Monitoring the Physical Downlink Control Channel

Abstract

To monitor a physical downlink control channel, a wireless device is configured with at least one configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the configuration defining a minimum monitoring period, a control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set, the minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, and the control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to wireless communication and, in particular, to monitoring a physical downlink control channel. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are constantly evolving. One example is the use of a spectrum above 52.6 GHz, such as the 70 / 80 / 92 - 114 GHz band. The spectrum above 52.6 GHz has different properties from the spectrum with an upper limit of 52.6 GHz, and these different properties need to be considered, for example, when monitoring a physical downlink control channel. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought by various embodiments of the present invention is defined by the independent claims. Embodiments, examples, and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims will be construed as examples useful for understanding the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0004] According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing the following operations: receiving, from a network node, a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a first set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the first set of control resources; and performing downlink control channel monitoring periodically with a first monitoring periodicity by monitoring one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the first monitoring period according to the received first configuration, the first monitoring periodicity being N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer.

[0005] In one embodiment, the means is further configured to: receive a second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a second set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the second set of control resources; and performing downlink control channel monitoring periodically with a second monitoring periodicity by monitoring one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the second monitoring period according to the received second configuration, the second monitoring periodicity being M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer.

[0006] In one embodiment, the second minimum monitoring period includes the same amount of time slots as the first minimum monitoring period.

[0007] In one embodiment, the first set of control resources occupies a different number of symbols from the second set of control resources.

[0008] In one embodiment, the component is further configured to perform downlink control channel monitoring in a second monitoring period using the same demodulation reference signal sequence that is used to perform downlink control channel monitoring in a first monitoring period.

[0009] In one embodiment, the first set of control resources and the second set of control resources at least partially overlap in time, and the component is further configured to perform downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimate or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

[0010] In one embodiment, the search space defines one or more monitoring occasions that have an occurrence periodicity with respect to a corresponding minimum monitoring period, and the occurrence periodicity defines how many minimum monitoring periods the corresponding monitoring period includes.

[0011] In one embodiment, the component is further configured to perform: detecting, in one or more symbols being monitored, resources allocated to the device, the resources including one or more symbols within a corresponding minimum monitoring period; receiving data in the resources in response to the allocated resources being downlink resources; and transmitting data in the resources in response to the allocated resources being uplink resources.

[0012] In one embodiment, the component is further configured to perform data mapping to resources based on information received in one or more symbols being monitored and based on the size of the corresponding set of control resources.

[0013] In one embodiment, in the received configuration, one or more time slots at the start of a corresponding minimum monitoring period are followed by one or more time slots that are not occupied by the set of control resources in the corresponding minimum monitoring period.

[0014] On the other hand, a device is provided, including components for performing the following operations: determining a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a first control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set; transmitting the first configuration in a cell provided by the device to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity, the first monitoring periodicity being N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; scheduling transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in which no symbols are occupied by the first control resource set within the first minimum monitoring period; and transmitting information indicating the resources within one or more symbols according to the first configuration.

[0015] In one embodiment, the components are further configured to perform: determining at least one second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a second control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the second control resource set; transmitting the second configuration in the cell to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity, the second monitoring periodicity being M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer; scheduling transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in which no symbols are occupied by the second control resource set within the second minimum monitoring period; and transmitting information indicating the resources within one or more symbols according to the second configuration.

[0016] In one embodiment, the components are further configured to determine which of the first and second configurations to use based on the aggregation level and / or beam width used.

[0017] In one embodiment, the first control resource set provides one of single time slot scheduling per transport block and repeated transport block scheduling, where in single time slot scheduling per transport block, a transport block is mapped to a single transport block, and / or multiple transport blocks are mapped to multiple time slots, and each transport block is transmitted in a single time slot, and where in repeated transport block scheduling, a single transport block for each spatial layer is mapped to multiple time slots, and one transport block is transmitted in each of the multiple time slots.

[0018] In one embodiment, a first set of control resources provides one of single-slot scheduling per transmission block and repeated transmission block scheduling, and a second set of control resources provides the other of single-slot scheduling per transmission block and repeated transmission block scheduling, wherein in single-slot scheduling per transmission block, a transmission block is mapped to a single transmission block, and / or multiple transmission blocks are mapped to multiple time slots, and each transmission block is transmitted in a single time slot, and wherein in repeated transmission block scheduling, a single transmission block of each spatial layer is mapped to multiple time slots, and one transmission block is transmitted in each of the multiple time slots.

[0019] In one embodiment, the component is further configured to support one or more subcarrier spacings including 240 kHz and above 240 kHz.

[0020] In one embodiment, the component includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to cause the execution of the device together with the at least one processor.

[0021] On the other hand, a method is provided, including configuring a device with at least one configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, wherein the configuration defines a minimum monitoring period including multiple time slots, a set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the set of control resources.

[0022] In one embodiment, the method further includes configuring the device by receiving at least one configuration in the device; performing downlink control channel monitoring periodically with a monitoring periodicity that is N times the minimum monitoring period by monitoring one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the monitoring period according to the configuration, where N is a positive integer.

[0023] In one embodiment, the method further includes detecting resources allocated to the device in the one or more monitored symbols, the resources including one or more symbols not occupied by the set of control resources within the minimum monitoring period; receiving data in the resources in response to the allocated resources being downlink resources; and transmitting data in the resources in response to the allocated resources being uplink resources.

[0024] In one embodiment, the minimum monitoring period includes one or more time slots not occupied by the set of control resources after one or more time slots at the start.

[0025] In one embodiment, the method further includes: determining, by a second device providing a cell, at least one configuration; configuring, by transmitting, by the second device, at least one configuration in the cell, the device for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a monitoring periodicity that is N times a minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; scheduling, by the second device, a transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in which no symbols are occupied by a control resource set within the minimum monitoring period; and transmitting, within one or more symbols, information indicating the resources according to the at least one configuration.

[0026] One aspect provides a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and including computer program code readable by a computing device, wherein the computer program code configures the computing device to execute a computer process including the steps of: configuring the computing device with at least one configuration received for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the configuration defining a minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set; and monitoring, according to the received configuration, one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a monitoring periodicity that is N times the minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer.

[0027] Another aspect provides a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and including computer program code readable by a computing device, wherein the computer program code configures the computing device to execute a computer process including the steps of: determining at least one configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the configuration defining a minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, a control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set; causing a configuration to be transmitted in a cell provided by the computing device to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a monitoring periodicity that is N times the minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; scheduling a transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in which no symbols are occupied by the control resource set within the minimum monitoring period; and causing information indicating the resources to be transmitted within one or more symbols according to the configuration.

[0028] One aspect provides a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform: configuring the computing device with at least one configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the configuration defining a minimum monitoring period comprising a plurality of time slots, a set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the set of control resources; and performing downlink control channel monitoring periodically with a monitoring periodicity that is N times the minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer, by monitoring one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period according to the received configuration.

[0029] Another aspect provides a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a computing device configured to provide a cell, cause the computing device to perform: determining at least one configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the configuration defining a minimum monitoring period comprising a plurality of time slots, a set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resources; causing the configuration to be transmitted in the cell to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a monitoring periodicity that is N times the minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; scheduling transmissions by allocating resources at least from one or more of the time slots in which no symbol is occupied by the set of control resources within the minimum monitoring period; and transmitting information indicating the resources within one or more symbols according to the configuration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Embodiments are described below by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0031] Figure 1 an exemplary wireless communication system is illustrated;

[0032] Figures 2 to 4 an example of a configuration is illustrated;

[0033] Figures 5 to 9 an exemplary process is illustrated; and

[0034] Figure 10 and Figure 11 are schematic block diagrams. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The following embodiments are examples. Although the specification may refer to "one", "a", or "some" embodiments in several places, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference refers to the same (multiple) embodiment, or that the feature applies only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments can also be combined to provide other embodiments. Additionally, the words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consisting only of the features that have been mentioned, and such embodiments may also include features / structures not specifically mentioned.

[0036] The embodiments and examples described herein can be implemented in any communication system including (multiple) wireless connections. Hereinafter, a radio access architecture based on New Radio (NR, 5G) or Advanced Long Term Evolution (Advanced LTE, LTE-A) will be used as an example of an access architecture to which the embodiments can be applied to describe different exemplary embodiments. However, the embodiments are not limited to such an architecture. For those skilled in the art, by appropriately adjusting parameters and processes, the embodiments can also be applied to other types of communication networks with suitable components. Some examples of suitable systems for other options are Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Radio Access Network (UTRAN or E-UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE, the same as E-UTRA), beyond 5G, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN or WiFi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Personal Communication Service (PCS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), systems using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET), and Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) or any combination thereof.

[0037] Figure 1 An example of a simplified system architecture is depicted, showing only some elements and functional entities, which are all logical units and whose implementation may differ from what is shown. Figure 1 The connections shown in are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the system generally also includes other functions and structures in addition to Figure 1 the functions and structures shown in.

[0038] However, the embodiments are not limited to the systems given as examples, but those skilled in the art can apply the solutions to other communication systems that provide the necessary attributes.

[0039] Figure 1 The example of shows a part of an exemplary radio access network.

[0040] Figure 1User equipments 101 and 101' are shown, which are configured to make a wireless connection with an access node (such as an (e / g)Node B) 102 that provides a cell on one or more communication channels in the cell. The physical link from the user equipment to the (e / g)Node B is called the uplink or reverse link, and the physical link from the (e / g)Node B to the user equipment is called the downlink or forward link. It should be understood that the (e / g)Node B or its functionality can be implemented by any entity such as a node, host, server, or access point (AP) suitable for this purpose.

[0041] The communication system 100 generally includes more than one (e / g)Node B. In this case, the (e / g)Node B can also be configured to communicate with each other via a wired or wireless link designed for this purpose. These links can be used for signaling purposes. The (e / g)Node B is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the communication system to which it is coupled. The Node B can also be referred to as a base station, access point, or any other type of interface device, including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. The (e / g)Node B includes or is coupled to a transceiver. A connection is provided from the transceiver of the (e / g)Node B to an antenna unit, which establishes a two-way radio link with the user equipment. The antenna unit can include multiple antennas or antenna elements. The (e / g)Node B is further connected to the core network 105 (CN or Next Generation Core NGC). Depending on the system, the corresponding entity on the CN side can be a Serving Gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity of the user equipment (UE) to an external packet data network, or a Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.

[0042] The user equipment (also referred to as UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, etc.) illustrates a type of device to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and thus, any feature described herein can be implemented with a corresponding device (such as a relay node) together with the user equipment. An example of such a relay node is a Layer 3 relay (self-backhaul relay) facing the base station.

[0043] A user equipment generally refers to a portable computing device, which includes a wireless mobile communication device that operates with or without a subscriber identity module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of wireless devices: mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular phone, device using a wireless modem (such as an alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and / or touchscreen computer, tablet computer, game console, laptop and multimedia device. It should be understood that the user equipment can also be an almost exclusively uplink-only device, an example of which is a camera or video camera that uploads images or video clips to the network. The user equipment can also be a device capable of operating in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, in which scenario objects are provided with the ability to transmit data over the network without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The user equipment can also utilize the cloud. In some applications, the user equipment can include small portable devices with radio components (such as watches, headphones or glasses), and the computing is performed in the cloud. The user equipment (or in some embodiments, a relay node, such as the mobile terminal (MT) part of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node) is configured to perform one or more user equipment functions. To name just a few, the user equipment can also be referred to as a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal or user equipment (UE).

[0044] The various technologies described herein can also be applied to cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of collaborative computing elements that control physical entities). CPS can enable the implementation and utilization of a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processor microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems (where the physical systems under discussion have inherent mobility) are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic products carried by humans or animals.

[0045] In addition, although the device has been described as a single entity, different units, processors and / or memory units can be implemented ( Figure 1 not all shown in

[0046] 5G supports the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, far more base stations or nodes (the so-called small cell concept) than LTE, or corresponding network devices, including macro sites that cooperate with smaller base stations and employ various radio technologies, depending on service requirements, use cases, and / or available spectrum. 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing, and various forms of machine type applications (such as (massive) machine type communication (mMTC), including vehicle safety, different sensors, and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6 GHz, centimeter wave, and millimeter wave, and can also be integrated with existing traditional radio access technologies (such as LTE). At least in the early stage, the integration with LTE can be implemented as a system where macro coverage is provided by LTE and the 5G radio interface accesses from small cells aggregated to LTE. In other words, 5G plans to support both inter-RAT interoperability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI interoperability (inter-radio interface interoperability, such as below 6 GHz - centimeter wave, below 6 GHz - centimeter wave - millimeter wave). One of the concepts considered in 5G networks is network slicing, where multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) can be created in the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0047] The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. Low-latency applications and services in 5G require bringing content closer to the radio, resulting in local breakout and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analysis and knowledge generation to occur at the data source. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to the network, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content closer to cellular users to accelerate response times. Edge computing encompasses a wide range of technologies, such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data collection, mobile signature analysis, collaborative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networks, and processing that can also be classified as local cloud / fog computing and grid / grid computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, self-healing autonomous networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and / or latency-critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analysis, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0048] The communication system can also communicate with other networks such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet 106, or utilize the services provided by them. The communication network may also be able to support the use of cloud services. For example, at least a part of the core network operations can be performed as cloud services (which is depicted by the "cloud" 107 in Figure 1 ). The communication system may also include a central control entity, etc., to provide facilities for the networks of different operators to cooperate, for example, in spectrum sharing.

[0049] The edge cloud can be brought into the radio access network (RAN) by leveraging network function virtualization (NVF) and software-defined network (SDN). Using the edge cloud may mean that the access node operations are performed at least partly in a server, host, or node coupled to the operation of a remote radio head or a base station including a radio part. The node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes, or hosts. The application of the cloud RAN architecture enables the RAN real-time functions to be performed on the RAN side (in the distributed unit DU 102) and the non-real-time functions to be performed in a centralized manner (in the centralized unit CU 104).

[0050] It should also be understood that the distribution of the labor force between the core network operations and the base station operations may be different from that of LTE, or even non-existent. Some other technological advancements that can be used are big data and all-IP, which may change the way the network is built and managed. The 5G (or new radio, NR) network is designed to support multiple hierarchies, where the MEC server can be placed between the core and the base station or node B (gNB). It should be understood that MEC can also be applied to the 4G network.

[0051] 5G can also utilize satellite communication to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G services - for example, by providing backhaul. Possible use cases include providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or passengers in vehicles, or ensuring the service availability of critical communications and future railway / maritime / aviation communications. Satellite communication can utilize the geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite system or the low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system, especially the mega constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). Each satellite 103 in the mega constellation can cover several network entities of enabled satellites that create a ground cell. The ground cell can be created by a ground relay node 102 or by a gNB located on the ground or in a satellite.

[0052] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the depicted system is merely an example of a part of a radio access system, and in practice, the system may include multiple (e / g) Node Bs, user equipment may access multiple radio cells and the system may also include other devices, such as relay nodes, for example, the distributed unit (DU) part of one or more IAB nodes, or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e / g) Node Bs may alternatively be a home (e / g) Node B. Additionally, in the geographical area of a radio communication system, multiple different types of radio cells and multiple radio cells may be provided. The radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells), which are large cells, typically having a diameter of up to several tens of kilometers, or they may be smaller cells, such as micro cells, femto cells or pico cells. Figure 1 The (e / g) Node Bs may provide any of these types of cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multi-layer network including multiple types of cells. Typically, in a multi-layer network, one access node provides one or more cells of one type, so multiple (e / g) Node Bs are required to provide such a network structure.

[0053] To meet the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of "plug-and-play" (e / g) Node Bs has been introduced. Generally, a network capable of using "plug-and-play" (e / g) Node Bs, in addition to the home (e / g) Node B (H(e / g) Node B), also includes a home Node B gateway or HNB-GW ( Figure 1 not shown in the figure). The HNB gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within the operator's network, may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to the core network.

[0054] New Radio up to 52.6 GHz supports a bandwidth part (BWP) size of up to 275 physical resource blocks (PRBs). This means a maximum size of 792 MHz (12 subcarriers / PRB x 275 PRBs x 240 kHz / subcarrier). In the system, for New Radio supporting spectrum above 52.6 GHz (such as the 70 / 80 / 92 - 114 GHz band) or a beyond 5G system, the channel bandwidth may be much higher, for example, up to 10 GHz. Additionally, the phase noise will also increase. To overcome the phase noise and provide a higher bandwidth, the subcarrier spacing must be increased. This means that subcarrier spacings above 240 kHz should be supported. However, based on the extension of New Radio above 52.6 GHz, when the subcarrier spacing increases and the scheduling flexibility of the user equipment is not restricted, the physical downlink control channel monitoring increases the power consumption of the user equipment. One way to minimize the power consumption is to use a physical downlink control channel configuration that minimizes the power consumption required for monitoring in the user equipment.

[0055] Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrates an example of such a configuration for the physical downlink control channel. The disclosed configuration principle supports subcarrier spacings of 240 kHz and above 240 kHz, such as 480 kHz (= 2 5 x 15 kHz), 960 kHz (= 2 6 x 15 kHz), and other 2 μ x 15 kHz, where μ is a parameter known as a transmission parameter, and μ ≥ 4 is a candidate value for above 52.6 GHz, but they can be used with any subcarrier spacing. The illustrated physical downlink control channel configuration, or simply configuration, does not change the concept of the control resource set and the associated search space, but instead introduces new parameters and locations for the control resource set using principles different from those used by the new radio up to 52.6 GHz, as explained below. As is well known, the control resource set defines the frequency-domain and time-domain resources for the physical downlink control channel, and the search space defines which downlink control information (DCI) formats and when the user equipment monitors. In addition, each search space is associated with a control resource set, and several search spaces can be associated with a control resource set. In other words, the search space defines the monitoring opportunity in the control resource set associated with the search space. The frequency-domain and time-domain resources defined in the control resource set define the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) / single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) symbols and physical resource blocks (PRBs), which can be used for one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set.

[0056] Figure 2 illustrates an example configuration using a structure with 8 time slots, i.e., 0.125 ms with a 960 kHz subcarrier spacing. Figure 2 Also illustrates how the example configuration is mapped to the time slot grid. It should be understood that Figure 2 the principles disclosed in Figure 3 can also be implemented into any other number of time slots, as depicted in the example of Figure 2 The advantages of the examples disclosed in

[0057] include: they provide a 1 / 8 physical downlink control channel monitoring frequency in the time domain. In addition, the disclosed examples maintain generality with the radio frame structure defined for the new radio up to 52.6 GHz. Figure 2, the new parameter is the minimum monitoring period 201, which is referred to as Period A in this text and includes multiple time slots on the time slot grid 202. Period A is used in different configurations 203, 204 to define the minimum physical downlink control channel monitoring period. In addition, Period A is divided into two parts in time: the start part is followed by the part referred to as the minimum scheduling unit in this text. The start part includes one or more time slots, at least part of which is reserved for the control resource set (occupied by it). At least part means that the control resource set can only occupy part of the resources, that is, one or more symbols, in a time slot, thereby allowing the physical downlink shared channel data to be transmitted in the resources (symbols) not occupied by the control resource set in the start part. The minimum scheduling unit in time includes one or more remaining time slots in Period A, where no resources are reserved for the control resource set, and the time slots in the minimum scheduling unit are used for data transmission.

[0058] The minimum physical downlink control channel monitoring period 201, that is, Period A, is the same for Figure 2 the two configurations. The control resource sets 203-1, 204-1 are defined by control channel elements (CCEs) 205 and are labeled by running numbers in configurations 203, 204. More precisely, control channel elements 0 to 3 form control resource set 203-1, and control channel elements 0 to 7 form control resource set 203-2.

[0059] The minimum scheduling units 203-2, 204-2 in time are defined by "transmission elements" 206, which are located in the time slots of Period A that are not reserved for control channel elements and are labeled by the letter B and a running number in configurations 203, 204.

[0060] In Figure 2 the illustrated example, the control channel element 205 includes a physical downlink control channel demodulation reference signal (PDCCH DMRS) 205a and a physical downlink control channel downlink control information (PDCCH DCI) 205b. The "transmission element" 206, that is, the time slot not reserved for the control channel element (control resource set), includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) 206a and a channel 206b. The channel 206b is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). It should be understood that the illustrated element structure only discloses an example of how the content can be arranged in the element, and any other way can be used to arrange the content. For example, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) 206a can be located in the middle of the channel 206b.

[0061] As can be seen from the example, control channel elements 0 to 3 or 0 to 7 are located at the start of period A. In other words, the control resource set is located at the start of period A, and one or more search spaces associated with corresponding monitoring occasions are located at the start of every x-th period A. In other words, the search space definition defines the monitoring occasion periodicity, i.e., the monitoring occasions with reference to period A. For example, depending on the search space definition, the monitoring occasions may occur in every period A, or every other period A, or every three periods A, or every four periods A, etc. This will enable smooth pipelining at the user equipment. In addition, this minimizes unnecessary buffering of fast Fourier transform (FFT) samples at the user equipment.

[0062] Both of the illustrated configurations 203, 204 associate the physical downlink control channel configuration with the number of time slots (transmission elements) per space layer per scheduling unit in time, from B0 to B6 or B0 to B5. This balances the physical downlink control channel coverage with the physical downlink shared channel coverage, the physical uplink shared channel coverage, and the physical uplink control channel coverage.

[0063] A single downlink control information message is used to indicate scheduling information to the user equipment. The mapping of transport blocks to transmission elements may follow the information given in the control resource set detected during monitoring, or the mapping of transport blocks may follow a predefined mapping. This mapping will be described in more detail below.

[0064] The physical downlink control channel configuration 203 is for control resource set A. The control resource set A 203 and its (multiple) search spaces are associated with a single transport block per time slot per space layer, without transport block repetition. In other words, the associated time slots B0, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6 in the physical downlink control channel configuration 203 of control resource set A do not repeat the content or transport blocks in another time slot, and they can be freely scheduled. This single time slot scheduling per transport block can be achieved by mapping a single transport block to a single time slot and / or by mapping multiple transport blocks to multiple time slots, where the transport block is transmitted only within one time slot, and each transport block is transmitted in one time slot. For example, control channel element 0 may schedule a transport block to time slot B0 for a first user equipment, and control channel element 1 may schedule a transport block to time slot B1 for a second user equipment. Thus, the physical downlink control channel configuration 203 provides an example of single transport block scheduling, where each physical downlink control channel schedules one time slot and one transmission block. The scheduling delay for different time slots can be indicated using the existing cross-time slot scheduling framework for up to 52.6 GHz spectrum (especially the parameter time slot offset in the cross-time slot scheduling framework). (The parameter time slot offset may be denoted as K for PDSCH) 0, K for PUSCH 2 and K for PUCCH 1 ). As another example, control channel elements 0 and 1 can schedule transport blocks for a first user equipment to time slots B0, B1, B2, B3, and B4, and control channel element 3 can schedule transport blocks for a second user equipment to time slots B5 and B6. In other words, control resource set A provides an example of multi-transport block scheduling, where multiple transport blocks are mapped to multiple time slots, and each transport block is transmitted in a single time slot. Multi-transport block scheduling allows minimizing the length of the control resource set because less downlink control information needs to be signaled. Since it is possible to schedule multiple transport blocks and time slots for a user equipment with a single downlink control information message instead of separate downlink control information messages for each transport block and time slot, some fields common to all downlink control information messages, such as the identifier of the user equipment and the cyclic redundancy check, are avoided. This reduces the length of the control resource set and the total amount of associated downlink control information, thereby reducing the physical downlink control channel overhead. For example, as a predefined mapping, a user equipment can be configured such that control resource set A implies single-transport scheduling or multi-transport scheduling, which is signaled by control resource set A.

[0065] Physical downlink control channel configuration 204 is for control resource set B. Control resource set B 204 and its (multiple) search spaces are associated with the repetition of transport blocks over multiple time slots, where a single transport block layer of each space is mapped to multiple time slots. In other words, control channel elements 0 to 7 schedule time slots B0, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 to transmit the same transport block (from / to the same user equipment). It should be understood that even in the repeated transport block scheduling, time slots B0 to B5 may contain at least partially different coded bits of the same transport block. For example, different redundancy versions of the same transport block may be transmitted on different time slots B0 to B5. Alternatively, time slots B0 to B5 may contain different numbers of resource elements available for transport block transmission. Accordingly, different rate matching or puncturing may be applied in different time slots B0 to B5, resulting in at least partially different coded bits of the same transport block being transmitted in different time slots.

[0066] Figure 2The configurations 203, 204 illustrated therein are aligned at least in the time domain, have the same demodulation reference signal sequence and the same precoder granularity, and the control resource sets at least partially overlap. When the user equipment is configured with the two illustrated configurations, or two or more configurations overlap correspondingly, the user equipment can use the same channel estimation or the same demodulation reference signal sequence when performing physical downlink control channel monitoring from two or more search spaces. This minimizes the channel estimation burden at the user equipment. For non-overlapping configurations, the user equipment can use the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

[0067] Reference Figure 3 , additional examples of possible configurations are illustrated. Two of the configurations have the same period A 301 as the example in Figure 2 . Compared with the example in Figure 2 , one of the configurations has a longer control resource set 301-1 and a shorter minimum scheduling unit 301-2 in time, while the other configuration illustrates that the control resource set 301-3 can only partially occupy a time slot. In this case, the first transmission element B0' has fewer resources in the time domain than the consecutive transmission elements B1 to B7, and the minimum scheduling unit 301-4 can also include a part of the time slot in the time domain. One of the configurations has a longer period A 302 than any other illustrated example, has the same control resource set 302-1 as the configuration 204 in Figure 2 , and a longer minimum scheduling unit 302-2 in time than any other illustrated example. Scheduling can follow the single time slot per transmission block scheduling principle with the control resource set A ( Figure 2 the configuration 203 in), or the repeated transmission block scheduling principle with the control resource set B ( Figure 2 the configuration 204 in), or it can be a hybrid block scheduling, where a part of the time slots can be scheduled using the repeated transmission block scheduling principle, while other time slots can be scheduled using the single time slot per transmission block scheduling principle. For example, the time slots B0 - B3 can be scheduled for the transmission of the same transmission block to / from the same user equipment, while the time slots B4 - B7 can be scheduled for the transmission of different transmission blocks to / from (multiple) user equipment.

[0068] Based on the example, it is obvious that the period A (minimum monitoring period), the number and aggregation level of control channel elements forming the control resource set can each be determined as independent parameters, and the transport block mapping is either predefined or defined by the control resource set. The predefined transport block mapping can follow a preset rule. For example, the rule can be that if in the time domain, the symbol length occupied by the control resource set is equal to a specific part of the period A, the mapping follows the repeated transport block scheduling principle. The specific part can be given as a parameter and can be referred to as the size of the control resource set (for the single time slot scheduling principle for each transport block, or for the repeated transport block scheduling principle). Another rule can be that if in the time domain, the symbol length occupied by the control resource set is less than a specific part of the period A, the mapping follows the single time slot scheduling principle for each transport block. For example, the specific part can be one quarter of the period A, as illustrated in 204-1 of Figure 2 Another rule can be that when the user equipment is configured with two or more different configurations, the mapping of the configuration with the largest control resource set in the time domain follows the repeated transport block scheduling principle. In other words, the mapping is based on the size of the control resource set. Another rule can be that when the user equipment is configured with two or more different configurations, the mapping of the configuration with the smallest control resource set in the time domain follows the single time slot scheduling principle for each transport block. In other words, the mapping is based on the size of the control resource set and the information received in the monitoring symbols, such as indicated by the downlink control information. It is obvious from the non-limiting examples of the rules that mapping rules can be defined and applied that depend at least in part on one or more control resource sets. It should be understood that more parameters and / or parameter values can be provided than those disclosed above, such as parameters for configurable physical downlink control channel duration, to convey information about or related to the configuration.

[0069] Figure 2 and Figure 3 The different control resource sets in the configurations illustrated in

[0070] Figure 4 and other corresponding configurations can be separated or not separated in the frequency domain. When separated in the frequency domain, the physical downlink control channel downlink control information (PDCCH DCI) 205b in different configurations is transmitted from different transmission and reception points (TRPs), or from the same transmission and reception point, depending on the technical implementation of the transmission and reception point. When multiple transmission and reception points are used, the physical downlink control channels from different transmission and reception points can be transmitted to the user equipment in parallel. This in turn increases the pipelining processing capacity.

[0070] Figure 4 illustrates having Figure 2The difference between the configuration 204 of the control resource set B 204 illustrated in the figure and the configuration 401 of a control resource set with the same number of control channel elements. However, in configuration 401, the control resource set is used for solutions above 52.6 GHz (to maintain the physical downlink control channel coverage above 52.6 GHz), and its scaling principle is the same as that used in new radio up to 52.6 GHz to support different subcarrier spacing values. As can be seen, the control resource set 404-1 in configuration 401 is spread over each time slot, which means that physical downlink control channel monitoring should be performed at the beginning of each time slot, i.e., more frequently in time than in configuration 204 (where monitoring is performed at the beginning of every x-th period A). The more frequently the monitoring is performed in time, the higher the power consumption in the user equipment and the more data that needs to be buffered. In addition, configuration 401 does not have time slots in which resources (no symbols) are not reserved for the control resource set, while the control resource set B 204 has six such time slots. In other words, the minimum scheduling unit in configuration 401 is less than one time slot, while in the control resource set B 204, the minimum scheduling unit is six time slots.

[0071] Figures 5 to 7 Illustrates different functionalities of a user equipment. The user equipment can be configured to implement functionalities at frequencies above 52.6 GHz. Figure 5 Describes how to configure one or more physical downlink configurations for a user equipment. Figure 6 Illustrates an example where the user equipment includes one configuration, such as Figure 2 One of the configurations 203 and 204 illustrated in the figure, (or a configuration with a different period A, not time-aligned), and Figure 7 Is an example where the user equipment includes two or more configurations that have the same period A and are time-aligned in the time domain, such as Figure 2 The configurations 203 and 204 illustrated in the figure.

[0072] Refer to Figure 5 In, at block 501, the user equipment receives a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration. This configuration can be a common configuration received during initial access, or a dedicated configuration received when the user equipment enters the radio resource control (RRC) connected state, or an update to an earlier received configuration. In the dedicated configuration, one or more dedicated search spaces associated with the control resource set are defined for the user equipment, which can be the same or different from those in the common configuration.

[0073] In response to receiving the configuration, at block 502, the user equipment determines the monitoring periodicity, which is N times the period A, where N is a positive integer indicated by the occurrence periodicity in the search space definition. (As used above with Figure 2As described, the search space definition defines one or more monitoring opportunities and corresponding occurrence periodicities. In other words, N can be 1, 2, 3, etc. By determining the monitoring periodicity using a period longer than the minimum monitoring period, monitoring can occur at a lower frequency in the time domain, thus saving the power resources of the user equipment. However, it should be understood that in an implementation where the monitoring occurrence periodicity is always the same as the periodicity of period A, block 502 can be omitted. In an implementation where the monitoring periodicity will be the same as the periodicity of period A regardless of the occurrence periodicity, block 502 can also be omitted.

[0074] Then at block 503, the user equipment updates its physical downlink control channel configuration to the received configuration and follows the most recently received configuration.

[0075] Naturally, if the embodiment supports the user equipment to maintain information about two or more physical downlink control channel configurations, one or more of them can be received at block 501 and updated accordingly at block 502.

[0076] Reference Figure 6 , at block 600, the user equipment has received a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration. (The user equipment performs the process described above in conjunction with Figure 5 .)

[0077] When the start of period A is detected at block 601, the user equipment monitors for the start of the period according to the received physical downlink control channel configuration at block 602. For example, if the monitoring periodicity is period A, the user equipment monitors the monitoring opportunity in the (multiple) first time slots to detect whether the downlink control information is scheduling uplink (UL) resources (block 603) or downlink (DL) resources (block 604) to the user equipment. If the monitoring periodicity is x times period A, where x is 2, 3, 4, etc., the user equipment monitors the monitoring opportunity in the (multiple) first time slots of every x period A to detect whether the downlink control information is scheduling uplink (UL) resources (block 603) or downlink (DL) resources (block 604).

[0078] If uplink resources are scheduled (block 603: yes), then at block 605, the user equipment transmits data according to the transport block mapping in the physical downlink control channel configuration and the resources indicated in the downlink control information. For example, if configuration 204 in Figure 2 is used, each of time slots B0 to B5 includes the same data slice. If configuration 203 in Figure 2 is used, it depends on the allocated resources which time slots or sub - slots are used for transmission, but the time slots contain different data slices.

[0079] If downlink resources are scheduled (block 604: Yes), then at block 606, the user equipment receives data according to the transport block mapping in the physical downlink control channel configuration and the resources indicated in the downlink control information. For example, if configuration 204 in Figure 2 is used, the user equipment receives the same data slice in time slots B0 to B5. If configuration 203 in Figure 2 is used, it depends on the allocated resources which time slots or sub - slots are used to receive data, but the time slots contain different data segments.

[0080] If there are no uplink resources (block 603: No) and no downlink resources (block 604: No), then the user equipment waits until it detects the start of cycle A again at block 601.

[0081] If the user equipment is configured to monitor the physical downlink control channel in parallel according to two or more configurations, the user equipment can perform the functionality described above for each such configuration in parallel.

[0082] Refer to Figure 7 , the user equipment has received two or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configurations at block 700, for example to be used for frequencies above 52.6 GHz. (The user equipment performs the process described above in block 700 in conjunction with Figure 5 .) Additionally, assume that the configurations have the same cycle A and are aligned in the time domain.

[0083] When the start of period A is detected in block 701, the user equipment determines in block 702 which one of two or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configurations to use, or both are used. This decision can be based on the aggregation level known to the user equipment. For example, if the aggregation level is 4, the user equipment can use configuration 203, and if the aggregation level is 8, the user equipment can use configuration 204. The user equipment monitors the corresponding monitoring occasion at the start of the period according to the determined physical downlink control channel configuration(s) in block 703. For example, if the monitoring periodicity is period A and the determined configuration is configuration 203, the user equipment monitors the monitoring occasion in the first slot(s) to detect whether the downlink control information schedules an uplink (UL) resource (block 704) or a downlink (DL) resource (block 705) for the user equipment. If the monitoring periodicity is x times period A, where x is 2, 3, 4, etc., and the determined configuration is configuration 203, the user equipment monitors the monitoring occasion in the first slot(s) of every x periods of A to detect whether the downlink control information schedules an uplink (UL) resource (block 704) or a downlink (DL) resource (block 705) for the user equipment. If the monitoring periodicity is x times period A and the determined configuration is configuration 204, the user equipment monitors the monitoring occasion in the first two slots of every x periods of A to detect whether the downlink control information schedules an uplink (UL) resource (block 704) or a downlink (DL) resource (block 705) for the user equipment. If the monitoring periodicity is period A and the determined configuration is configuration 204, the user equipment monitors the monitoring occasion in the first two slots of each period of A to detect whether the downlink control information schedules an uplink (UL) resource (block 704) or a downlink (DL) resource (block 705) for the user equipment.

[0084] If an uplink resource is scheduled (block 704: yes), then in block 706, the user equipment transmits data according to the transport block mapping in the physical downlink control channel configuration and the resources indicated in the downlink control information. For example, if configuration 204 in Figure 2 is used, then each of slots B0 to B5 includes the same data slice. If configuration 203 in Figure 2 is used, it depends on the allocated resources which slots or sub-slots are used for transmission, but the slots contain different data slices.

[0085] If a downlink resource is scheduled (block 705: yes), then in block 707, the user equipment receives data according to the transport block mapping in the physical downlink control channel configuration and the resources indicated in the downlink control information. For example, if configuration 204 in Figure 2 is used, the user equipment receives the same data slice in slots B0 to B5. IfFigure 2 For configuration 203 in [reference], it depends on the allocated resources which time slots or sub - slots are used for receiving data, but the blocks contain different data slices.

[0086] If there is no uplink resource (box 704: No) and no downlink resource (box 705: No), the user equipment waits until it detects the start of cycle A again in box 701.

[0087] The user equipment is configured with the physical downlink control channel configuration by a base station, which is commonly referred to as a gNB in New Radio, or by a corresponding network node.

[0088] Reference Figure 8 , the base station determines the physical downlink control channel configuration in box 801. This configuration can be a common configuration or a user - equipment - specific configuration. In addition, the base station can be configured to consider the aggregation level and / or beamforming when determining the physical downlink control channel.

[0089] The aggregation level indicates how many control resource elements are used to transmit one downlink control information. For example, using the configuration in Figure 2 , configuration 203 can be used for aggregation levels up to and including four, while configuration 204 can be used for aggregation level 8.

[0090] Regarding beamforming, for example, the wider the beam, the more effective the beam sweeping over the cell area, at least in terms of the time resources used. However, a wider beam has a lower signal - to - noise ratio due to the lower beam gain. Higher aggregation levels provided by configuration 204 (control resource set B) in Figure 2 and repetition of the physical downlink control channel can be used to compensate for the lower signal - to - noise ratio. The base station may be configured for a common control resource set, scheduling and transmitting the remaining minimum system information (RMSI), wide beams and control resource set B, and narrow beams and control resource set A for user - equipment - specific control resource sets. (Using wide beams means fewer beams covering the cell area, so RMSI required for initial access of all served user equipment can be transmitted in a faster way compared to using narrow beams.) In another example, using the configuration in Figure 2 , the base station can be configured to use configuration 203 with beams having a width below a threshold and configuration 204 with beams having a width above the threshold.

[0091] Once the configuration has been determined, transmission of the configuration is caused in box 802 to configure at least one user equipment (radio device) for periodic downlink control channel monitoring in the cell provided by the base station.

[0092] The configuration used also affects resource allocation. In Figure 9 In the example of Figure 9 , the concept of a maximum scheduling unit is used. It includes a time slot or a partial time slot in a minimum scheduling unit and in one or more time slots having symbols occupied by a set of controlled resources, where those symbols are not occupied by the set of controlled resources and / or by the (one or more) physical downlink control channels transmitted by the base station.

[0093] Referring to Figure 9 In block 901, the base station, according to the configuration, i.e., from the maximum scheduling unit defined by the configuration, uses the principle disclosed above with reference to 2 to allocate resources for uplink and / or downlink data, and in block 902 indicates the resources allocated at the start of cycle A, which includes the allocated resources. Naturally, the base station uses the allocated resources to transmit or receive data in block 903.

[0094] As described above through Figures 2 to 9 The blocks, related functions, and information exchanges described do not have an absolute time sequence, and some of them can be executed simultaneously or in an order different from the given order. Other functions can also be executed between them or within them, and other information can be transmitted, and / or other rules can be applied. Some blocks or partial blocks or one or more pieces of information can also be omitted or replaced with corresponding blocks or parts of blocks or one or more pieces of information.

[0095] Figure 10 and Figure 11 illustrate apparatuses, which include communication controllers 1010, 1110 (such as at least one processor or processing circuitry) and at least one memory 1020, 1120 including computer program code (software, algorithms) ALG 1021, 1121, where at least one memory and the computer program code (software, algorithms) are configured to, together with at least one processor, cause the corresponding apparatuses to perform any one of the above-described embodiments, examples, and implementations. Figure 10 illustrates an apparatus for a user equipment, and Figure 11 illustrates an apparatus for a network node (base station). Figure 10 and Figure 11 The apparatuses of Figure 10 and Figure 11 can be electronic devices.

[0096] Referring to Figure 10 and Figure 11, memories 1020 and 1120 can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The memories may include configuration storage means CONF 1021 and 1121, such as a configuration database, for storing at least one or more configurations and / or corresponding parameters / parameter values for physical downlink control channel monitoring and / or (multiple) predefined transport block mappings. Memories 1020 and 1120 may also store data buffers for data awaiting processing (including transmission).

[0097] Reference Figure 10 , apparatus 1000 may further include a communication interface 1030, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing communication connectivity according to one or more radio communication protocols. The communication interface 1030 may provide the apparatus with the ability to communicate wirelessly with one or more base stations (access nodes) of a wireless network. In an embodiment / example / implementation, the communication interface 1030 includes one or more antenna arrays, which provide the apparatus with the ability to form directional transmission radio beams and receive radio beams above 52.6 GHz. The communication interface may include well-known standard analog radio components, such as amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, and circuitry, conversion circuitry for converting signals between the analog domain and the digital domain, and one or more antennas. Digital signal processing regarding the transmission and reception of signals may be performed in the communication controller 1010.

[0098] Apparatus 1000 may further include an application processor 1040, which executes one or more computer program applications that generate the need to transmit and / or receive data via a base station. The application processor may form the application layer of the apparatus. The application processor may execute computer programs that form the main functions of the apparatus. For example, if the apparatus is a sensor device, the application processor may execute one or more signal processing applications to process measurement data obtained from one or more sensor heads. If the apparatus is a computer system of a vehicle, the application processor may execute media applications and / or autonomous driving and navigation applications.

[0099] The communication controller 1010 may include a monitoring circuit system MON 1011 configured to perform physical downlink control channel monitoring of a device according to any of the above embodiments / examples / implementations. The communication controller 1010 may further include a scheduling circuit system SCHED 1012 configured to detect resources allocated to the device for transmitting or receiving data and perform mapping accordingly. The communication controller 1010 may control the monitoring circuit system 1011 to receive a configuration, store the configuration, detect the start of a monitoring occasion, and control the scheduling circuit system 1012 to transmit or receive. The scheduling circuit system 1012 may control the communication interface 1030 to transmit or receive data.

[0100] Reference Figure 11 , the apparatus for a base station includes a communication interface 1130, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing communication connectivity according to one or more radio communication protocols. The communication interface 1130 may provide a device with communication capabilities to user equipment (terminal devices) residing in one or more cells controlled by the base station. In one embodiment, the communication interface may include one or more antenna arrays, which provide the device with the ability to form directional transmission radio beams and reception radio beams above 52.6 GHz. The communication interface may include well-known standard components such as amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, (de)modulators, and encoder / decoder circuits, and one or more antennas.

[0101] The communication controller 1110 includes a radio controller circuit system CON 1111 configured to control the functions of (a plurality of) terminal devices connected to an access node. For example, the radio controller circuit system may configure the terminal devices to perform physical downlink control channel monitoring according to any of the above embodiments / examples / implementations. When a resource request for data is received from a user equipment, the resource allocation circuit system RES 1112 may be triggered. The radio controller circuit system 1111 may pass the reserved resources to the user equipment via the communication interface 1130.

[0102] In one embodiment, Figure 11 at least some of the functionality of the apparatus may be shared between two physically separate devices, forming an operating entity. Thus, the apparatus may be regarded as depicting an operating entity including one or more physically separate devices for performing at least some of the processes described with respect to the base station.

[0103] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" means all of the following: (a) an implementation in pure hardware circuitry, such as an implementation in only analog and / or digital circuitry, and (b) a combination of circuitry and software (and / or firmware), such as, if applicable: (i) a combination of (one or more) processors or (ii) a portion / software of (one or more) processors, including (one or more) digital signal processors, (c) circuitry that requires software or firmware to operate, such as (one or more) microprocessors or a portion of (one or more) microprocessors, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of the term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" will also cover an implementation of only a processor (or processors) or a portion of a processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular element, the term "circuitry" will also cover a baseband integrated circuit or an application processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

[0104] In one embodiment, at least some of the processes described in conjunction with Figures 2 to 9 can be performed by a device including corresponding components for performing at least some of the processes. The device can include separate components for separate stages of a process, or a component can perform multiple stages or the entire process. Some example components for performing a process can include at least one of the following: a detector, a processor (including dual-core and multi-core processors), a digital signal processor, a controller, a receiver, a transmitter, an encoder, a decoder, a memory, a RAM, a ROM, software, firmware, a display, a user interface, display circuitry, user interface circuitry, user interface software, display software, circuitry, an antenna, antenna circuitry, and circuitry. In one embodiment, at least one processor, a memory, and computer program code form a processing component or include one or more portions of computer program code for performing one or more operations in accordance with any one of the embodiments / examples / implementations described herein.

[0105] According to yet another embodiment, a device for performing an embodiment includes circuitry that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. When activated, the circuitry causes the device to perform at least some of the functionality or its operations in accordance with Figures 2 to 9 any one of the embodiments / examples / implementations of

[0106] The techniques and methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the (multiple) apparatuses of the embodiments can be implemented within the following apparatuses: one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be performed by modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) of at least one chipset that execute the functions described herein. The software code can be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor. The memory unit can be implemented within the processor or outside the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means known in the art. Additionally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the components of the systems (apparatuses) described herein can be rearranged and / or supplemented by additional components to facilitate the implementation of the various aspects described thereof, etc., and they are not limited to the exact configurations set forth in a given drawing.

[0107] The described embodiments / examples / implementations can also be executed in the form of a computer process defined by a computer program or a part thereof. In conjunction with Figures 4 to 9 Embodiments of the described methods can be executed by performing at least a part of a computer program that includes corresponding instructions. The computer program can be in source code form, object code form, or some intermediate form, and it can be stored in some carrier, which can be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. For example, the computer program can be stored on a computer program distribution medium readable by a computer or a processor. For example, the computer program medium can be, for example, but not limited to, a recording medium, a computer memory, a read-only memory, an electrical carrier signal, a telecommunication signal, and a software distribution package. For example, the computer program medium can be a non-transitory medium. The coding of the software for executing the illustrated and described embodiments is entirely within the scope of those of ordinary skill in the art. In one embodiment, the computer-readable medium includes the described computer program.

[0108] Although the present invention has been described above by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited thereto, but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate the embodiments rather than limit the embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that with the progress of technology, the concept of the present invention can be implemented in various ways. In addition, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments can, but do not have to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

Claims

1. A device for communication, comprising components for performing the following operations: Receiving a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring from a network node, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period, a first control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the first control resource set, the first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the first control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period; Periodically performing downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of a first monitoring period according to the received first configuration, the first monitoring periodicity being N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; Receiving a second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period, a second control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the second control resource set, the second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the second control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period; And Periodically performing downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of a second monitoring period according to the received second configuration, the second monitoring periodicity being M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer, wherein the first control resource set and the second control resource set at least partially overlap in time, and the components are further configured to perform the downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimation or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second minimum monitoring period includes the same amount of time slots as the first minimum monitoring period.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first control resource set occupies a different number of symbols from the second control resource set.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the components are further configured to perform the downlink control channel monitoring with the second monitoring periodicity using the same demodulation reference signal sequence used for performing the downlink control channel monitoring with the first monitoring periodicity.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the search space defines one or more monitoring occasions, the one or more monitoring occasions having an occurrence periodicity with respect to the corresponding minimum monitoring period, and the occurrence periodicity defines how many minimum monitoring periods the corresponding monitoring period includes.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the components are further configured to perform: Detecting resources allocated to the device among the one or more monitored symbols, the resources including one or more symbols within the corresponding minimum monitoring period; In response to the allocated resource being a downlink resource, receive data in the resource; and In response to the allocated resource being an uplink resource, transmit data in the resource.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the component is further configured to perform data mapping to the resource based on information received in one or more symbols being monitored and based on the size of the corresponding set of control resources.

8. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the received configuration, after the one or more time slots at the start of the corresponding minimum monitoring period are one or more time slots in the corresponding minimum monitoring period that are not occupied by the set of control resources.

9. An apparatus for communication, comprising components for performing the following operations: Determine a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period, a first set of control resources, and one or more search spaces associated with the set of control resources, the first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the first set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period; Transmit the first configuration in a cell provided by the apparatus to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity that is N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; Schedule a transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in the first minimum monitoring period in which no symbol is occupied by the first set of control resources; Transmit information indicating the resource within the one or more symbols according to the first configuration; Determine at least one second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period, a second set of control resources, and one or more search spaces associated with the second set of control resources, the second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the second set of control resources occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period; Transmit the second configuration in the cell to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity that is M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer; Schedule a transmission by allocating resources at least from one or more time slots in the second minimum monitoring period in which no symbol is occupied by the second set of control resources; and Transmit information indicating the resource within the one or more symbols according to the second configuration, wherein the first set of control resources and the second set of control resources at least partially overlap in time, and the at least one wireless device is further configured to perform the downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimate or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the component is further configured to determine which one of the first configuration and the second configuration to use based on the aggregation level and / or beamwidth used.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first control resource set provides one of single-slot scheduling per transmission block and repeated transmission block scheduling, wherein in the single-slot scheduling per transmission block, a transmission block is mapped to a single transmission block, and / or multiple transmission blocks are mapped to multiple time slots, and each transmission block is transmitted in a single time slot, and wherein in the repeated transmission block scheduling, a single transmission block of each spatial layer is mapped to multiple time slots, and one transmission block is transmitted in each of the multiple time slots.

12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the first control resource set provides one of single-slot scheduling per transmission block and repeated transmission block scheduling, and the second control resource set provides the other of the single-slot scheduling per transmission block and the repeated transmission block scheduling, wherein in the single-slot scheduling per transmission block, a transmission block is mapped to a single transmission block, and / or multiple transmission blocks are mapped to multiple time slots, and each transmission block is transmitted in a single time slot, and wherein in the repeated transmission block scheduling, a single transmission block of each spatial layer is mapped to multiple time slots, and one transmission block is transmitted in each of the multiple time slots.

13. A communication method comprising: configuring at least one configuration for a device for physical downlink control channel monitoring, wherein the configuration defines a minimum monitoring period, a control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the control resource set, the minimum monitoring period comprising multiple time slots, the control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the minimum monitoring period, wherein downlink control channel monitoring is performed in each of the one or more time slots; receiving, from a network node, a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period, a first control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the first control resource set, the first minimum monitoring period comprising multiple time slots, the first control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period; periodically performing downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of a first monitoring period according to the received first configuration, the first monitoring periodicity being N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; Receive a second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period, a second control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the second control resource set, the second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the second control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period; And Periodically perform downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of a second monitoring period according to the received second configuration, the second monitoring periodicity being M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer, wherein the first control resource set and the second control resource set at least partially overlap in time, and perform the downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimation or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

14. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and including computer program code readable by a computing device, wherein the computer program code configures the computing device to perform a computer process including the following steps: Receive a first configuration for physical control channel monitoring from a network node, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period, a first control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the first control resource set, the first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the first control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period; Periodically perform downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period according to the received first configuration, the first monitoring periodicity being N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; Receive a second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period, a second control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the second control resource set, the second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the second control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period; And Periodically perform downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity by monitoring the one or more symbols in the one or more time slots at the start of a second monitoring period according to the received second configuration, the second monitoring periodicity being M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer, wherein the first control resource set and the second control resource set at least partially overlap in time, and perform the downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimation or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

15. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and including computer program code readable by a computing device, wherein the computer program code configures the computing device to execute a computer process including the following steps: Determine a first configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the first configuration defining a first minimum monitoring period, a first control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the first control resource set, the first minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the first control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the first minimum monitoring period; Cause the first configuration to be transmitted in a cell provided by the computing device to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a first monitoring periodicity that is N times the first minimum monitoring period, where N is a positive integer; Schedule transmissions by allocating resources at least from one or more of the time slots in the first minimum monitoring period in which no symbols are occupied by the first control resource set; Cause information indicating the resources to be transmitted within the one or more symbols according to the first configuration; Determine at least one second configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring, the second configuration defining a second minimum monitoring period, a second control resource set, and one or more search spaces associated with the second control resource set, the second minimum monitoring period including a plurality of time slots, the second control resource set occupying one or more symbols in one or more of the time slots at the start of the second minimum monitoring period; Cause the second configuration to be transmitted in the cell to configure at least one wireless device in the cell for periodic downlink control channel monitoring with a second monitoring periodicity that is M times the second minimum monitoring period, where M is a positive integer; Schedule transmissions by allocating resources at least from one or more of the time slots in the second minimum monitoring period in which no symbols are occupied by the second control resource set; And Cause information indicating the resources to be transmitted within the one or more symbols according to the second configuration, wherein the first control resource set and the second control resource set at least partially overlap in time, and the at least one wireless device is further configured to perform the downlink control channel monitoring using the same channel estimate or the same demodulation reference signal sequence.

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