Enhancements for gc-dci for spatial multiplexing for redcap ue

Abstract

A method of providing downlink control information (DCI) to a plurality of user equipments (UEs) is provided. The method includes assigning each of the plurality of UEs to one of a set of groups, each group being identified by a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI), and transmitting, to each of the plurality of UEs, the G-RNTI, a size of the group, and a location within the group. In this way, group common DCI (GC-DCI) can be transmitted to the group, where a UE can determine whether it has a grant by its assigned location in the group and retrieve the grant from a grant block in the GC-DCI.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication systems, and more specifically, to Group Common (GC) Downlink Control Information (DCI) for spatial multiplexing of User Equipment (UE) for Capacity Reduction (REDCAP). Background Technology

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

[0003] To meet the growing demand for extended mobile broadband connectivity, wireless communication technologies are evolving from Long Term Evolution (LTE) to Next Generation New Radio (NR) technologies (which can be referred to as 5G). For example, compared to LTE, NR is designed to provide lower latency, higher bandwidth or higher throughput, and higher reliability. NR is designed to operate on a wide variety of spectrum bands, from low-frequency bands below approximately 1 GHz and mid-frequency bands from approximately 1 GHz to approximately 6 GHz, to high-frequency bands such as millimeter wave (mm wave) bands. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrum types, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed spectrum and shared spectrum. Spectrum sharing allows operators to opportunistically aggregate spectrum to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Spectrum sharing can extend the benefits of NR technology to operating entities that may not have access to licensed spectrum.

[0004] The 5G standard allows for complex resource allocation for communication between network components. Resources include time-domain, frequency-domain, modulation schemes, and other details of physical communication. Specifically, the BS can provide resource scheduling for each UE through downlink control indicator (DCI) signaling sent from the BS to each UE coupled to it, which can manage both downlink and uplink resource scheduling.

[0005] However, the number of UEs included in the network has surged. Furthermore, many of these UEs may have limited capabilities for communication (i.e., reduced capabilities). Such UEs include, for example, sensor devices or simple control systems attached to various devices. The resources required to schedule resources for each of these devices can be substantial.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for better resource allocation for a large number of UEs coupled to the limited capabilities of the network. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The following outlines some aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the techniques discussed. This overview is not an exhaustive summary of all anticipated features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in an overview form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0008] In some aspects, a method for providing downlink control information (DCI) to a plurality of user equipments (UEs) includes: assigning each of the plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI); sending the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the position within the group to each of the plurality of UEs; and sending a group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet to a specific group, the GC-DCI packet having permission for a selected UE among the UEs assigned to the specific group.

[0009] In some aspects, a method for receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS) includes: receiving a message packet from the BS, the message packet including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating an assigned group, the size of the assigned group, and its position within the assigned group; receiving a Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet; determining that the GC-DCI packet points to the group indicated by the G-RNTI; determining whether permission is included based on the position within the assigned group; and if permission is included, receiving the permission.

[0010] A base station (BS) according to some aspects includes: a transceiver; a communication module coupled to the transceiver for receiving communications and transmitting communications to a plurality of user equipments (UEs); and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, the processor executing instructions to perform the following operations: assigning each of the plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI); transmitting the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the position within the group to each of the plurality of UEs; and transmitting Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for selected UEs among the UEs assigned to the specific group.

[0011] A user equipment apparatus according to some aspects includes: a transceiver; a communication module coupled to the transceiver for receiving communications and transmitting communications to a base station (BS); and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, the processor executing instructions to perform the following operations: receiving message packets from the BS, the message packets including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating an assigned group, the size of the assigned group, and its position within the assigned group; receiving Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets; determining that the GC-DCI packets point to the group indicated by the G-RNTI; determining whether permission is included based on the position within the assigned group; and if permission is included, receiving the permission.

[0012] Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the following description of specific exemplary embodiments or aspects of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While features of the invention may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and drawings, all embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of these features may also be used according to the various embodiments of the invention discussed herein. Similarly, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in a wide variety of devices, systems, and methods. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 A wireless communication network according to some aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0014] Figure 2 This is a block diagram of an example user equipment (UE) based on various aspects of this disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3 This is a block diagram of an example base station (BS) based on various aspects of this disclosure.

[0016] Figure 4 The distribution of the UE around the example BS is shown.

[0017] Figure 5A and Figure 5B The DCI communication between the BS and the distributed UEs is shown.

[0018] Figure 6 The grouping of UEs is shown based on several aspects.

[0019] Figure 7The grouping of the UE is shown based on some aspects of initialization.

[0020] Figure 8A and Figure 8B This illustrates a group DCI packet sent from the BS to a group of UEs based on several aspects.

[0021] Figure 9 The demodulation reference signal (DMRS) allocation for some UEs is shown.

[0022] Figure 10A and Figure 10B The process of operating on the BS and UE is shown separately according to some aspects.

[0023] Figure 11A and Figure 11B Further illustrating based on some aspects Figure 10A and Figure 10B The process shown is as follows.

[0024] Figure 12A and Figure 12B The following are examples of how to use the BS and UE respectively. Figure 10A and Figure 10B The permitted processing is shown in the figure. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The detailed description described below, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations, and not as representing the only configuration in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the various concepts, the detailed description includes specific details. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, to avoid obscuring these concepts, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form.

[0026] This disclosure relates to the transmission of downlink (DL) downlink control indications (DCIs) (transmitted in PDSCH transmissions), which carry scheduling permission for a group of UEs operating in the network. Specifically, aspects of this disclosure can be used with RedCap UEs. According to some aspects of this disclosure, the BS groups UEs into one or more groups based on criteria enforced by the BS. Each UE then receives from the BS a group identifier (Group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (G-RNTI)) identifying its membership in the group, the group size, and its position within the group. The BS can then transmit a Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet, which includes a group identifier, an indication for each UE whether permission is included for that UE, and the permission itself. In some aspects, when there are a large number of UEs in a group, the BS can transmit a GC-DCI sequence to include all permission.

[0027] As noted above, this disclosure generally relates to wireless communication systems (also known as wireless communication networks). In various aspects, the described technologies and apparatus can be used in wireless communication networks such as, and other communication networks including, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, and fifth-generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks. As described herein, the terms “network” and “system” are used interchangeably.

[0028] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDM. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization called 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are either known or under development. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration among various telecommunications association groups aimed at defining globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP initiative aimed at improving the UMTS mobile phone standard. 3GPP defines specifications for next-generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. This disclosure relates to the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond, which feature shared access to the radio spectrum between networks using new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0029] Specifically, 5G networks are expected to enable diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices using a unified OFDM-based air interface. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also being considered. 5G NR will be able to scale to provide coverage for: (1) coverage for massive Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10s bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., ~10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) coverage including mission-critical controls with strong security for protecting sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1ms), and coverage for users with wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) coverage with enhanced mobile broadband including extremely high capacity (e.g., ~10Tbps / km2), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+Mbps user experience rates), and improved discovery and optimized deep sensing.

[0030] 5G NR can be implemented using optimized OFDM-based waveforms with scalable digital schemes (numerology) and transmission time intervals (TTI); a common, flexible framework for efficiently multiplexing services and features using dynamic, low-latency Time Division Duplex (TDD) / Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) designs; and advanced radio technologies such as massive MIMO, robust millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of the digital schemes in 5G NR (with scaling of subcarrier spacing) efficiently addresses the operation of diverse services across diverse spectrum and deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments with FDD / TDD implementations below 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing can occur at 15 kHz over bandwidths such as 5, 10, and 20 MHz. For other various outdoor and small-cell coverage deployments with TDD above 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing can occur at 30 kHz over an 80 / 100 MHz band. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD in the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments using TDD to transmit with the 28 GHz mmWave component, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz BW.

[0031] 5G NR's scalable digital schemes facilitate scalable time-to-interface (TTI) for varying latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmissions to begin at symbol boundaries. 5G NR also anticipates self-contained integrated subframe designs, where uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments reside within the same subframe. Self-contained integrated subframes support communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, and adaptive uplink / downlink (which can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current service demands).

[0032] Various other aspects and features of this disclosure are further described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein can be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and any particular structure, function, or both disclosed herein are merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein, those skilled in the art will understand that the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspects, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus or a method can be implemented using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Furthermore, such an apparatus or a method can be implemented using structures, functions, or structures and functions other than or different from one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, a method can be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus, and / or as instructions stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Additionally, an aspect may include at least one element of the claims.

[0033] Figure 1 A wireless communication network 100 according to some aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. Network 100 may be a 5G network. Network 100 includes multiple base stations (BS) 105 and other network entities. BS 105 may be a station communicating with UE 115, and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to that specific geographic coverage area of ​​BS 105 and / or the BS subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0034] BS 105 can provide communication coverage for macrocells or small cells (e.g., picocells or femtocells) and / or other types of cells. Macrocells typically cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to network providers. Small cells (such as picocells) will typically cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to network providers. Small cells (such as femtocells) will also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., residential areas) and, in addition to unrestricted access, can provide restricted access by UEs associated with that femtocell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in a residential area, etc.). A BS used for macrocells can be referred to as a macro BS. A BS used for small cells can be referred to as a small cell BS, pico BS, femtocell BS, or home BS. Figure 1In the examples shown, BS 105d and 105e can be conventional macro BSs, while BS 105a-105c can be macro BSs implemented using one of three-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. BS 105a-105c can utilize their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to employ 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. BS 105f can be a small cell BS, which can be a home node or a portable access point. BS 105 can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0035] Network 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, BSs can have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs can be approximately time-aligned. For asynchronous operation, BSs can have different frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs can be time-disaligned.

[0036] UE 115 is distributed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile. UE 115 may also be referred to as a terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. UE 115 can be a cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, wireless communication device, handheld device, tablet computer, laptop computer, cordless phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, etc. In one aspect, UE 115 can be a device including a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In another aspect, UE can be a device without a UICC. In some aspects, UE 115 without a UICC may also be referred to as an IoT device or Internet of Things (IoE) device. UE 115a-115d are examples of mobile smartphone-type devices accessing the network 100. UE 115 can also be a machine specifically configured for connected communications (including Machine Type Communication (MTC), Enhanced MTC (eMTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc.). UE 115e-115k is an example of various machines configured for communication that access network 100. UE 115 can communicate with any type of BS (whether macro BS, small cell, etc.). Figure 1 In this context, lightning (e.g., a communication link) indicates radio transmissions between UE 115 and serving BS 105 (which is a BS designated to serve UE 115 on DL and / or UL), or desired transmissions between BSs, and backhaul transmissions between BSs.

[0037] In operation, BS 105a-105c uses 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial technologies (such as Cooperative Multipoint (CoMP) or Multi-Connection) to service UEs 115a and 115b. Macro BS 105d can perform backhaul communication with BS 105a-105c and with the small cell BS 105f. Macro BS 105d also transmits multicast services customized and received by UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts (such as Amber Alerts or Grey Alerts).

[0038] Network 100 can also support mission-critical communication with highly reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices such as UE 115e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links with UE 115e may include links from macro BSs 105d and 105e and links from small cell BS 105f. Other machine-type devices (such as UE 115f (e.g., a thermometer), UE 115g (e.g., a smart meter), and UE 115h (e.g., a wearable device)) can communicate directly with BSs (such as small cell BS 105f and macro BS 105e) via network 100, or in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user device that relays its information to the network (e.g., UE 115f transmitting temperature measurement information to a smart meter (UE 115g), which is then reported to the network via small cell BS 105f). Network 100 can also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communication, such as in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication.

[0039] In some implementations, network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveforms for communication. OFDM-based systems can divide the system BW into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as subcarriers, tones, frequency bands, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated using data. In some cases, the subcarrier spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system BW. The system BW can also be divided into subbands. In other cases, the subcarrier spacing and / or the duration of the time interval (TTI) can be scalable.

[0040] Figure 2 This is a block diagram of an example UE 200 based on some aspects of this disclosure. UE 200 can be as described above. Figure 1Any of the UEs 115 discussed herein. As shown, UE 200 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, a communication module 208, a transceiver 210 including a modem subsystem 212 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 214, and one or more antennas 216. These components may communicate directly or indirectly with each other, for example, via one or more buses.

[0041] Processor 202 may include a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), controller, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, other hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. Processor 202 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0042] Memory 204 may include cache memory (e.g., the cache memory of processor 202), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory devices, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or combinations of different types of memory. In some examples, memory 204 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Memory 204 may store instructions 206. Instructions 206 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 202, cause processor 202 to perform the operations described herein with reference to UE115 in conjunction with the aspects of this disclosure. Instructions 206 may also be referred to as code. The terms “instruction” and “code” should be interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readable statement. For example, the terms “instruction” and “code” may refer to one or more programs, routines, subroutines, functions, procedures, etc. “Instruction” and “code” may include a single computer-readable statement or multiple computer-readable statements.

[0043] The communication module 208 can be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the communication module 202 can be implemented as a processor, circuitry, and / or instructions 206 stored in memory 204 and executed by the processor 202.

[0044] Communication module 208 can be configured to encapsulate uploaded (UL) data within a predetermined frame structure or receive downloaded (DL) data. The predetermined frame structure is configured to send and receive data via network 100. Communication module 208 can be configured to send and receive data between UE 200 and BS according to the predetermined frame structure. The predetermined frame structure can be a time-division duplex (TDD) or frequency-division duplex (FDD) structure and includes time slots for uploading and downloading data. Furthermore, a listen-before-tell (LBT) protocol can be implemented, allowing communication module 208 to listen to the physical channel before sending data.

[0045] As shown in the figure, transceiver 210 may include modem subsystem 212 and RF unit 214. Transceiver 210 may be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices (such as BS 105 and / or another core network element). Modem subsystem 212 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data from memory 204 and / or communication module 208 according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (e.g., low-density parity-check (LDPC) coding scheme, turbo coding scheme, convolutional coding scheme, digital beamforming scheme, etc.) and according to a predetermined frame structure. RF unit 214 may be configured to process modulated / coded data from modem subsystem 212 (regarding outbound transmission) or modulated / coded data transmitted from another source (such as UE or BS 105) (e.g., perform analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.). RF unit 214 may also be configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with digital beamforming. Although shown as being integrated together in transceiver 210, modem subsystem 212 and RF unit 214 can be separate devices coupled together at UE 200 to enable UE 200 to communicate with other devices.

[0046] RF unit 214 can provide modulated and / or processed data (e.g., data packets (or more generally, data messages containing one or more data packets and other information)) to antenna 216 for transmission to one or more other devices. Antenna 216 can also receive data messages transmitted from other devices. Antenna 216 can provide the received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at transceiver 210. Antenna 216 may include multiple antennas with similar or different designs to maintain multiple transmission links. RF unit 214 can configure antenna 216.

[0047] Figure 3 This is a block diagram of an example BS (gNB) 300 based on various aspects of this disclosure. The gNB 300 can be as discussed above and in... Figure 1The figure shows BS 105. As shown, the gNB 300 may include a processor 302, a memory 304, a communication module 308, a transceiver 310 including a modem subsystem 312 and an RF unit 314, and one or more antennas 316. These components may communicate with each other directly or indirectly, for example, via one or more buses.

[0048] Processor 302 may have various features as a type-specific processor. For example, these may include a CPU, DSP, ASIC, controller, FPGA device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. Processor 302 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0049] Memory 304 may include cache memory (e.g., the cache memory of processor 302), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory devices, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-based arrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or combinations of different types of memory. In some examples, memory 304 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Memory 304 may store instructions 306. Instructions 306 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 302, cause processor 302 to perform the operations described herein. Instructions 306 may also be referred to as code, which can be broadly interpreted to include any type of computer-readable statement, as described above. Figure 2 Discussed.

[0050] The communication module 308 can be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the communication module 308 can be implemented as a processor, circuitry, and / or instructions 306 stored in memory 304 and executed by processor 302.

[0051] The communication module 308 can be configured to prepare or receive data into a predetermined frame structure, or to retrieve data according to a predetermined frame structure for sending and receiving data. The predetermined frame structure can be a Time Division Duplex (TDD) or Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) structure, and includes time slots for uploading and downloading data. Furthermore, a Talk-After-First (LBT) protocol can be implemented, allowing the communication module 308 to listen to the physical channel before sending data.

[0052] As shown in the figure, transceiver 310 may include modem subsystem 312 and RF unit 314. Transceiver 310 may be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices (such as UE 200 (or either UE 115)) and / or another core network element. Modem subsystem 312 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data according to MCS (e.g., LDPC coding scheme, turbo coding scheme, convolutional coding scheme, digital beamforming scheme, etc.). RF unit 314 may be configured to modulate / encode data from modem subsystem 312 (regarding outbound transmission) or originating from another source (such as UE 200 or...). Figure 1 The modulated / coded data transmitted by the other BS 105 shown is processed (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.). RF unit 314 can also be configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with digital beamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 310, modem subsystem 312 and / or RF unit 314 can be separate devices coupled together at gNB 300 to enable gNB 300 to communicate with other devices.

[0053] RF unit 314 may provide modulated and / or processed data (e.g., data packets (or more generally, data messages that may contain one or more data packets and other information)) to antenna 316 for transmission to one or more other devices. According to various aspects of this disclosure, this may include, for example, transmitting information to complete attachment to a network and communicating with a residing UE 115 (UE 200). Antenna 316 may also receive data messages transmitted from other devices and provide the received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at transceiver 310. Antenna 316 may include multiple antennas with similar or different designs to maintain multiple transmission links.

[0054] Refer again Figure 1In some aspects, BS 105 can assign or schedule transmission resources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RBs)) for DL ​​and UL transmissions in network 100. DL refers to the transmission direction from BS 105 to UE 115, while UL refers to the transmission direction from UE 115 to BS 105. Communication can take the form of radio frames. Radio frames can be divided into multiple subframes or time slots, for example, 10 time slots per frame. Each time slot can be further divided into micro-time slots. In FDD mode, simultaneous UL and DL transmissions can occur in different frequency bands. For example, each subframe includes UL subframes in the UL band and DL subframes in the DL band. In TDD mode, UL and DL transmissions occur using the same frequency band at different time periods. For example, a subset of time slots in a radio frame (e.g., DL time slots) can be used for DL ​​transmissions, while another subset of time slots in the radio frame (e.g., UL time slots) can be used for UL transmissions.

[0055] After the connection is established, UE 115 and BS 105 can enter the normal operation phase, during which they can exchange operational data. For example, BS 105 can schedule UE 115 to perform UL and / or DL ​​communication. BS 105 can send UL and / or DL ​​scheduling permission to UE 115 via the Physical DL Control Channel (PDCCH). BS 105 can send DL communication signals to UE 115 via the Physical DL Shared Channel (PDSCH) based on the DL scheduling permission. UE 115 can send UL communication signals to BS 105 via the Physical UL Shared Channel (PUSCH) and / or the Physical UL Control Channel (PUCCH) based on the UL scheduling permission.

[0056] Figure 4 Arrangement 400 of UE 200 (labeled UE1 200-1 to UEN 200-N) associated with BS 300 is shown. The above has already discussed... Figure 2 and Figure 3 UE 200 and BS 300 were discussed. As mentioned above... Figure 1 The discussion may involve more than one BS 300, but for simplicity, only one will be discussed. Figure 4 Only one BS is shown in arrangement 400. Any arrangement of UE 200 can be provided, with UE1 200-1 to UEN 200-N shown in the coverage area of ​​BS 300. As shown in arrangement 400, each of UE1 200-1 to UEN 200-N communicates with BS 300, and BS 300 communicates with... Figure 1The network 100 shown communicates with each other. A batch of UEs 200 can be any batch of UEs, including IoT devices, sensors, laptops, and smartphones as described above. Specifically, at least some of the UEs 200-1 to 200-N can have reduced capabilities, i.e., RedCap UEs, as discussed further below.

[0057] Providing DCI services to all UE 200s in the coverage area of ​​BS 300 presents challenges. Figure 5A and Figure 5B The arrangement of N UE 200s is shown (such as in...) Figure 4 The arrangement 400 shown in the diagram represents the management of resource scheduling. Figure 5A The unicast process is illustrated, in which each DCI command is sent separately to each of the UEs 200. For example... Figure 5A As shown, each UE 200-1 to 200-N is identified by a unique identifier used to identify a specific UE's RRC connection and scheduling. Each UE 200 is identified by its own Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI), which was previously assigned to each of the UEs 200 by BS 300. Figure 5A As shown, unicast communication destined for each of UE 200 is used to transmit DCI via PDSCH transmission. Thus, DCI 502-1 with C-RNTI1 is sent to UE1 200-1 in PDSCH1 transmission 504-1. Similarly, DCI 502-N with C-RNTI1 is sent to UE200-1 in PDSCHN transmission 504-N. Each of UE1 200-1 to UE200-N identifies the DCI transmission destined for them via the C-RNTI included in the DCI. As shown, an excessive amount of resources should be available to allow for the large number of unicast PDSCH transmissions required for this process, which is repeated each time a new DCI service needs to be sent to UE 200. Furthermore, each of UE 200 expends considerable resources monitoring RRC transmissions to capture DCI services.

[0058] Figure 5B The multicast method is illustrated. In this case, the Group Common RNTI (GC-RNTI) identifies the UEs for the entire group. Figure 5B As an example, it is shown that... Figure 4All N UEs 200-1 to 200-N are shown. A DCI 506, with a GC-RNTI indicating the group of UEs 200-1 to 200-N, is sent to each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N respectively in PDSCH transmissions 510-1 to 510-N using the indicated resources 508. As indicated, multiple PDSCHs (each PDSCH 510-1 to 510-N is unicast) are scheduled in parallel via a group common PDCCH masked using the GC-RNTI. Using such a multicast DCI 506, each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N derives its own resources 512-1 to 512-N. However, such a system requires considerable processing from each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N to implement.

[0059] However, one type of UE may not have the ability to handle [the issue]. Figure 5B The system requires significantly less processing power. Compared to higher-end UEs (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC)), this capability-reduced (RedCap) UE has far fewer requirements. Specifically, RedCap UEs have reduced capabilities to lower equipment cost and complexity, particularly for use with industrial sensors. RedCap UEs can also have a compact form factor. However, RedCap UEs still support the FR1 / FR2 bands for FDD and TDD data transmission. The table below provides examples of various RedCap UEs and some of their capabilities.

[0060]

[0061] Compared to conventional or advanced UEs designed according to current 5G NR standards, RedCap devices have more stringent requirements for power savings, cost reduction, and form factor reduction. Furthermore, peak data rates (DL and / or UL data rates) and processing power are relaxed. A key solution for achieving power savings in RedCap UEs is to reduce PDCCH monitoring across all RRC states, which is crucial for... Figure 5A and Figure 5B The DCI transmission method shown in the figure raises questions.

[0062] Based on some aspects of this disclosure, a group common DCI format for supporting spatial multiplexing of RedCAP devices is proposed. For example, these RedCAP devices (such as video surveillance cameras, sensors, instruments, VoIP services on wearable devices) can typically have periodic UL and DL service modes, which can be advantageous. Aspects of this disclosure can lead to a reduction in PDCCH resources used by RedCAP UEs, which improves the coexistence of such devices with regular, fully-capable UEs. Furthermore, for RedCAP UEs, the reduced number of blind decoding and PDCCH control channel element (CCE) constraints also improves power efficiency.

[0063] Based on some aspects of this disclosure, UE 200 is first grouped according to the criteria established by BS 300. Figure 6 An example of grouping is shown, where UEs 200-1 to 200-N are grouped into groups 602, 604, and 606. Typically, any number of separate groups can exist using UEs 200-1 to 200-N, with each group having any number of members. BS 300 implements criteria for forming groups of UEs, which can be formed by ranking several different considerations. One consideration for grouping is identifying UEs exhibiting similar UL / DL service patterns. Another consideration for grouping focuses on UEs with similar transport block sizes for PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions. Another consideration for grouping is UEs with similar DL / UL coverage. Another consideration for grouping is UEs with the same Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) status. Yet another consideration for grouping UEs is their association with the same receive beam at BS 300. These and other considerations can be considered to implement the criteria for grouping UE 200 into assigned groups.

[0064] like Figure 6 As shown, group 602 includes UE1 200-1, UE2 200-2, and UEN 200-N. Group 604 includes a single UE UE3 200-3. Group 606 includes UE4 200-4 to UEn 200-n. BS 300 can implement grouping according to the criteria enforced at BS 300, wherein any of the UEs 200 is placed in each group. Once groups are formed (here, groups 602, 604, and 606), a new UE 200 (UE200-(N+1)) can be included either by merging it into one of these groups according to the criteria enforced by BS 300 or by forming a new group to accommodate UE 200.

[0065] Once UE 200 is grouped by BS 300 (as mentioned above) Figure 6 (As discussed), the group size and group identifier are sent to each of the UE 200s in each group. The BS 300 also assigns the position of each UE 200 within the group. The BS 300 may assign the position of each UE 200 within the group randomly, or the BS 300 may use other considerations to position each UE 200 within the group.

[0066] like Figure 7 As shown, BS 300 sends message packet 702 to each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N. Message packet 702 includes a group identifier (G-RNTI), the group size, and the position of each UE 200 within the group. Message 702 is sent by BS 300 to each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N via dedicated RRC signaling. Figure 7 As shown, message 702-1 destined for UE 200-1 includes the group ID to which UE 200-1 is assigned, the size of the group, and the position of UE 200-1 within that group. Similarly, message 702-N destined for UE 200-N includes the group ID to which UE 200-N is assigned, the size of the group, and the position of UE 200-N within that group. Typically, for each arbitrated UE 200-n, BS 300 sends message 702-n to UE 200-n, which contains the group ID (G-RNTI) of the group to which UE 200-n has been assigned, the size of the group, and the position assignment for UE 200-n within that group. After BS 300 sends UE packet information to each of the UEs in the UE 200 group, the group RNTI and the UE's position within the group can be used in the group permission (GC-DCI) for scheduling DL / UL transmissions.

[0067] Figure 8A The diagram illustrates the transmission of GC-DCI 802 to UEs 200-1 through 200-N. As shown, BS 300 sends GC-DCI 802 to UEs 200-1 through 200-N via scheduled RRC signaling to each of them, where UE 200-n indicates a random one of UEs 200-1 through 200-N. Figure 8A As shown, GC-DCI 802 includes: a DL / UL flag 804 indicating whether permission is granted for uplink or downlink transmission; a permission bitmap 806 including an indication of whether permission is granted for each UE 200 in the group; a permission block 808; and a block 810, which is a CRC masked using the group ID (G-RNTI) of the group to which GC-DCI 802 is pointed. Permission bitmap 801 includes bits for each UE 200 assigned to the group identified by the G-RNTI. As an example, Figure 8A A group bitmap 806 is shown for a group of K UE 200s. The group bitmap 806 consists of K bits, with one bit for each unit in the group. Therefore, bits B1 812-1 to BK 812-K are shown in the permission bitmap 806.

[0068] As discussed, each UE 200 in the group has an assigned position in bitmap 806, where bits 812-1 to 812-K indicate whether permission is included for each of the UEs 200 included in the group. Thus, permission bitmap 806 can indicate whether permission is included or not in permission block 808 for each UE 200 in the group, but activates the bit at the appropriate position in permission bitmap 806. For example, it can be activated by setting the bit to "1", but in some respects, a bit value "0" can indicate the activation bit. As shown, for UE 200-n that can be assigned position i, bit Bi812-i indicates whether permission is included for UE 200-n in GC-DCI 802.

[0069] As further shown, the permission block 808 includes respective permission 808-1 to 808-M for each UE 200 having an activation bit in the permission bitmap 806. Therefore, in Figure 8A In the example shown, M bits of permission bitmap 806 will be activated. Each of permissions 808-1 to 808-M has an equal size, such that a permission can be determined by its position within permission block 808. As an example, permission block 808 shows M permissions 808-1 to 808-M, each corresponding to one of the activated bits in permission bitmap 806 and each having the same size. Permissions 808-1 to 808-2 are assembled in the order of the activated bits. For example, if bit B1812-1 is active, permission 808-1 corresponds to UE 200 at position 1. If B2812-2 is not active, but bit 812-3 is active, permission UEB808-2 corresponds to UE 200 at position 3. UE 200 in the group identified by G-RNTI that does not have an active bit in permission bitmap 806 will not be permitted in permission block 808.

[0070] Therefore, when any of the UEs 200 (UE 200-n) receives GC-DCI 802, UE 200-n can determine whether GC-DCI 802 points to a group to which UE 200-n is a member, determine whether permission exists for UE 200-n, and then retrieve permission pointing to UE 200-n. UE 200-n retrieves G-RNTI from block 810 and determines whether GC-DCI 802 points to a group to which UE 200-n is a member. Therefore, UE 200-n first retrieves G-RNTI from block 810. If G-RNTI corresponds to a group to which UE 200-n is a member, then UE 200-n retrieves the bit corresponding to its position in permission bitmap 806 (e.g., bit Bi 812-i) to see if it is activated. If so, UE 200-n can determine its permission position in permission block 808 by the number of active bits preceding its position in permission bitmap 806, for example, if Bi is the m-th previously active bit. Then, UE 200-n retrieves its permission from permission block 808 (permission 808-m).

[0071] Permissions 808-1 to 808-m may explicitly or implicitly include demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignments, power control commands, and / or PUCCH resource indicators. To support spatial multiplexing of UE 200s within the same group, DMRS resources, power control commands, and / or PUCCH resource indicators can be indexed in a pre-configured order. For example, an example sorting process could first sort UE 200s within the same group according to the order of orthogonal antenna ports, and then according to the order of the scrambling IDs assigned to the DMRS resources. For example, if UE 200-n is assigned permission for DL / UL in GC-DCI 802 (by activating the corresponding bit 812-i in permission bitmap 806), then UE 200-n can receive indications for DMRS resources. In the first option, the grant field 808-m includes signaling for an index of DMRS resources, power control commands, and / or PUCCH resource indicators within the grant itself (e.g., grant 808-m). In some aspects, the position of grant 808-m within grant block 808 can implicitly signal the DMRS resources, where the DMRS resources, power control commands, and / or PUCCH resource indicators are pre-assigned (e.g., position m in grant block 808 can also be used to index the DMRS resources assigned to UE 200-n). In this way, resources can be optimally utilized within the group.

[0072] Figure 9The arrangement of DMRS resources for two UEs in the group, DMRS resource 902 for UEA, and DMRS resource 904 for UEB is shown. UEA and UEB are UEs 200 that are members of the same group. The DMRS resources assigned to each UE 200 in the group can be mapped to fully or partially overlapping time / frequency resources. Although Figure 9 An example is shown in which DMRS resources 902 and 904 do not overlap, but the DMRS resources assigned to UEA may completely or partially overlap with the DMRS resources assigned to UEB.

[0073] If the group size K is very large and the number of permissions M is also large, multiple GC-DCIs can occur to accommodate the data. In this case, the "End of Group Permission" (EOG) flag can be mapped to multiple GC-DCIs associated with the UE group. Figure 8B An example of providing the EOG mark 814 in GC-DCI 802 is shown. Although EOG 814 is shown as being exactly before block 810, the EOG mark 814 can appear anywhere in GC-DCI 802, included as immediately following DL / UL 804 or after permission bitmap 806.

[0074] Therefore, using the EOG flag 814, group-approved assignments can be sent in batches. For example, the EOG flag 14 can be activated (e.g., set to "1") to instruct the BS 300 to send additional GC-DCIs for scheduled UEs in the group. Figure 8B As shown, BS 300 sends Permission L1 808-L1 to Permission L2 808-L2 in GC-DCI 802. On multiple transmissions of GC-DCI 802, Permission 1 808-1 to Permission M 808-M are sent. Therefore, UE 200-n, as a member of the group and indicated in Permission Bitmap 806 to receive permission but has not yet received permission, will continue to monitor subsequent GC-DCI transmissions to receive permission. UE 200 not indicated in Permission Bitmap 806 will stop monitoring GC-DCI 802. When BS 300 sets EOG flag 14 to inactive (e.g., set to "0"), then BS 300 will not send any additional GC-DCI besides the current GC-DCI, and therefore, UE 200 (e.g., UE 200-n), as a member of the group, will stop monitoring GC-DCI (even if UE 200 has not yet received the permission indicated in permission bitmap 806).

[0075] Figure 10A It shows that it can be done in such a way Figure 3An example process 1000 that may be performed on the BS 300 shown to implement some aspects of the present disclosure. In step 1002, the BS 300 determines the presence of UEs 200-1 to 200-N, as shown in Figure 6 shown. In step 1004, the BS 300 groups the UEs using the criteria discussed above. As shown in Figure 6 shown, in step 1004, the BS 300 assigns each of the UEs 200-1 to 200-N to one of a plurality of groups based on the criteria performed by the BS 300. In step 1006, the BS 300 sends to each of the UEs 200-1 to 200-N its group ID (G-RNTI), the group size, and its position within the group. Steps 1002, 1004, and 1006 indicate the initialization of the group and the membership of UEs 200-1 to UEs 200-N within their group.

[0076] In step 1008, the BS 300 determines resources and scheduling grants for at least some of the members within a group, as shown in Figure 8A shown, grants 808-1 to 808-M for UL or DL, and indicates the UL / DL flag. As shown in Figure 8A shown, within a group of K members, M (M < K) grants may be made. In step 1010, the BS 300 creates a grant bitmap 806 as shown in Figure 8A shown. In step 1012, the BS 300 assembles the GC-DCI 802 (adds the DL / UL flag 804 and assembles the block 810 by masking the CRC with the G-RNTI of the group), and sends the GC-DCI to the UEs 200 that are members of the group identified by the G-RNTI included in the block 810.

[0077] In step 1014, the BS 300 operates using the UL / DL grants according to the GC-DCI 802 sent to the UEs 200-1 to 200-N. In step 1016, the BS 300 determines whether a new grant should be sent. If there is a new grant, the BS300 returns to step 1008 to construct the GC-DCI 802. If there is no new grant, the BS 300 continues to operate under step 1014.

[0078] Figure 10B is shown that may be in such as Figure 2Example procedure 1020 performed on UE 200 is shown. For illustrative purposes, a random UE 200 (UE 200-n) is discussed. In step 1022 of procedure 1020, UE 200-n receives RRC signaling sent by BS 300 in step 1006 of procedure 1000. In step 1024, UE 200-n determines and stores the group ID (G-RNTI), group size, and UE 200-n's position within the group. (The above text regarding...) Figure 8A In the example provided, the group size is K, and the position of UE 200-n within the group is position i.

[0079] In step 1026, UE 200-n receives GC-DCI802 sent by BS 300 in step 1012 of procedure 1000. GC-DCI802 employs the methods discussed above. Figure 8A The form is shown in the diagram. Therefore, in step 1028, UE 200-n retrieves the G-RNTI in block 810. In step 1030, UE 200-n determines whether it is a member of the group indicated by the G-RNTI. If not, UE 200-n returns to step 1026 to wait for another GC-DCI 802. If UE 200-n is in the group indicated by the G-RNTI, UE 200-n proceeds to step 1032.

[0080] In step 1032, UE 200-n reads the bit in permission bitmap 806 corresponding to UE 200-n's position in the group, in this example, bit Bi 812-i. In step 1034, UE 200-n determines whether it has permission by determining whether bit Bi 812-i of permission bitmap 806 is active. If bit Bi 812-i is inactive, this indicates that GC-DCI 802 does not include permission for UE 200-n, then UE 200-n proceeds to step 1026 to wait for another GC-DCI 802. If GC-DCI 802 does include permission, then UE 200-n proceeds to step 1036. In step 1036, UE 200-n determines the position of permission in permission 808 by determining the number of active bits in permission bitmap 806 preceding bit Bi 812-i. In this example, the permitted location is determined to be permitted m808-m. In step 1038, UE 200-n then retrieves the permission (permitted m808-m) pointing to it.

[0081] Figure 10A and Figure 10B The BS 300 and UE 200-n are shown to utilize, for example Figure 8A The operation of GC-DCI 802 is shown. Figure 11A and Figure 11B The capabilities of BS 300 and UE 200-n in transmitting bulk GC-DCI 802 have been refined in BS 300 (as mentioned above). Figure 8B The operation under the circumstances discussed.

[0082] Figure 11A Step 1012 of process 1000 in BS 300 is shown, where BS 300 is capable of bulk transmission. As indicated, in step 1102, BS 300 determines whether there are a large number of permissions such that a transmission via several GC-DCIs 802 should be used. If not, BS 300 proceeds to step 1104. In step 1104, BS 300 constructs a GC-DCI and includes all permissions (permissions 808-1 to 808-M). In step 1106, BS 300 sets the EOG flag 814 to invalid (e.g., EOG = 0), and in step 1108, BS 300 transmits GC-DCI 802. In this case, only one GC-DCI is transmitted, which includes all permissions for UE 200 indicated in the group.

[0083] If the number of permissions is too large to be transmitted in a single GC-DCI 802, BS 300 proceeds from step 1102 to step 1110. In step 1110, BS 300 divides permissions 808-1 to 808-M into multiple sequential blocks for transmission in two or more GC-DCI 802s. In step 1112, GC-DCI 802s are constructed using the permissions divided in step 1110. Figure 8B The GC-DCI 802 shown includes permitted L1 808-L1 to L2 808-L2, which is a subset of permitted 1 808-1 to M 808-M. Step 1110 divides the permitted packets into a sequence of GC-DCI 802 packets to be sent, and step 1112 constructs the GC-DCI packets 802 according to the request. It should be noted that the permitted bitmap 806 remains constant throughout the sequence of GC-DCI 802 packets.

[0084] In step 1114, BS 300 determines whether the current GC-DCI 802 is the last in the sequence (e.g., if the current GC-DCI 802 would include the last of Permission 1 808-1 to Permission M 808-M). If so, BS 300 proceeds to step 1106, where the EOG flag 814 is set to invalid, and the GC-DCI is sent in step 1108. If this is not the last GC-DCI 802 in the sequence, BS 300 proceeds to step 1116, where the EOG flag 814 is set to active (e.g., EOG = 1). Then, the GC-DCI 802 is sent in step 1118, and BS 300 returns to step 1112 to construct the next GC-DCI 802 in the sequence.

[0085] Figure 11B The diagram illustrates step 1038 of procedure 1020 performed on UE 200-n when BS 300 is capable of bulk transmission of GC-DCI 802. In step 1120, UE 200-n checks as follows: Figure 8B The EOG flag 814 of the GC-DCI 802 is shown. If the EOG is invalid (e.g., EOG = 0), UE 200-n proceeds to step 1126 to retrieve permission from the permission location indicated in step 1036 of procedure 1020. If the EOG is active (e.g., EOG = 1), UE 200-n proceeds to step 1122. In step 1122, UE 200-n determines whether permission exists in the current GC-DCI 802. This can be achieved by determining whether permission has been reached at the location indicated in step 1036. If permission exists in the current GC-DCI 802, UE 200-n proceeds to step 1126 to retrieve permission. If permission does not exist in the current GC-DCI 802, UE 200-n proceeds to step 1124 to receive the next GC-DCI 802 in the sequence. Once the next GC-DCI 802 is received, UE200-n proceeds to step 1120.

[0086] Therefore, all aspects of this disclosure allow for group DCI scheduling to a large number of UE 200s in the presence of BS 300. Figure 12A and Figure 12B Further, the processing of DCI permission 808 is shown according to some aspects. Figure 12A It shows Figure 10A Further steps in step 1014. For example... Figure 12AAs shown, in step 1202, BS 300 demonstrates the operation in UL / DL for each of UEs 200-1 to 200-N that received permission in permission block 808. In step 1212, if UL / DL flag 804 is set to DL, BS 300 proceeds to step 1204. In step 1204, BS 300 receives ACK / NACK from the currently permitted UE 200 according to the permission associated with the PUCCH resource. If step 1202 indicates UL, BS 300 proceeds to step 1206 to receive PUSCH transmission from the permitted UE-200 according to the permission assigned to UE 200 in permission block 808. Steps 1204 and 1206 each proceed to step 1208. In step 1208, if permission has failed, BS 300 proceeds to step 1210, where permission is rescheduled for transmission in a subsequent GC-DCI transmission. If permission is successful in step 1208, BS 300 proceeds directly to step 1212. In step 1212, BS 300 determines that all permissions have been processed. If so, BS 300 proceeds to step 1216, where operation continues. If not, BS 300 proceeds to the next permission in step 1214 and returns to step 1202. In step 1214, BS 300 confirms that permissions 808-1 to 808-M sent to UEs 200-1 to 200-N have been received. If permission has been received, BS proceeds to step 1216 to perform the UL / DL operation discussed above. If not, in step 1206, BS 300 may reschedule permission transmission. (See also...) Figure 10A As discussed, in step 1016, BS 300 determines whether a new permission exists, and if so (e.g., if rescheduled in step 1206), returns to... Figure 10A Step 1008. If not, BS 300 returns to step 1208 of step 1016 to perform UL / DL operation as permitted.

[0087] Figure 12B The operation of a UE 200 receiving permission (e.g., UE 200-n as discussed above) in step 1038 is further illustrated. (See also: Regarding...) Figure 11BThe operation discussed in step 1038 may include processing for receiving its permission via bulk transmission from BS300. In step 1220, UE 200-n receives its assigned permission from BS 300. In step 1222, UE 200-n applies power control to the PUCCH transmission based on the associated power control command implicitly or explicitly transmitted using permission 808-m as discussed above. In step 1224, UE 200-n determines whether permission 808-m is a UL permission or a DL permission based on UL / DL flag 804. If permission 808-m received by UE 200-n is a DL permission, then UE 200-n proceeds to step 1226 to send ACK / NACK based on the associated PUCCH resources explicitly or implicitly received in permission 808-m. If permission 808-m is UL permission, then UE 200-n proceeds to step 1228 to send a spatially multiplexed PUSCH according to the associated DMRS resource implicitly or explicitly indicated in GC-DCI permission block 808. From step 1226 or 1228, UE 200-n proceeds to step 1230 to continue operation.

[0088] In step 1216 of the BS 300 operation and step 1230 of the UE 200-n operation, the BS 300 downloads or uploads data according to permission granted to the UE 200-n, and the UE 200-n uploads or downloads data according to permission. Specifically, if permission 808-m to the UE 200-n is a DL permission, then in step 1230, the UE 200-n decodes the spatially multiplexed PDSCH transmission according to the associated DMRS resource assignment implicitly or explicitly indicated by permission 808-m. If permission 808-m is a UL permission, then the BS 300 processes the spatially multiplexed PUSCH transmission received from the UE 200-n in step 1206 according to the associated DMRS resource assignment implicitly or explicitly indicated by permission 808-m.

[0089] By way of non-limiting example, the following aspects are included in this disclosure.

[0090] Aspect 1 includes a method for providing downlink control information (DCI) to a plurality of user equipments (UEs), comprising: assigning each of the plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI); transmitting the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the position within the group to each of the plurality of UEs; and transmitting a group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet to a specific group, the GC-DCI packet having permission for a selected UE among the UEs assigned to the specific group.

[0091] Aspect 2 includes the method according to aspect 1, wherein assigning each of a plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups includes implementing criteria for grouping, the criteria for grouping including consideration of one or more factors from a set including: UL / DL service mode, transport block size for PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, DL / UL coverage, transport configuration indicator (TCI) status, and transport receive beam.

[0092] Aspect 3 includes the method according to aspects 1-2, wherein sending to each of the plurality of UEs includes: for each of the plurality of UEs, assembling a message packet including the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the location of the group; and sending the message packet to the UE via dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0093] Aspect 4 includes the method according to aspects 1-3, wherein sending the GC-DCI packet comprises: determining permission for a set of UEs in a group associated with a particular G-RNTI; setting individual bits in a group bitmap, the group bitmap comprising K bits, wherein K is the size of the group, and wherein the position of each UE in the set of UEs is activated in the group bitmap; constructing the GC-DCI packet, the GC-DCI packet comprising: a DL / UL flag, the permission bitmap, a permission block comprising permission for the set of UEs in order of position of each UE in the set of UEs, and a block comprising a CRC masked using the G-RNTI; and sending the GC-DCI packet to the UEs in the group.

[0094] Aspect 5 includes the method according to aspects 1-4, wherein one or more of the following are permitted to be indicated: demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, power control command, and PUCCH resource indicator.

[0095] Aspect 6 includes the method according to aspects 1-5, wherein the DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are ordered within the group.

[0096] Aspect 7 includes the method according to aspects 1-6, wherein the DMRS resource assignment is first ordered according to the orthogonal antenna ports and then according to the scrambling IDs assigned to the DMRS resources.

[0097] Aspect 8 includes the method according to aspects 1-6, wherein the DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are explicitly indicated in the permission for each UE.

[0098] Aspect 9 includes the method according to aspects 1-6, wherein the DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are implicit in the location of the permission in the permission block.

[0099] Aspect 10 includes aspects 1-9, wherein the GC-DCI packet includes an End of Grant (EOG) flag, and the method further includes: determining that the number of grants is too large, and if so, dividing the grants, wherein constructing the GC-DCI packet includes: constructing a sequence of GC-DCI packets to be sent, wherein the last GC-DCI packet has the EOG flag that is not activated to indicate that there are no further grants.

[0100] Aspect 11 includes the method according to aspects 1-10, further comprising: receiving an ACK or NACK for each UL permission in the permission block according to the associated PUCCH resource indicator; and receiving a spatially multiplexed PUSCH transmission for each DL permission in the permission block according to the associated power control command in the permission.

[0101] Aspect 12 includes the method according to aspects 1-11, wherein the PUCCH resource indicator and the power control command in the permission are explicit within the permission.

[0102] Aspect 13 includes the method according to aspects 1-12, wherein the PUCCH resource indicator and the power control command in the permission are implicit in the location of the permission in the permission block.

[0103] Aspect 14 includes a method for receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS), comprising: receiving a message packet from the BS, the message packet including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating an assigned group, the size of the assigned group, and a position within the assigned group; receiving a Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet; determining that the GC-DCI packet points to the group indicated by the G-RNTI; determining whether permission is included based on the position within the assigned group; and if permission is included, receiving the permission.

[0104] Aspect 15 includes the method according to aspect 14, wherein receiving message packets from the BS includes receiving the message packets from the BS via dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0105] Aspect 16 includes the method according to aspects 14-15, wherein determining that the GC-DCI packet points to the assigned group includes: retrieving a group identifier from the GC-DCI packet; and determining that the group identifier is the G-RNTI of the assigned group.

[0106] Aspect 17 includes the method according to aspects 14-16, wherein determining whether permission is included in the GC-DCI includes: retrieving a permission bitmap from the GC-DCI; retrieving a bit of the permission bitmap at the position in the assigned group; and if the bit is activated, determining that permission is included.

[0107] Aspect 18 includes the method according to aspects 14-17, wherein receiving the permission includes: determining the position of the permission in the permission block of the GC-DCI based on the number of active bits preceding the position in the permission bitmap in the assigned group; and restoring the permission from the position of the permission in the permission block.

[0108] Aspect 19 includes the method according to aspects 14-18, wherein the permission indicates one or more of the following: demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, power control command, and / or PUCCH resource indicator.

[0109] Aspect 20 includes the method according to aspects 14-19, wherein the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are explicitly stated in the permission.

[0110] Aspect 21 includes the method according to aspects 14-19, wherein the position of the permission in the permission block implicitly indicates the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator in the permission.

[0111] Aspect 22 includes the method according to aspects 14-21, wherein: if the permission is a DL permission, power control is applied to the PUCCH transmission according to the power control command associated with the permission, an ACK or NACK is sent according to the associated PUCCH resource indicator associated with the permission, and the spatially multiplexed PDSCH transmission is decoded according to the associated DMRS resource allocation associated with the permission; and if the permission is a UL permission, power control is applied to the spatially multiplexed PUSCH transmission according to the power control command associated with the permission, and the spatially multiplexed PUSCH is sent according to the DMRS resource assignment associated with the permission.

[0112] Aspect 23 includes the method according to aspects 14-22, wherein restoring the permission includes: determining whether the location of the permission appears in the GC-DCI; if not, determining whether a permission end flag is set, and if so, receiving the next GC-DCI packet.

[0113] Aspect 24 includes a base station (BS) comprising: a transceiver; a communication module coupled to the transceiver for receiving communications and transmitting communications to a plurality of user equipments (UEs); and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, the processor executing instructions to perform the following operations: assigning each of the plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI); transmitting the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the position within the group to each of the plurality of UEs; and transmitting Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for selected UEs among the UEs assigned to the specific group.

[0114] Aspect 25 includes a user equipment apparatus comprising: a transceiver; a communication module coupled to the transceiver for receiving communications and transmitting communications to a base station (BS); and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, the processor executing instructions to perform the following operations: receiving message packets from the BS, the message packets including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating an assigned group, the size of the assigned group, and a position within the assigned group; receiving Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets; determining that the GC-DCI packets point to the group indicated by the G-RNTI; determining whether permission is included based on the position within the assigned group; and if permission is included, receiving the permission.

[0115] Aspect 26 includes a base station (BS) comprising: a unit for assigning each of a plurality of UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI); a unit for transmitting the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the location within the group to each of the plurality of UEs; and a unit for transmitting Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for a selected UE among the UEs assigned to the specific group.

[0116] Aspect 27 includes a user equipment apparatus comprising: a unit for receiving message packets from a base station, the message packets including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating an assigned group, the size of the assigned group, and a position within the assigned group; a unit for receiving Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets; a unit for determining that the GC-DCI packets point to the group indicated by the G-RNTI; a unit for determining whether permission is included based on the position within the assigned group; and a unit for receiving permission if permission is included.

[0117] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art at this point, and depending on the specific application at the time, numerous modifications, substitutions, and alterations can be made to the materials, apparatus, configuration, and methods of use of the devices disclosed herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure should not be limited to the specific aspects shown and described herein (as they are only by way of some examples), but should be fully commensurate with the appended claims and their functional equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for providing downlink control information (DCI) to multiple user equipment (UEs), comprising: The compilation group public DCI (GC-DCI) packet includes a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication for the UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for the UE. as well as Sending Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for selected UEs among the UEs assigned to the specific group. Specifically, the UE in the specific group identifies the group based on the G-RNTI, determines whether the UE has permission included in the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the indication, and recovers the permission from the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the UE's position in the specific group. The compilation of the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group includes: Determine permission for the set of UEs associated with a specific G-RNTI within the group; The indication is set by configuring individual bits in a group bitmap, the group bitmap comprising K bits, where K is the size of the group, and wherein the position of each UE in the UE set is activated in the group bitmap; and The Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is constructed, comprising: a DL / UL flag, a permission bitmap, a permission block for the UE set including permissions for the UE set in order of the location of each UE in the UE set, and a block including a CRC masked using the G-RNTI. The group common DCI (GC-DCI) packets include an end-of-gesture (EOG) flag, and the method further includes: determining that the number of permissions is too large, and if so, dividing the permissions, wherein constructing the group common DCI (GC-DCI) packets includes: constructing a sequence of group common DCI (GC-DCI) packets to be sent, wherein the last group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet has the EOG flag that is not activated to indicate that there are no further permissions.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Assigning each of the multiple UEs to a group in a set of groups, each group being identified by the G-RNTI; wherein assigning each of the multiple UEs to a group in a set of groups includes implementing criteria for grouping, the criteria for grouping including consideration of one or more factors from a set including: UL / DL service mode, transport block size for PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, DL / UL coverage, transport configuration indicator (TCI) status, and transport receive beam.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Sending to each of the plurality of UEs the G-RNTI of the specific group of the UE, the position of the UE in the specific group, and the size of the specific group, wherein sending to each UE includes: for each of the plurality of UEs, Assemble message packets including the G-RNTI, the size of the group, and the position within the group; and The message packets are sent to the UE via dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Allows instruction of one or more of the following: demodulation reference signal DMRS resource assignment, power control command, and PUCCH resource indicator.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are ordered within the group.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, The DMRS resource assignment is first sorted by orthogonal antenna ports, and then by the scrambling IDs assigned to the DMRS resources.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein, The DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are explicitly indicated in the permission for each UE.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein, The DMRS resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are implicit in the location of the permission in the permission block.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: For each UL permission in the permission block, ACK or NACK is received according to the associated PUCCH resource indicator; as well as For each DL permission in the permission block, spatially multiplexed PUSCH transmissions are received according to the associated power control command in the permission.

10. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The PUCCH resource indicator and the power control command in the permission can be explicitly displayed within the permission.

11. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The PUCCH resource indicator and the power control command in the permission can be implicitly contained in the location of the permission in the permission block.

12. A method for receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station (BS) to a user equipment (UE), comprising: The BS receives a Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet, which includes a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication for a UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for that UE. The group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is determined to point to the assigned group that includes the UE based on the G-RNTI; The UE is determined to have permission included in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) packet based on the indication in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) packet. If the UE has permission included in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group, then the permission is received according to the UE's position in the assigned group. Receiving Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS includes receiving the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS via Dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Receiving the permission includes: The position of the permission in the permission block of the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is determined based on the number of active bits preceding the position in the permission bitmap within the assigned group; and Restore the permission from the position in the permission block, and Restoring the permission includes: Determine whether the permitted location appears in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) grouping; and If not, determine whether the end-permission flag is set, and if so, receive the next set of public DCI (GC-DCI) packets.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, Determining that the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group points to the assigned group includes: Retrieve the group identifier from the group common DCI (GC-DCI) group; and The group identifier is determined to be the G-RNTI of the assigned group.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein, Determining whether the UE has permission included in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) grouping includes: Retrieve the permitted bitmap from the group of public DCI (GC-DCI) packets; Retrieve the bits of the permitted bitmap at the position in the assigned group; and If the bit is activated, then the permission is determined to be included.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The permission indicates one or more of the following: demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, power control command, and / or PUCCH resource indicator.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, The demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator are explicitly stated in the permission.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein, The permission in the permission implicitly indicates the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource assignment, the power control command, and / or the PUCCH resource indicator in the permission.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein: If the permission is a DL permission. Power control is applied to PUCCH transmissions according to the power control command associated with the permission. Send an ACK or NACK according to the associated PUCCH resource indicator associated with the permission, and Decode spatially multiplexed PDSCH transmissions according to the associated DMRS resource allocation associated with the permission; and If the permission is UL permission... According to the power control command associated with the permission, power control is applied to spatially multiplexed PUSCH transmissions, and Spatially multiplexed PUSCHs are sent according to the DMRS resource assignment associated with the permission.

19. A base station (BS), comprising: transceiver; A communication module coupled to the transceiver to receive communications and transmit communications to multiple user equipment (UEs); as well as A processor, coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, executes instructions to perform the following operations: The compilation group common downlink control information (GC-DCI) packet includes a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication for the UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for the UE. as well as Sending Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for selected UEs among the UEs assigned to the specific group. Specifically, the UE in the specific group identifies the group based on the G-RNTI, determines whether the UE has permission included in the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the indication, and recovers the permission from the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the UE's position in the specific group. The instructions for compiling the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group include instructions for the following operations: Determine permission for the set of UEs associated with a specific G-RNTI within the group; The indication is set by configuring individual bits in a group bitmap, the group bitmap comprising K bits, where K is the size of the group, and wherein the position of each UE in the UE set is activated in the group bitmap; and The Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is constructed, comprising: a DL / UL flag, a permission bitmap, a permission block for the UE set including permissions for the UE set in order of the location of each UE in the UE set, and a block including a CRC masked using the G-RNTI. The Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet includes an end-of-gesture (EOG) flag, and the instructions further include instructions for determining that the number of permissions is too large, and if so, dividing the permissions, wherein the instructions for constructing the GC-DCI packet include instructions for constructing a sequence of GC-DCI packets to be sent, wherein the last GC-DCI packet has the EOG flag that is not activated to indicate that there are no further permissions.

20. A user equipment apparatus, comprising: transceiver; A communication module coupled to the transceiver to receive communications and transmit communications to the base station BS; as well as A processor, coupled to the transceiver and the communication module, executes instructions to perform the following operations: The BS receives Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets, which include a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication to a UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for that UE. The group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is determined to point to the assigned group that includes the UE based on the G-RNTI; The UE is determined to have permission included in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) packet based on the indication in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) packet. as well as If permission is included in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group, then the permission is received based on the UE's position in the assigned group. The instructions for receiving Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS include instructions for receiving the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS via Dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The instruction for receiving the permission includes instructions for the following operations: The position of the permission in the permission block of the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is determined based on the number of active bits preceding the position in the permission bitmap within the assigned group; and The permission is restored from the position in the permission block, and wherein the instructions for restoring the permission include instructions for the following operations: Determine whether the permitted location appears in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) grouping; and If not, determine whether the end-permission flag is set, and if so, receive the next set of public DCI (GC-DCI) packets.

21. A base station (BS), comprising: A unit for compiling Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets, the GC-DCI packets including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication for the UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for the UE. as well as A unit for sending Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets to a specific group, the GC-DCI packets having permission for selected UEs among the UEs assigned to the specific group. Specifically, the UE in the specific group identifies the group based on the G-RNTI, determines whether the UE has permission included in the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the indication, and recovers the permission from the group common DCI (GC-DCI) based on the UE's position in the specific group. The compilation of the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group includes: Determine permission for the set of UEs associated with a specific G-RNTI within the group; The indication is set by configuring individual bits in a group bitmap, the group bitmap comprising K bits, where K is the size of the group, and wherein the position of each UE in the UE set is activated in the group bitmap; and The Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is constructed, comprising: a DL / UL flag, a permission bitmap, a permission block for the UE set including permissions for the UE set in order of the location of each UE in the UE set, and a block including a CRC masked using the G-RNTI. The Group Public DCI (GC-DCI) packet includes an end-of-gesture (EOG) flag, and further includes: determining that the number of permissions is too large, and if so, dividing the permissions, wherein constructing the GC-DCI packet includes: constructing a sequence of GC-DCI packets to be sent, wherein the last GC-DCI packet has the EOG flag that is not activated to indicate that there are no further permissions.

22. A user equipment (UE) device, comprising: A unit for receiving Group Common Downlink Control Information (GC-DCI) packets from a base station (BS), the GC-DCI packets including a Group Radio Network Identifier (G-RNTI) indicating the assigned group, permission for a selected UE that is a member of the assigned group, and an indication for a UE in the group regarding whether permission is included for the UE. The unit used to determine, based on the G-RNTI, the group common DCI (GC-DCI) packet pointing to the assigned group including the UE; Used to determine whether the UE has a permitted unit included in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) group based on the indication in the group public DCI (GC-DCI) group; as well as If the UE has permission included in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) group, then a unit is configured to receive the permission based on the UE's position in the assigned group. Receiving Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS includes receiving the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packets from the BS via Dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Receiving the permission includes: The position of the permission in the permission block of the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) packet is determined based on the number of active bits preceding the position in the permission bitmap within the assigned group; and Restore the permission from the position in the permission block, wherein restoring the permission includes: Determine whether the permitted location appears in the Group Common DCI (GC-DCI) grouping; and If not, determine whether the end-permission flag is set, and if so, receive the next set of public DCI (GC-DCI) packets.

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