User equipment, wireless access network node and method thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a user equipment, a wireless access network node and a method performed by the same. The method performed by the wireless access network node comprises: sending a first part of minimum system information on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), wherein the first part of the minimum system information comprises information for identifying at least one communication resource; and using the at least one communication resource to send a second part of the minimum system information, wherein the information indicates a frequency offset based on a minimum index of a resource block by frequency included in the PBCH.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese invention patent application with application date of June 13, 2018, application number 201880052835.8, and invention name “Communication System”. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the provision of system resources in a cellular or wireless telecommunications network, and in particular, but not exclusively, to the indexing of physical resource blocks and resource block groups of component carriers (cells) that may be divided into a plurality of smaller component carriers. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention is relevant to wireless telecommunications networks implemented in accordance with various standards defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, the present invention is relevant to the recent development of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, Advanced LTE (LTE-A) networks, related enhancements and developments of LTE / LTE-A, and communication technologies beyond LTE / LTE-A to so-called "5G", "New Radio" (NR) or "NextGen" technologies. Background Art

[0003] A cellular communication network typically includes one or more radio access networks (RANs) that provide access to the communication network to items of user equipment (UE) within at least one discrete geographic area (cell) covered by the RAN so that the UEs can communicate with each other and can receive (or provide) one or more communication services to each other. The RAN typically includes a base station that is configured to communicate with the UEs in the associated cell over an air interface and (typically over a wired interface) communicate with communication entities (or "functions") in the core network to facilitate establishing and maintaining communication sessions (e.g., for voice / video calls, data services, etc.) for each UE.

[0004] The terms “5G” and “New Radio” (NR) refer to evolving communication technologies that are expected to support a variety of applications and services such as machine type communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT) communications, vehicular communications and autonomous vehicles (V2V / V2X), high-resolution video streaming and / or smart city services.

[0005] 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.799 V14.0.0 describes the possible architecture and general process of the next generation (NextGen) (5G) system planned for Release 14 of the 3GPP standard. 3GPP has also studied the potential use of frequency bands up to 100 GHz for new (5G) wireless access networks, where in Rel-15, the maximum channel bandwidth of each NR carrier is 400 MHz. Directional beamforming and massive antenna technology can also be used to overcome the severe channel attenuation characteristics associated with certain high-frequency bands (e.g., millimeter wave (mmWave) bands). The term "massive antenna" refers to an antenna with a large number of antenna elements (e.g., 100 or more) arranged in an array. In practice, such massive antennas can be used to communicate with multiple users simultaneously, thereby facilitating multi-user-multiple input and multiple output (MU-MIMO) transmission.

[0006] Although the base stations of 5G / NR communication systems are often referred to as new radio base stations ("NR-BS") or "gNBs", it should be understood that they can be referred to using the term eNB (or 5G / NR eNB), where eNB is more commonly associated with LTE base stations. In the case of MU-MIMO, the base station may also be referred to as a transmit receive point (TRP). The term "base station" used herein generally refers to any equivalent communication device of an NR-BS, gNB, eNB, TRP, or RAN.

[0007] One of the tasks of a base station is to provide the key information that a UE needs to communicate in a cellular communication system, access specific services, and move as seamlessly as possible between cells of the same and different radio access technologies (RATs). This information is called "system information" and includes the minimum system information that allows a UE to access a cell and perform cell selection / reselection (including information related to intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT cell selection) and other system information that a UE may need in a cell in certain circumstances (i.e., in addition to the minimum system information required to access a cell), for example, to access specific services.

[0008] The elements of system information are typically grouped into multiple dedicated system information blocks, depending on the type of information. These blocks include: a master information block (MIB) containing static, generally cell-specific information for carrying part of the so-called minimum system information, a so-called "RMSI" block containing any remaining minimum system information (RMSI); and multiple additional system information blocks (SIBs) that can be delivered via on-demand request, representing information that may be different for different UEs (or UE groups). The MIB contains, for example, a system frame number (SFN), timing information within a radio frame (e.g., SS block time index, half radio frame timing), RMSI scheduling information, reserved bits for future use, and at least a portion of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value. The MIB is broadcast on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), while the RMSI and any on-demand SIBs are sent via a radio resource control (RRC) message on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0009] 3GPP intends to provide one or more TRPs for each new radio (NR) base station (i.e., 5G base station or gNB), and each base station can support up to 1000 cells. The expected NR control structure has been proposed in 3GPP TR38.802V14.0.0, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This technical report describes the provision of synchronization signals and downlink broadcast signals / channels (Section 6.2.3.1) to support the initial access of the UE (e.g., to a specific cell of the RAN) and mobility, etc.

[0010] In summary, the synchronization signals used in NR are based on a cyclic prefix (CP) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. 3GPP defines the primary synchronization signal (NR-PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (NR-SSS) used by NR. The NR-PSS is used at least for synchronization with the initial symbol boundary of the NR cell, and the NR-SSS is used for detection of the NR cell identifier (or at least a portion thereof). NR-SSS detection is based on a fixed time / frequency relationship with at least the NR-PSS resource location within a given frequency range and CP overhead.

[0011] At least one broadcast channel (NR-PBCH) is defined for NR. NR-PBCH is a non-scheduled broadcast channel used to carry at least a portion of the so-called minimum system information with a fixed payload size and a periodicity that depends on the carrier frequency range. The NR-PBCH is decoded based on a fixed relationship with the NR-PSS and / or NR-SSS resource locations.

[0012] For initial access, the UE may assume a signal corresponding to a predetermined subcarrier spacing of NR-PSS / SSS in a specific, given frequency band (known to the UE, e.g., factory configured). The NR-PSS uses one antenna port. For NR-PBCH transmissions, a single fixed number of antenna ports is supported. The UE assumes a predefined digital scheme for NR-PBCH and NR-SS within a specific frequency range (so the UE does not need to blindly detect NR-PBCH transmissions). At least a portion of the minimum system information (e.g., MIB) is sent in the NR-PBCH. The NR-PBCH content includes the SFN and at least a portion of the associated CRC value. The RMSI is sent via the NR-PDSCH.

[0013] The 3GPP RAN1 working group is discussing the case where the overall network channel bandwidth (system bandwidth of the gNB) can be divided into multiple smaller component carriers (CCs) (which may have an impact on system information) and specifically, the provision of RMSI.

[0014] The following is a summary of some of the agreements reached by 3GPP RAN1:

[0015] - A component carrier (cell) may operate simultaneously with multiple different bandwidths (e.g., items for different user equipment). For example, a gNB may operate simultaneously as a wideband CC for some UEs and as a set of intra-band contiguous CCs for other UEs. Intra-band contiguous CCs may also be used with carrier aggregation (CA) to dynamically increase bandwidth for some UEs when needed (i.e., by aggregating multiple intra-band contiguous CCs). It is preferred to allow zero (or very small) guard bands between intra-band CCs in a wideband CC. In case a (non-zero) guard band is provided between two intra-band CCs, it is preferred to minimize the number of subcarriers used for the guard band.

[0016] - Allows single and multiple synchronization signal locations in wideband CC.

[0017] - For single carrier operation, the UE need not receive any downlink signals outside the frequency range configured for the UE. However, an outage time is required during which no signals are sent to the UE to allow the frequency range to be changed (or moved) where appropriate (e.g., from frequency range "A" to frequency range "B"). In this case, the frequency ranges may have different BWs and / or center frequencies.

[0018] - One or more bandwidth part configurations for each component carrier may be semi-statically signaled to a UE (e.g. in RRC connected mode). Each bandwidth part contains a set of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs). However, reserved (or unusable) resources may be configured within a bandwidth part. The bandwidth of a bandwidth part is equal to or less than the maximum bandwidth capability supported by the UE. The bandwidth of a bandwidth part is at least as large as the bandwidth of a synchronization signal block. However, it is not required that all bandwidth parts contain synchronization signal blocks.

[0019] - The configuration of a bandwidth portion may include the following properties: a specific digital scheme (subcarrier spacing, CP type), a frequency location (eg, center frequency), a bandwidth of the bandwidth portion (eg, number of PRBs).

[0020] - Each UE shall expect that: at a given moment, at least one downlink (DL) bandwidth part and one uplink (UL) bandwidth part is active in the set of configured bandwidth parts. The UE is only assumed to receive / transmit using the relevant digital scheme within its active DL / UL bandwidth part. At least the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and / or the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) are used for DL, and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and / or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) are used for UL.

[0021] - It is assumed that the active DL / UL bandwidth part in a component carrier does not span a frequency range larger than the DL / UL bandwidth capability of the UE. In addition, an appropriate mechanism needs to be specified for UE Radio Frequency (RF) re-tuning for bandwidth part switching.

[0022] - It is assumed that the same PRB grid structure for a given digital scheme is applicable to narrowband UEs, CA UEs and wideband UEs within a wideband NR carrier. Summary of the invention

[0023] Problem that the invention aims to solve

[0024] The inventors have realised that the above protocols have an impact on the current design of reference signals as well as the current resource block group (RBG) design and CSI subbands. It has not yet been agreed how to achieve a suitable PRB indexing taking into account the above protocols.

[0025] The present invention attempts to provide a communication system and related devices and methods for satisfying or at least partially solving the above problems. Specifically, this document provides details of some ways in which the remaining problems of supporting wider network channel bandwidth (i.e., the system bandwidth of gNB) can be implemented in NR systems, and more specifically, details of how to determine PRB and RBG indexes in the case where the network channel bandwidth may include multiple smaller component carriers.

[0026] Solutions for solving problems

[0027] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the method comprising: controlling the transmission of minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment (UE) to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information; transmitting at least the initial part of the system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource; transmitting information for identifying an allocation of at least one other communication resource; and transmitting at least the remaining part of the minimum system information using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocation.

[0028] On the other hand, the present invention provides a method performed by a communication device, the method being used to obtain minimum system information including minimum parameters required for a cell of a radio access network (RAN) of an access telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information includes at least an initial part having a portion of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information, the method comprising: receiving at least the initial part of the system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource; receiving information for identifying an allocation of at least one other communication resource; and receiving at least the remaining part of the minimum system information using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocation.

[0029] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the method comprising: sending minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment (UE) to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a portion of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information; wherein the minimum system information comprises information for identifying a location within a network channel bandwidth of the cell of at least one of the following: a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); and RMSI.

[0030] On the other hand, the present invention provides a method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the method comprising: receiving minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for accessing a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information; wherein the minimum system information comprises information for identifying a location within a network channel bandwidth of the cell of at least one of the following: a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); and RMSI.

[0031] Aspects of the present invention extend to related apparatus and to computer program products such as a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being operable to program a programmable processor to perform the methods as described in the aspects and possibilities set out above or in the claims, and / or to program a suitably adapted computer to provide the apparatus recited in any one of the claims.

[0032] Each feature disclosed in this specification (which term includes the claims) and / or shown in the drawings may be included in the present invention alone (or in combination with any other disclosed and / or illustrated features). Specifically, but not restrictively, features according to any claim dependent on a particular independent claim may be introduced into the independent claim in any way, in combination or alone.

[0033] Although specific hardware devices having specific physical structures (e.g., controllers and transceiver circuits) have been disclosed to perform the various processes described herein, the steps of the methods disclosed in the specification and / or forming part of the claims may be implemented by any suitable components for performing the steps. Accordingly, the various method aspects of the present invention have corresponding device aspects including corresponding components for performing the various steps of the method aspects.

[0034] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 schematically illustrates a type of cellular telecommunication system to which the present invention is applicable;

[0036] Figure 2 Schematically shown in Figure 1 Supporting a smaller component carrier within a broadband component carrier as used in a system;

[0037] Figure 3 is used to achieve suitable Figure 1 A simplified block diagram of the physical equipment of a user equipment used in a cellular telecommunication system;

[0038] Figure 4 is used to achieve suitable Figure 1 A simplified block diagram of the physical equipment of a base station used in a cellular telecommunication system;

[0039] Figure 5 Schematically showing that Figure 1 A typical way to define RMSI bandwidth with respect to PBCH bandwidth in a system;

[0040] Figure 6 Schematically showing that Figure 1 A typical way to define RMSI bandwidth with respect to PBCH bandwidth in a system;

[0041] Figure 7 Schematically showing that Figure 1 A typical way of obtaining the location of a PBCH in a cellular telecommunication system; and

[0042] Figure 8 Schematically showing that Figure 1 A typical way of providing a global RBG index in a cellular telecommunication system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Overview

[0044] Figure 1 A cellular telecommunication system 1 is schematically shown in which a plurality of items of user equipment (UE) 3, such as mobile phones and other fixed or mobile communication devices (e.g. MTC devices, IoT devices) etc., can communicate with each other via base stations 5 and a core network 7 using appropriate radio access technologies (RATs). As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, although in Figure 1 For illustration purposes, two mobile devices 3 (denoted as “UE 1” and “UE 2”), one MTC device 3 (denoted as “UE 3”) and one base station 5 are shown, but the system will generally include other base stations and UEs when implemented.

[0045] The base stations 5 form part of the RAN and operate one or more associated cells 9 via which the UE 3 can connect to the cellular telecommunication system 1. The UE 3 can connect in a cell 9 by establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with the base station 5 operating the cell 9.

[0046] The base station 5 is connected to the core network 7, for example, via an S1 interface, and is connected to any other base station (not shown), for example, via an X2 interface (directly or via, for example, an X2 gateway). The core network 7 typically includes logical nodes (or "functions") for supporting communications in the telecommunications system 1. Typically, for example, the core network 7 of a 5G / NR system will include control plane functions, user plane functions, and other functions for providing the functions of a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), etc.

[0047] In this system, the system bandwidth (or "wideband CC") may include multiple smaller component carriers. Thus, the base station 5 is configured to operate its cell 9 simultaneously using multiple component carriers, some of which may have a bandwidth different from that of the wideband CC. Figure 2 In the example shown, the base station 5 simultaneously operates a wideband CC (i.e., a single carrier spanning the entire system bandwidth) for at least some UEs 3, while for other UEs 3, the base station 5 operates a set of intra-band contiguous CCs (here "CC1" and "CC2"), where the intra-band contiguous CCs are actually carriers within the wideband CC that have a relatively small associated bandwidth compared to the system bandwidth.

[0048] This arrangement advantageously allows different UEs 3 to send and receive data over an appropriate portion of the system bandwidth (e.g., the entire system bandwidth or only a portion thereof) according to their needs and capabilities (as some UEs may be equipped with transceivers that only support limited bandwidth). Figure 2 As shown, UE 1 is configured to receive or transmit over the entire network channel bandwidth because UE 1 is capable of handling a wider RF bandwidth, while UE 2 and UE 3 use only a portion of the channel bandwidth, for example due to their limited RF bandwidth and / or their current communication needs / settings. Although not shown, it should be understood that some UEs may be able to aggregate multiple component carriers (using intra-band contiguous CCs of CA) where appropriate. For example, UE 2 may be able to aggregate CC1 and CC2 (and / or any other CCs in the same or different cells) where the bandwidth of CC1 is insufficient. Similarly, UE 1 may be able to aggregate a wideband CC and one or more additional CCs (e.g., one or more additional cells) where the bandwidth of the wideband CC is insufficient for the UE.

[0049] To assist UE 3 in finding its cell 9 and being able to access various CCs, base station 5 provides system information in cell 9. While some of the system information provided may be required by all UEs 3 in cell 9 and may need to be sent (e.g., broadcast) relatively regularly, other system information may not be required by all UEs 3 in cell 9 at a given time and / or may not need to be sent so regularly. Therefore, system information is conceptually divided into two different types: minimum system information and other system information.

[0050] With respect to minimum system information, the base station 5 broadcasts at least some of the minimum system information in its cell 9. In this example, the minimum system information includes a subset of information blocks (such as MIB, SIB1 and / or SIB2, etc.) used to carry at least a portion of a minimum set of information elements (e.g., those required to support cell selection, obtain remaining system information, or access a cell). The remaining minimum system information (RMSI) and potentially any other system information can be obtained by the UE 3 using an appropriate mechanism (e.g., "on demand" when requested by the UE). For example, a UE 3 in an RRC connected state can request and deliver RMSI using dedicated RRC signaling.

[0051] Advantageously, in this network 1, regardless of the type or operation of the UE 3 (narrowband UE, CA UE or wideband UE), the same PRB grid structure is used for a given digital scheme within a wideband CC. Some typical digital schemes are shown in Table 1 below.

[0052] In LTE systems, when the UE decodes the PBCH, the UE can directly calculate the PRB and RBG indices because the PBCH and synchronization signals (i.e., "SS blocks") are always located at the center frequency of the LTE system bandwidth (i.e., the central 6RBs). On the other hand, in NR systems (e.g., Figure 1 ), the SS block (corresponding to the location of the NR-PBCH) may not necessarily be located at the center frequency of the network channel bandwidth.

[0053] However, regardless of how the wideband CC is divided into intra-band CCs, the base station 5 of the system beneficially uses appropriate PRB indexes to facilitate UE 3 to obtain NR-PBCH and RMSI. Therefore, based on such PRB indexes, the precise position of the detected SS block within the network channel bandwidth can be determined, so that UE 3 can determine the relevant resource block (RB) index (including the position of the reference signal), obtain channel state information (CSI), and obtain system information of cell 9.

[0054] In more detail, during the acquisition of NR-PBCH, there is a relative time between the positions of NR-PBCH and synchronization signal (SS), so the position of NR-PBCH can be determined based on the position of SS. In addition, since the number of PRBs carrying NR-PBCH is fixed, no PRB index is required because there is no resource allocation signaling involved at this stage. Therefore, UE 3 is able to obtain at least part of the minimum system information from NR-PBCH.

[0055] However, during the acquisition of RMSI (sent by the base station 5 via NR-PDSCH and / or NR-PBCH), the number of PRBs that can be scheduled to RMSI is variable, as this depends on the amount of information to be sent (and possibly on other factors such as the modulation being used). Therefore, the base station 5 adopts a special scheme to indicate the RMSI scheduling assignment for the UE 3 based on the typical PRB indexing method described later.

[0056] In summary, when allocating resources to RMSI, the base station 5 can use a bandwidth used for RMSI that is limited to the bandwidth of NR-PBCH ("Option 1"), or use a bandwidth used for RMSI that is larger than the bandwidth of NR-PBCH ("Option 2").

[0057] In both the case of Option 1 and Option 2, the PRB index of the RMSI starts from the lowest frequency of the NR-PBCH BW, and the granularity of the resource allocation scheme for RMSI scheduling is 1 PRB. In the case of Option 2 (i.e., in the case where the bandwidth of the RMSI is larger than the bandwidth of the decoded NR-PBCH), the difference (e.g., offset) between the RMSI bandwidth and the NR-PBCH bandwidth is given in the form of PRBs, and the difference is signaled in the NR-PBCH. This advantageously allows the UE 3 to obtain the location and bandwidth of the NR-PBCH (based on the detected SS blocks), and therefore obtain at least part of the minimum system information, and then determine the RMSI bandwidth (which can be equal to the NR-PBCH bandwidth or the NR-PBCH bandwidth + offset) from the NR-PBCH.

[0058] In the case where the base station 5 signals the offset value to the UE 3, the reference point for applying the offset may be the lowest PRB of the NR-PBCH (in which case the offset increases in bandwidth from the highest frequency of the NR-PBCH upwards) or the center PRB of the NR-PBCH (in which case the offset increases in bandwidth from the lowest frequency of the NR-PBCH downwards and from the highest frequency of the NR-PBCH upwards in a symmetrical manner). Figure 5 and Figure 6 Gives more details on the operation of offset.

[0059] Advantageously, the RMSI in the system includes information that enables the UE 3 to derive the location of the NR-PBCH relative to the network channel bandwidth (regardless of which component carrier the UE 3 uses). Thus, once the UE 3 has decoded the RMSI, the UE 3 knows the location of the decoded NR-PBCH within the network channel bandwidth and the size of the network channel bandwidth.

[0060] Therefore, it can be seen that the above system meets the various requirements currently agreed upon for NR base stations configured to operate simultaneously with multiple component carriers (e.g., wideband CC and one or more intra-band CCs within the wideband CC). The above solution makes it easier for the UE to access the RAN and / or receive system information (e.g., RMSI) via its relevant carriers (wideband CC, CC1, CC2).

[0061] It will be appreciated that although a number of advantageous features have been described above, an improved cellular communication system may still be achieved even if only a subset (or one of) the advantageous features are employed.

[0062] User Equipment

[0063] Figure 3 It is shown Figure 1 3 is a block diagram of the main components of a user equipment (such as a mobile phone, etc.) 3 shown in FIG. As shown, the UE 3 has a transceiver circuit 31 operable to transmit and receive signals to and from a base station (e.g., a gNB) 5 via one or more antennas 33. Figure 3 Although not necessarily shown, the UE 3 may of course have all common functions of a conventional UE 3 (such as a user interface 35, etc.), and the functions may be provided by any one or any combination of hardware, software and firmware as appropriate. The UE 3 has a controller 37 for controlling the operation of the user equipment 3.

[0064] The controller 37 is associated with a memory 39 and is coupled to the transceiver circuit 31. For example, the software may be pre-installed in the memory 39 and / or may be downloaded via the telecommunications network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD).

[0065] In this example, the controller 37 is configured to control the overall operation of the UE 3 via program instructions or software instructions stored in the memory 39. As shown, these software instructions include an operating system 41, a communication control module 43 and a system information management module 45, among others.

[0066] The communication control module 43 is operable to control the communication between the UE 3 and the base station 5. The communication control module 43 also controls the separate flow of uplink data and control data to be sent to the base station 5, and the reception of downlink data and control data (including system information) sent by the base station 5. The communication control module 43 is responsible for managing the role of the UE in idle and connected mode procedures (such as cell (re)selection, camping on a cell, random access channel (RACH) procedures, etc.).

[0067] The system information management module 45 is responsible for managing the monitoring, reception, storage and interpretation of system information (minimum system information and / or other system information) to obtain the appropriate index used in the cell 9 of the base station 5 to which the UE 3 is connected (or attempting to connect). Specifically, the system information management module 45 is responsible for determining the location of the RMSI within the system bandwidth (for a given CC and / or digital scheme).

[0068] Base Station (gNB)

[0069] Figure 4 It is shown Figure 1 Block diagram of the main components of a base station 5 of the type shown. As shown, the base station 5 includes a transceiver circuit 51 as follows, wherein the transceiver circuit 51 is operable to send and receive signals to and from the UE 3 via one or more antennas 53, and is operable to send and receive signals to and from functions of the core network 7 via a core network interface 55 and / or to send and receive signals to and from other base stations via a base station interface 56. The network interface typically includes an S1 (or S1-like) interface for communicating with the core network 7 and an X2 (or X2-like) interface for communicating with other base stations. The controller 57 controls the operation of the transceiver circuit 51 according to software stored in the memory 59. The software includes an operating system 61, a communication control module 63, and a system information management module 65, among others. For example, the software may be pre-installed in the memory 59 and / or may be downloaded via the telecommunications network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD).

[0070] The communication control module 63 is operable to control the communication between the base station 5 and the UE 3 and other network entities connected to the base station 5. The communication control module 63 also controls the separate flow of uplink and downlink user traffic and control data (including system information) for the UE 3 served by the base station 5. Such control data may also include, for example, control data (e.g., PRB scheduling / PRB indexing) for managing the operation of the UE 3 and for providing RMSI. The communication control module 63 is responsible for, for example, controlling processes such as communication of measurement control / configuration information, system information, the role of the base station in the random access channel (RACH) process, etc.

[0071] The system information management module 65 is responsible for: managing the generation of system information (SI) messages carrying appropriate system information (minimum system information and / or other system information), determining whether to send specific system information (blocks) (to a given UE or UE group), and providing appropriate indexes for the cell 9 of the base station 5 to provide system information. The system information management module 65 is also responsible for allocating appropriate resources for RMSI within the system bandwidth (for a given CC and / or digital scheme) so that UE 3 that needs resources can obtain them. Such resources are usually allocated in broadcast channels (e.g., NR-PBCH) or other shared channels (e.g., NR-PDSCH).

[0072] Operation – PRB index during acquisition of NR-PBCH and RMSI

[0073] Figure 5 and 6 Schematically showing that Figure 1 A typical way of defining RMSI bandwidth with respect to PBCH bandwidth in system 1.

[0074] As mentioned above, the SS block containing the NR-PBCH may not necessarily be at the center frequency of the network channel bandwidth (in the NR system). In addition, there may be multiple component carriers provided simultaneously within the network channel bandwidth.

[0075] The following typical mechanisms may be used to provide the precise location of the detected SS blocks within the network channel bandwidth, so that the UE can determine the resource block (RB) index, generate the reference signal (RS) and obtain the channel state information (CSI).

[0076] Since there is a known (predefined) relative time between the location of the NR-PBCH and the synchronization signal, once the UE 3 detects the synchronization signal, the UE 3 can easily determine the location of the NR-PBCH. In addition, the number of PRBs carrying the NR-PBCH is fixed, so no PRB index is required because there is no resource allocation signaling involved at this stage. In other words, the UE 3 is configured to decode the content of the entire NR-PBCH (which will typically include at least part of the minimum system information).

[0077] During acquisition of RMSI (i.e., a portion of the minimum system information that is not included in the initial NR-PBCH transmission), the number of PRBs that can be scheduled for RMSI may be variable (e.g., depending on the amount of information to be transmitted). Therefore, RMSI scheduling assignment (e.g., based on the PRB index) is performed to handle resource allocation for RMSI transmission.

[0078] In a first example, the bandwidth of the RMSI (for both control signaling and data signaling) is restricted to the bandwidth of the NR-PBCH. This may be possible, for example, if the size of the RMSI is relatively small. Therefore, in this case, the PRBs may be indexed in increasing order in the frequency domain (i.e., from the lowest frequency to the highest frequency of the NR-PBCH bandwidth). However, since the UE 3 may not know the network channel bandwidth at this stage, it is not required to obtain appropriate global PRB and RBG indices. Therefore, any PRB index used for the RMSI (if provided) will be interpreted in the PRB set corresponding to the NR-PBCH bandwidth (rather than the network channel bandwidth).

[0079] In this example, the preferred granularity of the resource allocation scheme used for RMSI scheduling is 1 PRB, because this will not affect other active UEs in the same cell that are scheduled based on, for example, RBG granularity. However, it should be understood that any other suitable granularity may be selected under appropriate circumstances.

[0080] In a second example, the bandwidth of the RMSI (used for control signaling and data signaling) can be larger than the bandwidth of the NR-PBCH. In other words, in this case, the RMSI bandwidth includes the set of PRBs corresponding to the NR-PBCH bandwidth and the set of additional PRBs (at least one PRB) (or overlaps with the set of these PRBs). If the bandwidth required for the RMSI is larger than the bandwidth of the NR-PBCH, the PRBs can be indexed, for example, in the order of increasing frequency domain starting from the lowest frequency of the NR-PBCH bandwidth. In this case, the lowest PRB in the NR-PBCH bandwidth is used as a reference point for determining the scheduling of the RMSI. Therefore, if more resources are needed than the resources corresponding to the NR-PBCH bandwidth, the resource allocation span can simply be increased further upwards (such as Figure 5 Optionally, as shown Figure 6 As shown, taking the lowest PRB of the NR-PBCH bandwidth as a reference point, the resource allocation span can be increased in a symmetrical manner by extending both the lowest PRB and the highest PRB used for RMSI scheduling (equally) to a size beyond the NR-PBCH bandwidth. Advantageously, the extended RMSI bandwidth (e.g., total bandwidth / total number of PRBs) or at least the increased amount (e.g., offset / number of PRBs in addition to the NR-PBCH bandwidth) can be signaled to the UE in the NR-PBCH.

[0081] In summary, the bandwidth of the RMSI is preferably limited to the bandwidth of the decoded NR-PBCH (at least if the size of the RMSI allows). In this case, the PRB index used for the RMSI can start from the lowest frequency of the NR-PBCH bandwidth, and the granularity of the resource allocation scheme used for RMSI scheduling can be 1 PRB. If the bandwidth of the RMSI is increased compared to the bandwidth of the decoded NR-PBCH (for example, depending on the size of the RMSI and / or UE capabilities), the increase in PRBs (for example, offset) can be signaled to the UE in the NR-PBCH. This beneficially enables each UE to determine the appropriate RMSI bandwidth for the UE from the NR-PBCH (where the RMSI bandwidth can be equal to the NR-PBCH bandwidth or the NR-PBCH bandwidth + offset). Optionally, the offset from the lowest PRB index of the channel bandwidth (or bandwidth portion) to the lowest PRB index or center of the NR-PBCH can be signaled in the NR-PBCH.

[0082] Action - PRB index after UE decodes RMSI

[0083] Figure 7 It is shown that the NR system (such as Figure 1 The typical way of the location of PBCH in the cellular telecommunication system 1 etc. is shown. Figure 8 Possible (global) RBG indices for such an NR system are shown.

[0084] In UE 3 (for example, based on reference Figure 5 and 6 After decoding the RMSI and any information contained in the RMSI, the UE 3 immediately and clearly knows the location of the NR-PBCH within the network channel bandwidth and the size of the network channel bandwidth.

[0085] For example, the position of the decoded NR-PBCH (and / or detected SS blocks) within the network channel bandwidth may be notified to the UE 3 by signaling the starting PRB index of the decoded NR-PBCH using the PRB index of the wider channel bandwidth via the RMSI. In practice, the indication of the starting PRB index of the decoded NR-PBCH serves as an indication of the offset of the NR-PBCH from the first PRB of the system bandwidth (i.e., the PRB with index "0"), from which the UE 3 is able to calculate the position of the first PRB of the system bandwidth (and therefore any other PRBs) based on the applicable subcarrier spacing / numbering scheme.

[0086] exist Figure 7The method is generally shown in . In the example shown, the starting PRB (or offset) of the RMSI (or the starting PRB of the PBCH, if the RMSI is restricted to the PBCH or extends only upward) has a PRB index of "11". Therefore, in this example, the value "11" may be included in the RMSI (e.g., in an appropriate information element of the RMSI). This advantageously allows the base station 5 to provide NR-PBCH (and SS blocks and / or RMSI) anywhere within its associated system bandwidth (not just in the center portion), and may in turn allow greater flexibility in providing multiple CCs within the system bandwidth.

[0087] The UE 3 is configured to treat the received PRB information (signaled via the RMSI) as a reference point for determining the global PRB index within the network channel bandwidth. In the case where the UE 3 knows the global PRB index based on the reference point, the UE 3 can also calculate the number of RBGs within the network channel bandwidth. For example, Figure 8 As shown, for a given subcarrier spacing / numbering scheme, the RBGs may be indexed in increasing order in the frequency domain (ie, starting from the lowest frequency).

[0088] Modifications and Replacements

[0089] A number of detailed exemplary embodiments have been described above. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a number of modifications and substitutions may be made to the above exemplary embodiments while still benefiting from the inventions implemented therein. By way of illustration only, a number of such substitutions and modifications will now be described.

[0090] In the above examples, it is assumed that PBCH and RMSI use the same digital scheme (i.e. the same subcarrier spacing and CP length). However, if different digital schemes exist, the digital schemes may preferably be aligned from the center of the PBCH bandwidth so that the amount of PRBs used for RMSI on both sides is equal before the RMSI bandwidth is extended. In practice, this means that the PRB boundaries of different digital schemes are always aligned from the center of the PBCH bandwidth. As agreed in RAN1, alignment means that for a given SCS F0, if the subcarriers in the PRB are numbered from "0" to "11", then subcarrier "0" is always consistent with subcarrier "0" of all SCSs with an order less than F0.

[0091] [Table 1]

[0092] Table 1: Exemplary digital schemes

[0093] Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) 15kHz 75kHz 375kHz Sampling clock rate (MHz) 30.72 153.6 768 OFDM symbol duration, without CP (μs) 66.67 13.33 2.67 CP duration (μs) 4.7 0.95 0.19 CP cost (%) 7 7 7 Symbols for each TTI 14 14 35 TTI duration (ms) 1 0.2 0.1 Frame duration (ms) 10 10 10

[0094] In the above exemplary embodiments, multiple software modules for implementing user equipment 3 and base station 5 are described. As will be appreciated by the technician, these software modules can be provided in compiled or uncompiled form, and can be provided to the corresponding hardware or on a recording medium as a signal through a computer network. In addition, the functions performed by part or all of the software can be performed using one or more dedicated hardware circuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred because it helps to update the corresponding hardware to update its functions. Similarly, although the above exemplary embodiments use transceiver circuits, at least some of the functions of the transceiver circuits can be performed by software.

[0095] The functions of the user equipment 3 and the base station 5 will typically be implemented using one or more computer processing devices having one or more hardware computer processors programmed with appropriate software instructions to provide the required functions. It should be understood that all or part of the functions may be implemented in hardware as a dedicated circuit using, for example, one or more application specific integrated circuits such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0096] It should be understood that the controllers mentioned in the description of UE 3 and base station 5 may include any suitable controllers such as, for example, analog controllers or digital controllers. Each controller may include any suitable form of processing circuitry, including (but not limited to), for example: one or more hardware-implemented computer processors; microprocessors; central processing units (CPUs); arithmetic logic units (ALUs); input / output (IO) circuits; internal memory / cache (program and / or data); processing registers; communication buses (e.g., control buses, data buses, and / or address buses); direct memory access (DMA) functionality; and / or hardware or software-implemented counters, pointers, and / or timers.

[0097] Although the base station 5 has been described in terms of a gNB, the base station 5 can be any suitable base station, including a base station that can divide the functionality of the gNB between one or more distributed units (DUs) and a central unit (CU), where the CU typically performs higher-level functions and communications with the next generation core, and the DU performs lower-level functions and communications with user equipment (UE) nearby (i.e., in the cell in which the gNB operates) over the air interface.

[0098] In the above exemplary embodiments, the base station uses 3GPP wireless communication (radio access) technology to communicate with the mobile device. However, any other wireless communication technology (i.e., WLAN, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, etc.) can be used between the base station and the mobile device according to the above exemplary embodiments.

[0099] For example, items of user equipment may include communication devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, user equipment, personal digital assistants, laptop / tablet computers, web browsers and / or e-book readers. Such mobile (or even generally fixed) devices are usually operated by users, but so-called "Internet of Things" (IoT) devices and similar machine type communication (MTC) devices may also be connected to the network. For simplicity, the present application refers to mobile devices (or UEs) in the specification, but it should be understood that the described techniques can be implemented on any communication device (mobile and / or generally fixed) that is capable of connecting to a communication network to send / receive data, regardless of whether such communication devices are controlled by manual input or by software instructions stored in a memory.

[0100] It should be understood that the following modifications and alternatives are also possible (using the wording of the above aspects of the invention):

[0101] The at least one other communication resource may be dependent on (eg, restricted to or overlapping with) the first set of at least one communication resources.

[0102] The information for identifying the allocation may include at least one of the following: information for identifying an index associated with a physical resource block (PRB); and a number of PRBs (e.g., an offset) representing a difference compared to the first set of at least one communication resource. In this case, the PRBs within the first set of at least one communication resource may be indexed in order of increasing frequency domain. Preferably, the resource allocation may have a granularity of one PRB.

[0103] The minimum system information may include minimum parameters required to access one of a plurality of component carriers (CCs) associated with the cell. In this case, the plurality of component carriers may include at least one wideband CC and / or at least one intra-band CC.

[0104] The first set of communication resources may comprise a predetermined set of communication resources (which may, for example, depend on a location of at least one synchronization signal transmitted in the cell and / or a digital scheme associated with the cell).

[0105] The minimum system information may include information for identifying the location of the PBCH and / or the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) within the network channel bandwidth of the cell (e.g., the index of the starting PRB of the PBCH / RMSI within the network channel bandwidth). In this case, the communication device may be configured to determine the global PRB index within the network channel bandwidth based on the received information for identifying the location of the PBCH / RMSI within the network channel.

[0106] The communication equipment may include a base station (e.g., a "gNB") used by a new radio (NR) system, and the communication device may include a user equipment (UE) used by the NR system.

[0107] Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail here.

[0108] The whole or part of the exemplary embodiments disclosed above may be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0109] (Supplementary Note 1) A method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunications system, the method comprising:

[0110] controlling the sending of minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment (UE) to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information;

[0111] sending at least an initial portion of the system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource;

[0112] transmitting information identifying an allocation of at least one other communications resource; and

[0113] At least a remaining portion of the minimum system information is transmitted using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocation.

[0114] (Supplementary Note 2) A method according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the at least one other communication resource depends on a first set of at least one communication resource (for example, is restricted within the first set of at least one communication resource or overlaps with the first set of at least one communication resource).

[0115] (Supplementary Note 3) A method according to Supplementary Note 1 or 2, wherein the information used to identify the allocation includes at least one of the following: information for identifying an index associated with a physical resource block, i.e., a PRB; and the number of PRBs (e.g., an offset) representing a difference compared to a first set of at least one communication resource.

[0116] (Supplementary Note 4) The method according to Supplementary Note 3, wherein the PRBs within the first set of at least one communication resource are indexed in increasing order in the frequency domain.

[0117] (Supplementary Note 5) A method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4, wherein resource allocation has a granularity of one PRB.

[0118] (Supplementary Note 6) The method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 5, wherein the minimum system information includes minimum parameters required to access one of multiple component carriers (CCs) associated with a cell.

[0119] (Supplementary Note 7) The method according to Supplementary Note 6, wherein the plurality of component carriers include at least one wideband CC and / or at least one intra-band CC.

[0120] (Supplementary Note 8) A method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 7, wherein the first set of communication resources includes a predetermined set of communication resources (e.g., depending on the position of at least one synchronization signal sent in the cell / depending on a digital scheme associated with the cell).

[0121] (Supplementary Note 9) A method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 8, wherein the minimum system information includes information for identifying the position of the PBCH and / or the remaining part of the minimum system information within the network channel bandwidth of the cell (for example, the index of the starting PRB of the PBCH / RMSI within the network channel bandwidth).

[0122] (Supplementary Note 10) A method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 9, wherein the communication device includes a base station (e.g., "gNB") used by a new air interface system, i.e., an NR system.

[0123] (Supplementary Note 11) A method for obtaining minimum system information including minimum parameters required for accessing a cell of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, performed by a communication device, wherein the minimum system information includes at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information, the method comprising:

[0124] receiving at least an initial portion of the system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource;

[0125] receiving information identifying an allocation of at least one other communications resource; and

[0126] At least a remaining portion of the minimum system information is received using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocation.

[0127] (Supplementary Note 12) A method according to Supplementary Note 11, wherein the minimum system information includes information for identifying the location of the PBCH and / or the remaining part of the minimum system information within the network channel bandwidth of the cell (for example, the index of the starting PRB of the PBCH / RMSI).

[0128] (Supplementary Note 13) The method according to Supplementary Note 12 also includes: determining a global PRB index within the network channel bandwidth based on the received information for identifying the position of the remaining part of the PBCH and / or the minimum system information within the network channel bandwidth.

[0129] (Supplementary Note 14) A method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 11 to 13, wherein the communication device includes a user equipment (i.e., UE) used in a new radio interface system (i.e., NR system).

[0130] (Supplementary Note 15) A method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunications system, the method comprising:

[0131] Sending minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment (UE) to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having remaining minimum system information (RMSI);

[0132] The minimum system information includes information for identifying the location of at least one of the following items within the network channel bandwidth of the cell: a physical broadcast channel, namely, PBCH; and the RMSI.

[0133] (Supplementary Note 16) A method performed by a communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunications system, the method comprising:

[0134] receiving minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for accessing a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having remaining minimum system information, i.e., RMSI;

[0135] The minimum system information includes information for identifying the location of at least one of the following items within the network channel bandwidth of the cell: a physical broadcast channel, namely, PBCH; and the RMSI.

[0136] (Supplementary Note 17) A communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the communication device comprising:

[0137] means for controlling the sending of minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment, UE, to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part comprising a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part comprising a remaining part of the minimum system information;

[0138] means for transmitting at least an initial portion of said system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource;

[0139] means for transmitting information identifying an allocation of at least one other communications resource; and

[0140] Means for transmitting at least a remaining portion of the minimum system information using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocating.

[0141] (Supplementary Note 18) A communication device, comprising:

[0142] means for obtaining minimum system information comprising minimum parameters for a cell of a radio access network, RAN, accessing a telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information;

[0143] means for receiving at least an initial portion of said system information via a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) using a first set of at least one communication resource;

[0144] means for receiving information identifying an allocation of at least one other communications resource; and

[0145] Means for receiving at least a remaining portion of the minimum system information using at least one other communication resource identified by the allocating.

[0146] (Supplementary Note 19) A communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the communication device comprising:

[0147] means for sending minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for a user equipment, UE, to access a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information;

[0148] The minimum system information includes information for identifying the location of at least one of the following items within the network channel bandwidth of the cell: a physical broadcast channel, namely, PBCH; and the RMSI.

[0149] (Supplementary Note 20) A communication device of a radio access network (RAN) of a telecommunication system, the communication device comprising:

[0150] means for receiving minimum system information comprising minimum parameters required for accessing a cell of the telecommunication system, wherein the minimum system information comprises at least an initial part having a part of the minimum system information and a remaining part having a remaining part of the minimum system information;

[0151] The minimum system information includes information for identifying the location of at least one of the following items within the network channel bandwidth of the cell: a physical broadcast channel, namely, PBCH; and the RMSI.

[0152] (Supplementary Note 21) A system comprising the communication device according to Supplementary Note 17 or 19 and the communication apparatus according to Supplementary Note 18 or 20.

[0153] (Supplementary Note 22) A computer program readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions capable of operating to program a programmable processor to perform a method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 16, or to program a suitably adapted computer to operate as a communication device according to Supplementary Note 17 or 19 or a communication apparatus according to Supplementary Note 18 or 20.

[0154] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from UK patent application 1709679.3 filed on 16 June 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

Claims

1. A method performed by a radio access network node, i.e., a RAN node, the method comprising: Sending a first part of minimum system information on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), wherein the first part of the minimum system information includes first information indicating a first bandwidth; as well as using the first bandwidth to send a second portion of the minimum system information, The first information indicates a frequency offset to a reference point relative to a minimum resource block by frequency included in the PBCH.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second part of the minimum system information includes: Information indicating a system bandwidth for the bandwidth portion; and Information indicating an offset from a position of the PBCH to a first resource block of the system bandwidth.

3. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Receiving a first part of minimum system information on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the first part of the minimum system information comprising first information indicating a first bandwidth; as well as receiving a second portion of the minimum system information using the first bandwidth, The first information indicates a frequency offset to a reference point relative to a minimum resource block by frequency included in the PBCH.

4. A radio access network node, i.e., a RAN node, comprising: transceivers and controllers, Wherein, the controller is configured as: controlling the transceiver to send a first portion of minimum system information on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the first portion of the minimum system information comprising first information indicating a first bandwidth; and controlling the transceiver to transmit a second portion of the minimum system information using the first bandwidth, The first information indicates a frequency offset to a reference point relative to a minimum resource block by frequency included in the PBCH.

5. A user equipment, namely, UE, comprising: transceivers and controllers, Wherein, the controller is configured as: controlling the transceiver to receive a first portion of minimum system information on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the first portion of the minimum system information comprising first information indicating a first bandwidth; and controlling the transceiver to receive a second portion of the minimum system information using the first bandwidth, The first information indicates a frequency offset to a reference point relative to a minimum resource block by frequency included in the PBCH.

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