.g., Figure 1 1. The BS 102 shown in FIG. 1 receives signaling indicating unavailable resources on a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a specific type of communication. In one example, the specific type of communication is MTC.

[0090] In operation 802, the UE receives an indicator indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on a carrier from a BS, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of unavailable resources.

[0091] For example, according to Figure 8 In an embodiment, an eMBB / URLLC UE receives signaling from the gNB indicating that a subband is an unavailable resource on a carrier. The subband is reserved for NR IoT applications. Furthermore, the eMBB / URLLC UE receives an indicator from the gNB indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier. The allocated resources for the eMBB / URLLC UE have one or more PRBs that overlap with the subband. Therefore, the eMBB / URLLC UE can receive data from the gNB on the remaining resources.

[0092] More specifically, in one example, an eMBB / URLLC UE receives DCI from the gNB indicating that one subband is an unavailable resource on a carrier. The subband is reserved for NR IoT applications. Furthermore, the eMBB / URLLC UE receives an indicator from the gNB indicating allocated resources for transmitting data on the carrier. The allocated resources for the eMBB / URLLC UE have one or more PRBs that overlap with the subband. Therefore, the eMBB / URLLC UE can transmit data to the gNB on the remaining resources.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present application, in exemplary method 800, the UE further transmits data on the remainder of the allocated resources excluding at least a portion of the unavailable resources to the BS.

[0094] In some embodiments of the present application, in exemplary method 800, the UE further receives data on the remainder of the allocated resources excluding at least a portion of the unavailable resources from the BS.

[0095] In some embodiments of the present application, in the exemplary method 800, the UE further receives RRC signaling for configuring the bandwidth and subcarrier spacing of the subband from the BS.

[0096] The details described in all the above embodiments of this application (e.g., how to allocate resources for broadband carriers, how to improve channel utilization efficiency, and how to avoid potential interference between eMBB / URLLC and IoT applications) are applicable to the following embodiments: Figure 8 The embodiment shown in .

[0097] Figure 9 A block diagram illustrating an exemplary apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application. Figure 9 , apparatus 900 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium 908, receive circuitry 902, transmit circuitry 904, and a processor 906. Processor 906 is coupled to non-transitory computer-readable medium 908, receive circuitry 902, and transmit circuitry 904.

[0098] For simplicity, consider Figure 9 In some embodiments, receive circuitry 902 and transmit circuitry 904 may be integrated into a single component (eg, a transceiver).

[0099] In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium 908 may store thereon computer-executable instructions for causing the processor to implement the operations related to the UE as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions may be executed to cause the processor 906 to control the receiving circuit system 902 and the transmitting circuit system 904 to perform operations related to the UE, such as Figures 1 to 8 Description and instructions.

[0100] In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium 908 may store thereon computer-executable instructions for causing the processor to implement the operations related to the BS as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions may be executed to cause the processor 906 to control the receiving circuit system 902 and the transmitting circuit system 904 to perform operations related to the BS, such as Figures 1 to 8 Description and instructions.

[0101] The methods of the present application can be implemented on a programmed processor. However, the controller, flow charts, and modules can also be implemented on a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit components, an integrated circuit, a hardware electronic or logic circuit (such as a discrete element circuit), a programmable logic device, or the like. In general, any device on which a finite state machine capable of implementing the flow charts shown in the figures resides can be used to implement the processor functions of the present application.

[0102] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the steps of the methods described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps of the methods can reside as one or any combination or set of codes and / or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which can be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0103] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous substitutions, modifications and changes to the embodiments described can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. For example, the various components of the embodiments can be interchanged, added, or removed in other embodiments. In addition, not all of the elements of each figure are essential for operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, those of ordinary skill in the art of the disclosed embodiments will be able to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

[0104] In this document, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by "a" or "an" does not, without further constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus including the recited element. Additionally, the term "another" is defined as at least a second or more. The terms "including", "having", and the like, as used herein, are defined as "comprising".

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), signaling indicating unavailable resources associated with a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a type of wireless communication; and transmitting, to the UE, an indicator indicating allocated resources for data transmission on the carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources, wherein the carrier is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands, each sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands has a same bandwidth and a same subcarrier spacing, the signaling includes a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a respective sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands and indicates whether the respective sub-band is available.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling is at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling or downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is at least one of a DCI scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: the signaling includes an index, and the index corresponds to a corresponding sub-band reserved for the type of wireless communication; or the signaling includes a status to indicate each of the plurality of sub-bands is available.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, RRC signaling to configure a bandwidth and a subcarrier spacing of a sub-band, wherein a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) reserved on each side of the sub-band reserved for the type of wireless communication as a guard band is based on the bandwidth and the subcarrier spacing.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling indicates a set of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) associated with the carrier as unavailable.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein: the signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) and indicates a starting PRB index and a number of PRBs in the set of contiguous PRBs; the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates a number of PRBs in the set of contiguous PRBs, and the signaling further includes the DCI and further indicates a starting PRB index of the number of PRBs of the set of contiguous PRBs; the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates both a starting PRB index and a number of PRBs of the set of contiguous PRBs; or the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates a frequency offset between a lowest PRB of a synchronization signal and / or physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block and a lowest PRB of a frequency bandwidth reserved for the type of wireless communication.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the signaling indicates a resource reservation pattern from a set of preconfigured resource reservation patterns.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: each of the set of preconfigured resource reservation patterns defines a starting PRB index and a number of contiguous PRBs reserved for the type of wireless communication; each of the set of preconfigured resource reservation patterns defines a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one PRB of the carrier and indicates whether the PRB is available or unavailable for transmission; or at least one resource reservation pattern of the set of preconfigured resource reservation patterns indicates that no resources are reserved for the type of wireless communication in a given time slot on the carrier.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates a frequency offset between an edge of the carrier and an edge of a frequency bandwidth reserved for the type of wireless communication.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the signaling further includes DCI to indicate a number of reserved PRBs in a guard band of the frequency bandwidth; or the signaling further includes one bit in DCI to indicate whether a guard band exists for the type of wireless communication.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the unavailable resources include a minimum bandwidth that covers a synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block for initial access.

12. A base station comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), signaling indicating unavailable resources associated with a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a type of wireless communication; and transmit, to the UE, an indicator indicating allocated resources for data transmission on the carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources, wherein the carrier is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands each having a same bandwidth and a same subcarrier spacing, the signaling includes a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a respective sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands and indicates whether the respective sub-band is available.

13. A user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a base station, signaling indicating unavailable resources associated with a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a type of wireless communication; and receive, from the base station, an indicator indicating allocated resources for data transmission on the carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources, wherein the carrier is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands each having a same bandwidth and a same subcarrier spacing, the signaling includes a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a respective sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands and indicates whether the respective sub-band is available.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the signaling is at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling or downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is at least one of a DCI scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

15. The UE of claim 13, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, RRC signaling to configure a bandwidth and a subcarrier spacing of a subband.

16. The UE of claim 13, wherein the signaling indicates that a set of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) associated with the carrier are unavailable or indicates a resource reservation pattern from a set of preconfigured resource reservation patterns.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates a frequency offset between an edge of the carrier and an edge of a frequency bandwidth reserved for the type of communication.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling and indicates a frequency offset between a lowest PRB of a synchronization signal and / or physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block and a lowest PRB of a frequency bandwidth reserved for the type of wireless communication.

19. A method at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, signaling indicating unavailable resources associated with a carrier, wherein the unavailable resources are reserved for a type of wireless communication; and receiving, from the base station, an indicator indicating allocated resources for data transmission on the carrier, wherein the allocated resources include at least a portion of the unavailable resources, wherein the carrier is divided into a plurality of subbands, each subband of the plurality of subbands having a same bandwidth and a same subcarrier spacing, the signaling includes a bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a respective subband of the plurality of subbands and indicates whether the respective subband is available.

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