Method and apparatus for handling parameter set changes

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for processing parameter set changes. The method implemented at a terminal device includes determining a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The method also includes: sending a pending transport block (TB) using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication techniques, and in particular, to methods and apparatus for handling parameter set changes. Background Art

[0002] This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, the statements in this section should be read in this light and should not be construed as an admission of what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

[0003] Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a general term for the so-called fourth generation (4G) radio access technologies developed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and initially standardized in Release 8 (Rel-8) and Release 9 (Rel-9), also known as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE targets various licensed frequency bands and is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects, which are generally referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), including the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases.

[0004] Currently, fifth generation (“5G”) cellular systems, also known as New Radio (NR), are being standardized within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR was developed for maximum flexibility in supporting multiple and distinct use cases. These use cases also include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), secondary link device-to-device (D2D), and several others.

[0005] In NR, the basic scheduling unit is called a slot. For a normal cyclic prefix configuration, a slot consists of 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. NR supports many different subcarrier spacing configurations, and at a subcarrier spacing of 30kHz, the OFDM symbol duration is about 33us. As an example, a slot of 14 symbols with the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 500us long (including the cyclic prefix).

[0006] NR also supports flexible bandwidth configuration for different user equipment (UE) on the same source cell. In other words, the bandwidth monitored by the UE and used for its control and data channels can be less than the carrier bandwidth. One or more bandwidth part configurations for each component carrier can be semi-statically signaled to the UE, where a bandwidth part BWP consists of a set of consecutive physical resource blocks PRBs. Reserved resources can be configured within the bandwidth part. The bandwidth of the bandwidth part is equal to or less than the maximum bandwidth capability supported by the UE.

[0007] NR targets both licensed and unlicensed bands. Allowing unlicensed networks, i.e., networks operating in shared spectrum (or unlicensed spectrum), to use available spectrum efficiently is an attractive way to increase system capacity. Although the quality of unlicensed spectrum does not match that of the licensed range, solutions that allow its efficient use as a complement to licensed deployments have the potential to bring tremendous value to 3GPP operators and ultimately to the entire 3GPP industry. It is expected that some features in NR will need to be adapted to comply with the special characteristics of unlicensed bands and different regulations. For frequencies below 6 GHz, subcarrier spacing of 15 or 30 kHz is the most promising candidate for the NR-U OFDM parameter set.

[0008] Operating in unlicensed spectrum typically requires sensing that the medium is idle before sending data. This operation is often referred to as listen before talk (LBT). There are many different implementations of LBT, depending on the radio technology used by the device and the type of data to be sent. Typically, the sensing is performed in a specific channel (corresponding to a defined carrier frequency and over a predefined bandwidth). For example, in the 5 GHz band, the sensing is performed on a 20 MHz channel.

[0009] Many devices are capable of transmitting (and receiving) over a wide bandwidth including multiple sub-bands / channels, such as LBT sub-bands (i.e., frequency portions with bandwidths equal to the LBT bandwidth). Devices are only allowed to transmit on sub-bands where the medium is sensed as idle. Again, when multiple sub-bands are involved, there are different flavors as to how the sensing should be done.

[0010] In principle, there are two approaches for operating on multiple subbands. One approach is that the transmitter / receiver bandwidth changes depending on the subbands that are sensed as idle. This approach can be viewed as having only one component carrier (CC); multiple subbands can be viewed as a single channel with a larger bandwidth. Another approach is that the device operates an almost independent processing chain for each channel. Depending on the degree of independence of the processing chains, this approach can be called carrier aggregation (CA) or dual connectivity (DC). Summary of the invention

[0011] This Summary is provided to introduce some concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0012] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an improved solution for handling parameter set changes.

[0013] A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented at a terminal device. The method includes: determining a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The method also includes: sending a pending transport block (TB) using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first configuration authorization configuration may provide a first size for the initial TB, the second configuration authorization configuration may provide a second size for the pending TB, and the first size is the same as the second size, or the first size is different from the second size. The initial TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: receiving a message indicating a change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set may be determined based on the message or a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the first size is different from the second size, performing rate matching to adapt to the second size.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set, the method may further include clearing the first configuration authorization configuration.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second configuration authorization configuration may be able to meet the quality of service (QoS) requirement of the pending TB.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after changing from a first parameter set to a second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with a pending TB may be reused.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after changing from a first parameter set to a second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with a pending TB may be changed from a first HARQ process to a second HARQ process.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after changing from a first parameter set to a second parameter set, when the HARQ process associated with a pending TB changes from a first HARQ process to a second HARQ process, the method may further include: discarding the pending TB and triggering upper layer retransmission; or copying the pending TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process and discarding the pending TB in the first HARQ process.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: for the pending TB, stopping the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization that are cleared as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using the configuration authorization, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process; and / or for the pending TB, restarting the first timer and the second timer according to the second configuration authorization configuration. The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set according to one of the following:

[0024] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0025] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: for the pending TB, stopping the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization that are suspended as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to use the configuration authorization to send and retransmit the TB associated with the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process; and / or for the pending TB, restarting the first timer and the second timer after restoring the suspended first configuration authorization configuration, and the corresponding timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization can be updated by excluding the suspension period of the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetition, applying the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB may be sent based on one of: the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration;

[0029] - a number of repetitions configured by the network node; or

[0030] - The number of repetitions configured by the end device.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, applying the repetitions to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB can be sent based on one of the following: the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disabling the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB may be sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first type of configuration authorization configuration may include configuration authorization type 1.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed, the method may further include: retransmitting the pending TB using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: sending a notification about the pending TB to a network node.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the notification about the pending TB includes at least one of the following: the size of the pending TB; information about a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with the pending TB in a first configuration authorization configuration that has been cleared; information about the HARQ process associated with the pending TB in a first configuration authorization configuration that has been suspended; information about a second configuration authorization configuration, wherein the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration; or information about a HARQ process to be used to retransmit the pending TB after changing from a first parameter set to a second parameter set.

[0039] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, notification about pending TBs may be sent to a network node via at least one of: a random access channel (RACH) message; a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; a transmission based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); or a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may be configured with multiple configuration authorization configurations, and at least one of the configuration authorization configurations may be associated with at least one parameter set.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the association between the configuration authorization configuration and the parameter set may be configured explicitly or implicitly.

[0042] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an index of a parameter set may be included in a configuration authorization configuration.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more configuration authorization configurations may be configured for a bandwidth part BWP, and the BWP is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or one or more configuration authorization configurations may be configured for a cell, and the cell is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or a BWP segment may be configured with at least one parameter set.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the parameter set may include at least one of a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a symbol duration, or a cyclic prefix (CP) length.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: sending capability information of the terminal device. The capability information may include a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending a pending TB using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0046] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented at a network node. The method includes: receiving a pending transport block TB from a terminal device. Sending the pending TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: sending a message indicating a change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set to the terminal device.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for a terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using a configuration grant, and a second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration grant of the HARQ process. The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration grant may be set to corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration grant configuration; or the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration grant are set to corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration grant configuration minus corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration grant.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for a terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using a configuration grant, and a second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration grant of the HARQ process. The respective timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration grant can be updated by excluding a pause period configured by the first configuration grant associated with the first parameter set.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetition, applying the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, a pending TB can be received based on one of the following: the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; the number of repetitions configured by the network node; or the number of repetitions configured by the terminal device.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, applying the repetitions to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB can be received based on one of the following: the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disabling the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0055] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB may be received using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0056] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the pending TB may be received after the change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed.

[0057] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: receiving a notification about a pending TB.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, notification about pending TBs may be received via at least one of: a random access channel (RACH) message; a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; a transmission based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); or a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission.

[0059] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include: receiving capability information of the terminal device. The capability information may include a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending a pending TB using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0060] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a terminal device. The terminal device includes: a processor; and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the terminal device is operable to determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The terminal device is also operable to send a pending transport block (TB) using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

[0061] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a network node. The network node includes a processor; and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the network node is operable to receive a pending transport block (TB) from a terminal device. The pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0062] A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a terminal device. The terminal device includes a determination module and a first sending module. The determination module can be configured to: determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The first sending module can be configured to: use a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or use a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set to send a pending transmission block (TB).

[0063] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may further include a receiving module configured to: receive a message indicating a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may further include an execution module, which is configured to: when the first size is different from the second size, perform rate matching to adapt to the second size.

[0065] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may further include a clearing module, which is configured to: clear the first configuration authorization configuration after sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second subset.

[0066] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include: a first discarding module configured to discard the pending TB; and a triggering module configured to trigger upper layer retransmission.

[0067] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include: a copy module configured to copy the pending TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process; and a second discard module configured to discard the pending TB in the first HARQ process.

[0068] In an embodiment, the terminal device may also include a third discarding module, which is configured to: for the pending TB, stop the first timer and the second timer configured by the first configuration authorization that are cleared as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to use the configuration authorization to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process.

[0069] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a first restart module, wherein the first restart module is configured to: for the pending TB, restart the first timer and the second timer according to the second configuration authorization configuration. The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization configuration are set according to one of the following:

[0070] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0071] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

[0072] In an embodiment, the terminal device may also include a fourth discarding module, which is configured to: for the pending TB, stop the first timer and the second timer configured by the first configuration authorization that are suspended as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to use the configuration authorization to send and retransmit the TB associated with the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process.

[0073] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a second restart module, the second restart module being configured to: for the pending TB, after resuming the suspended first configuration authorization configuration, restart the first timer and the second timer. The corresponding timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization configuration are updated by excluding the suspension period of the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0074] In an embodiment, the terminal device may also include a first application module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0075] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a second application module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0076] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a third disabling module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disable the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0077] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a second retransmission module, which is configured to retransmit the pending TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0078] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a second sending module, and the second sending module is configured to: send a notification about the pending TB to the network node.

[0079] In an embodiment, the terminal device may further include a third sending module configured to: send capability information of the terminal device. The capability information includes a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending pending TBs using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0080] A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a network node. The network node includes a first receiving module. The receiving module can be configured to receive a pending transmission block TB from a terminal device. The pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0081] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a sending module configured to: send a message indicating a change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set to the terminal device.

[0082] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a first application module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetitions to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0083] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a second application module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetitions to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0084] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a disabling module, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using a first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using a second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disable the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0085] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a second receiving module configured to: receive a notification about a pending TB.

[0086] In an embodiment, the network node may further include a third receiving module configured to: receive capability information of the terminal device. The capability information includes a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending a pending TB using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0087] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described in the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0088] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform any of the methods according to the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0089] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer, the host computer including: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a terminal device. The cellular network includes the above network node and / or the above terminal device.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system further includes a terminal device, wherein the terminal device is configured to communicate with the network node.

[0091] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a processing circuit of a host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the terminal device includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0092] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer, the host computer including: a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a terminal device; a network node. The transmission is from the terminal device to the network node. The network node is the network node mentioned above, and / or the terminal device is the terminal device mentioned above.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application. The terminal device is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0094] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a communication system, which may include a host computer, a network node and a UE. The method may include: providing user data at the host computer. Optionally, the method may include: at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying user data to the UE via a cellular network including a network node, the network node may perform any steps of the method described in the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0095] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may include a processing circuit configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a UE. The cellular network may include a network node having a radio interface and a processing circuit. The processing circuit of the network node may be configured to perform any step of the method described in the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0096] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a communication system, which may include a host computer, a network node and a UE. The method may include: providing user data at the host computer. Optionally, the method may include: at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node. The UE may perform any steps of the method described in the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0097] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may include a processing circuit configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a UE. The UE may include a radio interface and a processing circuit. The processing circuit of the UE may be configured to perform any step of the method described in the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0098] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a communication system, which may include a host computer, a network node and a UE. The method may include: at the host computer, receiving user data sent from the UE to the network node, and the UE may perform any steps of the method described in the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0099] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may include a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a UE to a network node. The UE may include a radio interface and a processing circuit. The processing circuit of the UE may be configured to perform any steps of the method described in the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0100] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a communication system, which may include a host computer, a network node and a UE. The method may include: at the host computer, receiving from the network node user data originating from a transmission that the network node has received from the UE. The network node may perform any steps of the method described in the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0101] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication system that may include a host computer. The host computer may include a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a UE to a network node. The network node may include a radio interface and a processing circuit. The processing circuit of the network node may be configured to perform any steps of the method described in the second aspect of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0102] The above and other aspects, features and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, by way of example, in which like reference numerals or letters are used to designate similar or equivalent elements. The accompanying drawings are shown to facilitate a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, wherein:

[0103] Figure 1a Schematically illustrating basic NR physical resources by antenna port;

[0104] Figure 1b An example of a process for controlling the maximum number of AUL retransmissions using CGT is shown;

[0105] Figure 2 Depicted are illustrative systems in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0106] Figure 3 A flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0107] Figure 4 A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0108] Figure 5 A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0109] Figure 6 A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0110] Figure 7a A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0111] Figure 7b A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0112] Figure 7c A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0113] Figure 8a A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0114] Figure 8b A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0115] Figure 8c A flowchart showing a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0116] Figure 9a is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0117] Figure 9b is a block diagram showing a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0118] Fig.9c is a block diagram illustrating a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0119] Figure 9d is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless network according to some embodiments;

[0120] Fig.10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0121] Fig.11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a virtualized environment according to some embodiments;

[0122] Fig.12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to some embodiments;

[0123] Fig.13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a host computer communicating with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments;

[0124] Fig.14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0125] Fig.15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0126] Fig.16is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments; and

[0127] Fig.17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0128] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand the present disclosure and thus realize the present disclosure, rather than implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. References to features, advantages or similar language throughout this specification do not mean that all features and advantages that can be realized by the present disclosure should be in or in any single embodiment of the present disclosure. On the contrary, the language referring to features and advantages is understood to mean that specific features, advantages or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiments are included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition, the described features, advantages and characteristics of the present disclosure can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the present disclosure can be implemented without one or more specific features or advantages of a specific embodiment. In other cases, additional features and advantages that may not be present in all embodiments of the present disclosure can be recognized in certain embodiments.

[0129] As used herein, the term "network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable wireless communication standard. For example, wireless communication standards may include new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE), advanced LTE, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and other wireless networks. A CDMA network may implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA). UTRA includes other variants of WCDMA and CDMA. A TDMA network may implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, Ad-hoc networks, wireless sensor networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably. In addition, communication between two devices in a network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to wireless communication protocols or wired communication protocols defined by a standards organization such as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, wireless communication protocols may include: first generation (1G), 2G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future.

[0130] The term "network node" or "network side node" refers to a network device with access function in a communication network, through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services from it. A network node may include a base station (BS), an access point (AP), a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a controller, or any other suitable device in a wireless communication network. A BS may be, for example, a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a remote radio head (RRH), a repeater, a low power node (e.g., a femto base station, a pico base station, etc.).

[0131] Still other examples of network nodes include: MSR radio equipment such as a multi-standard radio (MSR) BS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a positioning node, etc. However, more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or a group of devices) that is capable of, configured to, arranged to and / or operable to enable and / or provide access to a terminal device of a wireless communication network or to provide a certain service to a terminal device that has accessed the wireless communication network.

[0132] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device that can access a communication network and receive services from the wireless communication network. As an example and not a limitation, a terminal device refers to a mobile terminal, a user equipment (UE) or other suitable equipment. A UE may be, for example, a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) or an access terminal (AT). A terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a portable computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, a wearable terminal device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a device embedded in a laptop computer (LEE), a device installed in a laptop computer (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably. As an example, a terminal device may represent a UE configured to communicate in accordance with one or more communication standards published by 3GPP (e.g., 3GPP's LTE standard or NR standard). As used herein, a "user equipment" or "UE" may not necessarily have a "user" in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. In some embodiments, a terminal device may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a terminal device may be designed to send information to a network on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from a communication network. In contrast, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not initially be associated with a specific human user.

[0133] As yet another example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a terminal device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and sends the results of these monitoring and / or measurements to another terminal device and / or network device. In this case, the terminal device may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a terminal device may be a UE that implements the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of these machines or devices are sensors, metering devices (e.g., power meters), industrial machines, or household or personal devices (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, personal wearable devices such as watches, etc.). In other scenarios, a terminal device may represent a vehicle or other device that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0134] As used herein, downlink (DL) transmission refers to transmission from a network device to a terminal device, while uplink (UL) transmission refers to transmission in the opposite direction.

[0135] References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it should be considered that it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to implement such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments (whether or not explicitly described).

[0136] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish elements from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of the example embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0137] As used herein, the phrase “at least one of A and B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or both A and B.” The phrase “A and / or B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or A and B.”

[0138] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an", and "said" as used herein are intended to also include plural forms. It will be further understood that when used herein, the words "comprising", "having", "including" indicate the presence of stated features, elements and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0139] Note that these terms used in this document are only for convenience in describing and distinguishing nodes, devices, or networks, etc. As technology evolves, other terms with similar / same meanings may also be used.

[0140] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0141] It should be noted that some embodiments of the present disclosure are primarily described with respect to cellular networks as defined by 3GPP as non-limiting examples of certain exemplary network configurations and system deployments. Therefore, the description of the exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terms directly related thereto. These terms are used only in the context of the non-limiting examples and embodiments presented, and naturally do not limit the present disclosure in any way. On the contrary, any other system configuration or radio technology (e.g., wireless sensor networks) may be used equally as long as the exemplary embodiments described herein are applicable.

[0142] Channel access procedure in NR unlicensed spectrum

[0143] Listen before talk (LBT) is designed to coexist with unlicensed spectrum of other radio access technologies (RATs). In this mechanism, the radio device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check (i.e., channel sensing) before any transmission. The transmitter involves energy detection (ED) compared with a certain threshold (ED threshold) within a certain time period to determine whether the channel is idle. In the case where the channel is determined to be occupied, the transmitter performs a random backoff within the contention window before the next CCA attempt. In order to protect the ACK transmission, the transmitter must delay for a period of time after each busy CCA slot before resuming the backoff. Once the transmitter has mastered access to the channel, it is only allowed to perform transmissions up to the maximum duration (i.e., the maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT)). For QoS (quality of service) differentiation, channel access priorities based on service type have been defined. For example, four LBT priority categories are defined for the differentiation of contention window size (CWS) and MCOT between services.

[0144] Before any transmission in the uplink, the UE may need to perform an LBT operation to master the channel. For example, the media access control (MAC) layer initiates the transmission, the MAC layer requests the physical (PHY) layer to initiate the LBT operation, and the PHY layer further sends an indicator indicating the LBT result (i.e., success or failure) to the MAC.

[0145] NR operation in mmWave bands

[0146] Mobile broadband will continue to drive the demand for greater overall service capacity and higher achievable end-user data rates in radio access networks. Several future scenarios will require data rates up to 10 Gbps locally. These demands for very high system capacity and very high end-user data rates can be met by networks with distances between access nodes ranging from a few meters for indoor deployments to up to approximately 50 m for outdoor deployments (i.e., the density of the network infrastructure is much higher than the current densest networks). The wide transmission bandwidth required to provide data rates up to 10 Gbps and above is likely to be available only from spectrum allocations in the millimeter wave bands. High-gain beamforming, typically implemented using array antennas, can be used to mitigate the increased path loss at higher frequencies. Such a network may be referred to as an NR system.

[0147] NR supports a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. The latter includes deployments at low frequencies (e.g., a few hundred MHz) and very high frequencies (millimetre wave at tens of GHz). Two operating frequency ranges have been defined in NR: FR1, from 410 MHz to 7,125 MHz; and FR2, from 24.250 GHz to 52.6 GHz. NR can support operation from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz.

[0148] It has been determined that potential interference impacts, if identified, may require interference mitigation solutions as part of the channel access mechanism.

[0149] NR frame structure

[0150] Similar to LTE, NR uses OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the downlink (i.e., from the network node, gNB, eNB or base station to the user equipment or UE). Figure 1a The basic NR physical resources, which can be viewed as a time-frequency grid, are schematically shown by antenna ports, showing resource blocks (RBs) in a 14-symbol slot. A resource block corresponds to 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Resource blocks are numbered starting from 0 at one end of the system bandwidth in the frequency domain. Each resource element corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval.

[0151] NR supports different subcarrier spacing values. The supported subcarrier spacing values ​​(also called different parameter sets) are given by Δf = (15 × 2^ μ )kHz, where μ∈(0,1,2,3,4). Δf=15kHz is the basic (or reference) subcarrier spacing also used in LTE.

[0152] In the time domain, similar to LTE, downlink and uplink transmissions in NR can be organized into subframes of equal size, each subframe is 1ms. The subframe is further divided into multiple time slots of equal duration. For the subcarrier spacing Δf = (15 × 2^ μ )kHz time slot length is 1 / 2^ μ For Δf=15kHz, there is only one slot per subframe, and the slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols.

[0153] Downlink transmissions are dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each slot, the gNB sends downlink control information (DCI) about which UE the data is to be sent to and on which resource blocks in the current downlink slot the data is to be sent. In NR, this control information is usually sent in the first or first two OFDM symbols in each slot. This control information is carried on the physical control channel (PDCCH) and the data is carried on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The UE first detects and decodes the PDCCH, and if the PDCCH is decoded successfully, the UE decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the downlink assignment provided by the decoded control information in the PDCCH.

[0154] In addition to PDCCH and PDSCH, there are other channels and reference signals sent in the downlink, including synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), etc.

[0155] Uplink data transmission carried on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) can also be dynamically scheduled by the gNB by sending DCI. The DCI (which is sent in the DL region) always indicates the scheduling time offset so that the PUSCH is transmitted in a timeslot in the UL region.

[0156] NR SCS (subcarrier spacing) changes

[0157] The evolving 5G standard NR (New Radio) is designed to operate in a wide frequency range from below 1 GHz to 100 GHz. In this frequency range, the random access procedure in NR can be improved to mitigate potential propagation losses at high-frequency carriers.

[0158] For NR, the random access procedure can use bandwidth parts (BWP). The reason for using BWP is that some UEs may not be able to use the entire BW, in which case these UEs are assigned a smaller BWP that they can handle. Another reason is to reduce power consumption. A narrower BWP can be assigned to a UE to reduce the energy required for reception and transmission. Another reason may be for load balancing when the UE does not need the entire BW to meet the bit rate requirement.

[0159] Different subcarrier spacing (SCS) can have some impact. For example, there can be wider SCS, i.e., 960kHz, 1820kHz and 3840kHz. It is well known that in case of higher SCS, the radio channel conditions usually deteriorate, which means that the UE coverage will be negatively affected compared to low SCS. Therefore, the benefit of the increased bit rate provided by high SCS may not always be available.

[0160] The SCS can be configured by RRC, and the SCS can be the same or different for UL and DL. In addition, the SCS can be different between different BWPs within the same carrier. In addition, the SCS can be different on different carriers. For BWP, it is conceivable that different BWPs can be configured with different SCS. For example, the SCS on the initial BWP is low, while the SCS on other BWPs is higher, thereby achieving a higher bit rate when the coverage is sufficient.

[0161] At least an initial BWP (same for all UEs, narrow enough to be handled by all UEs) and a default BWP are assigned to the UE. The default BWP may be the same as the initial BWP, but may also be different (i.e., different UEs typically have different default BWPs). In addition to the initial BWP and the default BWP, the UE may also be configured with additional BWPs. For example, a UE may have up to four DL / UL BWPs. At any point in time, only one BWP may be active for a particular UE.

[0162] The BWP may be configured for the UE using RRC signaling (in addition to the initial RRC signaling, which may be part of the system information (SI)), and switching between BWPs may be performed by DCI on the PDCCH, where the bandwidth part indicator field may indicate a BWP different from the active BWP. Switching to the default BWP may also be performed when the BWP inactivity timer (e.g., bwp-InactivityTimer) expires or when random access is initiated.

[0163] Since SCS can affect coverage, changing SCS may sometimes be beneficial. As described above, changing SCS may mean that BWP or carrier is changed (or reconfigured).

[0164] BWP switching operation

[0165] As described in Section 5.15 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), a serving cell may be configured with one or more BWPs, and the maximum number of BWPs per serving cell may be four.

[0166] BWP switching of the serving cell is used to activate the inactive BWP and deactivate the active BWP at one time. When initiating the random access procedure or when a persistent LBT failure is detected on the SpCell (special cell), the BWP switching is controlled by the PDCCH indicating the downlink assignment or uplink authorization, or by the bwp-InactivityTimer, or by RRC signaling, or by the MAC entity itself. When the firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and / or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id of the SpCell is RRC (re)configured or when the SCell (secondary cell) is activated, the DL BWP and / or UL BWP indicated by the firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and / or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id, respectively, are active without receiving the PDCCH indicating the downlink assignment or uplink authorization. The active BWP of the serving cell is indicated by RRC or PDCCH. For unpaired spectrum, the DL BWP is paired with the UL BWP, and the BWP switching is common to both UL and DL.

[0167] Entering or leaving the dormant BWP is performed by BWP switching. It is controlled by PDCCH for each SCell or each dormant SCell group. The dormant SCell group configuration indicated by dormancySCellGroups and the dormant BWP configuration for one SCell indicated by dormanDownlinkBWP-Id are configured by RRC signaling, as described in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. When a PDCCH indicating leaving the dormant BWP is received from the SpCell outside the active time, the DLBWP indicated by firstOutsideActiveTimeBWP-Id (as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0) is activated. When a PDCCH indicating leaving the dormant BWP is received from the SpCell within the active time, the DL BWP indicated by firstWithinActiveTimeBWP-Id (as specified in 3GPP TS38.331 V16.0.0) is activated. Upon reception of a PDCCH indicating entry into a dormant BWP, the DL BWP indicated by dormantDownlinkBWP-Id (as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0) is activated. Dormant BWP configuration for SpCell or PUCCH SCell is not supported.

[0168] For each activated serving cell configured with a BWP, the MAC entity shall:

[0169] 1> If the BWP is activated and it is not a dormant BWP:

[0170] 2>Send on UL-SCH on BWP;

[0171] 2> If PRACH opportunity is configured, it is sent on RACH on BWP;

[0172] 2> Monitor PDCCH on BWP;

[0173] 2> Send PUCCH on BWP (if configured);

[0174] 2> Report the CSI of BWP;

[0175] 2>Send SRS on BWP (if configured);

[0176] 2> Receive DL-SCH on BWP;

[0177] 2> (re)initialize any suspended configured uplink grants of configured grant type 1 (if any) on the active BWP according to the stored configuration and starting in symbol according to the rules in section 5.8.2 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0;

[0178] 2> If the configuration has continuous LBT failure recovery:

[0179] 3>Stop lbt-FailureDetectionTimer (if it is running);

[0180] 3> Set LBT_COUNTER to 0;

[0181] 3> Monitor LBT failure indications from lower layers as specified in section 5.21.2 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0.

[0182] 1> If the BWP is activated and it is the dormant BWP of the SCell:

[0183] 2>Stop the bwp-InactivityTimer of the serving cell (if it is running).

[0184] 2>Do not monitor PDCCH on BWP;

[0185] 2>Do not monitor the PDCCH of BWP;

[0186] 2> Do not receive DL-SCH on BWP;

[0187] 2> Perform CSI measurements for BWP (if configured);

[0188] 2> Stop all UL behaviors, that is, stop any UL transmission, suspend any configured uplink grant type 1 associated with the SCell, and clear any configured uplink grant type 2 associated with the SCell;

[0189] 2> If configured, if beam failure is detected, beam failure detection and beam failure recovery are performed for SCell.

[0190] 1> If BWP is deactivated:

[0191] 2> Not sent on UL-SCH on BWP;

[0192] 2> Not sent on RACH on BWP;

[0193] 2>Do not monitor PDCCH on BWP;

[0194] 2> PUCCH is not sent on BWP;

[0195] 2> Do not report CSI of BWP;

[0196] 2> Do not send SRS on BWP;

[0197] 2> Do not receive DL-SCH on BWP;

[0198] 2> Clear any configuration downlink assignments and configuration uplink grants of configuration grant type 2 on the BWP;

[0199] 2>Suspend any configured uplink grants of configuration grant type 1 on an inactive BWP.

[0200] When initiating a random access procedure on a serving cell, after selecting a carrier for performing the random access procedure as specified in clause 5.1.1 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0, the MAC entity shall, for the selected carrier of the serving cell:

[0201] 1> If PRACH opportunity is not configured for active UL BWP:

[0202] 2> Switch the active UL BWP to the BWP indicated by initialUplinkBWP;

[0203] 2> If the serving cell is SpCell:

[0204] 3> Switch the active DL BWP to the BWP indicated by initialDownlinkBWP.

[0205] 1> Otherwise:

[0206] 2> If the serving cell is SpCell:

[0207] 3> If the active DL BWP does not have the same bwp-Id as the active UL BWP:

[0208] 4> Switch the active DL BWP to a DL BWP with the same bwp-Id as the active UL BWP.

[0209] 1> Stop the bwp-InactivityTimer associated with the active DL BWP of this serving cell (if running).

[0210] 1> If the serving cell is SCell:

[0211] 2> Stop the bwp-InactivityTimer associated with the active DL BWP of the SpCell (if running).

[0212] 1> Perform a random access procedure on the active DL BWP of the SpCell and the active UL BWP of the serving cell.

[0213] If the MAC entity receives a PDCCH for BWP switching of a serving cell, the MAC entity shall:

[0214] 1> if there is no ongoing random access procedure associated with the serving cell; or

[0215] 1> If an ongoing random access procedure associated with this serving cell completes successfully upon receipt of this PDCCH addressed to the C-RNTI (as specified in sections 5.1.4, 5.1.4a and 5.1.5 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0), then:

[0216] 2> Cancel the triggered persistent LBT failure for the serving cell (if any);

[0217] 2> Perform BWP switching to the BWP indicated by PDCCH.

[0218] If the MAC entity receives a PDCCH for BWP switching of a serving cell or dormant SCell group while a random access procedure associated with the serving cell is ongoing in the MAC entity, it is up to the UE implementation to decide whether to switch the BWP or ignore the PDCCH for BWP switching, except for the PDCCH reception for BWP switching addressed to the C-RNTI to successfully complete the random access procedure (as specified in sections 5.1.4, 5.1.4a and 5.1.5 in 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0), in which case the UE shall perform a BWP switching to the BWP indicated by the PDCCH. Upon receiving a PDCCH for BWP switching instead of a successful contention resolution, if the MAC entity decides to perform a BWP switching, the MAC entity shall stop the ongoing random access procedure and initiate a random access procedure after performing the BWP switching; if the MAC decides to ignore the PDCCH for BWP switching, the MAC entity shall continue the ongoing random access procedure on the serving cell.

[0219] When an RRC (re)configuration for BWP switching of a serving cell is received while a random access procedure associated with the serving cell is ongoing in the MAC entity, the MAC entity shall stop the ongoing random access procedure and initiate a random access procedure after performing BWP switching.

[0220] After receiving the RRC (re)configuration for BWP handover of a serving cell, any triggered LBT failure in this serving cell is cancelled.

[0221] For each activated serving cell configured with bwp-InactivityTimer, the MAC entity shall:

[0222] 1> if defaultDownlinkBWP-Id is configured, and the active DL BWP is not the BWP indicated by defaultDownlinkBWP-Id, and the active DL BWP is not the BWP indicated by dormantDownlinkBWP-Id (if configured); or

[0223] 1> If defaultDownlinkBWP-Id is not configured, and the active DL BWP is not the BWP indicated by initialDownlinkBWP, and the active DL BWP is not the BWP indicated by dormantDownlinkBWP-Id (if configured):

[0224] 2> if a PDCCH addressed to the C-RNTI or CS-RNTI indicating a downlink assignment or uplink grant is received on the active BWP; or

[0225] 2> if a PDCCH addressed to the C-RNTI or CS-RNTI indicating a downlink assignment or uplink grant is received for the active BWP; or

[0226] 2> If the MAC PDU is sent in the configuration uplink grant, or

[0227] Received in Configure Downlink Assignment:

[0228] 3> If there is no ongoing random access procedure associated with the serving cell; or

[0229] 3> If an ongoing random access procedure associated with this serving cell completes successfully upon receipt of this PDCCH addressed to the C-RNTI (as specified in sections 5.1.4, 5.1.4a and 5.1.5 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0), then:

[0230] 4> Start or restart the bwp-InactivityTimer associated with the active DL BWP.

[0231] 2> If the bwp-InactivityTimer associated with the active DL BWP expires:

[0232] 3> If defaultDownlinkBWP-Id is configured:

[0233] 4> Perform BWP switching to the BWP indicated by defaultDownlinkBWP-Id.

[0234] 3> Otherwise:

[0235] 4>Execute BWP to switch to initialDownlinkBWP.

[0236] Note: If a random access procedure is initiated on an SCell, both the SCell and the SpCell are associated with the random access procedure.

[0237] 1> If PDCCH for BWP switching is received, the MAC entity switches the active DL BWP:

[0238] 2> If configured with defaultDownlinkBWP-Id, the MAC entity switches to a DL BWP not indicated by defaultDownlinkBWP-Id and not indicated by dormantDownlinkBWP-Id (if configured); or

[0239] 2> If defaultDownlinkBWP-Id is not configured, the MAC entity switches to the DL BWP not indicated by initialDownlinkBWP and not indicated by dormantDownlinkBWP-Id (if configured):

[0240] 3> Start or restart the bwp-InactivityTimer associated with the active DL BWP.

[0241] Configured schedule

[0242] In NR, the configured scheduling is used to allocate semi-static periodic assignments or grants to UEs. For the uplink, there are two types of configuration scheduling schemes: Type 1 and Type 2. For Type 1, the configuration grant is configured only via RRC signaling. For Type 2, a configuration process similar to SPS (Semi-Persistent Scheduling in LTE) UL in LTE is defined, that is, some parameters are pre-configured via RRC signaling, and some physical layer parameters are configured via the MAC scheduling process. The detailed process can be found in 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.0.0 Section 5.8.2.

[0243] As with SPS in LTE, the CG (configuration grant) period is RRC-configured and this is specified in the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE (information element). NR supports different period values ​​depending on the subcarrier spacing. For example, for 15 and 30kHz SCS, the following periods expressed in multiple OFDM symbols are supported:

[0244] 15kHz SCS

[0245] ●2, 7, n*14 OFDM symbols

[0246] ●where n∈{1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128, 160, 320, 640}

[0247] 30kHz SCS

[0248] ●2, 7, n*14 OFDM symbols

[0249] ●where n∈{1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128, 160, 256, 320, 640, 1280}

[0250] For type 1 configuration grants, in addition to the period, the time domain allocation of PUSCH is configured only through RRC signaling:

[0251] ●timeDomainOffset: Provides the time slot offset relative to SFN (system frame number) 0

[0252] ●timeDomainAllocation: Provides an index to a table of 16 possible combinations of PUSCH mapping type (type A or type B), mapping start symbol S (S = OFDM symbol 0, 2, 4 or 8 within a time slot) and mapping length L (L = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 OFDM symbols).

[0253] For the case of a Type 2 configuration grant, the period is configured by the RRC in the same manner as for Type 1, but the slot offset is dynamically indicated and given by the slot in which the UE receives the DCI that activates the Type 2 configuration grant. Compared to Type 1, the time domain allocation of the PUSCH is dynamically indicated by the DCI via the time domain resource assignment field in the same manner as for scheduled (non-CG) PUSCH. This DCI field indexes a table of start symbols and length (SLIV) values. The detailed configuration details for the configuration grant of the RRC specification (i.e., 3GPP TS38.331 V16.0.0) are shown in Table 1.

[0254] Table 1: ConfiguredGrantConfig IE for Release 16 of the RRC specification.

[0255]

[0256]

[0257]

[0258]

[0259]

[0260] When the CG retransmission timer expires and the UE has not received HARQ feedback for the HARQ process, the UE can autonomously trigger retransmission using the configured grant for the HARQ process configured with autonomous uplink (AUL). A timer "CG Retransmission Timer (CGRT)" is defined accordingly. The timer is configured by the RRC parameter cg-RetransmissionTimer according to ConfiguredGrantConfig. When using the configured grant for data transmission, the CGRT is started for the HARQ process configured with AUL, and when the CGRT expires, a retransmission using another configured grant is triggered.

[0261] With this additional functionality, it is beneficial for the UE to avoid HARQ process stalling in case the gNB has missed a HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) transmission initiated by the UE. However, a problem is observed that the UE may just continuously initiate autonomous HARQ retransmissions for a HARQ process for a long period of time. However, the gNB may not be able to successfully receive the TB due to poor radio channel quality or rarely obtaining the channel due to LBT failure. This is of course undesirable because the packet may become too old and any retransmission attempt will just further congest the channel and further affect the latency of other packets in the UL buffer. The RLC (Radio Link Control (RLC)) layer at the UE may sooner or later trigger an RLC retransmission of the RLC PDU (Protocol Data Unit) that is still being retransmitted in HARQ. The retransmitted RLC PDU will occupy a different HARQ process. In this case, the UE will maintain two HARQ processes for the same RLC PDU in transmission. The RLC receiver at the gNB may receive two copies of the RLC PDU. This may cause trouble in case of wraparound of RLC sequence numbers. The second received RLC PDU can be considered as new data and forwarded upstream instead of discarding the PDU.

[0262] Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a maximum limit on the AUL retransmission of the HARQ process triggered by the UE. In order to solve this problem, the timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the UE to complete the transmission of the HARQ process, that is, when the timer expires, the UE should refresh the HARQ buffer for the HARQ process and send new data associated with it. It has been agreed to use the existing timer configuredGrantTimer (CGT) for this purpose. If both CGT and CG Retransmission Timer (CGRT) are configured for the HARQ process, the two timers can operate in parallel. In this way, the UE can perform HARQ retransmissions using the CG resources for the process while running CGT for the HARQ process. The value of CGT should be greater than the value of the CG Retransmission Timer. Refresh the HARQ buffer when the CGT expires.

[0263] Figure 1b An example of a process of controlling the maximum number of AUL retransmissions using CGT is shown. Figure 1b As shown, at time t0, both CGT and CGRT are started for HARQ process m, and an initial transmission (tx) of a TB using CG resources for HARQ process m is started. When a network node such as a gNB may not be able to successfully receive the TB, for example due to poor radio channel quality, a HARQ retransmission (retx) using CG resources for HARQ process m is triggered in one or more subsequent CGRT intervals. The HARQ buffer of process m is flushed when the CGT expires, and a new TB can be sent using HARQ process m.

[0264] For a given BWP in a serving cell, multiple active configuration grants may be provided to the UE. The introduction of multiple configuration grants will at least help improve reliability and reduce latency for critical services. In addition, multiple configuration grants may be applied to allow the UE to switch to slot-based transmission after initiating COT (channel occupancy time) to minimize DMRS (demodulation reference signal) and UCI overhead in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0265] For each CG configuration, there are many HARQ processes in the assigned HARQ process pool. There is also a separate CGT timer and CGRT setting associated with each CG configuration. HARQ processes are allowed to be shared between CG configurations, which can provide better configuration flexibility. In addition, if each CG configuration has a separate associated HARQ process, the HARQ process space may become limited for the UE.

[0266] Since a logical channel (LCH) can be mapped to multiple CG configurations, this means that the UE can use multiple active CG resources simultaneously to send data for the LCH. For TBs sent using CG resources, retransmissions are allowed to be performed using any CG resource that comes earliest in time in the CG resource set mapped to the LCH, which can reduce latency. In addition, the selected resources should provide the same size as the same initial TB to avoid rate matching on the TB. In addition, for transmission / retransmission of a TB, the UE should stick to the same HARQ process.

[0267] The CGT timer for a HARQ process is started only when a TB using that HARQ process is initially sent. The value of the CGT timer is set according to the CG configuration / resources used for the initial transmission. In parallel, the CGRT should be started / restarted and set to the timer value for each transmission / retransmission attempt. If the initial transmission of the TB uses resources in CG configuration 1, the CGRT is started using the timer value configured in CG configuration 1. The next retransmission of the TB is performed using resources in CG configuration 2. The CGRT needs to be restarted and set to the timer value configured in CG configuration 2.

[0268] The HARQ process number field in the UL DCI (e.g., format 0-0 or format 0-1) scrambled by CS-RNTI (Configured Scheduling RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identity)) is used to indicate which configuration will be activated and which configuration(s) will be released. In the DCI, the NDI in the received HARQ information is 0.

[0269] Upon receiving the activation / reactivation / deactivation command, the UE provides a confirmation MAC CE (control element) to the gNB. The MAC CE contains a bitmap of CG configurations. In the bitmap field, each bit corresponds to a specific CG configuration (i.e., the bit position corresponds to the CG index).

[0270] Configuration UL with duplication

[0271] NR also supports repetition of TBs, and K repetitions of a TB (including the initial transmission) use the same resource configuration. The parameters repK and repK-RV configured by the higher layer define the K repetitions to be applied to the transmitted transport block and the redundancy version mode to be applied to the repetitions. For the nth transmission opportunity (n=1, 2...K) among the K repetitions, it is associated with the (mod(n-1, 4)+1)th value in the configured RV sequence. The initial transmission of a transport block can start at

[0272] - If the configured RV sequence is {0, 2, 3, 1}, then the first transmission opportunity in the K repetitions,

[0273] - If the configured RV sequence is {0, 3, 0, 3}, then any transmission opportunity associated with RV=0 in the K repetitions,

[0274] - If the configured RV sequence is {0, 0, 0, 0}, any transmission opportunity in the K repetitions except the last transmission opportunity when K=8.

[0275] For any RV sequence, the repetitions should be terminated at the following time (whichever comes first): after sending K repetitions, or at the last transmission opportunity of K repetitions within period P, or when an UL grant is received for scheduling the same TB within period P. It is expected that the UE will not be configured with a transmission duration of K repetitions that is larger than the duration derived from period P.

[0276] For both type 1 PUSCH transmissions and type 2 PUSCH transmissions with configured grants, when the UE is configured with repK>1, the UE shall repeat the TB over repK consecutive slots, applying the same symbol allocation in each slot. If the UE procedure for determining the slot configuration (as defined in subclause 11.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213 V16.1.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) determines the symbol of a slot allocated to PUSCH as a downlink symbol, then the transmission on that slot is omitted for multi-slot PUSCH transmission.

[0277] An even higher range of SCS values ​​may be used in NR (e.g., between 480kHz, 960kHz, 1920kHz, and 3840kHz). If it is assumed that a 4097 FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) is to be applied, the slot durations may be scaled accordingly in the table below.

[0278] Table 2 shows an example of a parameter set for NR operation from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz.

[0279] Table 2

[0280]

[0281] As is known to all, a lower SCS allows for a longer CP and a larger coverage. Vice versa, a higher SCS provides a shorter CP and a poorer coverage. Therefore, a higher SCS and a wider system bandwidth that can provide a higher data rate may be feasible for UEs with good coverage.

[0282] By configuring both a lower SCS and a higher SCS in a cell, the actually applied SCS may need to be changed from time to time depending on the need.

[0283] SCS changes can usually be coupled to BWP switching. In a wide carrier, multiple BWPs can be configured, and each BWP can be configured with the following three different parameters:

[0284] SCS

[0285] ●Symbol duration

[0286] ●Cyclic prefix (CP) length.

[0287] When a random access procedure is initiated or when a persistent LBT failure is detected on the SpCell, the BWP switching can be controlled by the PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling, or by the MAC entity itself.

[0288] In addition, for a UE configured with multiple serving cells, each serving cell may be configured with a different SCS. In this case, the SCS change is in the form of a cell change / activation / deactivation.

[0289] In the case where the SCS is changed for the UE, for example, the BWP is changed to the UE, the UE may perform the following actions to process the configuration authorization.

[0290] ● Clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants of type 2 on the BWP;

[0291] ●Suspend any configured uplink grants of configuration grant type 1 on an inactive BWP.

[0292] In summary, the UE clears any configured grant type 2 in the deactivated BWP and suspends any configured grant type 1. Similarly, when the UE deactivates the SCell in a CA scenario, in the deactivated SCell, the UE performs the same actions to clear the configured grant.

[0293] For any of the above cases, when the UE receives an SCS handover (e.g., in the form of BWP deactivation or SCell deactivation) command, the UE may still have some pending TBs occupying HARQ processes that have not yet been acknowledged. If the UE directly clears the configuration grant in the old BWP, there is a risk that these pending TBs will be lost due to the need to clear the HARQ buffers associated with the configuration grant. This problem may be less problematic when the gNB is responsible for scheduling retransmissions for the initial TBs using the configuration grant. Most of the time, the gNB knows whether the UE has pending TBs. For example, when the UE has no pending TBs, the gNB can choose a good time to command the UE to perform an SCS handover.

[0294] However, when a UE configured with CGRT is allowed to trigger autonomous retransmission for a HARQ process configured with a configuration grant, the UE may not be able to send a TB due to persistent LBT failures, and therefore the gNB will not be aware of the pending TB. In the case where the UE receives an SCS switch command, there is a higher risk that the UE will miss the pending TB because the UE must clear the configuration grant in the BWP or cell that needs to be deactivated. In addition, when supporting NR operation from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz, it is expected that the UE may need to change SCS frequently. The above problems will become more problematic.

[0295] Therefore, it is necessary to solve at least one of the above problems and develop corresponding enhanced functions for UE-triggered parameter set switching (e.g., SCS switching).

[0296] Exemplary embodiments that solve at least one of the above-mentioned problems will be described below.

[0297] Other exemplary embodiments include terminal devices (e.g., UE, wireless device, IoT device, etc., or components thereof) and network nodes (e.g., base station, gNB, eNB, etc., or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any exemplary method described herein. Exemplary embodiments also include: a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processing circuit, configure such terminal devices or network nodes to perform operations corresponding to any exemplary method described herein. Exemplary embodiments also include a computer program product containing such executable instructions.

[0298] The embodiments to be described below are applicable to both licensed and unlicensed operations (e.g., License Assisted Access (LAA), Enhanced LAA (eLAA), Further Enhanced LAA (feLAA), MuLteFire, and NR Unlicensed Operation (NR-U)). The term LBT may be interchangeably referred to as Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), shared spectrum access procedure, etc. The carrier to which LBT is applied may belong to a shared spectrum or an unlicensed band or a band with contention-based access, etc. The following embodiments are not limited by the terminology. Any similar terminology applies equally here.

[0299] Figure 2An illustrative system in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is depicted. In the embodiments described herein, the cellular communication system 200 may be: a 5G system (5GS), including a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) and a 5G core (5GC); or an LTE system, including a RAN and an EPC. In this example, the RAN includes: base stations 202-1 and 202-2, which include NR base stations (gNBs) in the 5GS; and optionally, next generation eNBs (ng-eNBs) (i.e., LTE RAN nodes connected to the 5GC), controlling corresponding (macro) cells 204-1 and 204-2. Base stations 202-1 and 202-2 are generally referred to herein as base stations 202, and are respectively referred to as base stations 202. Similarly, macro cells 204-1 and 204-2 are generally referred to herein as macro cells 204, and are respectively referred to as macro cells 204. The RAN may also include a plurality of low power nodes 206-1 to 206-4 that control corresponding small cells 208-1 to 208-4. The low power nodes 206-1 to 206-4 can be small base stations (e.g., pico base stations or femto base stations) or remote radio heads (RRHs), etc. It is worth noting that, although not shown, one or more small cells 208-1 to 208-4 can be provided alternatively by the base station 202. The low power nodes 206-1 to 206-4 are generally referred to as low power nodes 206 in this article, and are respectively referred to as low power nodes 206. Similarly, the small cells 208-1 to 208-4 are generally referred to as small cells 208 in this article, and are respectively referred to as small cells 208. The cellular communication system 200 also includes a core network 210, which is referred to as a 5G core (5GC) in 5GS and is referred to as EPC in LTE. The base station 202 (and optionally, the low power node 206) is connected to the core network 210.

[0300] The base station 202 and the low power node 206 provide services to the wireless communication devices 212-1 to 212-5 in the corresponding cells 204 and 208. The wireless communication devices 212-1 to 212-5 are generally referred to herein as wireless communication devices 212, and are individually referred to as wireless communication devices 212. In the following description, the wireless communication device 212 is generally a UE, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0301] Figure 3 A flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, which can be performed by an apparatus implemented in a terminal device / implemented as a terminal device or communicatively coupled to a terminal device. Therefore, the apparatus can provide: an apparatus or module for completing various parts of method 300, and an apparatus or module for completing other processes in combination with other components.

[0302] At block 302, optionally, a terminal device (or UE) may receive a message indicating a change from a first set of parameters to a second set of parameters. For example, the terminal device may receive the message from a network node such as a gNB. The message may be any suitable message such as a signaling message.

[0303] In an embodiment, the parameter set may include at least one of the following:

[0304] Subcarrier spacing (SCS),

[0305] ● symbol duration, or

[0306] ●Cyclic prefix (CP) length.

[0307] When changing the parameter set, at least one of the above parameters may be changed.

[0308] In an embodiment, each BWP may be configured with a specific set of parameters.

[0309] Since the SCS can affect the coverage, changing the SCS can sometimes be beneficial. As described above, an SCS change can mean that the BWP or carrier is changed (or reconfigured). For example, a BWP can be configured for a terminal device using RRC signaling (in addition to the initial BWP that can be part of the system information (SI)). Switching between BWPs can be performed by DCI on the PDCCH, where the bandwidth part indicator field can indicate a BWP that is different from the active BWP. Switching to the default BWP can also be performed when the Bbwp-InactivityTimer expires or when a random access is initiated.

[0310] At block 304, the terminal device (or UE) may determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The terminal device (or UE) may determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set in various ways. For example, as described above, an SCS change may mean that a BWP or a carrier is changed (or reconfigured). When the terminal device determines to change from a first BWP to a second BWP or from a first carrier to a second carrier, the terminal device (or UE) may determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set.

[0311] In an embodiment, the change from the first set of parameters to the second set of parameters is determined based on the message received at block 302 or a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure.

[0312] At block 306 , the terminal device (or UE) may send the pending TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

[0313] In an embodiment, the first configuration authorization configuration provides a first size for the initial TB. For example, at the time of initial transmission of the pending TB, the pending TB can be regarded as the initial TB.

[0314] In an embodiment, the second configuration authorization configuration may provide a second size for the pending TB.

[0315] In an embodiment, the first size is the same as the second size. When the first size is the same as the second size, rate matching on the pending TB can be avoided.

[0316] In an embodiment, the first size is different from the second size. In this case, the terminal device may need to perform rate matching to adapt to the second size.

[0317] In an embodiment, for a pending TB, in the absence of a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set and which can provide the same size as the initial TB, the terminal device can select any second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set and move the pending TB to be associated with the selected second configuration authorization configuration.

[0318] In an embodiment, the initial TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set.

[0319] At block 308, optionally, when the first size is different from the second size, the terminal device (or UE) may perform rate matching to accommodate the second size.

[0320] At block 310 , the terminal device (or UE) may optionally clear the first configuration authorization configuration after sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

[0321] In an embodiment, the second configuration authorization configuration can meet the quality of service (QoS) requirements of the pending TB.

[0322] In an embodiment, after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with the pending TB is reused.

[0323] In an embodiment, after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with the pending TB is changed from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process.

[0324] like Figure 4As shown, after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, when the HARQ process associated with the pending TB is switched from the first HARQ to the second HARQ, the terminal device (or UE) may discard the pending TB at box 402-1 and trigger an upper layer retransmission at box 402-2. Alternatively, the terminal device (or UE) may copy the pending TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process at box 402-5 and discard the pending TB in the first HARQ process at box 402-6.

[0325] like Figure 5 As shown, for pending TBs, at box 502, the terminal device (or UE) may stop the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization that are cleared as needed. The first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using the configuration authorization, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process. For pending TBs, the terminal device (or UE) may restart the first timer and the second timer according to the second configuration authorization configuration at box 504. In an embodiment, the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set according to one of the following:

[0326] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0327] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

[0328] like Figure 6 As shown, at box 602, for the pending TB, the terminal device (or UE) can stop the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization that are suspended as needed. The first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using the configuration authorization, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process. At box 604, for the pending TB, the terminal device (or UE) can restart the first timer and the second timer after resuming the suspended first configuration authorization configuration. The corresponding timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization can be updated by excluding the suspension period configured by the second configuration authorization associated with the first parameter set.

[0329] like Figure 7aAs shown, in box 702, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetition, the terminal device (or UE) can apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0330] In an embodiment, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB may be sent based on one of the following:

[0331] -The number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration;

[0332] - the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration;

[0333] - a number of repetitions configured by the network node; or

[0334] - The number of repetitions configured by the end device.

[0335] like Figure 7a As shown, in box 704, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, the terminal device (or UE) can apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0336] In an embodiment, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is sent based on one of the following:

[0337] - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0338] - The number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0339] like Figure 7a As shown, in box 706, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, the terminal device (or UE) can disable the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0340] In an embodiment, when the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0341] In an embodiment, the first type of configuration authorization configuration includes configuration authorization type 1.

[0342] like Figure 7b As shown, after the change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed, the terminal device (or UE) can retransmit the pending TB using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set at box 714.

[0343] like Figure 7c As shown, at box 722, the terminal device (or UE) may send a notification about a pending TB to a network node. The network node may be a base station, such as a gNB.

[0344] In an embodiment, the notification about the pending TB includes at least one of the following:

[0345] ●TB size to be determined;

[0346] ● Information about a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process associated with a pending TB in the first configuration grant configuration that has been cleared;

[0347] ● The information about the HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the first configuration authorization configuration that has been suspended;

[0348] ● Information about a second configuration authorization configuration, wherein the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0349] • Information about the HARQ process to be used for retransmitting pending TBs after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set.

[0350] In an embodiment, the notification about the pending TB is sent to the network node via at least one of:

[0351] Random Access Channel (RACH) messages;

[0352] ● Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission;

[0353] ●Transmission based on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0354] Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission.

[0355] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device may be configured with multiple configuration authorization configurations, and at least one of the configuration authorization configurations may be associated with at least one parameter set.

[0356] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the association between the configuration authorization configuration and the parameter set may be configured explicitly or implicitly.

[0357] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an index of a parameter set may be included in a configuration authorization configuration.

[0358] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more configuration authorization configurations may be configured for a bandwidth part BWP, and the BWP is configured with at least one parameter set.

[0359] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more configuration authorization configurations are configured for a cell, and the cell may be configured with at least one parameter set.

[0360] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a BWP segment may be configured with at least one parameter set.

[0361] like Figure 7c As shown, at box 724, the terminal device (or UE) can send capability information of the terminal device.

[0362] In an embodiment, the capability information comprises a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending pending TBs using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0363] Figure 8a A flow chart of a method 800 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, and the method can be performed by a device implemented in a network node / implemented as a network node or communicatively coupled to a network node. Therefore, the device can provide: a device or module for completing various parts of the method, and a device for completing other processes in combination with other components. For the parts that have been described in the above embodiments, a detailed description thereof is omitted here for the sake of brevity.

[0364] At block 802, the network node may optionally send a message to a terminal device indicating a change from a first set of parameters to a second set of parameters.

[0365] At block 804, the network node may receive a pending transport block TB from a terminal device. The pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set. Figure 3 At block 306 , the terminal device may send the TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set, and then the network node may receive the TB from the terminal device.

[0366] In an embodiment, the first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for a terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using a configured grant, and the second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configured grant of the HARQ process; and the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configured grant are set according to one of the following:

[0367] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0368] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

[0369] In an embodiment, a first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for a terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process using a configuration authorization, and a second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process, and the corresponding timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization are updated by excluding a pause period configured by the first configuration authorization associated with a first parameter set.

[0370] like Figure 8b As shown, at box 812, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured without repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured with repetition, the network node can apply the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0371] In an embodiment, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, a pending TB is received based on one of the following:

[0372] -The number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration;

[0373] - the number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration;

[0374] - a number of repetitions configured by the network node; or

[0375] - The number of repetitions configured by the end device.

[0376] like Figure 8b As shown, at box 814, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, the network node can apply the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0377] In an embodiment, according to the second configuration authorization configuration, a pending TB is received based on one of the following:

[0378] - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0379] - The number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0380] like Figure 8b As shown, at box 816, when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, the network node can disable the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0381] In an embodiment, when the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is received using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0382] In an embodiment, the first type of configuration authorization configuration comprises configuration authorization type 1 (or type 1 configuration authorization).

[0383] In an embodiment, the pending TB is received after the change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed.

[0384] like Figure 8c As shown, at block 822, the network node may receive a notification regarding a pending TB.

[0385] In an embodiment, the notification about the pending TB includes at least one of the following:

[0386] ●TB size to be determined;

[0387] ● Information about a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process associated with a pending TB in the first configuration grant configuration that has been cleared;

[0388] ● The information about the HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the first configuration authorization configuration that has been suspended;

[0389] ● Information about a second configuration authorization configuration, wherein the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0390] • Information about the HARQ process to be used for retransmitting pending TBs after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set.

[0391] In an embodiment, notification of pending TBs is received via at least one of:

[0392] Random Access Channel (RACH) messages;

[0393] ● Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission;

[0394] ●Transmission based on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0395] • Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission.

[0396] like Figure 8c As shown, at block 824, the network node may receive capability information of the terminal device. For example, the network node may receive capability information of the terminal device from the terminal device.

[0397] In an embodiment, the capability information comprises a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending pending TBs using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0398] In an embodiment, the UE is configured with multiple CG configurations, each of which can be mapped to a specific SCS. The mapping can be configured explicitly or implicitly. For example, for the former, the index of the SCS can be added to the CG configuration. For the latter, there may be no direct mapping relationship between the CG configuration and the SCS value. On the contrary, in one example, one or more CG configurations can be configured for the BWP, and the BWP can be configured with different SCSs. In another example, one or more CG configurations can be configured for a cell, and the cell can be configured with different SCSs. In yet another example, a wide BWP can contain multiple bandwidth segments (referred to as, for example, channels, subbands, BWP segments, etc.), and for each segment, it can be configured with a different SCS. For each BWP segment, there can be at least one configured CG configuration.

[0399] In an embodiment, when a service SCS change is triggered for a UE (by receiving a command from a gNB or triggered by the UE itself), if there are pending TBs that have been sent using CG resources mapped to the service SCS, the UE may adopt at least one of the following options to handle those pending TBs before clearing the CG resources mapped to the service SCS.

[0400] ●Option A: For each pending TB, select a CG configuration that is mapped to the new SCS and can provide the same size as the initial TB, and move the pending TB to be associated with the selected CG configuration. In other words, the pending TB will not be discarded or lost when the SCS is changed, and the pending TB will be retransmitted using the CG resources of the selected CG configuration at the next CG opportunity.

[0401] ●Option B: For each pending TB, if there is no CG configuration mapped to the new SCS and can provide the same size as the initial TB, select any CG configuration mapped to the new SCS and move the pending TB to be associated with the selected CG configuration. In other words, the pending TB will not be discarded or lost when the SCS is changed, and the pending TB will be retransmitted using the CG resources of the selected CG configuration at the next CG opportunity.

[0402] ● Option C: For a pending TB, if the pending TB is initially transmitted using Type 1CG resources, the pending TB can be kept mapped to the Type 1CG configuration. When the Type 1CG configuration is being suspended, the pending TB will not be retransmitted. After the SCS change has been completed, the UE will resume the Type 1CG configuration, after which the pending TB will be retransmitted at the next CG opportunity using the CG resources provided by the Type 1CG configuration.

[0403] In an embodiment, when a service SCS change is triggered for a UE (by receiving a command from a gNB or triggered by the UE itself), if there are pending TBs that have been sent using CG resources mapped to the service SCS, the UE may take the following steps to process the CG timers of those pending TBs before clearing the CG resources mapped to the service SCS.

[0404] Step 1: For each pending TB, stop the CGT and CGRT in the CG configuration that needs to be cleared or paused.

[0405] Step 2: For each pending TB, restart the CGT and CGRT in the new CG configuration moved to. The timer value is set according to any one of the following options.

[0406] Option x: The timer value is set to the value configured in the new CG configuration.

[0407] Option y: The timer value is set to: the value configured in the new CG configuration minus the elapsed time period of the timer according to the old CG configuration (ie, the configuration that needs to be cleared).

[0408] In a first embodiment, the UE is configured with multiple CG configurations, each of which can be mapped to a specific SCS. The mapping is configured explicitly or implicitly. For the former, the index of the SCS can be added to the CG configuration. For the latter, there is no direct mapping relationship between the CG configuration and the SCS value. On the contrary, in one example, one or more CG configurations can be configured for the BWP, and the BWP can be configured with different SCSs. In another example, one or more CG configurations can be configured for a cell, and the cell can be configured with different SCSs. In yet another example, a wide BWP can contain multiple bandwidth segments (referred to as, for example, channels, subbands, BWP segments, etc.), and for each segment, it can be configured with a different SCS. For each BWP segment, there can be at least one configured CG configuration.

[0409] In a second embodiment, when a service SCS change is triggered for a UE (by receiving a command from a gNB or triggered by the UE itself), if there are pending TBs that have been sent using CG resources mapped to the service SCS, the UE may adopt at least one of the following options to handle those pending TBs before clearing the CG resources mapped to the service SCS.

[0410] Option 1: For each pending TB, select a CG configuration that is mapped to the new SCS and can provide the same size as the initial TB, and move the pending TB to be associated with the selected CG configuration. In other words, the pending TB will not be discarded or lost when the SCS is changed, and the pending TB will be retransmitted using the CG resources of the selected CG configuration at the next CG opportunity.

[0411] Option 2: For each pending TB, if there is no CG configuration mapped to the new SCS and can provide the same size as the initial TB, select any CG configuration mapped to the new SCS and move the pending TB to be associated with the selected CG configuration. In other words, the pending TB will not be discarded or lost when the SCS is changed, and the pending TB will be retransmitted using the CG resources of the selected CG configuration at the next CG opportunity.

[0412] Option 3: For a pending TB, if the pending TB is initially transmitted using type 1CG resources, the pending TB can be kept mapped to the type 1CG configuration. When the type 1CG configuration is being suspended, the pending TB will not be retransmitted. After the SCS change has been completed, the UE will resume the type 1CG configuration, after which the pending TB will be retransmitted at the next CG opportunity using the CG resources provided by the type 1CG configuration.

[0413] For any of the above options 1 to 3, the selected resources in another CG configuration mapped to the new SCS should be able to meet the expected QoS requirements of the pending TB. Each pending TB can be associated with a different logical channel or service with specific QoS requirements. For TBs requiring short latency, the UE should select the CG configuration that provides the most frequent transmission opportunities or the fastest transmission opportunities (for example, the CG provides the earliest transmission opportunity or the shortest transmission opportunity).

[0414] For any of the above options 1 to 3, the selected resources in another CG configuration mapped to the new SCS should provide the same size as the initial TB.

[0415] For any of the above options 1 to 3, the selected resources in another CG configuration mapped to the new SCS may provide a different (smaller or larger) size than the initial TB. The UE needs to perform rate matching to adapt to the new size.

[0416] For any of the above options 1 to 3, the TB can retransmit using the same HARQ process using the selected configuration resources in another CG configuration mapped to the new SCS. The UE can select configuration resources in the CG configuration configured with the same HARQ process ID.

[0417] For any of the above options 1 to 3, the TB can retransmit using a different HARQ process using the selected configuration resources in another CG configuration mapped to the new SCS. In the case where the HARQ processes used for retransmissions are different, the UE can have two alternatives to handle retransmissions.

[0418] Alternative 1: UE discards the current TB and triggers upper layer retransmission

[0419] Alternative solution 2: The UE copies the TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process. Afterwards, the UE discards the TB in the first HARQ process.

[0420] For options 1 to 3 above, the UE may send a signal to the gNB and inform the gNB of information about those pending TBs that have been affected by the recent SCS change. The information may include at least one of the following information:

[0421] ● The size of each pending TB and associated HARQ process in the CG configuration that has been cleared;

[0422] ● The size of each pending TB and associated HARQ process in the suspended CG configuration;

[0423] ● For each pending TB, the CG configuration to which the TB has been moved. This HARQ process will be used for the retransmission of the TB.

[0424] The UE may send signaling about pending TBs to the gNB through at least one of the following signaling options.

[0425] Option A: RACH message.

[0426] Option B: PUCCH transmission.

[0427] Option C: PUSCH based transmission.

[0428] Option D: SRS transmission.

[0429] For Option A and Option C, this information may be carried in a MAC CE or an RRC signaling message.

[0430] Alternatively, some information may be carried in UCI on PUCCH or multiplexed in PUSCH.

[0431] In a third embodiment, when a service SCS change is triggered for a UE (by receiving a command from a gNB or triggered by the UE itself), if there are pending TBs that have been sent using CG resources mapped to the service SCS, the UE may take the following steps to process the CG timers of those pending TBs before clearing the CG resources mapped to the service SCS.

[0432] Step A: For each pending TB, stop the CGT and CGRT in the CG configuration that needs to be cleared or paused.

[0433] Step C: For each pending TB, restart the CGT and CGRT in the new CG configuration moved to. The timer value is set according to any one of the following options.

[0434] Option e: The timer value is set to the value configured in the new CG configuration.

[0435] Option f: The timer value is set to the value configured in the new CG configuration minus the elapsed time period of the timer according to the old CG configuration (ie, the configuration that needs to be cleared).

[0436] Alternatively, for those pending TBs associated with the suspended CG configuration, their timers will be restarted after the suspended CG configuration is resumed, with the timer values ​​updated taking into account the suspension period, i.e. excluding the suspension period.

[0437] In a fourth embodiment, when a service SCS change is triggered for the UE (by receiving a command from the gNB or triggered by the UE itself), if there are pending TBs that have been sent using CG resources mapped to the service SCS, the UE may take the following options to handle CG duplications of those pending TBs before clearing the CG resources mapped to the service SCS.

[0438] Option 14: A pending TB may be moved from a CG configuration without repetitions to a new CG configuration with repetitions. In this case, the UE applies repetitions to send the pending TB in the new CG configuration. In the new CG configuration, the pending TB may be considered as an initial TB when the RV value is selected according to the configured repK-RV. Alternatively, the pending TB is not considered as an initial TB when the RV value is selected according to the configured repK-RV in the new CG configuration. In an example, in the new CG configuration, the UE sends only up to repK-1 repetitions for the pending TB. In another example, in the new CG configuration, how many repetitions are performed for the pending TB depends on the gNB configuration. In yet another example, in the new CG configuration, how many repetitions are performed for the pending TB depends on the UE implementation.

[0439] Option 15: A pending TB can be moved from a repeated CG configuration to a new CG configuration with no repetition. In this case, the UE does not apply repetition to send the pending TB in the new CG configuration.

[0440] Option 16: A pending TB may be moved from a CG configuration with repetitions (e.g., CG1) to a new CG configuration with repetitions (e.g., CG2). In this case, the UE continues to apply repetitions to send the pending TB in the new CG configuration. In CG2, the UE may apply one of the following alternatives to select an RV to send the pending TB.

[0441] Alternative scheme X: When the RV value is selected according to the parameters repK and repK-RV configured in CG2, the pending TB can be regarded as an initial TB. In other words, in CG2, up to repK repetitions can be performed for the pending TB (for example, if there are repK opportunities in the current cycle of CG2). For the nth transmission opportunity (n=1, 2...repK) in the repK repetitions, it is associated with the (mod(n-1, 4)+1)th value in the configured RV sequence (i.e., repK-RV of CG2).

[0442] Alternative Y: The selection of RV takes into account the number of repetitions that have been sent in CG1. For example, if the UE has sent n1 (n1 < repK of CG1) repetitions for the pending TB, the UE can send up to n2 repetitions (i.e., n2 = repK of CG2 - n1). For the nth transmission opportunity (n = 1, 2....n2) in the repK repetitions, it is associated with the (mod(n-1, 4) + 1)th value in the configured RV sequence (i.e., repK-RV of CG2).

[0443] In the fifth embodiment, the UE capability bit indicates whether the UE supports moving a pending TB from a CG configuration to another CG configuration.

[0444] In the sixth embodiment, for any one of the above-mentioned first to fifth embodiments, it is also applicable to the UE in the case where the OFDM symbol duration or the cyclic prefix (CP) length is changed.

[0445] Figure 9a 900 is a block diagram showing an apparatus suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, any one of the above-mentioned terminal devices and network nodes can be implemented as the apparatus 900 or implemented by the apparatus 900.

[0446] The device 900 includes at least one processor 921 (e.g., a digital processor (DP)) and at least one memory (MEM) 922 coupled to the processor 921. The device 920 may also include a transmitter TX and a receiver RX923 coupled to the processor 921. The MEM 922 stores a program (PROG) 924. The program 924 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 921, enable the device 920 to operate according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The combination of at least one processor 921 and at least one memory 922 may form a processing device 925 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0447] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a computer program executable by one or more of the processor 921 , software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof.

[0448] MEM 922 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology such as, by way of non-limiting examples, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory.

[0449] Processor 921 may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment, and may include one or more of the following: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor DSP, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0450] In an embodiment where the apparatus is implemented as or at a terminal device, the memory 922 contains instructions executable by the processor 921, whereby the terminal device operates according to any steps of any method related to terminal devices as described above.

[0451] In embodiments where the apparatus is implemented as or at a network node, the memory 922 contains instructions executable by the processor 921 whereby the network node operates according to any steps of any method related to a network node as described above.

[0452] Figure 9b 1 is a block diagram showing a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, the terminal device 950 includes a determination module 951 and a first sending module 952. The determination module 951 can be configured to: determine a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set. The first sending module 952 can be configured to: use a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or use a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set to send a pending transport block TB.

[0453] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device 950 may further include a receiving module 953, which is configured to: receive a message indicating a change from a first parameter set to a second parameter set.

[0454] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device 950 may further include an execution module 954, and the execution module 954 is configured to: when the first size is different from the second size, perform rate matching to adapt to the second size.

[0455] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device 950 may further include a clearing module 955, which is configured to clear the first configuration authorization configuration after sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second subset.

[0456] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include: a first discarding module 956 configured to discard the pending TB; and a triggering module 957 configured to trigger upper layer retransmission.

[0457] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include: a copy module 958 configured to copy the pending TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process; and a second discard module 959 configured to discard the pending TB in the first HARQ process.

[0458] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may also include a third discarding module 960, which is configured to: for the pending TB, stop the first timer and the second timer configured by the first configuration authorization that are cleared as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to use the configuration authorization to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process.

[0459] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a first restart module 961, which is configured to: for the pending TB, restart the first timer and the second timer according to the second configuration authorization configuration. The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization configuration are set according to one of the following:

[0460] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or

[0461] - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

[0462] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may also include a fourth discarding module 962, which is configured to: for the pending TB, stop the first timer and the second timer configured by the first configuration authorization that are suspended as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate the maximum amount of time for the terminal device to use the configuration authorization to send and retransmit the TB associated with the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and the second timer is configured to indicate the autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration authorization of the HARQ process.

[0463] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a second restart module 963, and the second restart module 963 is configured to: for the pending TB, after resuming the suspended first configuration authorization configuration, restart the first timer and the second timer. The corresponding timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization configuration are updated by excluding the suspension period of the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0464] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may also include a first application module 964, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0465] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may also include a second application module 965, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0466] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a third disabling module 966, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disable the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0467] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a second retransmission module 968, which is configured to retransmit the pending TB using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

[0468] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a second sending module 969, and the second sending module 969 is configured to send a notification about a pending TB to a network node.

[0469] In an embodiment, the terminal device 950 may further include a third sending module 970, which is configured to: send capability information of the terminal device. The capability information includes a capability bit, which indicates whether the terminal device supports sending a pending TB using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0470] Fig.9c 1 is a block diagram of a network node 980 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, the network node 980 includes a first receiving module 981. The receiving module 981 can be configured to receive a pending transport block TB from a terminal device. The pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0471] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may further include: a sending module 982 configured to send a message indicating a change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set to the terminal device.

[0472] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may also include a first application module 983, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0473] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may further include a second application module 984, which is configured to: when the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply the repetitions to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0474] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may further include a disabling module 985, which is configured to: when a pending TB has been sent using a first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using a second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetitions, disable the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

[0475] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may further include a second receiving module 986 configured to receive a notification about a pending TB.

[0476] In an embodiment, the network node 980 may further include a third receiving module 987 configured to receive capability information of the terminal device, including a capability bit indicating whether the terminal device supports sending a pending TB using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set.

[0477] Embodiments herein provide many advantages, the following is a non-exhaustive list of examples. In some embodiments herein, the proposed solution can achieve better configuration flexibility for processing configured resources. In some embodiments herein, the proposed solution takes into account service QoS requirements and can better utilize configured resources. In some embodiments herein, the proposed solution can better meet the QoS requirements of different services sharing the same configured resources. The embodiments herein are not limited to the above features and advantages. Those skilled in the art will recognize additional features and benefits when reading the following detailed description.

[0478] The term unit may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing various tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc., such as those described herein.

[0479] Through the functional unit, terminal devices and network nodes may not need fixed processors or memories. The introduction of virtualization technology and network computing technology can improve the efficiency of network resource utilization and network flexibility.

[0480] Furthermore, an exemplary overall communication system including a terminal device and a network node such as a base station will be described below.

[0481] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication system including a host computer, the host computer including: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a terminal device. The cellular network includes the above-mentioned base station and / or the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0482] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system further includes a terminal device, wherein the terminal device is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0483] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a processing circuit of a host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the terminal device includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0484] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a communication system including a host computer, the host computer including: a communication interface configured to receive user data from a transmission from a terminal device; a base station. The transmission is from the terminal device to the base station. The base station is the base station mentioned above, and / or the terminal device is the terminal device mentioned above.

[0485] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application. The terminal device is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing user data to be received by the host computer.

[0486] Figure 9d is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless network according to some embodiments.

[0487] Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, embodiments disclosed herein are directed to wireless networks (e.g., Figure 9d For simplicity, Figure 9dThe wireless network of FIG. 1 depicts only the network 1006, the network nodes 1060 (corresponding to the network side nodes) and 1060b, and the WDs (corresponding to the terminal devices) 1010, 1010b, and 1010c. In fact, the wireless network may also include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (e.g., a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). In the components shown, the network node 1060 and the wireless device (WD) 1010 are depicted with additional details. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices, so that the wireless devices can access and / or use services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0488] A wireless network may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular and / or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a specific standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, specific embodiments of a wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11 standards); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0489] The network 1006 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

[0490] The network node 1060 and the WD 1010 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functions, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via a wired connection or via a wireless connection).

[0491] As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to implement and / or provide wireless access to a wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in a wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or in other words, based on their transmit power levels), so they can also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). These remote radio units may be integrated with antennas as radios with integrated antennas, or may not be integrated with antennas as radios with integrated antennas. Portions of distributed radio base stations may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Still other examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (e.g., MSRBS), network controllers (e.g., radio network controllers (RNC) or base station controllers (BSC)), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and / or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node, as described in more detail below. However, more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or device group) that is capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to enable and / or provide access of a wireless device to a wireless communication network, or to provide a certain service to a wireless device that has accessed a wireless network.

[0492] exist Figure 9d In FIG. 1 , the network node 1060 includes a processing circuit 1070, a device readable medium 1080, an interface 1090, an auxiliary device 1084, a power supply 1086, a power supply circuit 1087, and an antenna 1062. Figure 9dThe network node 1060 shown in the exemplary wireless network of can represent a device including a combination of the hardware components shown, but other embodiments can include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that the network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. In addition, although the components of the network node 1060 are depicted as a single box located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in reality, the network node can include multiple different physical components that constitute a single illustrated component (for example, the device readable medium 1080 can include multiple separate hard drives and multiple RAM modules).

[0493] Similarly, the network node 1060 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., Node B components and RNC components, BTS components and BSC components, etc.), which may have respective corresponding components. In certain scenarios where the network node 1060 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared between multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered a single separate network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 1060 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 1080 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1062 may be shared by the RATs). The network node 1060 may also include multiple groups of various components shown for different wireless technologies (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) integrated into the network node 1060. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within network node 1060 .

[0494] The processing circuit 1070 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by the network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit 1070 may include information obtained by the processing circuit 1070 through the following processing: for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination based on the results of the processing.

[0495] The processor circuit 1070 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic, which is operable to provide network node 1060 functionality alone or in conjunction with other network node 1060 components (e.g., device readable medium 1080). For example, the processing circuit 1070 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 1080 or stored in a memory within the processing circuit 1070. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1070 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0496] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1070 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1072 and baseband processing circuitry 1074. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1072 and baseband processing circuitry 1074 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1072 and baseband processing circuitry 1074 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit set.

[0497] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by a processing circuit 1070 that executes instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1080 or a memory within the processing circuit 1070. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 1070, for example, in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable medium. In any of these embodiments, the processing circuit 1070 may be configured to perform the described functions, whether or not executing instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 1070 or to other components of the network node 1060, but are enjoyed by the network node 1060 as a whole and / or generally by end users and wireless networks.

[0498] The device-readable medium 1080 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, but not limited to, permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD), or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile memory or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuit 1070. The device-readable medium 1080 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that are executable by the processing circuit 1070 and used by the network node 1060. The device-readable medium 1080 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuit 1070 and / or any data received via the interface 1090. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1070 and device readable medium 1080 may be considered integrated.

[0499] Interface 1090 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network node 1060, network 1006 and / or WD 1010. As shown, interface 1090 includes port / terminal 1094 for sending data to network 1006 and receiving data from network 1006, for example, via a wired connection. Interface 1090 also includes radio front-end circuit 1092, which can be coupled to antenna 1062, or in some embodiments is part of antenna 1062. Radio front-end circuit 1092 includes filter 1098 and amplifier 1096. Radio front-end circuit 1092 can be connected to antenna 1062 and processing circuit 1070. Radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal communicated between antenna 1062 and processing circuit 1070. Radio front-end circuit 1092 can receive digital data, which will be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front end circuit 1092 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1098 and / or amplifiers 1096. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1062. Similarly, when receiving data, the radio signal may be collected by antenna 1062 and then converted into digital data by the radio front end circuit 1092. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit 1070. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0500] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1060 may not include a separate radio front end circuit 1092, and instead, the processing circuit 1070 may include the radio front end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 1062 without a separate radio front end circuit 1092. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuit 1072 may be considered part of the interface 1090. In other embodiments, the interface 1090 may include one or more ports or terminals 1094, the radio front end circuit 1092, and the RF transceiver circuit 1072 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 1090 may communicate with the baseband processing circuit 1074, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0501] Antenna 1062 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1062 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 1090 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 1062 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector or planar antennas operable to send / receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals relative to devices in a specific area, and panel antennas may be line-of-sight antennas for sending / receiving radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, using more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 1062 may be separate from network node 1060 and may be connected to network node 1060 via an interface or port.

[0502] Antenna 1062, interface 1090 and / or processing circuit 1070 can be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 1062, interface 1090 and / or processing circuit 1070 can be configured to perform any sending operation performed by a network node described herein. Any information, data and / or signal can be sent to a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0503] The power circuit 1087 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to provide power to the components of the network node 1060 for performing the functions described herein. The power circuit 1087 may receive power from the power supply 1086. The power supply 1086 and / or the power circuit 1087 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node 1060 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). The power supply 1086 may be included in or outside the power circuit 1087 and / or the network node 1060. For example, the network node 1060 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or an interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuit 1087. As another example, the power supply 1086 may include a power source in the form of a battery or a battery pack, which is connected to or integrated in the power circuit 1087. If the external power source fails, the battery can provide backup power. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0504] Alternative embodiments of network node 1060 may include beyond Figure 9d , which additional components may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node (including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein). For example, the network node 1060 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into the network node 1060 and to allow information to be output from the network node 1060. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for the network node 1060.

[0505] As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable for wireless communication with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) in this article. Wireless communication may include using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves and / or other types of signals suitable for sending information through the air to send and / or receive wireless signals. In some embodiments, WD may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, WD may be designed to send information to the network with a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WD include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, portable computers, portable embedded devices (LEEs), portable-installed devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless client devices (CPEs), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc. UE can support device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication, for example, by implementing the 3GPP standard for auxiliary link communication, and in this case can be referred to as a D2D communication device. As another specific example, in the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In this case, the WD can be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which can be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a WD can be a UE that implements the 3GPP narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices (e.g., power meters), industrial machines, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a UE can represent a vehicle or other device that can monitor and / or report its operating status or other functions associated with its operation. As described above, WD may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. In addition, as described above, UE may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

[0506] As shown, wireless device 1010 includes antenna 1011, interface 1014, processing circuit 1020, device readable medium 1030, user interface device 1032, auxiliary device 1034, power supply 1036, and power supply circuit 1037. WD 1010 may include multiple groups of one or more of the components shown for different wireless technologies supported by WD 1010 (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to mention just a few). These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components within WD 1010.

[0507] Antenna 1011 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals, and connected to interface 1014. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 1011 can be separated from WD 1010 and can be connected to WD 1010 through an interface or port. Antenna 1011, interface 1014 and / or processing circuit 1020 can be configured to perform any receiving or sending operation described herein as being performed by WD. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front-end circuit and / or antenna 1011 can be considered as an interface.

[0508] As shown, the interface 1014 includes a radio front-end circuit 1012 and an antenna 1011. The radio front-end circuit 1012 includes one or more filters 1018 and an amplifier 1016. The radio front-end circuit 1014 is connected to the antenna 1011 and the processing circuit 1020, and is configured to condition the signals communicated between the antenna 1011 and the processing circuit 1020. The radio front-end circuit 1012 may be coupled to the antenna 1011 or may be part of the antenna 1011. In some embodiments, the WD 1010 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 1012; instead, the processing circuit 1020 may include the radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 1011. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1022 may be considered to be part of the interface 1014. The radio front-end circuit 1012 may receive digital data, which will be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front end circuit 1012 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1018 and / or amplifiers 1016. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1011. Similarly, when receiving data, the radio signal may be collected by antenna 1011 and then converted into digital data by the radio front end circuit 1012. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 1020. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0509] Processor circuit 1020 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or coded logic, which is operable to provide WD 1010 functionality alone or in conjunction with other WD 1010 components (e.g., device readable medium 1030). Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuit 1020 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1030 or in a memory within processing circuit 1020 to provide functionality disclosed herein.

[0510] As shown, the processing circuit 1020 includes one or more of the RF transceiver circuit 1022, the baseband processing circuit 1024, and the application processing circuit 1026. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1020 of the WD 1010 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 1022, the baseband processing circuit 1024, and the application processing circuit 1026 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In an alternative embodiment, part or all of the baseband processing circuit 1024 and the application processing circuit 1026 may be combined into one chip or chipset, and the RF transceiver circuit 1022 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In another alternative embodiment, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1022 and the baseband processing circuit 1024 may be on the same chip or chipset, and the application processing circuit 1026 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuit 1022, baseband processing circuit 1024, and application processing circuit 1026 may be combined in the same chip or chipset. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuit 1022 may be part of interface 1014. RF transceiver circuit 1022 may condition RF signals for processing circuit 1020.

[0511] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by a processing circuit 1020 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1030, which in some embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 1020, for example, in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium. In any of those specific embodiments, the processing circuit 1020 may be configured to perform the described functions, regardless of whether instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuit 1020 or to other components of the WD 1010, but are enjoyed by the WD 1010 as a whole and / or generally by end users and wireless networks.

[0512] Processing circuit 1020 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by WD. Such operations performed by processing circuit 1020 may include information obtained by processing circuit 1020 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored by WD 1010, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information and making a determination based on the results of the processing.

[0513] Device-readable medium 1030 is operable to store computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions executable by processing circuit 1020. Device-readable medium 1030 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by processing circuit 1020. In some embodiments, processing circuit 1020 and device-readable medium 1030 may be considered integrated.

[0514] The user interface device 1032 may provide a component that allows a human user to interact with the WD 1010. This interaction may be in a variety of forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 1032 is operable to generate output to the user and allow the user to provide input to the WD 1010. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 1032 installed in the WD 1010. For example, if the WD 1010 is a smart phone, the interaction may be performed through a touch screen; if the WD 1010 is a smart meter, the interaction may be performed through a screen that provides a purpose (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 1032 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. The user interface device 1032 is configured to allow information to be input into the WD 1010, and is connected to the processing circuit 1020 to allow the processing circuit 1020 to process the input information. The user interface device 1032 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, a key / button, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuits. The user interface device 1032 is also configured to allow information to be output from the WD 1010 and to allow the processing circuit 1020 to output information from the WD 1010. The user interface device 1032 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone jack, or other output circuits. By using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 1032, the WD 1010 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0515] Auxiliary device 1034 is operable to provide more specific functions that may not normally be performed by a WD. This may include specialized sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communications such as wired communications, etc. The inclusions and types of components of auxiliary device 1034 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0516] In some embodiments, the power source 1036 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery cell. The WD 1010 may also include a power circuit 1037 for delivering power from the power source 1036 to various parts of the WD 1010, and the WD 1010 requires power from the power source 1036 to perform any function described or indicated herein. In some embodiments, the power circuit 1037 may include a power management circuit. The power circuit 1037 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in this case, the WD 1010 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) through an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. In some embodiments, the power circuit 1037 may also be operable to deliver power from an external power source to the power source 1036. For example, this may be used for charging the power source 1036. The power circuit 1037 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modifications to the power from the power source 1036 so that the power is suitable for the various components of the WD 1010 to which it is powered.

[0517] Fig.10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0518] Fig.10 An embodiment of a UE according to various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a "user equipment" or "UE" may not necessarily have a "user" in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not or may not initially be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 1100 may be any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Fig.10 As shown, UE 1100 is an example of a WD configured for communication according to one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Therefore, although Fig.10 It is UE, but the components discussed in this article are also applicable to WD and vice versa.

[0519] exist Fig.10In the embodiment, UE 1100 includes a processing circuit 1101, which is operably coupled to an input / output interface 1105, a radio frequency (RF) interface 1109, a network connection interface 1111, a memory 1115 including a random access memory (RAM) 1117, a read-only memory (ROM) 1119, and a storage medium 1121, a communication subsystem 1131, a power supply 1133, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1121 includes an operating system 1123, an application 1125, and data 1127. In other embodiments, the storage medium 1121 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may use Fig.10 All components shown in the UE may be used, or only a subset of the components may be used. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0520] exist Fig.10 , processing circuit 1101 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processor 1101 may be configured to execute any sequential state machine of machine instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in a memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic and suitable firmware; one or more stored programs, general-purpose processors (such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) and suitable software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuit 1101 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0521] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 1105 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. The UE 1100 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 1105. The output device may use an interface port of the same type as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from the UE 1100. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 1100 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 1105 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 1100. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional keyboard, a touchpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from the user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another type of sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0522] exist Fig.10 In the embodiment of the present invention, the RF interface 1109 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as transmitters, receivers, and antennas. The network connection port 1111 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 1143a. The network 1143a can include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1143a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 1111 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface for communicating with one or more other devices through a communication network according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc.). The network connection interface 1111 can implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0523] RAM 1117 may be configured to interface with processing circuit 1101 via bus 1102 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during execution of software programs such as operating systems, applications, and device drivers. ROM 1119 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 1101. For example, ROM 1119 may be configured to store unchanged low-level system code or data for basic system functions, such as basic input and output (I / O) stored in non-volatile memory, booting, or receiving keystrokes from a keyboard. Storage medium 1121 may be configured to include memory, such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable tape, or flash drive. In one example, storage medium 1121 may be configured to include operating system 1123, application 1125 such as a web browser application, widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 1127. The storage medium 1121 may store any one of a variety of operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 1100 .

[0524] The storage medium 1121 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, a built-in hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module, other memories or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1121 may allow the UE 1100 to access computer executable instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to unload data or upload data. Articles such as articles utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 1121, which may include a device-readable medium.

[0525] exist Fig.10In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 1101 can be configured to communicate with the network 1143b using the communication subsystem 1131. The network 1143a and the network 1143b can be one or more identical networks or one or more different networks. The communication subsystem 1131 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 1143b. For example, the communication subsystem 1131 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with another device (e.g., another WD, UE) capable of wireless communication or one or more remote transceivers of a base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc.). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1133 and / or a receiver 1135 to respectively implement a transmitter or receiver function (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.) suitable for a RAN link. In addition, the transmitter 1133 and the receiver 1135 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or may be implemented separately.

[0526] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 1131 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication (such as use of a global positioning system (GPS) for determining location), another class of communication functions, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 1131 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 1143b may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1143b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 1113 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 1100.

[0527] The features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 1100, or divided between multiple components of UE 1100. In addition, the features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 1131 may be configured to include any component described herein. In addition, the processing circuit 1101 may be configured to communicate with any such component via a bus 1102. In another example, any such component may be represented by a program instruction stored in a memory, and when executed by the processing circuit 1101, the program instruction performs the corresponding function described herein. In another example, the function of any such component may be divided between the processing circuit 1101 and the communication subsystem 1131. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0528] Fig.11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a virtualized environment according to some embodiments.

[0529] Fig.11 12 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualized environment 1200 in which the functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device that may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least some portions of functionality are implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., by one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0530] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 1230. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not radio access nodes or do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may then be fully virtualized.

[0531] These functions may be implemented by one or more applications 1220 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.), which are operable to implement some features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 1220 run in a virtualized environment 1200, which provides hardware 1230 including processing circuitry 1260 and memory 1290. The memory 1290 contains instructions 1295 executable by the processing circuitry 1260, whereby the applications 1220 are operable to provide one or more features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0532] The virtualized environment 1200 includes a general or special purpose network hardware device 1230, which includes a set of one or more processors or processing circuits 1260, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may include a memory 1290-1, which may be a non-permanent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1295 or software executed by the processing circuit 1260. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1270, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interfaces 1280. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, permanent machine-readable storage medium 1290-2 in which the software 1295 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuit 1260 are stored. The software 1295 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1250 (also known as hypervisors), software for executing virtual machines 1240, and software that allows them to perform the functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some embodiments described herein.

[0533] The virtual machines 1240 include virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1250 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual devices 1220 may be implemented on one or more of the virtual machines 1240, and the implementation may be done in different ways.

[0534] During operation, processing circuit 1260 executes software 1295 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 1250 , which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1250 may present a virtual operating platform that appears to the networked hardware of virtual machine 1240 .

[0535] like Fig.11As shown, hardware 1230 can be an independent network node with common or specific components. Hardware 1230 can include antenna 12225 and some functions can be implemented through virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1230 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (for example, in a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed by management and coordination (MANO) 12100, which particularly oversees the life cycle management of application 1220.

[0536] In some contexts, virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to unify numerous network device types onto industry-standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage that can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment (CPE).

[0537] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 1240 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 1240 and the portion of hardware 1230 that executes the virtual machine (whether it is hardware dedicated to the virtual machine and / or hardware shared by the virtual machine and other virtual machines in virtual machines 1240) form a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0538] Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for processing the operations of one or more virtual machines 1240 running on top of the hardware network infrastructure 1230 and corresponding to the Fig.11 Specific network functions of application 1220 in.

[0539] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 12200, each including one or more transmitters 12220 and one or more receivers 12210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 12225. The radio units 12200 may communicate directly with the hardware nodes 1230 via one or more suitable network interfaces, and may be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes, such as radio access nodes or base stations.

[0540] In some embodiments, some signaling may be implemented using a control system 12230 , which may alternatively be used for communications between the hardware node 1230 and the radio unit 12200 .

[0541] Fig.12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediary network according to some embodiments.

[0542] refer to Fig.12According to an embodiment, the communication system includes: a telecommunication network 1310, such as a cellular network of the 3GPP type, which includes an access network 1311 (e.g., a wireless access network) and a core network 1314. The access network 1311 includes a plurality of base stations 1312a, 1312b, 1312c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each of which defines a corresponding coverage area 1313a, 1313b, 1313c. Each base station 1312a, 1312b, 1312c can be connected to the core network 1314 via a wired or wireless connection 1315. A first UE 1391 located in the coverage area 1313c is configured to be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 1312c or to be paged by the corresponding base station 1312c. A second UE 1392 in the coverage area 1313a can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 1312a. Although multiple UEs 1391 , 1392 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where only a UE is located in the coverage area or only a UE is connected to the corresponding base station 1312 .

[0543] The telecommunications network 1310 itself is connected to a host computer 1330, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 1330 may be owned or under the control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 1321, 1322 between the telecommunications network 1310 and the host computer 1330 may extend directly from the core network 1314 to the host computer 1330, or may pass through an optional intermediate network 1320. The intermediate network 1320 may be one of a public, private, or managed network, or a combination of more than one of them; the intermediate network 1320 (if any) may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 1320 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0544] Fig.12The communication system in the embodiment as a whole implements connectivity between the connected UEs 1391, 1392 and the host computer 1330. The connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1350. The host computer 1330 and the connected UEs 1391, 1392 are configured to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 1350 using the access network 1311, the core network 1314, any intermediate networks 1320, and possible other intermediate infrastructure (not shown). The OTT connection 1350 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 1312 may not be informed or need not be informed of the past routing of incoming downlink communications having data originating from the host computer 1330 and to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 1391. Similarly, the base station 1312 does not need to know the future routing of outgoing uplink communications originating from the UE 1391 and toward the host computer 1330.

[0545] Fig.13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a host computer communicating with a user device over a partially wireless connection via a base station according to some embodiments.

[0546] Now refer to Fig.13 Describe the example implementation of the UE, base station and host computer according to the embodiment discussed in the previous paragraph. In the communication system 1400, the host computer 1410 includes hardware 1415, and the hardware 1415 includes a communication interface 1416, and the communication interface 1416 is configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with the interface of the different communication devices of the communication system 1400. The host computer 1410 also includes a processing circuit 1418, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 1418 may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of such devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 1410 also includes software 1411, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 1410 and can be executed by the processing circuit 1418. Software 1411 includes a host application 1412. The host application 1412 may be operated to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1430 connected via an OTT connection 1450, which terminates at the UE 1430 and the host computer 1410. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 1412 may provide user data sent using the OTT connection 1450.

[0547] The communication system 1400 also includes a base station 1420 provided in the telecommunication system, the base station 1420 including hardware 1425 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 1410 and the UE 1430. The hardware 1425 may include: a communication interface 1426 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection between interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 1400; and a radio interface 1427 for establishing and maintaining communication with devices located in the coverage area (in the coverage area) served by the base station 1420. Fig.13 1470 with the UE 1430 in the communication interface 1426. The communication interface 1426 may be configured to facilitate a connection 1460 with the host computer 1410. The connection 1460 may be direct, or it may be through a core network ( Fig.13 1420) and / or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 1425 of the base station 1420 also includes processing circuitry 1428, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 1420 also has software 1421 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0548] The communication system 1400 also includes the UE 1430 already mentioned. The hardware 1435 of the UE 1430 may include a radio interface 1437, which is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 1470 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 1430 is currently located. The hardware 1435 of the UE 1430 also includes a processing circuit 1438, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of such devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The UE 1430 also includes software 1431, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1430 and can be executed by the processing circuit 1438. The software 1431 includes a client application 1432. The client application 1432 can be operated to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 1430 with the support of the host computer 1410. In the host computer 1410, the executing host application 1412 can communicate with the executing client application 1432 via the OTT connection 1450, which terminates at the UE 1430 and the host computer 1410. When providing services to users, the client application 1432 can receive request data from the host application 1412 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1450 can transmit both the request data and the user data. The client application 1432 can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0549] Notice, Fig.13The host computer 1410, base station 1420 and UE 1430 shown can be respectively connected to the host computer 1330, Fig.12 The internal workings of these entities may be similar or identical to one of the base stations 1312a, 1312b, 1312c and one of the UEs 1391, 1392. Fig.13 As shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Fig.12 network topology.

[0550] exist Fig.13 In the figure, an OTT connection 1450 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate the communication between the host computer 1410 and the UE 1430 via the base station 1420, but without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices and the exact routing messages through these devices. The network infrastructure can determine the route, which can be configured to be hidden from the UE 1430 or the service provider operating the host computer 1410, or both. When the OTT connection 1450 is active, the network infrastructure can also make decisions to dynamically change the route (for example, based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0551] The wireless connection 1470 between the UE 1430 and the base station 1420 is consistent with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improves the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1430 using the OTT connection 1450, in which the wireless connection 1470 forms the last part. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve the latency and power consumption of network connection reactivation, thereby providing benefits such as reducing user latency, enhancing rate control, and the like.

[0552] A measurement process may be provided for monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors that are the subject of improvement of one or more embodiments. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1450 between the host computer 1410 and the UE 1430 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1450 may be implemented in the software 1411 and hardware 1415 of the host computer 1410, or in the software 1431 and hardware 1435 of the UE 1430, or in both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication devices through which the OTT connection 1450 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 1411, 1431 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1450 may include: message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 1420 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1420. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates the host computer 1410 to measure throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurements may be implemented in the following manner: the software 1411 and 1431 use the OTT connection 1450 to send messages (particularly empty messages or "dummy" messages) while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0553] Fig.14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0554] Fig.14 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.12 and Fig.13 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only Fig.14 The reference numerals of will be included in this section. In step 1510, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 1511 of step 1510 (which may be optional), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In a second step 1520, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE, the transmission carrying the user data. In a third step 1530 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 1540 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0555] Fig.15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0556] Fig.15 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.12 and Fig.13 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only Fig.15 The reference numerals of will be included in this section. In step 1610 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second step 1620, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE, the transmission carrying the user data. According to the teachings of the embodiments described in the full text of this disclosure, the transmission can be transmitted via a base station. In step 1630 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0557] Fig.16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0558] Fig.16 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.12 and Fig.13 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only Fig.16 The reference numerals will be included in this section. In step 1710 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in a second step 1720, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1721 of step 1720 (which may be optional), the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1711 of step 1710 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may also consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, the UE initiates the sending of user data to the host computer in a third sub-step 1730 (which may be optional). In step 1740 of the method, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the host computer receives user data sent from the UE.

[0559] Fig.17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0560] Fig.17 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.12 and Fig.13 In order to simplify the present disclosure, only Fig.17 Reference numerals will be included in this section. In step 1810 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1820 (which may be optional), the base station initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In a third step 1830 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0561] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described above.

[0562] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor performs any of the methods described above.

[0563] In addition, the present disclosure may also provide a carrier containing the above-mentioned computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electric signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, an optical disc or an electronic storage device such as a RAM (random access memory), a ROM (read-only memory), a flash memory, a magnetic tape, a CD-ROM, a DVD, a Blu-ray disc, etc.

[0564] The techniques described herein can be implemented by various devices, so that the device that implements one or more functions of the corresponding device described by the embodiment includes not only the prior art device, but also includes a device for implementing one or more functions of the corresponding device described by the embodiment, and the device may include a separate device for each separate function or a device that can be configured to perform two or more functions. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, it can be implemented by a module (e.g., a process, a function, etc.) that performs the functions described herein.

[0565] The above block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of reference methods and apparatus are described in detail in the present invention. It should be understood that each block in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by various devices including computer program instructions, respectively. These computer program instructions can be loaded onto a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device create modules for implementing the functions specified in the flow or diagram.

[0566] In addition, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring these operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or requiring the execution of all the operations shown to achieve the desired result. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these details should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the subject matter described herein, but should be interpreted as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. The specific features described in the context of the independent embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately or in any appropriate sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0567] Although this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of any implementation or what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of a particular embodiment that may be specific to a particular implementation. Specific features described in the context of separate embodiments in this specification may also be implemented in a single embodiment in combination. Conversely, the various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented separately or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments. In addition, although features may be described above as working in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from the claimed combination may be deleted from the combination in some cases, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or a variant of a sub-combination.

[0568] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that, with the advancement of technology, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The above embodiments are given to describe rather than limit the present disclosure, and it should be understood that, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Such modifications and changes are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. The scope of protection of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method (300) implemented at a terminal device, the method comprising: determining (304) a change from a first set of parameters to a second set of parameters; as well as sending (306) a pending transport block TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set; The first configuration authorization configuration provides a first size for the initial TB, the second configuration authorization configuration provides a second size for the pending TB, and the first size is the same as the second size, or the first size is different from the second size, wherein the initial TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A message is received (302) indicating a change from the first set of parameters to the second set of parameters.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: A change from the first set of parameters to the second set of parameters is determined based on the message or a continued listen-before-talk (LBT) failure.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: When the first size is different from the second size, rate matching is performed (308) to accommodate the second size.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: After sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set, the method further comprises: The first configuration authorization configuration is cleared (310).

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The second configuration authorization configuration can meet the quality of service QoS requirement of the pending TB.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: After changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process associated with the pending TB is reused.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: After changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process associated with the pending TB is changed from a first HARQ process to a second HARQ process.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: After changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set, when the HARQ process associated with the pending TB is changed from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process, the method further includes: - discard (402-1) the pending TB and trigger (402-2) upper layer retransmission; or -Copying (402-5) the pending TB from the first HARQ process to the second HARQ process, and discarding (402-6) the pending TB in the first HARQ process.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: For the pending TB, stopping (502) a first timer and a second timer configured according to the first configuration grant that are cleared as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process using the configuration grant, and the second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration grant of the HARQ process; and / or For the pending TB, restarting (504) the first timer and the second timer according to the second configuration authorization configuration, The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set according to one of the following: - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: For the pending TB, stopping (602) a first timer and a second timer configured according to the first configuration grant that are suspended as needed, wherein the first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process using the configuration grant, and the second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configuration grant of the HARQ process; and / or For the pending TB, restarting (604) the first timer and the second timer after resuming the suspended first configuration authorization configuration, The respective timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization are updated by excluding a pause period configured by the first configuration authorization associated with the first parameter set.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetition, apply (702) the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: According to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is sent based on one of the following: - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; - a number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; - a number of repetitions configured by the network node; or - The number of repetitions configured by the terminal device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply (704) the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: According to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is sent based on one of the following: - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or - The number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured with repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured without repetition, disable (706) the repetition to send the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein: When the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The first type of configuration authorization configuration includes configuration authorization type 1.

19. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 18, wherein: After the change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed, the method further comprises: The pending TB is retransmitted (714) using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: A notification regarding the pending TB is sent (722) to a network node.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The notification about the pending TB includes at least one of the following: The size of the undetermined TB; The information about the hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the first configuration authorization configuration that has been cleared; Information about the HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the suspended first configuration authorization configuration; Information about the second configuration authorization configuration, wherein the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration; or Information about a HARQ process to be used for retransmitting the pending TB after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The notification about the pending TB is sent to the network node via at least one of: Random access channel RACH message; Physical uplink control channel PUCCH transmission; Transmission based on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH); or Sounding Reference Signal SRS transmission.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The terminal device is configured with a plurality of configuration authorization configurations, and at least one of the configuration authorization configurations is associated with at least one parameter set.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Configuration The association between an authorization configuration and a parameter set is configured either explicitly or implicitly.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The index of the parameter set is included in the configuration authorization configuration.

26. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein - one or more configuration authorization configurations are configured for a bandwidth part BWP, and said BWP is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or - one or more configuration authorization configurations are configured for a cell, and the cell is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or - A BWP segment is configured with at least one parameter set.

27. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The parameter set includes at least one of the following: Subcarrier spacing SCS, symbol duration, or Cyclic prefix CP length.

28. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: sending (724) capability information of the terminal device, The capability information includes a capability bit, and the capability bit indicates whether the terminal device supports sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

29. A method (800) implemented at a network node, the method comprising: receiving (804) a pending transport block TB from a terminal device, wherein the pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set; The first configuration authorization configuration provides a first size for the initial TB, the second configuration authorization configuration provides a second size for the pending TB, and the first size is the same as the second size, or the first size is different from the second size, wherein the initial TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: A message is sent (802) to the terminal device indicating a change from the first set of parameters to the second set of parameters.

31. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The second configuration authorization configuration can meet the quality of service QoS requirement of the pending TB.

32. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process using a configuration grant, and the second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of a configuration grant for the HARQ process; and / or The timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set according to one of the following: - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or - the timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the second configuration authorization are set to the corresponding values ​​configured in the second configuration authorization configuration minus the corresponding elapsed time values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization.

33. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The first timer is configured to indicate a maximum amount of time for the terminal device to send and retransmit a TB associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process using a configured grant, and the second timer is configured to indicate an autonomous retransmission time interval of the configured grant of the HARQ process, The respective timer values ​​of the first timer and the second timer configured according to the first configuration authorization are updated by excluding a pause period configured by the first configuration authorization associated with the first parameter set.

34. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have no repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetition, apply (812) the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein: According to the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is received based on one of the following: - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; - a number of repetitions calculated by subtracting one from the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; - a number of repetitions configured by the network node; or - The number of repetitions configured by the terminal device.

36. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured to have repetitions, apply (814) the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein: In the second configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is received based on one of the following: - the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration; or - The number of repetitions calculated by subtracting the number of repetitions configured in the second configuration authorization configuration from the number of repetitions that the pending TB has been sent according to the first configuration authorization configuration.

38. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, further comprising: When the pending TB has been sent using the first configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration, the first configuration authorization configuration is configured with repetition, and the second configuration authorization configuration is configured without repetition, disable (816) the repetition to receive the pending TB according to the second configuration authorization configuration.

39. The method of claim 29, wherein: When the first configuration authorization configuration is a first type of configuration authorization configuration, the pending TB is received using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein: The first type of configuration authorization configuration includes configuration authorization type 1.

41. The method according to any one of claims 39 to 40, wherein: The pending TB is received after a change from the first parameter set to the second parameter set has been completed.

42. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, further comprising: A notification regarding the pending TB is received (822).

43. The method of claim 42, wherein: The notification about the pending TB includes at least one of the following: The size of the undetermined TB; The information about the hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the first configuration authorization configuration that has been cleared; Information about the HARQ process associated with the pending TB in the suspended first configuration authorization configuration; Information about the second configuration authorization configuration, wherein the pending TB will be sent using the second configuration authorization configuration; or Information about a HARQ process to be used for retransmitting the pending TB after changing from the first parameter set to the second parameter set.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein: The notification about the pending TB is received via at least one of: Random access channel RACH message; Physical uplink control channel PUCCH transmission; Transmission based on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH); or Sounding Reference Signal SRS transmission.

45. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The terminal device is configured with a plurality of configuration authorization configurations, and at least one of the configuration authorization configurations is associated with at least one parameter set.

46. ​​The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: Configuration The association between an authorization configuration and a parameter set is configured either explicitly or implicitly.

47. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The index of the parameter set is included in the configuration authorization configuration.

48. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein - one or more configuration authorization configurations are configured for a bandwidth part BWP, and said BWP is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or - one or more configuration authorization configurations are configured for a cell, and the cell is configured with at least one parameter set; and / or - A BWP segment is configured with at least one parameter set.

49. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein: The parameter set includes at least one of the following: Subcarrier spacing SCS, symbol duration, or Cyclic prefix CP length.

50. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 30, further comprising: receiving (824) capability information of the terminal device, The capability information includes a capability bit, and the capability bit indicates whether the terminal device supports sending the pending TB using the second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set.

51. A terminal device (900), comprising: Processor(921); as well as A memory (922), the memory (922) containing instructions executable by the processor (921), whereby the terminal device (900) is operable to: determining a change from a first set of parameters to a second set of parameters; as well as Sending a pending transport block TB using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with the second parameter set; The first configuration authorization configuration provides a first size for the initial TB, the second configuration authorization configuration provides a second size for the pending TB, and the first size is the same as the second size, or the first size is different from the second size, wherein the initial TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

52. The terminal device according to claim 51, wherein: The terminal device is operable to perform a method according to any one of claims 2 to 28.

53. A network node (900), comprising: Processor(921); as well as a memory (922) containing instructions executable by the processor (921), whereby the network node (900) is operable to: Receiving a pending transport block TB from a terminal device, wherein the pending TB is sent using a first configuration authorization configuration associated with a first parameter set or using a second configuration authorization configuration associated with a second parameter set; The first configuration authorization configuration provides a first size for the initial TB, the second configuration authorization configuration provides a second size for the pending TB, and the first size is the same as the second size, or the first size is different from the second size, wherein the initial TB is sent using the first configuration authorization configuration associated with the first parameter set.

54. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The network node is operable to perform a method according to any one of claims 30 to 50.

55. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 50.

56. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 50.

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