System and method for multi-PxSCH scheduling in unlicensed channels

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for multi-PxSCH scheduling in an unlicensed channel. A base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) establish a wireless link. During a first channel occupation time (COT), the BS transmits a first downlink control information (DCI) to the UE via an unlicensed spectrum. The first DCI schedules multiple shared channel communications, which may be physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communications or physical downlink shared channel communications (PDSCH) communications. The first DCI also schedules confirmation messages for one or more of the multiple shared channel communications. The scheduling indicated by the first DCI may include cross-COT scheduling, in which one or more communications are scheduled in a second COT or outside the COT. The UE and the BS perform multiple shared channel communications according to the scheduling indicated by the first DCI.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present patent application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems, apparatus, and methods for scheduling multiple transmissions using a single downlink control transmission in an unlicensed channel in a wireless communication system.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH, and LTE-A. TM wait.

[0004] The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functions in wireless communication devices has also created a continuing need for improvements in wireless communications and in wireless communication devices. It is particularly important to ensure the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., by wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications). Furthermore, increasing the functionality of UE devices can place significant strain on the battery life of the UE devices. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements in UE device designs while allowing the UE devices to maintain good transmit and receive capabilities to improve communications. Consequently, improvements are desired in this area. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0014] Embodiments of apparatus, systems, and methods are presented herein for scheduling multiple downlink transmissions using a single downlink control transmission in a wireless communication system.

[0006] In some embodiments, a base station (BS) establishes a radio link with a user equipment (UE). The base station may be a gnodeB (gNB), and the radio link may be a fifth generation new radio (5G NR) connection. During a first channel occupation time (COT), the BS transmits a first downlink control information (DCI) to the UE via an unlicensed spectrum. The first DCI schedules multiple shared channel communications, which may be physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communications or physical downlink shared channel communications (PDSCH) communications. The first DCI may also schedule confirmation messages for one or more of the multiple shared channel communications. The scheduling indicated by the first DCI may include cross-COT scheduling, in which one or more communications are scheduled in a second COT separate from the first COT, or they may be scheduled outside the COT. The UE and the BS perform multiple shared channel communications according to the scheduling indicated by the first DCI.

[0007] Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, mobile phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0008] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0010] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some embodiments is shown;

[0011] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary base station in communication with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0012] Figure 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments;

[0013] Figure 4 is an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of an exemplary possible method for scheduling multiple shared channel transmissions with a single downlink control transmission in a wireless communication system according to some embodiments;

[0015] Figures 6A to 6B shows example resource allocation for uplink transmission in 5G NR Releases 15 and 16 according to some embodiments;

[0016] Figure 7 shows an exemplary set of fields for downlink control information (DCI) according to some embodiments;

[0017] Figure 8 shows a time domain resource allocation table and corresponding physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) allocation according to some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 9 shows the roles played by the K0, K1, and K2 parameters according to some embodiments;

[0019] 10A to 10D illustrates different scheduling options for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) communications and corresponding acknowledgement messaging according to some embodiments;

[0020] Figures 11A to 11C illustrates a DCI scheduling scenario according to some embodiments, where PDSCH transmission falls outside the gNB-initiated Channel Occupancy Time (COT);

[0021] FIG. 12A to FIG. 12B illustrates different cross-COT scheduling methods for acknowledgement message delivery according to some embodiments;

[0022] 13A to 13C shows a method for scheduling confirmation message delivery including a type 3 trigger according to some embodiments; and

[0023] Figure 14A and Figure 14B COT without and with maximum gap duration according to some embodiments are shown, respectively.

[0024] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Acronyms

[0026] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0027] UE: User Equipment

[0028] RF: Radio Frequency

[0029] BS: Base Station

[0030] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0031] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0032] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0033] NR: New Radio

[0034] TX: Transmit

[0035] RX: Receive

[0036] RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0037] TRP: Transmission Reception Point

[0038] DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0039] CORESET: Control resource set

[0040] QCL: Quasi-co-location or quasi-co-location

[0041] the term

[0042] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this disclosure:

[0043] Memory medium—any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., represented as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0044] Carrier Medium—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0045] Computer system (or computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0046] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhones, TM , based on Android TM phones), tablets (e.g., iPad TM 、Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, cars and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunication device (or combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0047] Wireless Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed in place. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0048] Communication Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed in place. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0049] Base Station (BS)—The term “base station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0050] Processing element (or processor)—refers to any element or combination of elements capable of performing functions in a device (e.g., a user equipment device or a cellular network device). A processing element may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any combination thereof.

[0051] Wi-Fi—The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks, or RATs, that are served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through those access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0052] Automatic—refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without requiring user input to directly specify or execute the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatic" is in contrast to manual execution or specification of an action by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by user-provided input, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user's actions. The form can be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills it out without requiring any user input to specify the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user can invoke automatic filling of a form without participating in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields; they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

[0053] Configured to—Various components may be described as being “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad statement that generally means “having the structure” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” can be a broad statement that generally means “having the circuitry” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Generally, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuitry.

[0054] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to." Representing a component as being configured to perform one or more tasks expressly does not invoke the sixth paragraph of section 112 of title 35 of the United States Code for that component.

[0055] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary Communication System

[0056] Figure 1 An exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system is shown in which various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented according to some embodiments. Figure 1 The system is only one example of a possible system, and the embodiment may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0057] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user devices 106A, 106B, and so on through 106N via a transmission medium. Each user device may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Accordingly, user device 106 is referred to as a UE or a UE device.

[0058] Base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware and / or software that enables wireless communications with UEs 106A to 106N. If base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB." If base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB." Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among various other possible networks). Thus, base station 102 may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell." Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent the network, taking into account the UE's uplink and downlink communications. Thus, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE communicating with the network.

[0059] The base station 102 and the user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2, CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, and the like.

[0060] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0061] Note that the UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to perform techniques for receiving multiple downlink transmissions scheduled using a single downlink control transmission in a wireless communication system, such as according to the various methods described herein. The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH, or a combination thereof. TM , one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0062] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) in communication with a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. UE 106 can be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or tablet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned flight controller (UAC), a car, or virtually any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 can execute any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to execute (e.g., individually or in combination) any one of the method embodiments described herein or any part of any one of the method embodiments described herein. UE 106 can be configured to communicate using any one of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0063] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio components may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Typically, the radio components may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuits (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuits (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio components may implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware.

[0064] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or GSM), and shared radio components for communicating using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH. TM Each of the radio components communicates independently. Other configurations are also possible.

[0065] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0066] Figure 3A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include components for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include sensor circuitry 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of various possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuitry 370 may include motion sensing circuitry configured to detect the motion of the UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of various other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuitry 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, for example, for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of the UE 106. Any of various other possible types of sensor circuitry may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106, as desired. Processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0067] As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH, etc.). TM, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antennas 335a and 335b), for performing wireless communications with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, the one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antennas 335 with the aid of radio circuitry 330 to perform wireless communications. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0068] The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the method for the UE 106 to perform techniques for receiving multiple downlink transmissions using a single downlink control transmission schedule in a wireless communication system, such as described further herein. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition, the processor 302 may be coupled to a processor such as a processor 106. Figure 3 106 to perform techniques for receiving multiple downlink transmissions scheduled using a single downlink control transmission in a wireless communication system in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 may also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

[0069] In some embodiments, radio 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for various corresponding RAT standards. Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (eg, an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH controller. TM Controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with SOC 300 (more specifically, with processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH controller 354 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface. TMThe controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments may be implemented in the UE device 106 having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

[0070] Additionally, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller can implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 can also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0071] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0072] Figure 4 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 4 The base station 102 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0073] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106 to the telephone network described in the embodiment of the present invention. The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0074] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. Radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including, but not limited to, NR, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, and the like. Processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support implementation of some or all of the methods described herein, including, for example, scheduling multiple downlink transmissions using a single downlink control transmission, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example, it may include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0075] Scheduling multiple transmissions using a single downlink control transmission

[0076] Depending on the cellular communication technology, a cellular base station can typically communicate wirelessly with a wireless device. Such communications can be scheduled using downlink control information (DCI), which can be provided using control signaling, such as on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that can be transmitted in one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A single DCI transmission can schedule a wireless device to receive information via a single instance (e.g., time slot) of a downlink shared channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) and / or transmit information via a single instance of an uplink shared channel (e.g., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). Alternatively, according to the techniques described herein, a single DCI transmission can potentially schedule a wireless device to receive information during multiple downlink shared channel instances and / or transmit information during multiple uplink shared channel instances. Among other possibilities, such techniques may have the potential to reduce wireless device power consumption and / or improve network resource utilization. At least according to some embodiments, such techniques may require and / or benefit from various supporting technologies to achieve efficient network and wireless device operation. Many such techniques are also described herein.

[0077] Scheduling multiple uplink and / or downlink transmissions using a single DCI transmission is referred to herein as multi-PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling. In some embodiments, the UL / DL transmissions and / or the acknowledgment (ACK) message transmissions scheduled by the DCI may extend beyond the current channel occupancy time (COT). For example, DCI may be transmitted during a COT initiated by a first base station (BS), but it may schedule PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions and / or ACK message transmissions outside the first COT (e.g., within a separate BS-initiated COT, within a UE-initiated COT, or outside the COT). To accommodate these scenarios, the embodiments herein describe various formats and methods for DCI transmissions to effectively schedule PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions and / or ACK message transmissions in communication scenarios within a COT.

[0078] A channel occupancy time (COT) can be established between a BS and a UE according to various methods. For example, the BS may negotiate with the UE and / or with the core network to reserve a period of time as the COT for communication between the UE and the BS, resulting in a BS-initiated COT. Alternatively, the UE may initiate a negotiation to establish a UE-initiated COT between the UE and the BS. The device establishing the COT (i.e., the BS or the UE) may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to check whether the channel is idle (e.g., by performing channel measurements). If the channel is idle, it may occupy the channel for the duration of the COT. The LBT procedure is a mechanism by which a device can apply a clear channel assessment (CCA) check (i.e., it can apply spectrum sensing for a certain period of time, referred to as a CCA period) before using the channel. After determining that the channel is busy, certain rules may be implemented. CCA may use energy detection (ED) to detect the presence (i.e., when the channel is busy) or absence (i.e., when the channel is idle) of other signals on the channel. If the energy detected during the initial CCA period is below a certain threshold (ED threshold), the device can access the channel for a period called the channel occupation time (COT). Otherwise, an extended CCA period may begin, in which the detected energy is again compared to the ED threshold until channel access is granted. LBT may be a legally mandatory procedure for the 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands in some regions (e.g., Europe and Japan), but is not mandatory in other regions such as the United States and China.

[0079] During the COT, network resources such as specific bandwidth can be reserved by the network in a specific area for communication between the BS and the UE. When the COT expires, it may be the responsibility of the BS or the UE to restart a second COT, or communication can occur between the BS and the UE outside the COT.

[0080] In some regions (e.g., Europe and Japan), a maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT) may be implemented, which prohibits continuous transmission in unlicensed spectrum and places limits on COT. In these regions, MCOT may specify the maximum continuous time a device can use a channel. MCOT in different frequency bands (e.g., 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands) may be limited to different durations (e.g., 2 ms, 4 ms, or up to 10 ms or another duration), depending on the channel access priority level and / or other factors.

[0081] Figure 5 -Flowchart for providing DCI for multiple PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling

[0082] Figure 5 is a communication flow diagram illustrating a method for scheduling multiple downlink and / or uplink transmissions with a single downlink control transmission in a wireless communication system according to at least some embodiments.

[0083] Figure 5 Aspects of the methods of the present invention may be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as the UE 106 and BS 102 shown and described with respect to the various figures herein), or more generally, as appropriate, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the above figures. For example, a processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0084] It is noted that although the present invention is described in terms of using communication techniques and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents, Figure 5 However, this description is not intended to limit the present disclosure and may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 5 In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from that shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0085] In 502, the wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular base station. According to some embodiments, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to 5G NR. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network via one or more gNBs that provide radio access to the cellular network. As another possibility, the wireless link may include a cellular link according to LTE. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with a mobility management entity of the cellular network via an eNB that provides radio access to the cellular network. According to various embodiments, other types of cellular links are also possible, and the cellular network may also or alternatively operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.).

[0086] Establishing the wireless link may include, at least according to some embodiments, establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station. Establishing the first RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the wireless device and the cellular base station, establishing environmental information for the wireless device, and / or any of a variety of other possible features, for example, involving establishing an air interface of the wireless device for cellular communication with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, the wireless device may operate in an RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity relative to data communication), in which case the wireless device may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some cases, such as due to wireless device mobility, changes in wireless medium conditions, and / or any other variety of possible reasons, the wireless device may perform a handover (e.g., when in RRC connected mode) or a cell reselection (e.g., when in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell.

[0087] According to at least some embodiments, a wireless device may establish multiple wireless links, for example, with multiple TRPs of a cellular network, according to a multi-TRP configuration. In such a scenario, the wireless device may be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling) with one or more transmission control indicators (TCIs), which may correspond to various beams that may be used to communicate with the TRPs. In addition, there may be situations where one or more configured TCI states may be activated at a particular time by a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) of the wireless device.

[0088] At least in some cases, establishing the wireless link may include the wireless device providing capability information of the wireless device.Such capability information may include information related to any of a plurality of types of wireless device capabilities.

[0089] In some embodiments, establishing the wireless link may include establishing a first channel occupancy time (COT). Establishing the first COT may be primarily performed by the wireless device and / or by the base station to reserve a period of time and / or a set of network resources for communication between the wireless device and the base station. In some embodiments, establishing the first COT may be performed in an unlicensed frequency band.

[0090] In 504, the wireless device may receive first downlink control information (DCI) from a base station, scheduling multiple PDSCH / PUSCH communications and / or hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) messaging associated with the PDSCH / PUSCH communications. For example, the first DCI may schedule multiple downlink transmissions on the PDSCH from the base station, or it may schedule multiple uplink transmissions on the PUSCH from the UE. The first DCI may additionally schedule HARQ ACK / NACK messaging for the PDSCH transmissions on the PUCCH, or it may schedule HARQ ACK / NACK messaging for the PUSCH transmissions on the PDCCH.

[0091] The first DCI may be received via a control channel (e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), for example, in a control resource set (CORESET) provided during a control channel monitoring opportunity (MO). In some embodiments, the first DCI may also be received via control signaling carried on a data or shared channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)). For example, in some instances, according to certain embodiments described herein, a serving cell may provide "virtual DCI" (or V-DCI) in certain portions of a PDSCH transmission and may receive the first DCI in such a V-DCI transmission. The first DCI may be transmitted by a base station on an unlicensed spectrum during a first COT.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first DCI schedules multiple shared channel communications and at least one confirmation message for the multiple shared channel communications within a first COT. In other words, each of the shared channel communications and the confirmation message for the shared channel communications can be scheduled within a single COT. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the first DCI schedules multiple shared channel communications within the first COT and schedules at least one confirmation message for the multiple shared channel communications outside the first COT. In these embodiments, at least one confirmation message can be transmitted using contention exemption short control signaling or within a UE-initiated COT. For example, the confirmation message can be configured to have a sufficiently short duration so that it can be transmitted outside the COT using contention exemption short control signaling. Alternatively, the UE can initiate a second COT and can transmit or receive confirmation messages for one or more of the shared channel communications during the second COT.

[0093] In some embodiments, the first DCI instructs the UE to shift the scheduling of at least a subset of the plurality of shared channel communications by an indicated amount, wherein the indicated amount shifts at least the subset of the plurality of shared channel communications to occur within a second COT. The base station may instruct the UE to shift the shared channel communications in this manner in response to determining that one or more of the shared channel communications will occur outside of the first COT, and the first DCI may be used to move these communications into the second COT, as Figure 11C In some embodiments, the instruction to shift one or more shared channel communications may be indicated in a second DCI transmitted during the second COT, or it may be indicated in a first DCI transmitted during the first COT. As described above, the second COT may have been initiated by the UE, or it may be a second COT initiated by the base station.

[0094] In some embodiments, the scheduling of multiple shared channel communications spans multiple COTs, and the first DCI also schedules the transmission of confirmation messages for each of the multiple shared channel communications within the most recently occurring COT of the multiple COTs. Figure 12A As shown, a first DCI 1202 may schedule acknowledgement messaging for each of the four illustrated PDSCH communications 1204 - 1210 to occur within a single PUCCH 1212 opportunity during a second illustrated COT.

[0095] In some embodiments, the scheduling of multiple shared channel communications includes scheduling one or more first shared channel communications within a first COT and scheduling one or more second shared channel communications within a second COT. The first DCI may also schedule the transmission of confirmation messages for the first shared channel communications within the first COT and schedule the transmission of confirmation messages for the second shared channel communications within the second COT. Alternatively, Figure 12B An example is shown in which some of the PDSCH communications 1216 and 1218 occurring within the first COT have their corresponding acknowledgment message transmissions scheduled on PUCCH 1222 in the first COT, but a third PDSCH communication 1220 occurs too close to the end of the COT for its acknowledgment message transmission to occur during the first COT. Therefore, the acknowledgment message for PDSCH communication 1220 and the acknowledgment messages for PDSCH communications 1226 and 1228 occurring in COT 2 are scheduled in PUCCH 1230 during COT 2. The acknowledgment message for PDSCH communication 1220 may be scheduled by the first DCI 1214, or alternatively, as shown by the dashed line, the second DCI 1224 may schedule the acknowledgment message during PUCCH opportunity 1230.

[0096] In some embodiments, the base station determines that the values ​​of the K0 parameter and the K1 parameter indicate that cross-COT scheduling is used for a specific shared channel communication among a plurality of shared channel communications and an acknowledgment message for the specific shared channel communication. In response to this determination, the base station may modify the K1 parameter to a non-numeric K1 value. The base station may transmit a second DCI to the UE on the unlicensed spectrum within a second COT, wherein the second DCI includes a non-numeric K1 value and schedules the acknowledgment message for the specific shared channel communication within the second COT. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the first DCI includes a non-numeric K1 value that configures the UE to implement a default K1 value for the acknowledgment message for the specific shared channel communication in a second COT that is different from the first COT.

[0097] In some embodiments, the base station determines that the first COT has been interrupted. The first COT may be interrupted when a maximum COT duration has been reached, or when a maximum gap in the COT has been exceeded. In response to this determination, the base station may transmit a type 3 hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) feedback indication to the UE, wherein the type 3 HARQ ACK feedback indication schedules all unreceived HARQ ACK messages associated with the multiple shared channel communications. In other words, the type 3 HARQ feedback indication may schedule each HARQ ACK message for the multiple shared channel communications that has not yet been executed. Each of these HARQ ACK messages may be scheduled within a single PUCCH or PDCCH. For example, as Figure 13B As shown, the PDSCH labeled 1302 has its acknowledgement message scheduled by a type 3 trigger 1304 and transmitted during the PUCCH 1306. Figure 13C , each of the PDSCH communications 1308 , 1310 , and 1312 has its acknowledgement message scheduled by a type 3 trigger 1314 and transmitted during PUCCH 1316 .

[0098] In some embodiments, the first DCI also indicates a category for the UE to utilize when performing a listen-before-talk procedure when a maximum gap of the first COT has been exceeded without transmission between the base station and the UE.

[0099] In 506, the wireless device and the base station may perform shared channel communication and confirmation message transmission scheduled by the first DCI and / or the second DCI according to the schedule. For example, as variously illustrated in Figures 10 to 14, PDSCH communication and PUCCH confirmation messages (or PUSCH communication and PDCCH confirmation messages) may be exchanged between the UE and the base station according to the schedule indicated by the first and / or second DCI.

[0100] Figures 6 to 14 - Additional Description

[0101] The following paragraphs provide additional details and descriptions of various embodiments.

[0102] Current cellular communication standards implement specific protocols for PUSCH / PDSCH transmissions. For example, NR Release 15 announces that the number of repetitions for PUSCH transmissions with slot aggregation is semi-statically configured. An example of PUSCH repetition for Release 15 is given in Figure 6A , where a shared transport block (TB) is used to repeatedly allocate time and frequency resources for PUSCH at regular intervals for the same duration.

[0103] Alternatively, for NR Release 16, the number of repetitions for slot-aggregated PUSCH transmissions may be dynamically indicated by the network. PUSCH repetitions may be transmitted in one slot or across multiple consecutive slots and may be supported for both dynamic and configured grants. Figure 6B The dynamic time slot allocation for PUSCH repetition is shown, which shows the individual TB and time domain resource allocation for multiple transmission time interval (TTI) PUSCH transmissions, where the timing and duration of the PUSCH repetitions are dynamically indicated and vary for different repetitions. The DCI transmitted by the BS to schedule these dynamic PUSCH repetitions may have a format similar to Figure 7 As shown in the figure, the DCI may contain multiple common fields that are the same for each PUSCH repetition, and several slot-specific fields that are unique for each PUSCH repetition. The slot-specific fields may include the HARQ process number and the Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) field. The HARQ process number may identify which PUSCH repetition is being scheduled, and the time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field may be used to identify the time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field. Figure 8 As described in , the TDRA field can specify scheduling parameters for each PUSCH repetition.

[0104] like Figure 8 As shown, a table including multiple variables mapped to TDRA indices can be used to indicate time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for dynamically scheduled PUSCH repetitions. The TDRA table can enable the indication of single or multiple consecutive PUSCH transmissions in a single time slot or multiple time slots. The BS can include the TDRA index in the DCI transmitted to the UE, and the UE can store a lookup table (such as Figure 8 ) to extract the transmission parameters for the PUSCH repetition. As shown in the figure, the lookup table can specify the values ​​of the K2 parameter (indicating the timeslot number of each PUSCH transmission), S (indicating the starting symbol of each PUSCH transmission), L (the length of each PUSCH transmission), the number of repetitions, and the mapping type for each value of the TDRA index.

[0105] Figure 9The roles played by parameters K0, K1, and K2 are shown. As shown, the K0 parameter indicates the duration between the transmission of a DCI and the PDSCH transmission scheduled by the DCI. The K1 parameter indicates the duration between the PDSCH transmission and the transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) message on the PUCCH for the PDSCH transmission. The K2 parameter indicates the duration between the transmission of a DCI and the PUSCH transmission scheduled by the DCI.

[0106] Example of PDSCH and PUCCH transmission scheduling

[0107] Figures 10 through 14 illustrate various examples of scheduling shared channel communications and their associated acknowledgment messaging according to various embodiments. The examples shown in Figures 10 through 14 describe embodiments in which shared channel communications occur in the downlink via the PDSCH, while acknowledgment messaging occurs in the uplink via the PUCCH. However, within the scope of the present disclosure, the reverse scenario may also occur, where DCI schedules shared channel communications in the uplink via the PUSCH, while acknowledgment messaging occurs in the downlink via the PDCCH.

[0108] In some multi-PDSCH / PUSCH instances, PDSCH / PUSCH transmission and corresponding HARQ ACK message delivery may occur entirely within a single COT, such as Figure 10A In these examples, DCI scheduling for unlicensed communication can be similar to granted access operation, where the DCI schedules PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions and HARQ ACK messaging within the COT.

[0109] However, in some instances, PDSCH / PUSCH transmission may occur within a single COT, but HARQ ACK messaging may occur outside the COT (e.g., if the remaining time within the COT is insufficient to perform both PDSCH / PUSCH transmission and HARQ ACK messaging). In other words, one or both of PDSCH / PUSCH transmission and HARQ ACK messaging may be scheduled at a time when there is no BS / UE access due to the BS or UE failing to obtain a valid COT. In these instances, in various embodiments, HARQ ACK messaging may a) be scheduled as Figure 10C Utilize contention exemption short control signaling outside of COT as shown in , or b) as Figure 10B and 10D is performed within a separate UE-initiated COT.

[0110] When the duration of the HARQ ACK message transmission is short enough to be performed as a standalone transmission without establishing a separate COT, contention-exempt short control signaling can be utilized in some deployments. In some embodiments, a threshold can be established for the size of the HARQ ACK message transmission to be sent on the control channel (i.e., PDCCH or PUCCH) to allow transmission on contention-exempt short control signaling. Alternatively, the UE can contend to establish a UE-initiated COT and send the entire multi-PUSCH transmission within the UE-initiated COT. If the UE fails to establish the COT, the entire transmission can be canceled.

[0111] In some cases, as shown in Figures 11 to 14, PUSCH / PDSCH transmissions may span too long to be performed within a single COT, and they may occur across multiple COTs. In these embodiments, cross-COT multi-PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling may be employed to schedule PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions. If the transmission time interval (TTI) for a particular PDSCH / PUSCH transmission occurs outside of the COT, such that the UE is in a listen-before-talk (LBT) scenario, the transmission may not be transmitted (for DL) or received (for UL). The UE may continue to transmit and / or receive as specified in the sequence scheduled by the DCI unless it receives an override from the BS indicating that it should cancel the entire transmission. Figure 11A As shown, the BS may transmit a second DCI instructing the UE to cancel subsequent transmission or reception scheduled by the first DCI. Figure 11B As shown, a PDSCH transmission 1102 may be scheduled outside of COT 1 and COT 2 (and may not be successfully received), while a subsequent PDSCH transmission 1104 is successfully performed within the second COT.

[0112] Alternatively, if Figure 11C As shown, the BS can indicate the start time of the COT and the time offset required for the transmission to fit within the new COT in the first DCI. The UE can use this offset to identify the location of the new transmission. (For example, the BS can use DCI 2-0 to indicate the offset.) Alternatively, the BS can send a second DCI to indicate the required offset.

[0113] In some embodiments, as Figure 12A As shown, when PUSCH / PDSCH transmission occurs across multiple COTs, the DCI may instruct the UE to defer all HARQ ACK transmissions to the last COT in the multiple COTs. In other words, multiple PDSCH / PUSCHTTIs may be allocated to a single cross-COT HARQ ACK feedback PDSCH group, which is indicated and scheduled in the first DCI.

[0114] Alternatively, if Figure 13AAs shown, each PDSCH / PUSCH may have its associated HARQ ACK message transmission scheduled within the same COT as the PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, i.e., HARQ ACK feedback may be scheduled per COT without cross-COT HARQ feedback. The PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions may be divided into two or more groups, and each group may share a single HARQ ACK feedback slot for providing feedback within the corresponding COT. Alternatively, the timing of each HARQ ACK transmission may be determined individually based on its K0 and K1 values. In the event that the K0 and K1 values ​​result in cross-COT HARQ transmissions, the UE may modify its K1 value to a non-numeric K1 (NNK1) value (e.g., which may be set to infinity) to postpone the HARQ ACK feedback until the next valid COT opportunity, as shown. Figure 12B shown.

[0115] In some implementations, if the COT is interrupted, the UE may receive a Type 3 HARQ ACK feedback indication to reschedule HARQ ACK feedback. The first COT may be interrupted when the maximum COT duration has been reached or when the maximum gap in the COT has been exceeded. The Type 3 HARQ ACK feedback indication is a single transmission that can be used to schedule all HARQ ACK transmissions or all deferred HARQ ACK transmissions.

[0116] In some embodiments, the UE may utilize different categories of LBT access, depending on an indication within the DCI received from the network. For example, some deployments utilize Category 1 (CAT1) in which the UE has immediate channel access, Category 2 (CAT2) in which the UE performs a clear channel assessment with a fixed measurement duration before communicating, and Category 4 (CAT4) in which the UE performs a clear channel assessment with a variable measurement duration before communicating. The DCI received from the BS may indicate which category to use for LBT.

[0117] In some deployments, a maximum gap may be defined for the deployed COT, where if no transmission occurs between the UE and the BS for a duration exceeding the maximum gap, the COT is canceled. When the first COT is canceled, the UE may perform LBT to restore cellular access. On the other hand, if a later transmission begins within the maximum gap relative to the end of the previous transmission, the later transmission may share a single COT with the previous transmission without performing LBT. Figure 14B shows an example where the maximum gap has been exceeded and a second COT has been established, while Figure 14A A deployment without a maximum gap is shown.

[0118] If the gap between any two transmissions is less than the maximum gap, the BS and UE can communicate using CAT1 channel access. However, beyond the maximum gap, the UE may need to re-establish communication within the second COT. In some embodiments, the first DCI received from the BS in the first COT may specify the LBT category to be utilized when establishing a connection in the second COT. For example, the first DCI may indicate that a single category (e.g., CAT1) should be used for the first COT and each subsequent COT. Alternatively, the first DCI may separately specify parameters for indicating the category of LBT for each COT (e.g., CAT1 LBT for COT1, CAT2 LBT for COT2, etc.). Alternatively, if the COT is interrupted, the UE may default to using a specific category (e.g., CAT1) for acquiring channel access.

[0119] Yet another example embodiment may include a method comprising performing, by a device, any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0120] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operatively coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0121] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0122] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0123] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0124] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0125] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0126] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods for operating a UE described herein may become the basis for the corresponding method for operating a base station.

[0127] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0128] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0129] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium (or a memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0130] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a processor configured to cause the base station to: Establishing a wireless link with user equipment UE; transmitting first downlink control information (DCI) to the UE on an unlicensed spectrum during a first channel occupation time (COT), wherein the first DCI schedules a plurality of shared channel communications; performing the plurality of shared channel communications according to the first DCI; as well as A second DCI is transmitted to the UE on the unlicensed spectrum during a second COT, wherein the second DCI instructs the UE to offset the scheduling of at least a subset of the multiple shared channel communications by a specified amount, wherein the specified amount offsets the at least the subset of the multiple shared channel communications into the second COT.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of shared channel communications include one or both of the following: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) communications; and Physical Uplink Shared Channel PUSCH communication.

3. The device according to claim 1, The first DCI schedules the multiple shared channel communications and at least one confirmation message for the multiple shared channel communications within the first COT.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first DCI schedules the multiple shared channel communications within the first COT, and The first DCI schedules at least one confirmation message for the multiple shared channel communications outside the first COT.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the at least one confirmation message: Utilize contention exemption for short control signaling transmission; or Transmitted within the UE-initiated COT.

6. The device according to claim 1, in, The second DCI is transmitted in response to the base station determining that the subset of the plurality of shared channel communications is scheduled outside of the first COT.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein said scheduling of said plurality of shared channel communications spans a plurality of COTs, and The first DCI also schedules transmission of an acknowledgment message for each of the plurality of shared channel communications within a latest COT among the plurality of COTs.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the scheduling of the plurality of shared channel communications comprises scheduling one or more first shared channel communications within the first COT, wherein the first DCI schedules transmission of acknowledgement messages for the first shared channel communications within the first COT; The second DCI schedules one or more second shared channel communications within the second COT, and the second DCI further schedules transmission of an acknowledgment message for the second shared channel communication within the second COT.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the K0 parameter is used to indicate a duration between transmission of a DCI and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission scheduled by the DCI, and wherein the K1 parameter is used to indicate a duration between transmission of the PDSCH and transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) message for the PDSCH transmission on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and The processor is further configured to cause the base station to: determining that values ​​of the K0 parameter and the K1 parameter indicate cross-COT scheduling for a third shared channel communication of the plurality of shared channel communications and an acknowledgment message for the third shared channel communication; and In response to determining that the values ​​of the K0 parameter and the K1 parameter indicate the cross-COT scheduling, scheduling an acknowledgement message transmission for the third shared channel communication in the second COT using the second DCI.

10. The device according to claim 8, The processor is further configured to cause the base station to: determining that values ​​of the K0 parameter and the K1 parameter indicate cross-COT scheduling for a third shared channel communication of the plurality of shared channel communications and an acknowledgment message for the third shared channel communication; and In response to determining that the values ​​of the K0 parameter and the K1 parameter indicate the cross-COT scheduling, modifying the K1 parameter to a non-numeric K1 value, wherein the first DCI includes the non-numeric K1 value, and wherein the non-numeric K1 value configures the UE to implement a default K1 value for the confirmation message for the third shared channel communication in the second COT, the second COT being different from the first COT.

11. The device according to claim 1, The processor is further configured to cause the base station to: determining that the first COT has been interrupted; and In response to determining that the first COT has been interrupted, a type 3 hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) feedback indication is transmitted to the UE, wherein the type 3 HARQ ACK feedback indication schedules all unreceived HARQ ACK messages associated with the plurality of shared channel communications.

12. The device according to claim 1, The first DCI further indicates a category for the UE to utilize when performing a listen-before-talk procedure when a maximum gap of the first COT has been exceeded without transmission between the base station and the UE.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: A processor configured to enable a user equipment UE to: Establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving first downlink control information (DCI) from the cellular base station on an unlicensed spectrum during a first channel occupation time (COT), wherein the first DCI schedules a plurality of shared channel communications; performing the plurality of shared channel communications according to the first DCI; as well as A second DCI is received from the cellular base station over the unlicensed spectrum during a second COT, wherein the second DCI instructs the UE to offset the scheduling of at least a subset of the multiple shared channel communications by a specified amount, wherein the specified amount offsets the at least the subset of the multiple shared channel communications into the second COT.

14. The device according to claim 13, The first DCI schedules the multiple shared channel communications and at least one confirmation message for the multiple shared channel communications within the first COT.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein the first DCI schedules the multiple shared channel communications within the first COT, and wherein the first DCI schedules at least one confirmation message for the plurality of shared channel communications outside the first COT, and wherein the at least one confirmation message: Utilize contention exemption for short control signaling transmission; or Transmitted within the UE-initiated COT.

16. The device according to claim 13, in, The second DCI is transmitted in response to the cellular base station determining that the subset of the plurality of shared channel communications is scheduled outside of the first COT.

17. The device according to claim 13, wherein said scheduling of said plurality of shared channel communications spans a plurality of COTs, and The first DCI also schedules transmission of an acknowledgment message for each of the plurality of shared channel communications within a latest COT among the plurality of COTs.

18. The device according to claim 13, wherein said scheduling of said plurality of shared channel communications comprises scheduling one or more first shared channel communications within said first COT and scheduling one or more second shared channel communications within a second COT, and The first DCI further schedules transmission of an acknowledgment message for the first shared channel communication within the first COT and schedules transmission of an acknowledgment message for the second shared channel communication within the second COT.

19. The device according to claim 13, The first DCI further indicates a category for the UE to utilize when performing a listen-before-talk procedure when a maximum gap of the first COT has been exceeded without transmission between the base station and the UE.

20. A method for wireless communication, comprising: UE is equipped by the user: Establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station; receiving first downlink control information (DCI) from the cellular base station on an unlicensed spectrum during a first channel occupation time (COT), wherein the first DCI schedules a plurality of shared channel communications; performing the plurality of shared channel communications according to the first DCI; as well as A second DCI is received from the cellular base station over the unlicensed spectrum during a second COT, wherein the second DCI instructs the UE to offset the scheduling of at least a subset of the multiple shared channel communications by a specified amount, wherein the specified amount offsets the at least the subset of the multiple shared channel communications into the second COT.

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