For uplink communication verification in frame-based device mode in New Radio - Unlicensed (NR-U)

Abstract

Wireless communication systems and methods are provided related to frame-based equipment (FBE) communications in a wireless communication network. For example, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment may include: monitoring downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring; determining, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and sending uplink communications to the base station based on the determination.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to frame-based equipment (FBE) communications in wireless communication networks. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, data packet, messaging, broadcast, etc. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wireless multiple-access communication system may include multiple base stations (BSs), each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0003] In order to meet the growing demand for extended mobile broadband connections, wireless communication technology is evolving from long-term evolution (LTE) technology to next-generation new radio (NR) technology, which may be referred to as the fifth generation (5G). For example, NR is designed to provide lower latency, higher bandwidth or higher throughput, and higher reliability than LTE. NR is designed to operate over a wide range of spectrum bandwidths, for example, from low-frequency bandwidths below about 1 GHz and medium-frequency bandwidths from about 1 GHz to about 6 GHz, to high-frequency bandwidths, such as mmWave bandwidths. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrum types from licensed spectrum to unlicensed and shared spectrum. Spectrum sharing enables operators to opportunistically aggregate spectrum to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Spectrum sharing can extend the benefits of NR technology to operating entities that may not have access to licensed spectrum.

[0004] One way to avoid conflicts when communicating in a shared spectrum or unlicensed spectrum is to use a listen-before-talk (LBT) process to ensure that the shared channel is clear before sending a signal in the shared channel. The operation or deployment of NR in unlicensed spectrum is called NR-U. There are two types of LBT processes, LBT based on load-based equipment (LBE) and LBT based on frame-based equipment (FBE). In LBE-based LBT, channel sensing is performed at any time and random backoff is used if the channel is found to be busy. In FBE-based LBT, channel sensing is performed at predetermined times (e.g., associated with a fixed frame period (FFP)). For example, if the channel is busy, the transmitting node can back off within a predetermined time period and sense the channel again after this time period.

[0005] In some cases of FBE operation, only the BS can initiate communications in FFP based on successful FBE-based LBT. Therefore, in this case, the UE must successfully receive downlink communications from the BS before attempting uplink communications. However, some UEs can only detect certain types of downlink signals and / or the downlink signals may have a format that results in a relatively large load, which may lead to spectral inefficiency, increased latency, and reduced user satisfaction. Therefore, improved FBE uplink communication protocols and techniques are needed. Summary of the invention

[0006] The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the technology discussed. This summary is not an extensive overview of all expected features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify important or key elements of all aspects of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a summary form as a preface to a more detailed description presented later.

[0007] In some cases, when operating in frame-based equipment (FBE) mode, user equipment (UE) uplink transmission within a fixed frame period (FFP) can only occur if a downlink signal / channel (e.g., PDCCH, SSB, PBCH, RMSI, GC-PDCCH, etc.) is received from a base station (BS) within the FFP. In this way, the BS acts as an initiating device and the UE acts as a responding device. Although a UE operating in idle mode may be aware that the BS is operating in FBE mode (e.g., from SIB-1), the UE may only be able to detect downlink signals (e.g., SSB or PDCCH) masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI). However, in some cases, SSB and / or PDCCH masked with SI-RNTI can only be sent in predefined time slots. Therefore, the BS may not be able to send downlink signals that an idle mode UE can detect within the FFP. This problem is exacerbated when the length of the FFP becomes shorter (e.g., 1 ms) because it is more likely that the predefined time slot for transmission of SSB and / or PDCCH masked with SI-RNTI is not within the FFP. Therefore, the opportunity for an idle mode UE to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the BS may be missed due to these factors. In addition, for a UE operating in connected mode, monitoring, detecting, and decoding downlink communications with a relatively large load to determine that the UE can send uplink communications in the FFP may be an inefficient use of network resources and increase the processing load on the UE, which may lead to undesirable or premature UE power exhaustion.

[0008] The present disclosure provides solutions to these problems. For example, in some cases, the base station sends downlink control information (DCI) with content indicating that there is no associated scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication. The UE can process the DCI and determine that the UE can send uplink communication in FFP based on the fact that no PDSCH communication is being scheduled by the DCI. For UEs operating in idle mode, uplink communication can be physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., random access preamble (Msg1), connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.) and / or another type of uplink communication. For UEs operating in connected mode, uplink communication can be physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, sounding reference signal (SRS) and / or another type of uplink communication. In some cases, DCI uses existing DCI formats (e.g., 0_1, 0_2, 1_2, etc.), which can avoid the implementation of the required (multiple) additional configurations and / or signaling. In some cases, the DCI indicates that PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment using one or more fields in the DCI. For example, the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field may indicate that PDSCH communication is not scheduled (e.g., all zeros for RA type 0, all ones for RA type 1, etc.).

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment includes monitoring downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring; based on the received DCI, determining that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and sending uplink communications to the base station based on the determination.

[0010] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication performed by a base station includes sending downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication for a user equipment; and receiving uplink communication based on the DCI from the user equipment.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a user device includes a transceiver; and a processor in communication with the transceiver, such that the transceiver and the processor are configured to: monitor downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band; receive downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring; determine, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and send uplink communications to the base station based on the determination.

[0012] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a base station includes a transceiver configured to: send downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user device; and receive uplink communications based on the DCI from the user device.

[0013] In additional aspects of the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) includes a component for monitoring downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band; a component for receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring; a component for determining, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and a component for sending uplink communications to the base station based on the determination.

[0014] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a base station (BS) includes a component for sending downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user equipment; and a component for receiving uplink communications based on the DCI from the user equipment.

[0015] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having recorded thereon program code for wireless communication of a user equipment includes code for causing the user equipment to monitor downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band; code for causing the user equipment to receive downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring; code for causing the user equipment to determine, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and code for causing the user equipment to send uplink communications to the base station based on the determination.

[0016] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for wireless communication of a base station includes code for causing the base station to send downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user equipment; and code for causing the base station to receive uplink communications based on the DCI from the user equipment.

[0017] Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the following description of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Although features of the present invention may be discussed with respect to certain embodiments and drawings below, all embodiments of the present invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of these features may also be used according to the various embodiments of the present invention discussed herein. In a similar manner, although exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 A wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2 A radio frame structure according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 3A An example of a wireless communication network supporting medium sharing across multiple network operating entities in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 3B A frame-based equipment (FBE) communication scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 4

[0046] An FBE communication scheduling / transmission configuration is illustrated in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 A search space / CORESET configuration scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 6 A signaling diagram of a FBE communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 7 A signaling diagram of a FBE communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station (BS) according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig.11 is a flow chart of a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The detailed description described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configuration in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, in order to avoid confusing these concepts, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form.

[0031] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication systems, also referred to as wireless communication networks. In various embodiments, these techniques and devices can be used for wireless communication networks, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, global mobile communication systems (GSM) networks, 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" can be used interchangeably.

[0032] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). In particular, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between telecommunications association groups that aims to define globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whose purpose is to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure focuses on the evolution of wireless technology from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR and beyond, where access to the wireless spectrum is shared between networks using a set of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0033] In particular, 5G networks take into account diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices that can be implemented using a unified air interface based on OFDM. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also considered. 5G NR will be able to expand to provide coverage: (1) for networks with ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km) 2 ), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10s of bit / sec), ultra-low energy (e.g., ~10 years+ battery life), and deep coverage to reach challenging locations; (2) mission-critical controls including strong security to protect sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1ms), and a wide range of mobile or immobile users; and (3) enhanced mobile broadband including very high capacity (e.g., ~10Tbps / km 2 ), extremely high data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+Mbps user experience rates), and deep perception with advanced discovery and optimization.

[0034] 5G NR can be implemented to use an optimized OFDM-based waveform with scalable parameters and transmission time intervals (TTIs); a general, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features with dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) / frequency division duplex (FDD) designs; and advanced wireless technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of parameters in 5G NR, with the extension of subcarrier spacing, can effectively address the operation of different services across different spectrums and different deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3GHz FDD / TDD implementations, the subcarrier spacing may appear at 15kHz on bandwidths (BWs) such as 5, 10, 20MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing may appear at 30kHz on a BW of 80 / 100MHz. For various other indoor broadband implementations, using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5GHz band, subcarrier spacing may occur at 60kHz on 160MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with mmWave components on TDD at 28GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 120kHz on 500MHz BW.

[0035] 5G NR's scalable parameter set facilitates scalable TTI for different latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long TTIs and short TTIs to allow transmission to be started on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also considers a self-contained integrated subframe design that contains UL / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgment in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, and the adapted uplink / downlink can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current business needs.

[0036] Various other aspects and features of the present disclosure are further described below. Obviously, the teachings herein can be embodied in various forms, and any specific structure, function, or both disclosed herein are only representative and non-restrictive. Based on the teachings herein, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that an aspect disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or practice a method. In addition, in addition to one or more of the various aspects set forth herein, or in addition to one or more of the various aspects set forth herein, other structures, functions, or structures and functions can be used to implement such a device or practice such a method. For example, a method can be implemented as a system, device, apparatus, and / or as a part of an instruction stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. In addition, an aspect can include at least one element of a claim.

[0037] The present application describes mechanisms to facilitate efficient uplink communication scheduling on shared radio frequency bands (including new radio-unlicensed (NR-U)) in frame-based equipment (FBE) mode. In some cases, when operating in FBE mode, user equipment (UE) uplink transmissions within a fixed frame period (FFP) can only occur if a downlink signal / channel (e.g., PDCCH, SSB, PBCH, RMSI, GC-PDCCH, etc.) is received from a base station (BS) within the FFP. In this manner, the BS acts as an initiating device and the UE acts as a responding device. Although a UE operating in idle mode may be aware that the BS is operating in FBE mode (e.g., from SIB-1), the UE may only be able to detect downlink signals (e.g., SSB or PDCCH) masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI). However, in some cases, SSB and / or PDCCH masked with SI-RNTI can only be sent in predefined time slots. Therefore, the BS may not be able to send downlink signals that the idle mode UE can detect within the FFP. This problem is exacerbated when the length of the FFP becomes shorter (e.g., 1 ms) because it is more likely that the predefined time slot for transmission of SSB and / or PDCCH masked with SI-RNTI is not within the FFP. Therefore, the opportunity for an idle mode UE to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the BS may be missed due to these factors. In addition, for a UE operating in connected mode, monitoring, detecting, and decoding downlink communications with a relatively large load to determine that the UE can send uplink communications in the FFP may be an inefficient use of network resources and increase the processing load on the UE, which may lead to undesirable or premature UE power exhaustion.

[0038] As described in detail below, the present disclosure provides solutions to these problems. For example, in some cases, the base station sends downlink control information (DCI) with content indicating that there is no associated scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication. The UE can process the DCI and determine that the UE can send uplink communication in FFP based on the fact that no PDSCH communication is being scheduled by the DCI. For UEs operating in idle mode, the uplink communication can be a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., a random access preamble (Msg1), a connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.) and / or another type of uplink communication. For UEs operating in connected mode, the uplink communication can be a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, a sounding reference signal (SRS), and / or another type of uplink communication. In some cases, the DCI uses an existing DCI format (e.g., 0_1, 0_2, 1_2, etc.), which can avoid the implementation of the required (multiple) additional configurations and / or signaling. In some cases, the DCI indicates that PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment using one or more fields in the DCI. For example, the Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field may indicate that PDSCH communication is not scheduled (eg, all zeros for RA Type 0, all ones for RA Type 1, etc.).

[0039] Figure 1 A wireless communication network 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. The network 100 may be a 5G network. The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations (BSs) 105 (labeled 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d, 105e, and 105f, respectively) and other network entities. The BS 105 may be a station that communicates with the UE 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to this particular geographic coverage area of ​​the BS 105 and / or a BS subsystem that serves the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0040] The BS 105 may provide communication coverage for macro cells or small cells (such as pico cells or femto cells) and / or other types of cells. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. Small cells such as pico cells will generally cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. Small cells such as femto cells will generally also cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted access for UEs associated with the femto cells (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , UEs of users in a home, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS, or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown, BS 105d and BS 105e may be conventional macro BSs, while BS 105a-105c may be macro BSs enabled with one of three-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. BS 105a-105c may utilize its higher-dimensional MIMO performance to utilize 3D beamforming in elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. BS 105f may be a small cell BS, which may be a home node or a portable access point. BS 105 may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0041] The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may be roughly aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

[0042] UE 115 is dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 115 can be fixed or mobile. UE 115 may also be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, etc. In one aspect, UE 115 may be a device including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, UE 115 that does not include a UICC may also be referred to as an IoT device or an Internet of Everything (IoE) device. UE 115a-115d is an example of a mobile smart phone type device that accesses the network 100. UE 115 may also be a machine specifically configured for connecting communications, including machine type communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. UE 115e-115h is an example of various machines configured for communication to access network 100. UE 115i-115k is an example of a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication device configured for communication to access network 100. UE 115 is capable of communicating with any type of BS, whether a macro BS, a small cell, etc. Figure 1 In the figure, the lightning ball (e.g., communication link) indicates wireless transmission between UE 115 and a serving BS 105 which is a BS designed to serve UE 115 on a downlink (DL) and / or uplink (UL), desired transmission between BSs 105, backhaul transmission between BSs, or sidelink transmission between UEs 115.

[0043] In operation, BS 105a-105c may use 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial techniques such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity to serve UEs 115a and 115b. Macro BS 105d may perform backhaul communications with BS 105a-105c and small cell BS 105f. Macro BS 105d may also send multicast services subscribed to and received by UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alerts or gray alerts.

[0044] The BS 105 may also communicate with a core network. The core network may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. At least some of the BSs 105 (e.g., which may be examples of gNBs or access node controllers (ANCs)) may be connected to the core network via a backhaul link (e.g., NG-C, NG-U, etc.) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communicating with the UE 115. In various examples, the BSs 105 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the core network) via a backhaul link (e.g., X1, X2, etc.), which may be a wired or wireless communication link.

[0045] The network 100 may also support mission-critical communications through ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices, such as UE 115e, which may be a drone. The redundant communication links with UE 115e may include links from macro BSs 105d and 105e, and links from small cell BS 105f. Other machine-type devices, such as UE 115f (e.g., a thermometer), UE 115g (e.g., a smart meter), and UE 115h (e.g., a wearable device) may communicate directly with a BS (such as small cell BS 105f and macro BS 105e) through the network 100, or in a multi-step configuration by communicating with another user device to relay its information to the network, such as UE 115f transmitting temperature measurement information to smart meter UE 115g, which then reports to the network through small cell BS 105f. The network 100 can also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communications, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), cellular-V2X (C-V2X) communications between UE 115i, 115j or 115k and other UEs 115, and / or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications between UE 115i, 115j or 115k and BS 105.

[0046] In some implementations, the network 100 communicates using an OFDM-based waveform. An OFDM-based system can divide the system BW into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also generally referred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system BW. The system BW can also be divided into subbands. In other cases, the subcarrier spacing and / or the duration of the TTI can be scalable.

[0047] In some aspects, BS 105 may allocate or schedule transmission resources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RBs)) for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in network 100. DL refers to the transmission direction from BS 105 to UE 115, while UL refers to the transmission direction from UE 115 to BS 105. Communication may be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may be divided into a plurality of subframes or time slots, such as about 10. Each time slot may also be divided into micro-time slots. In FDD mode, simultaneous UL and DL transmissions may occur in different frequency bands. For example, each subframe includes a UL subframe in a UL frequency band and a DL subframe in a DL frequency band. In TDD mode, UL and DL transmissions occur in different time periods using the same frequency band. For example, a subset of subframes (e.g., DL subframes) in a radio frame may be used for DL ​​transmissions, and another subset of subframes (e.g., UL subframes) in a radio frame may be used for UL transmissions.

[0048] DL subframes and UL subframes may be further divided into several regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may have a predefined region for sending reference signals, control information, and data. A reference signal is a predetermined signal that facilitates communication between BS 105 and UE 115. For example, a reference signal may have a specific pilot pattern or structure, wherein a pilot tone may span an operable BW or frequency band, each located at a predefined time and a predefined frequency. For example, BS 105 may send a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) and / or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) to enable UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, UE 115 may send a sounding reference signal (SRS) to enable BS 105 to estimate an UL channel. Control information may include resource allocation and protocol control. Data may include protocol data and / or operable data. In some aspects, BS 105 and UE 115 may communicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframe may include a portion for DL ​​communication and a portion for UL communication. A self-contained subframe may be DL-centric or UL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a duration for DL ​​communications that is longer than a duration for UL communications. A UL-centric subframe may include a duration for UL communications that is longer than a duration for UL communications.

[0049] In some aspects, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed on a licensed spectrum. The BS 105 may send synchronization signals (e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS)) in the network 100 to facilitate synchronization. The BS 105 may broadcast system information associated with the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB), residual system information (RMSI), and other system information (OSI)) to facilitate initial network access. In some instances, the BS 105 may broadcast the PSS, SSS, and / or MIB in the form of a synchronization signal block (SSB) on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and may broadcast the RMSI and / or OSI on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0050] In some aspects, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 may perform an initial cell search by detecting the PSS from the BS 105. The PSS may enable synchronization of periodic timing and may indicate a physical layer identification value. The UE 115 may then receive the SSS. The SSS may enable radio frame synchronization and may provide a cell identification value that may be combined with the physical layer identification value to identify a cell. The PSS and SSS may be located in the center portion of the carrier or at any suitable frequency within the carrier.

[0051] After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive the MIB. The MIB may include system information for initial network access and scheduling information for RMSI and / or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 may receive the RMSI and / or OSI. The RMSI and / or OSI may include radio resource control (RRC) information related to random access channel (RACH) procedures, paging, control resource sets (CORESET) for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical UL control channel (PUCCH), physical UL shared channel (PUSCH), power control, and SRS.

[0052] After obtaining the MIB, RMSI and / or OSI, the UE 115 may perform a random access procedure to establish a connection with the BS 105. In some examples, the random access procedure may be a four-step random access procedure. For example, the UE 115 may send a random access preamble and the BS 105 may respond with a random access response. The random access response (RAR) may include a detected random access preamble identifier (ID) corresponding to the random access preamble, timing advance (TA) information, UL authorization, temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and / or a backoff indicator. Upon receiving the random access response, the UE 115 may send a connection request to the BS 105, and the BS 105 may respond with a connection response. The connection response may indicate contention resolution. In some examples, the random access preamble, RAR, connection request, and connection response may be referred to as message 1 (MSG1), message 2 (MSG2), message 3 (MSG3), and message 4 (MSG4), respectively. In some examples, the random access procedure may be a two-step random access procedure, where the UE 115 may send a random access preamble and a connection request in a single transmission, and the BS 105 may respond by sending a random access response and a connection response in a single transmission.

[0053] After establishing the connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105 may enter a normal operation phase, in which operational data may be exchanged. For example, the BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL and / or DL ​​communications. The BS 105 may send an UL and / or DL ​​scheduling grant to the UE 115 via the PDCCH. The scheduling grant may be sent in the form of DL control information (DCI). The BS 105 may send a DL communication signal (e.g., carrying data) to the UE 115 via the PDSCH according to the DL scheduling grant. The UE 115 may send an UL communication signal to the BS 105 via the PUSCH and / or PUCCH according to the UL scheduling grant.

[0054] In some aspects, BS 105 may communicate with UE 115 using hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) technology to improve communication reliability, for example, to provide ultra-reliable low-delay communication (URLLC) services. BS 105 may schedule UE 115 for PDSCH communication by sending DL grants in PDCCH. BS 105 may send DL data packets to UE 115 according to the scheduling in PDSCH. DL data packets may be sent in the form of transport blocks (TBs). If UE 115 successfully receives the DL data packet, UE 115 may send a HARQ confirmation (ACK) to BS 105. Conversely, if UE 115 fails to successfully receive the DL transmission, UE 115 may send a HARQ negative confirmation (NACK) to BS 105. Upon receiving a HARQ NACK from UE 115, BS 105 may resend the DL data packet to UE 115. The retransmission may include the same coded version of the DL data as the initial transmission. Alternatively, the retransmission may include a coded version of the DL data different from the initial transmission. The UE 115 may apply soft combining to combine the coded data received from the initial transmission and the retransmission for decoding. The BS 105 and the UE 115 may also apply HARQ for UL communications using a substantially similar mechanism as DL HARQ.

[0055] In some aspects, the network 100 may operate on a system BW or a component carrier (CC) BW. The network 100 may divide the system BW into multiple BWPs (e.g., parts). The BS 105 may dynamically allocate the UE 115 to operate on a certain BWP (e.g., a certain part of the system BW). The allocated BWP may be referred to as an active BWP. The UE 115 may monitor the active BWP for signaling information from the BS 105. The BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL or DL ​​communication in the active BWP. In some aspects, the BS 105 may allocate a pair of BWPs within the CC to the UE 115 for UL and DL communication. For example, the BWP pair may include one BWP for UL communication and one BWP for DL ​​communication.

[0056] In some aspects, the network 100 may operate on a shared channel, which may include a shared frequency band or an unlicensed frequency band. For example, the network 100 may be an NR-unlicensed (NR-U) network. The BS 105 and the UE 115 may be operated by multiple network operation entities. In order to avoid conflicts, the BS 105 and the UE 115 may use a listen-before-talk (LBT) process to monitor the transmit opportunity (TXOP) in the shared channel. For example, a transmitting node (e.g., BS 105 or UE 115) may perform LBT before transmitting in a channel. When LBT passes, the transmitting node may continue to transmit. When LBT fails, the transmitting node may avoid transmitting in the channel. In an example, LBT may be based on energy detection. For example, when the signal energy measured from the channel is below a threshold, LBT results in passing. On the contrary, when the signal energy measured from the channel exceeds a threshold, LBT results in failure. In another example, LBT may be based on signal detection. For example, when a channel reservation signal (e.g., a predetermined preamble signal) is not detected in the channel, LBT results in passing. In some aspects, the network 100 may utilize a FBE-based contention scheme for sharing a radio channel between multiple BSs 105 and / or UEs 115 of different network operating entities and / or different radio access technologies (RATs).

[0057] Figure 2 2 is a timing diagram illustrating a radio frame structure 200 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Radio frame structure 200 may be employed by a BS such as BS 105 and a UE such as UE 115 in a network such as network 100 for communication. In particular, the BS may communicate with the UE using time-frequency resources configured as shown in radio frame structure 200. Figure 2 , the x-axis represents time in some arbitrary units and the y-axis represents frequency in some arbitrary units. Transmission frame structure 200 includes radio frame 201. The duration of radio frame 201 can vary according to various aspects. In one example, radio frame 201 can have a duration of about ten milliseconds. Radio frame 201 includes M number of time slots 202, where M can be any suitable positive integer. In one example, M can be about 10.

[0058] Each time slot 202 includes a plurality of subcarriers 204 in frequency and a plurality of symbols 206 in time. The number of subcarriers 204 and / or the number of symbols 206 in the time slot 202 may vary according to various aspects based on, for example, channel bandwidth, subcarrier spacing (SCS), and / or CP mode. One subcarrier 204 in frequency and one symbol 206 in time form one resource element (RE) 212 for transmission. A resource block (RB) 210 is formed by a plurality of consecutive subcarriers 204 in frequency and a plurality of consecutive symbols 206 in time.

[0059] In one example, a BS (e.g., Figure 1 BS 105 in the example may schedule UEs (eg, Figure 1 UE 115 in the UE 115) for UL and / or DL ​​communication. Each time slot 202 can be time-divided into K mini-time slots 208. Each mini-time slot 208 can include one or more symbols 206. The mini-time slots 208 in the time slot 202 can have variable lengths. For example, when the time slot 202 includes N number of symbols 206, the mini-time slot 208 can have a length between one symbol 206 and (N-1) symbols 206. In some aspects, the mini-time slot 208 can have a length of about two symbols 206, about four symbols 206, or about seven symbols 206. In some examples, the BS can schedule UEs with a frequency granularity of a resource block (RB) 210 (e.g., including about 12 subcarriers 204).

[0060] Figure 3A and 3B The FBE-based communications over a radio frequency channel (eg, in a shared radio frequency band or an unlicensed band) used for communications are collectively illustrated. Figure 3A An example of a wireless communication network 300 supporting medium sharing across multiple network operation entities according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The network 300 may correspond to a portion of the network 100. For the purpose of simplicity of discussion, Figure 3A Two BSs 105 (shown as BS 105a and BS 105b) and two UEs 115 (shown as UE 115a and UE 115b) are illustrated, but it can be appreciated that aspects of the present disclosure can be extended to more UEs 115 and / or BSs 105. BSs 105 and UEs 115 can be similar to Figure 1 BS 105 and UE 115. Figure 3B 3. The FBE communication scheme 350 is illustrated according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in the scheme 350, the BS 105 and the UE 115 can communicate with each other. Figure 3B In this example, the x-axis represents time in some arbitrary units, and the y-axis represents frequency in some arbitrary units.

[0061] refer to Figure 3A In network 300, BS 105a serves UE 115a in a serving cell or coverage area 340a, while BS 105b serves UE 115b in a serving cell or coverage area 340b. BS 105a and BS 105b may be on the same frequency channel (e.g., Figure 3B102) in a frequency band 302 of 102a and 102b respectively communicate with UE 115a and UE 115b. In some cases, BS 105a and BS 105b may be operated by different network operation entities. In some other cases, BS 105a and BS 105b may be operated by different network operation entities. In some cases, BS 105a and BS 105b may use the same RAT (e.g., NR-based technology or WiFi-based technology) for communication with UE 115a and UE 115b respectively. In some other cases, BS 105a and BS 105b use different RATs for communication with UE 115a and UE 115b respectively. For example, BS 105a and UE 115a may communicate using NR-based technology, while BS 105b and UE 115b may communicate using WiFi-based technology. In general, BS 105a and BS 105b may be operated by the same network operating entity or different network operating entities and may communicate using the same RAT or different RATs in network 300. BS 105a, BS 105b, UE 115a, and UE 115b may share access to a channel using an FBE-based contention mode as shown in FBE communication scheme 350.

[0062] refer to Figure 3B , the scheme 350 divides the frequency band 302 into a plurality of frame periods 352 (shown as 352 (n-1) , 352 (n) and 352 (n+1) ). Each frame period 352 includes a contention or gap period 354 and a transmission period 356. The frame period 352 may have a resource structure as shown in the radio frame structure 200. In some cases, each frame period 352 may include one or more time slots similar to the time slot 202. In some cases, each frame period 352 may include one or more symbols similar to the symbol 206. The start time and duration of the frame period 352 and the gap period 354 are predetermined. In addition, each frame period 352 may have the same duration. Similarly, each gap period 354 may have the same duration. Therefore, the frame period 352 may also be referred to as a fixed frame period (FFP). In some other cases, the frame period 352 may be referred to as a COT. In some aspects, according to some regulations, the gap period 354 may have a minimum duration of 5 percent (%) of the total time frame period 352.

[0063] A node (e.g., BS 105a or BS 105b) interested in communicating using the frame period 352 may contend for the channel during the corresponding gap period 354, for example by performing LBT to determine whether another node may have reserved the same frame period 352. If the LBT is successful, the node may send an indication of the reservation of the frame period 352 so that other nodes may avoid using the same frame period 352. The LBT may be based on energy detection or signal detection. The reservation indication may be a predetermined sequence or waveform or any suitable signal. If the LBT is unsuccessful, the node may fall back until the next gap period 354 begins, where the node may attempt another contention during the gap period 354.

[0064] and Figure 3B A gap period 354 is shown at the beginning of the frame period 352. In some cases, the gap period 354 may be located at the end of the frame period 352, where the gap period may be used to compete for the next frame period (see, e.g. Figure 4 ).

[0065] In some aspects, each frame period 352 may have the same duration. In some aspects, the duration of the frame period 352 may be a factor of a reference duration. The reference duration may be twice the duration of the radio frame. For example, for a 10 ms radio frame, the frame period 352 may have a duration of approximately 1 ms, 2 ms, 2.5 ms, 4 ms, 5 ms, 10 ms, or 20 ms. In one example, the frame period field may have a length of approximately 3 bits, where a value of 0 may indicate a duration of 1 ms, a value of 1 may indicate a duration of 2 ms, a value of 2 may indicate a duration of 2.5 ms, a value of 3 may indicate a duration of 4 ms, a value of 4 may indicate a duration of 5 ms, a value of 5 may indicate a duration of 10 ms, and a value of 6 may indicate a duration of 20 ms. When the radio frame has a duration of 10 ms, each radio frame may be aligned with the start of a frame period 352 having a duration of 1 ms, 2 ms, 2.5 ms, 4 ms, 5 ms, or 10 ms. For a frame period 352 duration of 20 ms, every other radio frame may be aligned with the start of the frame period 352. In some other cases, the reference duration may be approximately 40 ms, 50 ms, 60 ms, 80 ms, 100 ms, or any suitable integer multiple of the radio frame duration.

[0066] In some aspects, the duration of the gap period 354 may be in units of symbols (e.g., symbol 206). As discussed above, the gap period 354 may be configured to meet a certain stipulation that the minimum value is 5% of the total frame period. Thus, the gap period 354 may include a minimum integer number of symbols greater than a minimum portion (e.g., 5%) of the frame period 352. For example, the duration of the gap period 354 may be calculated as follows:

[0067]

[0068] Where N Symbols represents the number of symbols in the gap period 354, T frame period represents the duration of the frame period 352, and T Symbol Represents the duration of a symbol. In some aspects, the minimum gap duration or factor 5% may be configured by the network. For example, the factor may be 4%, 6%, or 7% or more. As an example, for a frame period 352 having a duration of approximately 4 ms and an SCS of approximately 30 kHz, the gap period 354 may include approximately 6 symbols. In some other cases, the gap period 354 may occupy a minimum percentage of the frame period 352 specified by the wireless communication protocol. In some cases, the number of symbols in the gap period 354 may vary depending on the time position of the gap period 354 in the radio frame 606. For example, in a particular configuration, the symbol time may be longer by every 0.5 ms.

[0069] In some aspects, the duration of the gap period 354 may be in units of time slots (e.g., time slots 202). For example, the duration of the gap period 354 may be calculated as follows:

[0070]

[0071] Where N Slots represents the number of time slots in the gap period 354, T frame period represents the duration of the frame period 352, and T Slot Indicates the duration of the time slot.

[0072] In some aspects, the duration of the gap period 354 may be determined based on the duration of the frame period 352. As discussed, the duration of the gap period 354 may be at least some factor (e.g., approximately 5%) of the duration of the frame period 352. Thus, the UE 115 may calculate the duration of the gap period 354 using equations (1) or (2) discussed above.

[0073] exist Figure 3B In the example shown, BS 105a and BS 105b may contend for frame period 352 during corresponding gap period 354.(n-1) ,352 (n) and 352 (n+1) BS 105a can win the frame period 352 (n-1) and 352 (n+1) competition, and BS105b can win the frame period 352 (n) After winning the contention, BS 105a or BS 105b may schedule (multiple) DL communications 360 and / or (multiple) UL communications 370 with UE 115a or UE 115b, respectively, within the corresponding non-gap duration or transmission period 356. DL communications 360 may include DL control information (e.g., PDCCH control information) and / or DL ​​data (e.g., PDSCH data). UL communications 370 may include UL control information (e.g., PUCCH control information), PRACH signals, random access messages, periodic sounding reference signals (p-SRS), and / or UL data (e.g., PUSCH data). For example, BS 105a ... UL communications 370 with UE 115a or UE 115b, respectively, within the corresponding non-gap duration or transmission period 356. (n-1) During the UE 115a transmission period, a DL scheduling grant (e.g., a PDCCH scheduling DCI) or an UL scheduling grant (e.g., a PDCCH scheduling DCI) for a DL communication 360 or an UL communication 370 with the UE 115a is sent. The UE 115a may monitor the scheduling grant from the BS 105a and send the UL communication 370 to the BS 105a or receive the DL communication 360 from the BS 105a according to the grant. In some aspects, the UE 115a may perform Category 3 (CAT2) LBT before sending the UL communication 370. CAT2 LBT may refer to a one-time LBT without random backoff.

[0074] In some aspects, BS 105a may send a PDCCH signal (shown as 360a1) at or near the beginning of transmission period 356 to signal UE 115a that BS 105a has won the frame period 352. (n-1) In some cases, the PDCCH signal may include downlink control information (DCI). In some cases, the DCI includes signaling to a group of UEs served by BS 105a that BS 105a has won the frame period 352. (n-1) The GC-PDCCH DCI for the contention of the UE can monitor the PDCCH from the BS 105a. In some cases, the GC-PDCCH can include a slot format indicator (SFI) indicating the slot format indicator (SFI) allocated to the frame period 352. (n-1) BS 350a wins the transmission direction of the symbol within the transmission period 356 of the frame period 352. (n-1)The indication of access may generally be referred to as a COT indication.

[0075] In some aspects, BS 105a may configure UE 115a with a configured grant or configured resources for a configured UL transmission. The configured grant or resources may be periodic. When the configured resources or grant are in frame period 352 (n-1) 356, UE 115a may transmit (n-1) Upon detecting the COT indication from BS 105a, UE 115a may perform a COT indication from BS 105a during frame period 352. (n-1) Use the configured authorization resource to send.

[0076] In some aspects of the present disclosure, UE 115a may determine based on DCI 360a1 that UE 115a may be in frame period 352 (n-1) During the FFP, the BS 105a may transmit an uplink communication to the BS 105a. In some cases, the BS 105a transmits a DCI 360a1 having content indicating that there is no associated scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication. The UE 115a may process the DCI and determine that the UE 105a may transmit an uplink communication in the FFP based on the fact that no PDSCH communication is being scheduled by the DCI 360a1. If the UE 115a is operating in idle mode, the uplink communication(s) 370 may include a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., a random access preamble (Msg1), a connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.) and / or another type of uplink communication. If the UE 115a is operating in connected mode, the uplink communication(s) 370 may include a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, a sounding reference signal (SRS), and / or another type of uplink communication. In some cases, DCI 360a1 uses an existing DCI format (e.g., 0_1, 0_2, 1_2, etc.). In some cases, DCI 360a1 uses one or more fields in DCI 360a1 to indicate that PDSCH communication is not scheduled for UE 115a. For example, the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field of DCI 360a1 can indicate that PDSCH communication is not scheduled (e.g., all zeros for RA type 0, all ones for RA type 1, etc.).

[0077] Once BS 105a or BS 105b wins the contention for frame period 352, the BS 105a or BS 105b that won the contention exclusively uses frame period 352. Therefore, BS 105a or BS 105b may leave an idle period (shown as a blank box) without transmission in frame period 352. When operating in FBE mode, another node may not occupy the channel during the idle period because contention may only occur during gap period 354.

[0078] As discussed above, when operating in FBE communication mode, the frame period 352 and the gap period 354 are predetermined and known before communication in FBE mode. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technique for signaling an FBE structure for FBE communication on a shared radio frequency band. The present disclosure also provides a technique for enabling a UE (e.g., UE 115 and / or 800) to access a network (e.g., network 100 and / or 300) when the network is operating in FBE mode.

[0079] Figure 4 An FBE communication scheduling / transmission configuration 400 according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. As shown, the BS 105 performs LBT 410 to compete for the frame period 352a. In the illustrated example, the BS 105 wins the competition for the frame period 352a and can therefore occupy the frame period 352a. During the transmission period 356 of the frame period 352a, the BS sends downlink control information (DCI) 415-a in the search space of the shared radio frequency band. In some cases, at block 1110, the BS sends the DCI 415-a masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) (e.g., for an idle mode UE) or with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) (e.g., for a connected mode UE). In some cases, the BS sends the DCI 415-a of DCI format 1_0 masked with the SI-RNTI. In some cases, the BS transmits DCI of DCI format 1_2 (masked with C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 (masked with C-RNTI).

[0080] In some cases, the BS sends DCI 415-a based on one or more predefined resource candidates 420. The BS may decide to use one or more (including all) of the resource candidates to send DCI 415-a. Figure 4, two candidate resource locations 420-a and 420-b are shown as available for sending DCI, but BS 105 only uses resource 420-a to send DCI 415-a. Resource candidates can be based on CORESET, search space (common, group-specific and / or UE-specific), time resources, frequency resources, aggregation level, and / or a combination thereof. In some examples, the following about Figure 5 Aspects of the search space / CORESET configuration scheme 500 discussed. The predefined resource candidates may be set by a network specification, programmed in a BS memory, and / or a combination thereof. The predefined resource candidates may be determined by the BS and delivered to one or more UEs via RRC configuration, SIB, MIB, and / or other signaling. In some cases, the BS sends DCI 415-a in a common search space (CSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some cases, the common search space is a type 0 CSS. In some cases, the BS sends DCI 415-a in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of the PDCCH.

[0081] UE 115 monitors the search space of the shared radio frequency band for downlink communications from a BS operating in FBE mode. In some cases, UE 115 operates in idle mode when monitoring downlink communications. In some cases, UE 115 operates in RRC connected mode when monitoring downlink communications. UE 115 may monitor downlink communications based on one or more predefined resource candidates (such as the resource candidates discussed above). For example, UE 115 may monitor downlink communications in the CSS and / or USS of the PDCCH.

[0082] Based on the monitoring, as indicated by communication 430-a, UE 115 may receive DCI 415-a. UE 115 may receive DCI 415-a masked with SI-RNTI (e.g., for idle mode UEs) or with C-RNTI (e.g., for connected mode UEs). In some cases, UE 115 receives DCI 415-a in DCI format 1_0 masked with SI-RNTI. In some cases, UE 115 receives DCI 415-a in DCI format 1_2 masked with C-RNTI or DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

[0083] In some cases, DCI 415-a does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115. In some cases, BS 105 uses one or more fields in DCI 415-a to indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for UE 115. For example, the values ​​of one or more fields of DCI 415-a may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for UE 115. In some cases, one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field. In this regard, the value of the FDRA field may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for UE 115 (e.g., RA type 0 is all zeros, RA type 1 is all ones, etc.). In some cases, a combination of values ​​across multiple fields of DCI 415-a may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for UE 115. In this regard, the values ​​of multiple fields may correspond to a set of values ​​that indicate to UE 115 that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for UE 115.

[0084] UE 115 may determine, based on DCI 415-a received at 430-a, that DCI 415-a does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115. In some cases, UE 115 determines, based on one or more fields in the DCI as discussed above, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115. In some cases, UE 115 uses the determination that DCI 415-a does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115 to determine that UE 115 may send an uplink communication 440 to the BS in frame period 352a. In some cases, uplink communication 440 is a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., a random access preamble (Msg1), a connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.). In some cases, the uplink communication 440 is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, a sounding reference signal (SRS), and / or another type of uplink communication. In this way, the transmission of DCI 415-a that does not schedule PDSCH communication can be used to verify (multiple) uplink communications by UE 115 to BS 105.

[0085] Figure 5A search space / CORESET configuration scheme 500 is illustrated in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. The scheme 500 may be employed by a BS such as BS 105 and a UE such as UE 115 in a network such as network 100 for communication. For example, in accordance with the present disclosure, the search space, aggregation level, and / or resource allocation associated with the search space / CORESET configuration scheme 500 may be used by the BS 105 and the UE 115 to communicate DCI (e.g., DCI 420a, 630, 730). In particular, the BS 105 may communicate a PDCCH with the UE 115 using the time-frequency resources configured as shown in the scheme 500. Figure 5 An example of a CORESET 501 including sixteen CCEs 512 in a 20 MHz channel is illustrated. The CCEs 512 may be indexed from 0 to 15 (shown as CCE1 to CCE15). Each CCE 512 may include six resource element groups (REGs), where a REG may be defined as one physical RB in one symbol. In some aspects, the CORESET 501 may span 96 RBs (e.g., RB210) with an SCS of 15 kHz in frequency and one symbol (e.g., symbol 206) in time. In other words, each CCE 512 may span 6 RBs in frequency and one symbol in time. In some other aspects, the CORESET 501 may span 48 RBs with an SCS of 30 kHz in frequency and two symbols in time. In other words, each CCE 512 may span 3 RBs in frequency and 2 symbols in time.

[0086] A BS (e.g., BS 105) may send SIB scheduling using an aggregation of four CCEs 512, an aggregation of eight CCEs 512, or an aggregation of sixteen CCEs 512 in a PDCCH search space associated with a CORESET 501. A PDCCH search space may be an instance of a CORESET in a certain slot. An aggregation of four CCEs 512 may be referred to as an aggregation level (AL) of 4. An aggregation of eight CCEs 512 may be referred to as an AL of 8. An aggregation of sixteen CCEs 512 may be referred to as an AL of 16. The higher the AL, the more redundancy and frequency diversity that a PDCCH transmission may provide, and thus the more robust the PDCCH transmission may be. A UE (e.g., UE 115) may monitor the SIB scheduling information by performing blind decoding to search for PDCCH candidates in the CORESET 501 based on an aggregation level (AL) of 4, 8, or 16. PDCCH monitoring for SIB scheduling is PDCCH type 0 monitoring. In some aspects, as part of the PDCCH blind decoding, in the PDCCH search space, the UE may decode one PDCCH candidate with an AL of 16, two PDCCH candidates with an AL of 8, and four PDCCH-candidates with an AL of 4. In some aspects, the PDCCH candidates in the CORESET 501 are mapped to the CCE 512 as follows:

[0087]

[0088] Among them, N CCE represents the number of CCE 512 in CORESET 501, L represents AL, i can vary from 0 to L-1, and Indicates the maximum number of PDCCH candidates for a specific AL.

[0089] Figure 6 A signaling diagram of a FBE communication method 600 according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. At 605, the BS 105 sends a system information block (e.g., SIB-1). In some cases, the system information block indicates that the BS and / or the shared radio frequency band is operating in FBE mode. The UE 115 may receive the system information block. At 610, the UE 115 may process the system information block to determine that the BS and / or the shared spectrum is operating in FBE mode. At 615, the UE operates in idle mode. When operating in idle mode, the UE 115 may only detect downlink signals (e.g., SSB or PDCCH) masked with SI-RNTI.

[0090] At 620, the BS 105 performs LBT to contend for the fixed frame period 625. In the illustrated example, the BS 105 wins the contention for the fixed frame period 625 and can therefore occupy the frame period 625. At 630, during the transmission period of the fixed frame period 625, the BS 105 transmits downlink control information (DCI) in the search space of the shared radio frequency band. In some cases, the BS 105 transmits the DCI masked with the SI-RNTI so that it can be received by the UE 115 operating in the idle mode. For example, in some cases, at 630, the BS transmits the DCI of DCI format 1_0 masked with the SI-RNTI. In some cases, the BS 105 transmits the DCI at 630 based on one or more predefined resource candidates as discussed above. The BS 105 can transmit the DCI in the fixed frame period 625 using one or more (including all) of the available resource candidates for the DCI. In some cases, the BS sends the DCI in a common search space (CSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at 630. In some cases, the common search space is a type-0 CSS.

[0091] When operating in idle mode, UE 115 may monitor the search space of the shared radio frequency band for downlink communications from BS 105. UE 115 may monitor downlink communications based on one or more predefined resource candidates, such as the resource candidates discussed above. For example, UE 115 may monitor downlink communications in the CSS of a PDCCH including a Type 0 CSS.

[0092] Based on the monitoring, UE 115 may receive the DCI and process the DCI at 640. In some cases, the UE determines, based on the processing at 640, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115. In some cases, UE 115 determines, based on one or more fields in the DCI as discussed above, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115. In some cases, UE 115 uses the determination that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 115 to determine that UE 115 may send an uplink communication to the BS in frame period 625 at 645. In some cases, as Figure 6As shown in , the uplink communication is a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., random access preamble (Msg1), connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.). In this way, the BS 105 can send DCI at 630 to indicate to the UE 115 that one or more RACH opportunities are available to the UE 115 during the fixed frame period 625 in order to establish an RRC connection with the BS. Therefore, in some cases when the UE is not equipped with a C-RNTI and is configured with ChannelAccessMode-r16 (channel access mode-r16) = semi-static (e.g., FBE mode), if the UE detects that the FDRA field in the DCI in the PDCCH is a Type-1 PDSCH allocation scrambled with the SI-RNTI in the PDCCH candidate of the Type-0 CSS in the FFP containing at least one valid RACH opportunity (RO) is all ones, the UE assumes that the BS has obtained the FFP.

[0093] Figure 7 A signaling diagram of a FBE communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. At 705, the BS 105 and the UE 115 establish a connected mode connection, such as an RRC connection. At 710, the BS 105 sends an RRC configuration. In some cases, the RRC configuration indicates one or more predefined resource candidates for the UE 115 to monitor downlink communications from the BS 105. In some cases, the BS 105 defines the resource candidates based on CORESET, search space (common, group-specific, and / or UE-specific), time resources, frequency resources, aggregation level, and / or a combination thereof. In some cases, the BS 105 indicates to the UE 115 a user equipment-specific search space (USS) to monitor the PDCCH.

[0094] At 720, BS 105 performs LBT to compete for fixed frame period 725. In the illustrated example, BS 105 wins the competition for fixed frame period 725 and can therefore occupy frame period 725. At 730, during the transmission period of fixed frame period 725, BS 105 sends downlink control information (DCI) in the search space of the shared radio frequency band. In some cases, BS 105 sends DCI masked with C-RNTI so that it can be received by UE 115 operating in connected mode. For example, in some cases, at 730, BS sends DCI of DCI format 1_2 (masked with C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 (masked with C-RNTI). In some cases, BS 105 sends DCI at 730 based on one or more predefined resource candidates as discussed above. In some cases, BS sends DCI in USS of PDCCH at 630.

[0095] When operating in connected mode, at 735, UE 115 may monitor the search space of the shared radio frequency band for downlink communications from BS 105. UE 115 may monitor downlink communications based on one or more predefined resource candidates, such as the resource candidates discussed above. For example, UE 115 may monitor downlink communications in the USS of the PDCCH. As described above, UE 115 may receive an indication of resources for monitoring via RRC configuration. In some cases, resource candidates are not indicated to the UE via RRC configuration.

[0096] Based on the monitoring at 735, the UE 115 may receive the DCI and process the DCI at 740. In some cases, the UE determines, based on the processing at 740, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for the UE 115. In some cases, the UE 115 determines, based on one or more fields in the DCI as discussed above, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for the UE 115. In some cases, the UE 115 uses the determination that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for the UE 115 to determine that the UE 115 may send uplink communication(s) to the BS in the frame period 725 at 745. In some cases, the uplink communication(s) include PUCCH and / or PUSCH communications. In this manner, the BS 105 may send the DCI at 730 to indicate to the UE 115 that one or more uplink opportunities are available to the UE 115 during the fixed frame period 725. In this manner, the BS 105 may provide one or more uplink opportunities to a single UE 115 in the fixed frame period 725 , as opposed to the GC-PDCCH indicating that the BS won contention for the fixed frame period 725 .

[0097] Figure 8 800 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 800 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. UE 800 may be the Figure 1 115 discussed in . As shown, UE 800 may include a processor 802, a memory 804, a FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808, a transceiver 810 including a modem subsystem 812 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 814, and one or more antennas 816. These elements may communicate with each other directly or indirectly, for example via one or more buses.

[0098] The processor 802 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 802 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0099] Memory 804 may include cache memory (e.g., cache memory of processor 802), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, a hard drive, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In one aspect, memory 804 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Memory 804 may store instructions 806 or have instructions 806 recorded thereon. Instructions 806 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 802, cause processor 802 to perform aspects of the present disclosure described herein (e.g., Figure 2-Figure 7 and Fig.10 Instructions 806 may also be referred to as program code. The program code may be used to cause the wireless communication device to perform the operations, for example, by causing one or more processors (such as processor 802) to control or command the wireless communication device to perform the operations. The terms "instructions" and "code" should be broadly interpreted to include any type of (multiple) computer-readable statements. For example, the terms "instructions" and "code" may refer to one or more programs, routines, subroutines, functions, processes, etc. "Instructions" and "code" may include a single computer-readable statement or multiple computer-readable statements.

[0100] The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and / or instruction 806 stored in the memory 804 and executed by the processor 802. In some cases, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 may be integrated into the modem subsystem 812. For example, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 may be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or general purpose processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuits) within the modem subsystem 812.

[0101] The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 may be used in various aspects of the present disclosure, such as FIG. Figure 7 and Fig.10 The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 is configured to monitor downlink communications from a base station (e.g., BS 105 and / or 900) operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band, receive DCI from the base station, determine whether the DCI schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for UE 800, send uplink communications (e.g., PRACH, PUCCH, or PUSCH communications) to the base station based on determining that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for UE 800, and / or communicate UL communications (e.g., PUCCH and / or PUSCH) and / or DL ​​communications (e.g., PDCCH and or PDSCH) with the BS.

[0102] As shown, the transceiver 810 may include a modem subsystem 812 and an RF unit 814. The transceiver 810 can be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices, such as the BS 105. The modem subsystem 812 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data from the memory 804 and / or the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), such as a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 814 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.) the modulated / encoded data (e.g., PUCCH control information, PRACH signals, PUSCH data) from the modem subsystem 812 (on outbound transmissions) or originating from another source, such as another UE 115 or BS 105. The RF unit 814 may also be configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with digital beamforming. Although shown as being integrated together in the transceiver 810, the modem subsystem 812 and the RF unit 814 may be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 to enable the UE 115 to communicate with other devices.

[0103] The RF unit 814 may provide modulated and / or processed data (e.g., data packets (or more generally, data messages that may include one or more data packets and other information)) to the antenna 816 for transmission to one or more other devices. The antenna 816 may further receive data messages sent from other devices. The antenna 816 may provide the received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 may provide the demodulated and decoded data (e.g., DCI, SSB, RMSI, MIB, SIB, FBE configuration, PRACH configuration, PDCCH, PDSCH) to the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808 for processing. The antenna 816 may include multiple antennas of similar or different designs to maintain multiple transmission links. The RF unit 814 may configure the antenna 816.

[0104] In one aspect, the UE 800 can include multiple transceivers 810 that implement different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In one aspect, the UE 800 can include a single transceiver 810 that implements multiple RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In one aspect, the transceiver 810 can include various components, where different combinations of components can implement different RATs.

[0105] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 900 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 1 and Figure 3A , BS 900 may be BS 105 in network 100. As shown, BS 900 may include a processor 902, a memory 904, a FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908, a transceiver 910 including a modem subsystem 912 and an RF unit 914, and one or more antennas 916. These elements may communicate with each other directly or indirectly, for example via one or more buses.

[0106] The processor 902 may have various characteristics as a particular type of processor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, an FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 902 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0107] The memory 904 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of the processor 902), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, a solid-state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, a memristor-based array, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In some aspects, the memory 904 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory 904 may store instructions 906. The instructions 906 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 902, cause the processor 902 to perform operations described herein (e.g., Figure 2 - Figure 7 and Fig.11 Instructions 906 may also be referred to as code, which may be broadly interpreted to include any type of (multiple) computer-readable statements as discussed above.

[0108] The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and / or instruction 906 stored in the memory 904 and executed by the processor 902. In some cases, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be integrated into the modem subsystem 912. For example, the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or general purpose processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuits) within the modem subsystem 912.

[0109] The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be used in various aspects of the present disclosure, such as FIG. Figure 7 and Fig.11 The FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 may be configured to send a system information signal indicating an FBE operating mode to a UE (e.g., UE 115 and / or 800), send downlink control information (DCI) to the UE that does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the UE, receive uplink communication(s) (e.g., PRACH, PUCCH, PUSCH communications) from the UE in response to the DCI, and / or communicate UL communications (e.g., PUCCH and / or PUSCH) and / or DL ​​communications (e.g., PDCCH and / or PDSCH) with the UE.

[0110] As shown, the transceiver 910 may include a modem subsystem 912 and an RF unit 914. The transceiver 910 may be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices, such as UE 115 and / or 800, another BS 105, and / or another core network element. The modem subsystem 912 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data according to an MCS (e.g., an LDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc.). The RF unit 914 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.) modulated / encoded data (e.g., SSB, RMSI, MIB, SIB, FBE configuration, PRACH configuration, PDCCH, PDSCH) from the modem subsystem 912 (on outbound transmissions) or from another source (such as UE 115). The RF unit 914 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with digital beamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 910, modem subsystem 912 and / or RF unit 914 may be separate devices that are coupled together at BS 105 to enable BS 105 to communicate with other devices.

[0111] The RF unit 914 may provide modulated and / or processed data (e.g., data packets (or more generally, data messages that may include one or more data packets and other information)) to the antenna 916 for transmission to one or more other devices. The antenna 916 may further receive data messages sent from other devices and provide received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at the transceiver 910. The transceiver 910 may provide the demodulated and decoded data (e.g., PUCCH control information, PRACH signals, PUSCH data) to the FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908 for processing. The antenna 916 may include multiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to maintain multiple transmission links.

[0112] In one aspect, the BS 900 may include multiple transceivers 910 that implement different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In one aspect, the BS 900 may include a single transceiver 910 that implements multiple RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In one aspect, the transceiver 910 may include various components, where different combinations of components may implement different RATs.

[0113] Fig.101 is a flow chart of a communication method 1000 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The steps of method 1000 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, a processing circuit, and / or other suitable components) of an apparatus or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, a UE (such as UE 115 and / or 800) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 802, memory 804, FBE uplink scheduling and control module 808, transceiver 810, and one or more antennas 816) to perform the steps of method 1000. Method 1000 may adopt the above-mentioned Figure 2-Figure 7 As shown, method 1000 includes many enumerated steps, but aspects of method 1000 may include additional steps before, after, and between the enumerated steps. In some aspects, one or more of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0114] At box 1010, the UE monitors downlink communications from a base station operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band. In some cases, the UE operates in an idle mode when monitoring downlink communications. In some cases, the UE operates in an RRC connected mode when monitoring downlink communications. In some cases, the UE monitors downlink communications based on one or more predefined resource candidates. The predefined resource candidates may be defined based on CORESET, search space (common, group-specific and / or UE-specific), time resources, frequency resources, aggregation level and / or a combination thereof. The predefined resource candidates may be set by a network specification, programmed in a UE memory, and / or a combination thereof. The predefined resource candidates may be determined by a BS and delivered to one or more UEs via RRC configuration, SIB, MIB and / or other signaling. In some cases, the UE monitors downlink communications in a common search space (CSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some cases, the common search space is a type 0 CSS. In some cases, the UE monitors downlink communications in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of the PDCCH.

[0115] At block 1020, the UE receives downlink control information (DCI) from the base station based on the monitoring at block 1010. The UE may receive DCI masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) (e.g., for an idle mode UE) or masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) (e.g., for a connected mode UE). In some cases, the UE receives DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with SI-RNTI. In some cases, the UE receives DCI in DCI format 1_2 (masked with C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 (masked with C-RNTI).

[0116] At block 1030, the UE determines, based on the DCI received at block 1020, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the UE. In some cases, the UE determines, based on one or more fields in the DCI, that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communications for the UE. For example, the values ​​of one or more fields may indicate to the UE that PDSCH communications are not scheduled. In some cases, the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field. In this regard, the value of the FDRA field may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE (e.g., RA type 0 is all zeros, RA type 1 is all ones, etc.). In some cases, a combination of values ​​across multiple fields of the DCI may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE. For example, the UE may decode the DCI and determine that the values ​​of multiple fields correspond to a set of values ​​indicating that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE.

[0117] At block 1040, the UE sends an uplink communication to the base station based on determining at block 1030 that the DCI does not schedule PDSCH communication for the UE. In some cases, the UE sends a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication (e.g., a random access preamble (Msg1), a connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.). In some cases, the UE sends a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, a sounding reference signal (SRS), and / or another type of uplink communication.

[0118] Fig.11 1 is a flow chart of a communication method 1100 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The steps of the method 1100 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, a processing circuit, and / or other suitable components) of an apparatus or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, a BS (such as BS 105 and / or 900) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 902, memory 904, FBE uplink scheduling and control module 908, transceiver 910, and one or more antennas 916) to perform the steps of the method 1100. The method 1100 may adopt the above-mentioned Figure 2-Figure 7 As shown, method 1100 includes many enumerated steps, but various aspects of method 1100 may include additional steps before, after, and between the enumerated steps. In some aspects, one or more enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0119] At block 1110, the BS sends downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode. In some cases, the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the UE. In some cases, the BS uses one or more fields in the DCI to indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE. For example, the values ​​of one or more fields of the DCI may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE. In some cases, one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field. In this regard, the value of the FDRA field may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE (e.g., RA 0 type is all zeros, RA 1 type is all ones, etc.). In some cases, a combination of values ​​across multiple fields of the DCI may indicate that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE. In this regard, the values ​​of multiple fields may correspond to a set of values ​​that indicate to the UE that PDSCH communications are not scheduled for the UE.

[0120] In some cases, at block 1110, the BS sends DCI masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) (e.g., for idle mode UEs) or masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) (e.g., for connected mode UEs). In some cases, the BS sends DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with SI-RNTI. In some cases, the BS sends DCI in DCI format 1_2 (masked with C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 (masked with C-RNTI).

[0121] In some cases, at box 1110, the BS sends DCI based on one or more predefined resource candidates. The predefined resource candidates may be based on CORESET, search space (common, group-specific and / or UE-specific), time resources, frequency resources, aggregation level and / or a combination thereof. The predefined resource candidates may be set by a network specification, programmed in a BS memory, and / or a combination thereof. The predefined resource candidates may be determined by the BS and delivered to one or more UEs via RRC configuration, SIB, MIB and / or other signaling. In some cases, the BS sends DCI in a common search space (CSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some cases, the common search space is a type 0 CSS. In some cases, the BS sends DCI in a user equipment-specific search space (USS) of the PDCCH.

[0122] At block 1120, the BS receives uplink communications from the UE based on the DCI. In some cases, the BS receives physical random access channel (P-RACH) communications (e.g., random access preamble (Msg1), connection request (Msg3), MsgA, etc.). The BS may send an appropriate response message (e.g., random access response (RAR) (Msg2), connection response (Msg4), MsgB, etc.) to the UE in response to the P-RACH communications. In some cases, the BS receives physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communications, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communications, sounding reference signals (SRS), and / or another type of uplink communications from the UE.

[0123] Information and signals may be represented using a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0124] The various illustrative blocks and modules described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0125] The functions described herein can be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, these functions can be stored or sent as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the above functions can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination of these. The features that implement the functions can also be physically located in different locations, including being distributed so that some functions are implemented in different physical locations. In addition, as used herein, including in the claims, the "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items beginning with phrases such as "at least one" or "one or more") indicates a list of inclusions, so that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C] represents A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e. A and B and C).

[0126] As some skilled in the art will now appreciate, and depending on the specific application at hand, many modifications, substitutions and changes may be made in and to the materials, devices, configurations and methods of use of the apparatus of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In view of this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the scope of the specific embodiments illustrated and described herein, as they are merely examples thereof, but should correspond fully to the scope of the appended claims and their functional equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: monitoring downlink communications from a network entity operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band, wherein monitoring the downlink communications comprises monitoring the downlink communications in an idle mode; Receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the network entity based on the monitoring, wherein receiving the DCI comprises receiving the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); Based on the received DCI, determining that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication for the user equipment; and An uplink communication is sent to the network entity based on the determination within a fixed frame period (FFP), wherein sending the uplink communication includes sending a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring the downlink communication comprises monitoring the downlink communication based on one or more predefined resource candidates. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring the downlink communication comprises monitoring the downlink communication in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The method of claim 3 , wherein the common search space is a Type 0 common search space.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The monitoring the downlink communication comprises monitoring the downlink communication in a connected mode; and The transmitting the uplink communication includes transmitting at least one of a physical uplink control channel PUCCH communication or a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH communication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the receiving the DCI comprises receiving the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI. 7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the monitoring the downlink communication comprises monitoring the downlink communication based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: An indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates is received from the network entity via a Radio Resource Control, RRC, configuration.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the monitoring the downlink communication comprises monitoring the downlink communication in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment comprises determining that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment based on one or more fields in the DCI. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, the FDRA field indicating that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

12. A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, the method comprising: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user equipment, and wherein transmitting the DCI comprises transmitting the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); and An uplink communication based on the DCI is received from the user equipment within a fixed frame period FFP, wherein receiving the uplink communication includes receiving a physical random access channel P-RACH communication. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the sending the DCI comprises sending the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the sending the DCI comprises sending the DCI in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The method of claim 14 , wherein the common search space is a Type 0 common search space.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein: The receiving the uplink communication includes receiving at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sending the DCI comprises sending the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the sending the DCI comprises sending the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: An indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates is sent to the user equipment via a radio resource control, RRC, configuration.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the sending the DCI comprises sending the DCI in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising: One or more fields are set in the DCI to indicate that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field.

23. A user equipment, comprising: Transceiver; as well as a processor in communication with the transceiver, such that the transceiver and the processor are configured to: monitoring downlink communications from a network entity operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode in a search space of a shared radio frequency band, wherein monitoring the downlink communications comprises monitoring the downlink communications in an idle mode; Receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the network entity based on the monitoring, wherein receiving the DCI comprises receiving the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); Based on the received DCI, determining that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication for the user equipment; and An uplink communication is sent to the network entity based on the determination within a fixed frame period (FFP), wherein sending the uplink communication includes sending a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication.

24. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: The downlink communication is monitored based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

25. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: The downlink communication is monitored in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

26. The user equipment of claim 25, wherein the common search space is a type-0 common search space.

27. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: monitoring said downlink communications in a connected mode; and The uplink communication is sent via at least one of a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, or a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH.

28. The user equipment of claim 27, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: The DCI of DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI or DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI is received.

29. The user equipment of claim 27, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: The downlink communication is monitored based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

30. The user equipment of claim 29, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: An indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates is received from the network entity via a Radio Resource Control, RRC, configuration.

31. The user equipment of claim 27, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: The downlink communication is monitored in a user equipment specific search space USS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

32. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: Determining based on one or more fields in the DCI that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment.

33. The user equipment of claim 32, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, the FDRA field indicating that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

34. A network entity comprising: The transceiver is configured as: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user equipment, and wherein transmitting the DCI comprises transmitting the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); and An uplink communication based on the DCI is received from the user equipment within a fixed frame period FFP, wherein receiving the uplink communication includes receiving a physical random access channel P-RACH communication.

35. The network entity of claim 34, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The DCI is sent using one or more predefined resource candidates.

36. The network entity of claim 34, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The DCI is sent in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

37. The network entity of claim 36, wherein the common search space is a Type 0 common search space.

38. The network entity of claim 34, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The uplink communication is received via at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

39. The network entity of claim 38, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The DCI is transmitted in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI or in DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

40. The network entity of claim 38, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The DCI is sent using one or more predefined resource candidates.

41. The network entity of claim 40, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: An indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates is sent to the user equipment via a radio resource control, RRC, configuration.

42. The network entity of claim 38, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: The DCI is sent in a user equipment specific search space USS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

43. The network entity according to claim 34, further comprising: A processor in communication with the transceiver, the processor configured to set one or more fields in the DCI to indicate that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

44. The network entity of claim 43, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field.

45. A user equipment comprising: means for monitoring in a search space of a shared radio frequency band a downlink communication from a network entity operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode, wherein the means for monitoring the downlink communication comprises means for monitoring the downlink communication in an idle mode; means for receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the network entity based on the monitoring, wherein the means for receiving the DCI comprises means for receiving the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); means for determining, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and means for transmitting uplink communications to the network entity within a fixed frame period (FFP) based on the determination, wherein the means for transmitting the uplink communications comprises means for transmitting a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication.

46. ​​The user equipment of claim 45, wherein the means for monitoring the downlink communications comprises means for monitoring the downlink communications based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

47. The user equipment of claim 45, wherein the means for monitoring the downlink communication comprises means for monitoring the downlink communication in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

48. The user equipment of claim 47, wherein the common search space is a Type 0 common search space.

49. The user equipment of claim 45, wherein: said means for monitoring said downlink communications comprises means for monitoring said downlink communications in a connected mode; as well as The means for transmitting the uplink communication comprises means for transmitting at least one of a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, communication or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH communication.

50. The user equipment of claim 49, wherein the means for receiving the DCI comprises means for receiving the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

51. The user equipment of claim 49, wherein the means for monitoring the downlink communication comprises means for monitoring the downlink communication based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

52. The user equipment according to claim 51, further comprising: Means for receiving an indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates from the network entity via a Radio Resource Control, RRC, configuration.

53. The user equipment of claim 49, wherein the means for monitoring the downlink communication comprises means for monitoring the downlink communication in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

54. The user equipment of claim 45, wherein the means for determining that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment comprises means for determining that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment based on one or more fields in the DCI.

55. The user equipment of claim 54, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field, the FDRA field indicating that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

56. A network entity comprising: means for transmitting downlink control information, DCI, in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device FBE mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, communications for a user equipment, and wherein the means for transmitting the DCI comprises means for transmitting the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier, SI-RNTI; and means for receiving uplink communications based on the DCI from the user equipment within a fixed frame period FFP, wherein the means for receiving the uplink communications comprises means for receiving physical random access channel P-RACH communications.

57. The network entity of claim 56, wherein the means for sending the DCI comprises means for sending the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

58. The network entity of claim 56, wherein the means for sending the DCI comprises means for sending the DCI in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

59. The network entity of claim 58, wherein the common search space is a Type 0 common search space.

60. The network entity of claim 56, wherein: The means for receiving the uplink communication includes means for receiving at least one of a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, communication or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH communication.

61. The network entity of claim 60, wherein the means for sending the DCI comprises means for sending the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or in DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

62. The network entity of claim 60, wherein the means for sending the DCI comprises means for sending the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

63. The network entity according to claim 62, further comprising: Means for sending an indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates to the user equipment via a Radio Resource Control, RRC, configuration.

64. The network entity of claim 60, wherein the means for sending the DCI comprises means for sending the DCI in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

65. The network entity of claim 56, further comprising: Means for setting one or more fields in the DCI to indicate that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

66. The network entity of claim 65, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field.

67. A non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon program code for wireless communication of a user equipment, the program code comprising: code for causing the user equipment to monitor, in a search space of a shared radio frequency band, downlink communications from a network entity operating in a frame-based equipment (FBE) mode, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communications comprises code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communications in an idle mode; Code for causing a user equipment to receive downlink control information (DCI) from the network entity based on the monitoring, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to receive the DCI comprises code for causing the user equipment to receive the DCI of DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); code for causing the user equipment to determine, based on the received DCI, that the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for the user equipment; and The code for causing the user equipment to send an uplink communication to the network entity based on the determination within a fixed frame period (FFP), wherein the code for causing the user equipment to send the uplink communication comprises code for causing the user equipment to send a physical random access channel (P-RACH) communication.

68. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication comprises code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication comprises code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 69, wherein the common search space is a Type-0 common search space.

71. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 67, wherein: The code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communications includes code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communications in a connected mode; as well as The code for causing the user equipment to transmit the uplink communication includes code for causing the user equipment to transmit at least one of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communication or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communication.

72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to receive the DCI comprises code for causing the user equipment to receive the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI or in DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication comprises code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication based on one or more predefined resource candidates.

74. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 73, further comprising: Code for causing the user equipment to receive an indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates from the network entity via a radio resource control, RRC, configuration.

75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication comprises code for causing the user equipment to monitor the downlink communication in a user equipment-specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the code for causing the user equipment to determine that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment comprises code for causing the user equipment to determine that the DCI does not schedule the PDSCH communication for the user equipment based on one or more fields in the DCI.

77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the one or more fields include a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field indicating that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

78. A non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon program code for wireless communication of a network entity, the program code comprising: code for causing the network entity to send downlink control information (DCI) in a search space of a shared radio frequency band operating in a frame-based device (FBE) mode, wherein the DCI does not schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications for a user equipment, and wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI comprises code for causing the network entity to send the DCI in DCI format 1_0 masked with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); and The code for causing a network entity to receive uplink communication based on the DCI from the user equipment within a fixed frame period FFP, wherein the code for causing the network entity to receive the uplink communication includes code for causing the network entity to receive physical random access channel P-RACH communication.

79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 78, wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI comprises code for causing the network entity to send the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 78, wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI comprises code for causing the network entity to send the DCI in a common search space of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the common search space is a Type-0 common search space.

82. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 78, wherein: The code for causing the network entity to receive the uplink communication includes code for causing the network entity to receive at least one of a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, communication or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH communication.

83. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 82, wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI includes code for causing the network entity to send the DCI in DCI format 1_2 masked with a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI or in DCI format 0_2 masked with C-RNTI.

84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 82, wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI comprises code for causing the network entity to send the DCI using one or more predefined resource candidates.

85. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 84, further comprising: Code for causing the network entity to send an indication of the one or more predefined resource candidates to the user equipment via a radio resource control, RRC, configuration.

86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 82, wherein the code for causing the network entity to send the DCI comprises code for causing the network entity to send the DCI in a user equipment specific search space (USS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

87. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 78, further comprising: Code for causing the network entity to set one or more fields in the DCI to indicate that the PDSCH communication is not scheduled for the user equipment.

88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 87, wherein the one or more fields include a Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field.

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