Method and apparatus for monitoring DL communications with timing offset

Abstract

The wireless communication device may include a UE. The UE may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS on at least one DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers an UL communication starting in the first UL time slot / subframe. The UE may monitor the DL communication from the NTN BS in at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. The DL communication may trigger a second DL communication starting in a third DL time slot / subframe and ending in a fourth DL time slot / subframe, and the UL communication is based at least in part on receiving a second DL channel, and the UE may monitor the at least subset of time slots / subframes between the fourth DL channel / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 064,410, filed on August 12, 2020, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING DL COMMUNICATION WITH TIMING OFFSETS,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 373,399, filed on July 12, 2021, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING DL COMMUNICATION WITH TIMING OFFSETS,” both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to methods of wireless communication including large timing advances.

[0004] introduction

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0006] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide common protocols that enable different wireless devices to communicate at city, country, region, and even global levels. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is a part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)) and other requirements. 5GNR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR can be based on 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards. There is a need for further improvements to 5G NR technology. These improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

[0007] Brief Overview

[0008] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or critical elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus are provided. An apparatus for wireless communication may include a base station and a user equipment (UE). The base station may include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) base station. The base station may schedule downlink (DL) communication that triggers UL communication starting in a first uplink (UL) time slot or subframe; and transmit DL communication to the UE on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, the DL communication triggering UL communication starting in the first uplink time slot or subframe, wherein the DL communication is transmitted in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. The UE may receive DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first UL time slot / subframe from the NTN base station on at least one DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe. The UE may monitor DL ​​communications from the NTN BS in at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. The DL communication may trigger a second DL communication starting in a third DL time slot / subframe and ending in a fourth DL time slot / subframe, and the UL communication may be based at least in part on receiving a second DL channel, and the UE may monitor at least the subset of time slots / subframes between the fourth DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe.

[0010] The NTN BS may be configured to schedule DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA, and the UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots or subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS and the UE may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0011] The DL communication triggering the UL communication may be a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) triggering a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a random access response (RAR) triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a physical random access channel (PRACH), or a PDCCH triggering uplink control information (UCI) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or on a PUSCH. The PDCCH may include downlink control information (DCI), the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a data-based hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK).

[0012] In one example, the wireless communication may be narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, and the PDCCH may be a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), the PUSCH may be a narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH), and the PRACH may be a narrowband PRACH (NPRACH). In another example, the wireless communication may be machine type communication (MTC), and the PDCCH is an MTC PDCCH (MPDCCH).

[0013] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. However, these features are merely indicative of several of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to cover all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0016] Figure 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a first frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2C is a diagram illustrating an example of a second frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2D is a diagram illustrating an example of UL channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and a user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[0021] Figure 4 A DL / UL timeslot / subframe diagram illustrating a wireless communication method.

[0022] Figure 5 A DL / UL timeslot / subframe diagram illustrating a wireless communication method.

[0023] Figure 6 A DL / UL timeslot / subframe diagram illustrating a wireless communication method.

[0024] Figure 7 It is a communication diagram of a wireless communication method.

[0025] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method.

[0026] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method.

[0027] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method.

[0028] Fig.11 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method.

[0029] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an example apparatus.

[0030] Fig.13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an example apparatus.

[0031] Detailed Description

[0032] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid diluting such concepts.

[0033] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0034] As an example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include: microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gating logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether it is described in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms.

[0035] Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, each function may be stored or encoded on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of these types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-accessible instructions or data structure forms of computer executable code.

[0036] Although various aspects are described in this application by explanation of some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases can be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovation described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, each implementation and / or use can be generated via an integrated chip implementation and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / shopping equipment, medical equipment, devices that enable artificial intelligence (AI), etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for each use case or application, the wide applicability of the described innovation may occur. The scope of each implementation can range from chip-level or module components to non-module, non-chip-level implementations, and further to the aggregation, distributed or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment or system incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovation. In some actual environments, the equipment incorporating the various aspects and features described may also include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include several components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, aggregated or disaggregated components, end-user devices, etc., of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0037] Figure 1 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell includes a base station. A small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell.

[0038] The base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). The base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Among other functions, the base station 102 can also perform one or more of the following functions: delivery of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (eg, through the EPC 160 or the core network 190) over a third backhaul link 134 (eg, an X2 interface). The first backhaul link 132, the second backhaul link 184, and the third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0039] Base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG). A communication link 120 between a base station 102 and a UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. These communication links may be over one or more carriers. For each carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, the base station 102 / UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, etc.) bandwidth. These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL compared to UL). The component carrier may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0040] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0041] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 in communication with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154, e.g., in a 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum, etc. When communicating in an unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0042] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz, etc.) as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may boost the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0043] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "sub-6 GHz band" in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes arise with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in various documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0044] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands of these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to above 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0045] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term sub-"6GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can be less than 6GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term "millimeter wave" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0046] Whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station), the base station 102 may include and / or be referred to as an eNB, a gB node (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations (such as gNB 180) may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave frequencies, and / or near millimeter wave frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When gNB 180 operates in millimeter wave frequencies or near millimeter wave frequencies, gNB 180 may be referred to as a millimeter wave base station. Millimeter wave base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with UE 104 to compensate for path loss and short range. Base station 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays to facilitate beamforming.

[0047] The base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to the UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. The UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from the base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182". The UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions. The base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the best receive direction and transmit direction for each of the base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit direction and receive direction of the base station 180 may be the same or may be different. The transmit direction and receive direction of the UE 104 may be the same or may be different.

[0048] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are delivered through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a specific service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS related charging information.

[0049] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be in communication with a unified data management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. In general, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are delivered through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a packet switching (PS) streaming (PSS) service, and / or other IP services.

[0050] A base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmission reception point (TRP), or some other suitable term. Base station 102 provides an access point to EPC 160 or core network 190 for UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet device, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a health care device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similar functional device. Some UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, ovens, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term. In some scenarios, the term UE may also apply to one or more companion devices, such as in a device constellation arrangement. One or more of these devices may access the network collectively and / or individually.

[0051] Referring again to 1, in certain aspects, the UE 104 may include a DL management component 198 configured to: receive a DL communication from the NTN BS on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe; and monitor the DL communication from the NTN BS in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. In certain aspects, the base station 180 may include a DL management component 199 configured to: schedule a DL communication that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe; and transmit to the UE on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe, wherein the DL communication is transmitted in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and the second DL time slot or subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. Although the following description may focus on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar areas such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies.

[0052] Figure 2A 200 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of DL channels within a 5G NR subframe. Figure 2C 250 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 2D 280 is a diagram illustrating an example of UL channels within a 5G NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure can be frequency division duplex (FDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the subcarrier set are dedicated to DL or UL; or can be time division duplex (TDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 2A , 2C In the example provided, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL) and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 1 (all UL), where D is DL, U is UL, and F is for flexible use between DL / UL. Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 1 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe may be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are full DL and full UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically configured by DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling) through the received slot format indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G NR frame structure for TDD.

[0053] Figures 2A-2DThe frame structure is explained, and various aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication technologies that may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a mini-time slot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 14 or 12 symbols, depending on whether the cyclic prefix (CP) is a normal CP or an extended CP. For a normal CP, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for an extended CP, each time slot may include 12 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be CP orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission). The number of slots within a subframe is based on the CP and parameter design. The parameter design defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) and, in effect, the symbol length / duration, which is equal to 1 / SCS.

[0054]

[0055] For normal CP (14 symbols / slot), different parameter designs μ0 to 4 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. For extended CP, parameter design 2 allows 4 slots per subframe. Accordingly, for normal CP and parameter design μ, there are 14 symbols per slot and 2 per subframe. μ time slots. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kHz, where μ is parameter design 0 to 4. Thus, parameter design μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, while parameter design μ=4 has a subcarrier spacing of 240kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A to 2D An example of a parameter design μ=2 with a normal CP of 14 symbols per slot and 4 slots per subframe is provided. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is about 16.67 μs. Within a frame set, there may be one or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are frequency division multiplexed (see Figure 2B ). Each BWP can have a specific parameter design and CP (normal or extended).

[0056] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) extending over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into a number of resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0057] like Figure 2A As illustrated in FIG, some REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for UEs. RSs may include demodulation RSs (DM-RSs) (indicated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) for channel estimation at the UE. RSs may also include beam measurement RSs (BRSs), beam refinement RSs (BRRSs), and phase tracking RSs (PT-RSs).

[0058] Figure 2B An example of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame is illustrated. A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs) (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs), each CCE comprising 6 RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising 12 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol of an RB. A PDCCH within a BWP may be referred to as a control resource set (CORESET). The UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., a common search space, a UE-specific search space) during a PDCCH monitoring opportunity on a CORESET, wherein the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels. Additional BWPs may be located at higher and / or lower frequencies across the channel bandwidth. A primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by UE 104 to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (also referred to as an SS block (SSB)). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth, and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0059] As in Figure 2CAs explained in , some REs carry DM-RSs for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for one specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RSs for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RSs for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first or first two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the comb teeth. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0060] Figure 2D An example of various UL channels within a subframe of an explanation frame. The PUCCH may be located at a position as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback (i.e., one or more HARQ ACK bits indicating one or more ACKs and / or negative ACKs (NACKs)). The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0061] Figure 33 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a media access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration of UE measurement reports; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, cipher decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0062] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated codewords can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM codeword stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0063] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for the UE 350. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 350, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then transforms the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbol on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point most likely transmitted by the base station 310. These soft decisions can be based on the channel estimate calculated by the channel estimator 358. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 310. These data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 359 which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0064] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher interpretation, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0065] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0066] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used by a TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0067] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

[0068] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0069] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 The 199 combines all aspects.

[0070] In some aspects, a terrestrial network (TN) including a base station may indicate a timing advance to a UE, i.e., a time misalignment between an uplink frame of the UE and a corresponding downlink frame of the UE. For example, a TN base station may indicate a timing advance to the UE in a random access response message in response to a PRACH preamble transmission. In one aspect, a TN may have a relatively small timing advance, e.g., up to 1 millisecond. On the other hand, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (such as a satellite wireless network communication) may have a relatively large distance between an NTN base station (e.g., a satellite) and the UE, and may have a relatively large signal propagation delay compared to a TN. Therefore, this may result in a very large timing advance. As a result, no matter where there is an uplink downlink interaction in the timeline description, the NTN may reflect the impact of such a large timing advance in the appropriate place.

[0071] Uplink / downlink communications may be indexed by corresponding subframe / time slot indices. That is, uplink transmissions may be indexed by uplink (UL) subframe / time slot indices, and downlink transmissions may be indexed by downlink (DL) subframe / time slot indices. The indices of UL subframe / time slot and DL subframe / time slot may be determined from the perspective of the UE.

[0072] Compared to TN, the timing advance of NTN may be relatively large, and the NTN system may be designed with an offset to compensate for the misalignment from the relatively large timing advance. For example, the offset may be based on the worst-case (or maximum) timing advance. Specifically, the offset K offset It can be larger than the worst case (or maximum) timing advance.

[0073] In some aspects, the NTN may signal the K corresponding to the Tx / Rx timeline for signals with UL / DL interaction. offset To cater for UEs with such large timing advances. For example, in a terrestrial network, the network may indicate to the UE to send its HARQ ACK in UL slot / subframe N+K (where N is the last subframe / slot in which the corresponding PDSCH is sent). In NTNs with relatively large timing advances, the network may indicate to the UE a value of N+K+K. offset , where K offset The round trip time (RTT) for a UE (or across several UEs) served by the NTN will be taken into account. That is, in the case where an NTN (e.g., an NTN with a relatively large timing advance) transmits a DL transmission to a UE that triggers the UE to transmit an UL transmission, the network may instruct the offset K offset To further shift the UL transmission to UL slot / subframe N+K+K offset , thereby sending the corresponding UL transmission.

[0074] Reference Figure 4 , offset K offset can be configured so that the schedule is valid (i.e., if K offset If the TA is too small, the UE with a large TA cannot meet the necessary timeline in the UL transmission. That is, the network can determine the offset K based on the timing advance of the UE or the timing advances of multiple UEs communicating with the network. offset Large enough so that the UE or UEs can meet the necessary scheduling timelines as instructed by the network.

[0075] Figure 4 DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 400 illustrating a wireless communication method. DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 400 may include UL slot / subframe diagram 410 and DL slot / subframe diagram 420 of a network, UL slot / subframe diagram 430 and DL slot / subframe diagram 440 of a first UE, and UL slot / subframe diagram 450 and DL slot / subframe diagram 460 of a second UE. The first UE may have a maximum TA of N slots / subframes, while the second UE may have a minimum TA of ND slots / subframes.

[0076] The UL timeslot / subframe diagram 410 and the DL timeslot / subframe diagram 420 of the network show that it may be assumed that the UL and DL timing at the satellite / network are aligned with each other. As a result, for the first UE, a timing advance of N timeslots / subframes may mean that a UL transmission from the UE in its UL timeslot / subframe N will also arrive at the network at its timeslot N (DL / UL alignment).

[0077] The network is also available K offsetInstructing the first UE and the second UE to ensure that the UL transmission may not start before an offset at least equal to the timing advance relative to the corresponding DL transmission. That is, if the first UE and the second UE are instructed to transmit the UL transmission before successfully and completely processing the corresponding UL transmission, the scheduling timeline may become invalid. In one aspect, for the first UE, a DL transmission received in slot 0 of the first UE DL slot / subframe diagram 440 (which is time-aligned with slot N of the first UE UL slot / subframe diagram 430) may not trigger the first UE to be scheduled for an UL transmission corresponding to the received DL transmission before slot N of the first UE UL slot / subframe diagram 430. On the other hand, for the second UE, a DL transmission received in slot 0 of the second UE DL slot / subframe diagram 460 (which is time-aligned with slot N of the second UE UL slot / subframe diagram 450) may not trigger the second UE to be scheduled for an UL transmission corresponding to the received DL transmission before slot ND of the second UE UL slot / subframe diagram 450.

[0078] A time slot / subframe that is time aligned with another time slot may refer to a time slot / subframe that is closest in time to another time slot / subframe. For example, a first time slot / subframe that is time aligned with a second time slot / subframe may include a first time slot / subframe that is approximately rounded up or down to be time aligned with the second time slot / subframe with a partial time slot / subframe misalignment.

[0079] In one aspect, for some aspects of the TN, it may not be desirable for some half-duplex UEs (e.g., NB-IoT UEs that may also have some processing constraints) to monitor certain DL communications (e.g., another NPDCCH) in a period of time after receiving a DL communication (e.g., NPDCCH / RAR scheduling NPUSCH; NPDSCH; NPDCCH command scheduling NPRACH, etc.) and before transmitting a corresponding UL transmission (e.g., corresponding NPUSCH; HARQ ACK; NPRACH, etc.). On the other hand, for some aspects of the NTN, if due to relatively large timing offsets that may exist in the NTN (e.g., due to a common scheduling offset (K) configured for a group of UEs served by the NTN), the UEs may be unable to receive DL communications (e.g., another NPDCCH) in the period of time after receiving a DL communication (e.g., NPDCCH / RAR scheduling NPUSCH; NPDSCH; NPDCCH command scheduling NPRACH, etc.) and before transmitting a corresponding UL transmission (e.g., corresponding NPUSCH; HARQ ACK; NPRACH, etc.). offset ), where K offset If some half-duplex UEs are configured not to monitor certain DL communications in the period after receiving a DL communication and before transmitting a corresponding UL transmission, possibly to cater for the worst case (or maximum) round trip time (RTT) of the UEs within the group, the NTN may suffer a throughput loss.

[0080] Figure 5A DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 500 illustrating a wireless communication method is shown. The DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 500 includes a UL slot / subframe diagram 510 and a DL slot / subframe diagram 520 of a network, and a UL slot / subframe diagram 530 and a DL slot / subframe diagram 540 of a UE.

[0081] Here, the UE may receive a DL communication that ends in DL slot / subframe N of the UE's DL slot / subframe diagram 540, thereby triggering the UE to receive a DL communication with index N+K+K. offset UL time slot / subframe (ie, Y UL 532) transmits the corresponding UL transmission, and the UL time slot / subframe is associated with the UL time slot / subframe with index N+(K+K offset )-TA's DL time slot / subframe (i.e., Y DL 542) time alignment. Accordingly, from the network side, the network can be in the index N+K+K offset The UL transmission is received in the UL time slot / subframe 512.

[0082] In some aspects, for TN, a NB-IoT UE may detect a NPDCCH with DCI format N0 that ends in slot / subframe N, or receive a NPDSCH carrying a random access response (RAR) grant that ends in slot / subframe N, and the detected NPDDCH or received NPDSCH may instruct NB-IoT to transmit corresponding to NPUSCH format 1 starting in slot / subframe N+K, and the UE may not be scheduled to monitor another NPDCCH in any slot / subframe starting from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K-1. For TN UEs, the value K of the slot / subframe may be relatively small (e.g., a few slots / subframes), primarily to give the UE (e.g., a UE with limited processing capability) sufficient time to complete its processing of the DL transmission. Note that for TN, there is no K offset Item, that is, for TN, K offset = 0. In this setting, the time that the UE “wait to transmit” for the corresponding uplink transmission can be represented by K.

[0083] However, for NTN, K offset The NTN may be configured to cater for the worst case (or maximum) timing advance across multiple UEs in the NTN cell. In this case, UEs with small timing advance (e.g., UEs located near the NTN) may need to "wait to transmit" uplink until the scheduled UL time, which may be based on K offsetThus, when communicating with the NTN, the "not expected to monitor DL" condition may be modified for the UE during at least a portion of this "wait time" so that the UE may be scheduled to receive DL transmissions in this portion, thereby improving the overall throughput of the system. For example, the UE may be configured to monitor the DL (e.g., NPDCCH) during at least a portion of this time period.

[0084] For NTN, as described above, the above specification and all such instances of UL triggered by DL will be updated to "correspond to NPUSCH format 1 transmission from N+K+K offset That is, for NTN, the NB-IoT UE may detect an NPDCCH with DCI format N0 ending in slot / subframe N, or receive an NPDSCH carrying a random access response (RAR) grant ending in slot / subframe N, and the detected NPDDCH or received NPDSCH may instruct NB-IoT to start from slot / subframe N+K+K offset Start transmission corresponding to NPUSCH format 1.

[0085] If the NTN NB-IoT UE follows the behavior of the TN NB-IoT UE, the NTN NB-IoT UE may not be scheduled to start from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K+K offset – -1 any time slot / subframe 544 to monitor another NPDCCH. Here, It can refer to the number of time slots / subframes of the UE's timing advance. In other words, can refer to TA. Therefore, for For near-end UEs (e.g., UEs closer to the satellite of NTN), time slot / subframe N+1 to time slot / subframe N+K+K offset - The waiting period between -1 may be very large. Accordingly, the UE may be configured to wait from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K+K. offset – For example, the UE may be configured to monitor the NPDCCH for at least a portion of the waiting time of 546 hours after slot / subframe N+K 546, during slot / subframe N+K+1 to slot / subframe N+K+K offset -Another NPDCCH is monitored in time slot / subframe 548 between TA-3.

[0086] In one aspect, the DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 500 may reference the NPUSCH timeline for multi-transport block scheduling or twoHARQ-ProcessesConfig in NTN. For TN, the NB-IoT UE may be configured with higher layer parameters twoHARQ-ProcessesConfig or npusch-MultiTB-Config for the UE-specific search space for NPDCCH. The NB-IoT UE may detect the NPDCCH with DCI format N0 ending in slot / subframe N of the UE's DL slot / subframe diagram, and the corresponding NPUSCH format 1 transmission may start from slot / subframe N+K. If the corresponding NPDCCH with DCI format N0 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI schedules two transport blocks as determined by the Number of Scheduled TBs field (if present), the UE is not designated to monitor the NPDCCH candidates in any subframe starting from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K-1, otherwise the UE is not designated to monitor the NPDCCH candidates in any subframe starting from slot / subframe N+K-2 to slot / subframe N+K-1.

[0087] Reference Figure 5 , for K offset NTN, the NB-IoT UE may detect the NPDCCH with DCI format N0 ending in slot / subframe N of the UE's DL slot / subframe diagram 540, and the corresponding NPUSCH format 1 transmission may be received from the DL slot subframe Y DL 542 Time aligned UL timeslot / subframe Y UL If the corresponding NPDCCH with DCI format N0 with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI schedules two transport blocks as determined by the Number of Scheduled TBs field (if present), the UE is not assigned to start from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K+K while maintaining a TN-like behavior. offset Otherwise, the UE is not assigned to monitor NPDCCH candidates starting from slot / subframe N+K-2 to slot / subframe N+K+K offset In some aspects of the present disclosure, the UE may be further designated to monitor at least a subset of the above slots / subframes corresponding to the UE behavior in TN where the UE is not designated to monitor NPDCCH. For example, the UE may be scheduled to monitor NPDCCH candidates in slots / subframes N+K+1 to N+K+K after slot / subframe N+K 546. offset -Monitor NPDCCH candidates in time slot / subframe 548 between TA-3.

[0088] In another aspect, DL / UL slot / subframe diagram 500 may refer to a PDCCH command that triggers a NPRACH transmission. For TN, a NB-IoT UE may detect an NPDCCH with DCI format N1 for a PDCCH command that ends in subframe N. If the NPDCCH instructs the UE to start transmission of a corresponding NPRACH transmission starting in subframe N+K, the UE may not be scheduled to monitor another NPDCCH in any subframe starting from slot / subframe N+1 to slot / subframe N+K-1.

[0089] Reference Figure 5 , for K offset NTN, the NB-IoT UE may detect the NPDCCH with DCI format N1 for the PDCCH command ending in subframe N of the UE's DL time slot / subframe diagram 540. If the NPDCCH instructs the UE to start from subframe N+K+K offset Starting the transmission corresponding to the NPRACH transmission, while maintaining the behavior similar to TN, the UE may not be scheduled to start from time slot / subframe N+1 to time slot / subframe N+K+K offset In some aspects of the present disclosure, the UE may be scheduled to monitor at least a subset of the above slots / subframes corresponding to the UE behavior in TN where the UE is not designated to monitor the NPDCCH. For example, the UE may be further designated to monitor the NPDCCH in slots / subframes N+K+1 to N+K+K+1 after slot / subframe N+K 546. offset -Monitor NPDCCH candidates in time slot / subframe 548 between TA-3.

[0090] Figure 6 A DL / UL time slot / subframe diagram 600 illustrating a wireless communication method is shown. The DL / UL time slot / subframe diagram 600 includes a UL time slot / subframe diagram 610 and a DL time slot / subframe diagram 620 of a network, and a UL time slot / subframe diagram 630 and a DL time slot / subframe diagram 640 of a UE. Figure 5 Compared to the DL / UL time slot / subframe diagram 500 of the UE, a DL communication received at a time slot / subframe N of the UE's DL time slot / subframe diagram 640 may instruct the UE to receive a DL communication in a time slot / subframe 646 starting from the time slot / subframe N+K of the UE's DL time slot / subframe diagram 640, which triggers a DL communication with an index of N+M+K. offset UL time slot / subframe (ie, Y UL 632), the UL time slot / subframe is associated with the UL transmission with index N+(M+K offset )-DL time slot or subframe of TA (ie, YDL 642) time alignment. The DL transmission in the time slot / subframe 646 corresponds to the DL transmission in the time slot / subframe 626 of the network's DL time slot / subframe diagram 620. Accordingly, from the network side, the network can receive the DL transmission from the DL time slot / subframe with index N+M+K offset UL transmission starts in UL time slot / subframe 612.

[0091] In one aspect, for TN, a NB-IoT UE may detect a NPDCCH with DCI format N1 ending in slot / subframe N, and if the corresponding NPDSCH transmission starts from N+K, the corresponding NPUSCH format 2 transmission may start from subframe N+M. The UE is not specified to monitor another NPDCCH in any subframe starting from subframe N+K_P to subframe N+M-1. Note that for TN, there is no K offset Item, that is, for TN, K offset =0.

[0092] Reference Figure 6 , for K offset NTN, the NB-IoT UE can detect the NPDCCH with DCI format N1 ending in time slot / subframe N, while the NPUSCH format 2 (HARQ ACK) transmission can start from subframe N+M+K offset If similar UE behavior as in TN is to be followed, the UE is not specified to start from subframe N+K_P to subframe N+M+K offset In some aspects of the present disclosure, the UE may be scheduled to monitor at least a subset of the above slots / subframes in which the UE is not designated to monitor the NPDCCH. For example, the UE may be further designated to monitor the NPDCCH in slots / subframes N+K_P+1 to slots / subframes N+M+K after the DL transmission in slot / subframe 646. offset -Candidates for monitoring NPDCCH in time slot / subframe 648 in any time slot / subframe 644 between TA-3.

[0093] Accordingly, refer again to Figure 5 and 6 , with relatively large timing advance and K offset A UE in an NTN with K can be scheduled to monitor another DL transmission during at least a portion of the time that the UE may be waiting to transmit an UL transmission to reduce the loss of throughput in the NTN. offsetFor example, if the UE is scheduled to monitor another DL transmission during a time when the UE may be waiting to transmit a UE transmission, the UE may not be scheduled to monitor another DL transmission during a time when the UE may be waiting to transmit a UE transmission. For example, the UE may determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring, and may determine a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN, the second configuration being different from the first configuration. In other words, the second configuration may indicate a different subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. Specifically, the different subset may be a zero subset, and the second configuration may indicate that none of the time slots / subframes in the subset of DL time slots / subframes is designated to be monitored by the UE.

[0094] The UE may store the UL communication in the UL transmission buffer and monitor the DL communication during at least a portion of the "wait time". If the UE detects and receives another DL communication from the NTN, the UE may process the newly received DL communication, while the previous UL communication stored in the UL transmission buffer may be transmitted to the NTN in a timely manner. Accordingly, the UE in the NTN may reduce the latency caused by the relatively large timing advance and K offset The resulting throughput loss.

[0095] In one aspect, the NB-IoT UE may be configured to communicate with the BS without receiving feedback on UL transmissions. In a feedback-driven process, the DCI corresponding to a single HARQ process may implicitly (via a flipped new data indicator (NDI) bit in the DCI) or explicitly provide HARQ feedback (HARQ ACK / NACK) for the UL transmission of the NB-IoT UE, and the NB-IoE UE may not transmit another PUSCH on a single HARQ process until the NB-IoT UE receives HARQ feedback from the BS. Accordingly, the NB-IoT UE may not need to monitor another DCI corresponding to a single HARQ process in a "waiting time". For example, the NB-IoT may receive an NPDCCH that triggers the NB-IoT to transmit an NPUSCH to the BS on a single HARQ process. The NB-IoT UE may transmit a PUSCH to the BS, and the BS may implicitly or explicitly transmit HARQ feedback on a DL transmission. Upon successful reception of NPUSCH, the BS may transmit an (implicit or explicit) HARQ-ACK to the NB-IoT UE to trigger the next transmission of NPUSCH on a single HARQ process. BS feedback may be implicit - i.e., the BS may provide feedback by flipping the New Data Indicator (NDI) bit indicating new data transmission of NPUSCH on a single HARQ process in the DCI transmitted to the NB-IoT UE. The NB-IoT UE may receive a DCI indicating an implicit HARQ-ACK, as well as confirmation that the NPUSCH has been successfully transmitted to the BS. In order to maintain the correspondence in a single HARQ process, the NB-IoE UE may not monitor another PDCCH from the BS during the "wait time".

[0096] In the no-feedback process, the NB-IoT UE can transmit the NPUSCH in the HARQ process without first receiving HARQ feedback (HARQ-ACK / NACK) from the BS. In this case, the NB-IoT UE can transmit the NPUSCH to the BS, and since NB-IoT does not expect feedback from the BS, NB-IoT can also monitor another DL communication that triggers the next UL communication during the "wait time" of the same HARQ process.

[0097] Figure 7700 is a communication diagram of a wireless communication method. The wireless communication may include a UE 702, an NTN BS 704, and a TN BS 706. In some aspects, the NTN BS 704 may be configured to schedule DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE 702 is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA, and the UE 702 may be scheduled by the NTN BS 702 to receive DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE 702 is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS 704 and the UE 702 may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0098] At 707, the NTN BS 704 may schedule a DL communication that triggers the UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe. At 708, the NTN BS 704 may transmit a DL communication that triggers the UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe to the UE 702 on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe. The UE 702 may receive a DL communication that triggers the UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe from the NTN BS 704 on a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe. Figure 5 and 6 , the first UL time slot / subframe may refer to the DL time slot / subframe Y respectively. DL 542 and 642 time aligned UL slots / subframes Y UL 532 and 632, and the first DL slot / subframe may refer to DL slot / subframe N of DL slot / subframe diagrams 540 and 640.

[0099] At 710, UE 702 may receive a DL communication from TN BS 706 on a DL timeslot / subframe ending in the first DL timeslot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL timeslot / subframe.

[0100] The DL communication triggering the UL communication may include a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH order triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or PUSCH. The PDCCH may include a DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a HARQ-ACK based on the data.

[0101] In one aspect, the wireless communication may be NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be NPRACH. In another aspect, the wireless communication may be MTC, and the PDCCH may be MPDCCH.

[0102] At 712, UE 702 may determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from NTN BS 704, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. Figure 5 and 6 , the DL time slot / subframe subset may refer to DL time slot / subframe 548 and 648.

[0103] In one aspect, the DL communication may trigger a second DL communication starting at the third DL time slot / subframe and ending at the fourth DL time slot / subframe, and the UL communication may be based at least in part on receiving the second DL channel. In this case, a subset of time slots / subframes may be monitored between the fourth DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe. Referring again to Figure 6 , the third DL time slot / subframe and the fourth DL time slot / subframe may refer to DL time slot / subframe N+K and N+M in the time slot / subframe 646, respectively.

[0104] At 714, UE 702 may determine a second configuration, different from the first configuration, for monitoring DL communications from TN BS 706. In one aspect, the second configuration may indicate a zero subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring.

[0105] At 716 , UE 702 may monitor DL ​​communications from NTN BS 704 in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the first configuration for monitoring DL communications from NTN BS 706 .

[0106] At 718, the UE 702 may monitor DL ​​communications from the TN BS 706 in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe that is time aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN BS 706. In a case where the second configuration indicates a zero subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring, the UE 702 does not monitor any DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe that is time aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe.

[0107] At 720, UE 702 may transmit an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe received at 708. NTN BS 704 may receive an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe transmitted at 708. At 722, UE 702 may transmit an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe received at 710. TN BS 706 may receive an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe transmitted at 710. UE 702 may transmit an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe received at 710 at Y UL532 and 632 transmit UL communications, while NTN BS 704 and TN BS 706 may transmit UL communications in Y UL UL communications are received in 532 and 632.

[0108] Figure 8 800 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104 / 702; equipment 1202). The UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots or subframes that the UE 702 is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS 704 and the UE 702 may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0109] At 802, the UE may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS at a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. For example, at 708, the UE 702 may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS 704 at a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. In addition, 802 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0110] At 804, the UE may receive a DL communication from the TN BS on a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. For example, at 710, the UE 702 may receive a DL communication from the TN BS 706 on a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. Furthermore, 804 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0111] The DL communication triggering the UL communication may include a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or PUSCH. The PDCCH may include a DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a HARQ-ACK based on the data. In one aspect, the wireless communication may be a NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be a NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be a NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be a NPRACH. In another aspect, the wireless communication may be an MTC, and the PDCCH may be an MPDCCH.

[0112] At 806, the UE may determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. In one aspect, the DL communication may trigger a second DL communication starting at a third DL time slot / subframe and ending at a fourth DL time slot / subframe, and the UL communication may be based at least in part on receiving the second DL channel. In this case, the subset of time slots / subframes may be monitored between the fourth DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe. Again referring to Figure 6 , the third DL time slot / subframe and the fourth DL time slot / subframe may refer to DL time slot / subframe N+K and N+M, respectively, in the time slot / subframe 646. For example, at 712, the UE 702 may determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS 704, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. In addition, 806 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0113] At 808, the UE may determine a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN, the second configuration being different from the first configuration. For example, the second configuration may indicate a zero subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. In one aspect, the second configuration may indicate a zero subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring. For example, at 714, the UE 702 may determine a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TNBS 706, the second configuration being different from the first configuration. In addition, 808 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0114] At 810, the UE may monitor DL ​​information from the NTN BS in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS. For example, at 716, the UE may monitor DL ​​communications from the NTN BS 704 in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS 704. Furthermore, 810 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0115] At 812, the UE may monitor DL ​​information from the TN BS in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN BS. In the case where the second configuration indicates a zero subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring, the UE does not monitor any DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. For example, at 718, the UE 702 may monitor DL ​​communications from the TN BS 706 in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on the second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN BS. In addition, 812 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0116] At 814, the UE may transmit an UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe received at 802. UL UE 702 may transmit UL communications at 532 and 632. For example, at 720, UE 702 may transmit UL communications triggered by the DL slot / subframe received at 708. At 816, UE 702 may transmit UL communications triggered by the DL slot / subframe received at 804. For example, at 722, UE 702 may transmit UL communications triggered by the DL slot / subframe received at 710. Furthermore, 814 and 816 may be performed by UL management component 1242.

[0117] Fig. 9 900 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104 / 702; equipment 1202). The UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots or subframes that the UE 702 is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS 704 and the UE 702 may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0118] At 902, the UE may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS at a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. For example, at 708, the UE 702 may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS 704 at a DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers UL communication to start in the first UL time slot / subframe. In addition, 902 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0119] The DL communication triggering the UL communication may include a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or PUSCH. The PDCCH may include a DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a HARQ-ACK based on the data. In one aspect, the wireless communication may be a NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be a NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be a NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be a NPRACH. In another aspect, the wireless communication may be an MTC, and the PDCCH may be an MPDCCH.

[0120] At 910, the UE may monitor DL ​​communications from the NTN BS in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS. For example, at 716, the UE may monitor DL ​​communications from the NTN BS 704 in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between a first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe based on a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS 706. In addition, 910 may be performed by the DL management component 1240.

[0121] Fig.10 1000 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102 / 180 / 704; equipment 1302). The base station may be an NTN BS. In some aspects, the NTN BS may be configured to schedule DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA, and the UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS and the UE may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0122] At 1002, the base station can schedule DL communication that triggers UL communication to start in a first UL time slot or subframe. For example, at 707, the NTN BS 704 can schedule DL communication that triggers UL communication to start in a first UL time slot or subframe. In addition, 1002 can be performed by the DL management component 1340.

[0123] At 1004, the base station may transmit to the UE, on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, a DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe. The DL communication that triggers UL communication may include a PDCCH that triggers PUSCH, a RAR that triggers PUSCH, a PDCCH that includes a PDCCH command that triggers PRACH, or a PDCCH that triggers UCI on PUCCH or PUSCH. The PDCCH may include DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include HARQ-ACK based on data. In one aspect, the wireless communication may be NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be NPRACH. In another aspect, the wireless communication may be MTC, and the PDCCH may be MPDCCH. For example, at 708, the NTN BS 704 may transmit to the UE 702, on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, a DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe. Furthermore, 1004 can be performed by DL management component 1340 .

[0124] At 1006, the base station may receive UL communications triggered by the DL slot / subframe transmitted at 1002. UL 532 and 632. For example, at 720, the NTN BS 704 can receive UL communications triggered by the DL time slot / subframe transmitted at 708. In addition, 1006 can be performed by the UL management component 1342.

[0125] Fig.11 1100 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102 / 180 / 704; equipment 1302). The base station may be an NTN BS. In some aspects, the NTN BS may be configured to schedule DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA, and the UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS and the UE may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0126] At 1102, the base station can schedule DL communication that triggers UL communication to start in a first UL time slot or subframe. For example, at 707, the NTN BS 704 can schedule DL communication that triggers UL communication to start in a first UL time slot or subframe. In addition, 1102 can be performed by the DL management component 1340.

[0127] At 1104, the base station may transmit to the UE, on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, a DL communication that triggers UL communication that starts in the first UL time slot or subframe. The DL communication that triggers the UL communication may include a PDCCH that triggers a PUSCH, a RAR that triggers a PUSCH, a PDCCH that includes a PDCCH command that triggers a PRACH, or a PDCCH that triggers UCI on a PUCCH or PUSCH. The PDCCH may include a DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a HARQ-ACK based on the data. In one aspect, the wireless communication may be NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be a NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be a NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be a NPRACH. On the other hand, the wireless communication may be MTC, and the PDCCH may be an MPDCCH. For example, at 708 , NTN BS 704 can transmit to UE 702 DL communications triggering UL communications starting in the first UL slot or subframe over at least one DL slot or subframe ending in the first DL slot or subframe, which can also be performed by DL management component 1340 .

[0128] Fig.1212 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus 1202. The apparatus 1202 is a UE and includes a cellular baseband processor 1204 (also referred to as a modem) coupled to a cellular RF transceiver 1222 and one or more subscriber identity modules (SIM) cards 1220, an application processor 1206 coupled to a secure digital (SD) card 1208 and a screen 1210, a Bluetooth module 1212, a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 1214, a global positioning system (GPS) module 1216, and a power supply 1218. The cellular baseband processor 1204 communicates with the UE 104 and / or the BS 102 / 180 through the cellular RF transceiver 1222. The cellular baseband processor 1204 may include a computer-readable medium / memory. The computer-readable medium / memory may be non-transitory. The cellular baseband processor 1204 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. The software, when executed by the cellular baseband processor 1204, causes the cellular baseband processor 1204 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data manipulated by the cellular baseband processor 1204 when executing the software. The cellular baseband processor 1204 further includes a receiving component 1230, a communication manager 1232, and a transmission component 1234. The communication manager 1232 includes one or more of the illustrated components. The components within the communication manager 1232 may be stored in a computer-readable medium / memory and / or configured as hardware within the cellular baseband processor 1204. The cellular baseband processor 1204 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include a memory 360 and / or at least one of the following: a TX processor 368, an RX processor 356, and a controller / processor 359. In one configuration, the equipment 1202 may be a modem chip and include the baseband processor 1204, and in another configuration, the equipment 1202 may be the entire UE (e.g., see Figure 3 350) and includes the aforementioned additional modules of equipment 1202.

[0129] The communication manager 1232 includes a DL management component 1240 configured to receive a DL communication from the NTN BS or TN BS on a DL time slot / subframe ending in a first DL time slot / subframe that triggers an UL communication starting in a first UL time slot / subframe, determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN or TN, and monitor DL ​​communications from the NTN BS or TN BS in a subset of DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe, e.g., as described in conjunction with 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 902, and 910. The communication manager 1232 further includes a UL management component 1242 configured to transmit UL communications triggered by the DL time slot / subframe in the NTN or TN, e.g., as described in conjunction with 814 and 816. The DL management component 1240 and the UL management component 1242 may be configured to communicate with each other.

[0130] The equipment may include performing Figure 7 , 8 and 9 are additional components for each block of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart. Thus, Figure 7 , 8 Each block in the aforementioned flow charts of 9 may be performed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of those components. These components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0131] In one configuration, the apparatus 1202, and in particular the cellular baseband processor 1204, includes means for receiving a DL communication from the NTN BS on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe that triggers an UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe, and means for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. The apparatus 1202 includes means for determining a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes for monitoring, and means for determining a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from the TN. The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components in the apparatus 1202 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. As described above, the apparatus 1202 may include a TX processor 368, an RX processor 356, and a controller / processor 359. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0132] Fig.13 1300 is an example of a hardware implementation of an illustrated equipment 1302. The equipment 1302 may be a base station, a component of a base station, or may implement base station functionality. In some aspects, the equipment 1302 may include a baseband unit 1304. The baseband unit 1304 may communicate with the UE 104 via a cellular RF transceiver 1322. The baseband unit 1304 may include a computer-readable medium / memory. The baseband unit 1304 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. The software, when executed by the baseband unit 1304, causes the baseband unit 1304 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data manipulated by the baseband unit 1304 when executing the software. The baseband unit 1304 further includes a receiving component 1330, a communication manager 1332, and a transmission component 1334. The communication manager 1332 includes the one or more illustrated components. The components within the communication manager 1332 may be stored in a computer-readable medium / memory and / or configured as hardware within the baseband unit 1304. The baseband unit 1304 may be a component of the base station 310 and may include a memory 376 and / or at least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375.

[0133] The communication manager 1332 includes a DL management component 1340 configured to schedule a DL communication that triggers the UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe, and transmit to the UE the DL communication that triggers the UL communication to start in the first UL time slot or subframe on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, e.g., as described in conjunction with 1002, 1004, 1102, and 1104. The communication manager 1332 further includes a UL management component 1342 configured to receive the UL communication triggered by the DL time slot / subframe transmitted to the UE, e.g., as described in conjunction with 1006.

[0134] The equipment may include performing Figure 7 , 10 and 11 are additional components for each box of the algorithm in the flowchart. Thus, Figure 7 , 10 Each block in the flowcharts of 1 and 11 may be performed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of those components. These components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0135] As shown, the equipment 1302 may include various components configured for various functions. In one configuration, the equipment 1302, and in particular the baseband unit 1304, includes a device for scheduling a DL communication that triggers an UL communication that starts in a first UL time slot or subframe; a device for transmitting a DL communication that triggers an UL communication that starts in a first UL time slot or subframe to a UE on at least one DL time slot or subframe that ends in the first DL time slot or subframe; and a device for receiving an UL communication that starts in a first UL time slot or subframe, the UL communication being triggered by the DL communication. The device may be one or more of the components in the equipment 1302 that are configured to perform the functions described by the device. As described above, the equipment 1302 may include a TX processor 316, an RX processor 370, and a controller / processor 375. As such, in one configuration, each device may be a TX processor 316, an RX processor 370, and a controller / processor 375 that are configured to perform the functions described by each device.

[0136] The method and apparatus of the wireless communication method may include a base station and a UE. The base station may include an NTN BS. In some aspects, the NTN BS may be configured to schedule DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA, and the UE may be scheduled by the NTN BS to receive DL transmissions in time slots / subframes that the UE is not configured to monitor due to a relatively large TA. Accordingly, the NTN BS and the UE may improve the overall throughput of the system.

[0137] The UE may receive a DL communication from the NTN BS on at least one DL time slot / subframe ending in the first DL time slot / subframe that triggers the UL communication starting in the first UL time slot / subframe. The UE may monitor the DL communication from the NTN BS in at least a subset of DL time slots / subframes between the first DL time slot / subframe and a second DL time slot / subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe. The DL communication may trigger a second DL communication starting in a third DL time slot / subframe and ending in a fourth DL time slot / subframe, and the UL communication is based at least in part on receiving a second DL channel, and the UE may monitor the at least subset of time slots / subframes between the fourth DL channel / subframe and the second DL time slot / subframe.

[0138] The DL communication triggering the UL communication may be a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or on a PUSCH. The PDCCH may include a DCI, the PDSCH may include data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH may include a HARQ-ACK based on the data.

[0139] In one example, the wireless communication may be NB-IoT communication, and the PDCCH may be NPDCCH, the PUSCH may be NPUSCH, and the PRACH may be NPRACH. In another example, the wireless communication may be MTC, and the PDCCH is MPDCCH.

[0140] Accordingly, with relatively large timing advance and K offset UEs in an NTN may be scheduled to monitor another DL transmission during at least a portion of the time that the UE may be waiting to transmit an UL transmission to reduce the loss of throughput in the NTN. The UE may store the UL communication in a UL transmission buffer and monitor the DL communication during at least a portion of this "waiting time". If the UE detects and receives another DL communication from the NTN, the UE may process the newly received DL communication, while the previous UL communication stored in the UL transmission buffer may be transmitted to the NTN in a timely manner. Accordingly, the UE in the NTN may reduce the loss of throughput caused by the relatively large timing advance and K offset The resulting throughput loss.

[0141] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of each box in the disclosed process / flowchart is an illustration of an example approach. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of each box in these process / flowcharts can be rearranged based on design preferences. In addition, some boxes can be combined or omitted. The attached method claims present the elements of various boxes in an exemplary order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0142] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be easily understood by those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined in this article can be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown in this article, but should be granted the full scope consistent with the claims in language, wherein the singular references to the elements are not intended to represent "there is and only one", but "one or more", unless otherwise stated. Terms such as "if", "when" and "at" should be interpreted as meaning "under the condition", rather than implying a direct time relationship or reaction. That is, these phrases (for example, when "at") do not imply an immediate action in response to the occurrence of an action or during the occurrence of an action, but only imply that an action will occur when the condition is met, and no specific or immediate time constraints are required for the action to occur. The wording "exemplary" is used in this article to mean "used as an example, instance, or explanation". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein need not be interpreted as being superior to or superior to other aspects. Unless otherwise stated, the term "some / certain" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B, and / or C, and may include multiple A, multiple B, or multiple C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout the present disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. The terms “module,” “mechanism,” “element,” “device,” etc. may not be replacements for the term “means.” Thus, no claim element should be construed as means-plus-function unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase “means for.”

[0143] The following aspects are merely illustrative and may be combined with other aspects or teachings described herein without limitation.

[0144] Aspect 1 is an apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising: at least one processor coupled to a memory, the at least one processor and the memory being configured to: receive DL communication from an NTN base station on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in a first DL time slot or subframe that triggers UL communication starting in a first UL time slot or subframe, and monitor DL ​​communication from the NTN base station in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe.

[0145] Aspect 2 is the apparatus of aspect 1, wherein the DL communication triggering the UL communication includes at least one of the following: a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or a PUSCH.

[0146] Aspect 3 is the apparatus of Aspects 1 and 2, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT communication, the PDCCH is NPDCCH, the PUSCH is NPUSCH, and the PRACH is NPRACH.

[0147] Aspect 4 is the apparatus of any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the wireless communication is MTC, and the PDCCH is an MPDCCH.

[0148] Aspect 5 is an apparatus of any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the DL communication triggers a second DL communication that starts at a third DL time slot or subframe and ends at a fourth DL time slot or subframe, and the UL communication is at least partially based on receiving the second DL communication, wherein at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes are monitored between the fourth DL time slot or subframe and the second DL time slot or subframe, and the index of the third DL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe, and the index of the fourth DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the second DL time slot or subframe.

[0149] Aspect 6 is the apparatus of aspect 5, wherein the DL communication comprises DL communication on the PDCCH, the second DL communication comprises DL communication on the PDSCH, and the UL communication comprises UL communication through the PUCCH or the PUSCH.

[0150] Aspect 7 is the apparatus of aspect 6, wherein the PDCCH includes DCI, the PDSCH includes data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH includes data-based HARQ-ACK.

[0151] Aspect 8 is the device of Aspect 7, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT communication, the PDCCH is NPDCCH, and the PUSCH is NPUSCH.

[0152] Aspect 9 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the index of the first UL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a scheduling offset associated with the NTN base station.

[0153] Aspect 10 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the index of the second UL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the first UL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on the timing advance parameter.

[0154] Aspect 11 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 1 to 10, wherein the triggered UL communication is associated with a first HARQ process and the monitored DL communication is associated with the same first HARQ process.

[0155] Aspect 12 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the at least one processor and memory monitoring DL communications are configured to monitor PDCCH.

[0156] Aspect 13 is a device of any one of Aspect 12, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT and the PDCCH is NPDCCH.

[0157] Aspect 14 is an apparatus of any one of Aspects 1 to 13, wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further configured to determine a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from an NTN base station, the first configuration at least indicating a subset of DL time slots or subframes for monitoring, and determine a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from a TN base station, wherein the first configuration and the second configuration are different from each other.

[0158] Aspect 15 is the apparatus of aspect 14, wherein the second configuration indicates a different subset of DL time slots or subframes for monitoring.

[0159] Aspect 16 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 1 to 15, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.

[0160] Aspect 17 is a wireless communication method for implementing any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0161] Aspect 18 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0162] Aspect 19 is a computer readable medium storing computer executable code, wherein the code, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0163] Aspect 20 is an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory and configured to schedule DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in a first UL time slot or subframe; and transmit to a UE on at least one DL time slot or subframe that ends in the first DL time slot or subframe DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe, wherein the DL communication is transmitted in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe that is time-aligned with the first UL time slot / subframe.

[0164] Aspect 21 is the apparatus of aspect 20, wherein the DL communication triggering the UL communication comprises at least one of: a PDCCH triggering a PUSCH, a RAR triggering a PUSCH, a PDCCH including a PDCCH command triggering a PRACH, or a PDCCH triggering a UCI on a PUCCH or on a PUSCH.

[0165] Aspect 22 is a device of Aspects 20 and 21, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT communication, the PDCCH is NPDCCH, the PUSCH is NPUSCH, and the PRACH is NPRACH.

[0166] Aspect 23 is the apparatus of any one of Aspects 20 to 22, wherein the wireless communication is MTC and the PDCCH is an MPDCCH.

[0167] Aspect 24 is an apparatus of any one of Aspects 20 to 23, wherein the DL communication triggers a second DL communication that starts at a third DL time slot or subframe and ends at a fourth DL time slot or subframe, and the UL communication is at least partially based on receiving the second DL communication, wherein at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes is transmitted between the fourth DL time slot or subframe and the second DL time slot or subframe, and wherein the index of the third DL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe, and the index of the fourth DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the second DL time slot or subframe.

[0168] Aspect 25 is the apparatus of aspect 24, wherein the DL communication comprises DL communication on a PDCCH, the second DL communication comprises DL communication on a PDSCH, and the UL communication comprises UL communication through a PUCCH or a PUSCH.

[0169] Aspect 26 is the apparatus of aspect 25, wherein the PDCCH includes DCI, the PDSCH includes data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH includes data-based HARQ-ACK.

[0170] Aspect 27 is the apparatus of Aspect 26, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT communication, the PDCCH is NPDCCH, and the PUSCH is NPUSCH.

[0171] Aspect 28 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 20 to 27, wherein the index of the first UL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a scheduling offset associated with the NTN base station.

[0172] Aspect 29 is the apparatus of any one of aspects 20 to 28, wherein the index of the second UL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the first UL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on the timing advance parameter.

[0173] Aspect 30 is a device of any one of Aspects 21 to 29, wherein the wireless communication is NB-IoT and the PDCCH is NPDCCH.

[0174] Aspect 31 is the apparatus of any one of Aspects 20 to 30, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.

[0175] Aspect 32 is a wireless communication method for implementing any one of aspects 20 to 31.

[0176] Aspect 33 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing any one of aspects 20 to 31.

[0177] Aspect 34 is a computer readable medium storing computer executable code, wherein the code, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement any one of aspects 20 to 31 .

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor and the memory being configured to: receiving, from a non-terrestrial network (NTN) base station (BS) on at least one downlink (DL) time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, a DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first uplink (UL) time slot or subframe; and DL communications from the NTN BS are monitored in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time aligned with the first UL time slot or subframe.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the DL communication triggering the UL communication comprises at least one of: The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) triggers the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), triggering a random access response (RAR) for the PUSCH, A PDCCH including a PDCCH command that triggers a physical random access channel PRACH, or A PDCCH triggering uplink control information (UCI) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or on a PUSCH.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, and the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), the PUSCH is a narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH), and the PRACH is a narrowband PRACH (NPRACH).

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication is machine type communication (MTC), and the PDCCH is an MTC PDCCH (MPDCCH).

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the DL communication triggers a second DL communication starting at a third DL time slot or subframe and ending at a fourth DL time slot or subframe, and the UL communication is based at least in part on receiving the second DL channel, wherein the at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes is monitored between the fourth DL time slot or subframe and the second DL time slot or subframe, The index of the third DL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe, and the index of the fourth DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the second DL time slot or subframe.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the DL communication comprises DL communication on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the second DL communication comprises DL communication on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and the UL communication comprises UL communication via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the PDCCH comprises downlink control information (DCI), the PDSCH comprises data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH comprises a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) based on the data.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), and the PUSCH is a narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH).

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the index of the first UL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a scheduling offset associated with the NTN BS.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the index of the second DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the first UL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a timing advance parameter.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the triggered UL communication is associated with a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process and the monitored DL communication is associated with the same first HARQ process.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor and the memory that monitor the DL communications are configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, and the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH).

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further configured to: determining a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS, the first configuration indicating at least the DL time slot or subframe subset to be used for the monitoring; and determining a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from a terrestrial network (TN), Wherein the first configuration and the second configuration are different from each other.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second configuration indicates a different subset of DL time slots or subframes for monitoring.

16. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a non-terrestrial network (NTN) base station (BS) on at least one downlink (DL) time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, a DL communication that triggers UL communication starting in the first uplink (UL) time slot or subframe; and DL communications from the NTN BS are monitored in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time aligned with the first UL time slot or subframe.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining a first configuration for monitoring DL communications from the NTN BS, the first configuration indicating at least a subset of the DL time slots or subframes to be used for the monitoring; as well as determining a second configuration for monitoring DL communications from a terrestrial network (TN) BS, Wherein the first configuration and the second configuration are different from each other.

18. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station (BS), comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor and the memory being configured to: scheduling downlink (DL) communications that trigger UL communications to begin in a first uplink (UL) time slot or subframe; and transmitting to a user equipment (UE) the DL communication triggering the UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, Wherein the DL communication is transmitted in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time aligned with the first UL time slot or subframe.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the DL communication triggering the UL communication comprises at least one of: The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) triggers the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), triggering a random access response (RAR) for the PUSCH, A PDCCH including a PDCCH command that triggers a physical random access channel PRACH, or A PDCCH triggering uplink control information (UCI) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or on a PUSCH.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, and the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), the PUSCH is a narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH), and the PRACH is a narrowband PRACH (NPRACH).

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication is machine type communication (MTC), and the PDCCH is an MTC PDCCH (MPDCCH).

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the DL communication triggers a second DL communication starting at a third DL time slot or subframe and ending at a fourth DL time slot or subframe, and the UL communication is based at least in part on receiving the second DL channel, wherein the at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes is transmitted between the fourth DL time slot or subframe and the second DL time slot or subframe, The index of the third DL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe, and the index of the fourth DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the second DL time slot or subframe.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the DL communication comprises DL communication on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the second DL communication comprises DL communication on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and the UL communication comprises UL communication via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the PDCCH comprises downlink control information (DCI), the PDSCH comprises data, and the PUCCH or PUSCH comprises a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) based on the data.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), and the PUSCH is a narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH).

26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the index of the first UL time slot or subframe is greater than the index of the first DL time slot or subframe by an amount of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a scheduling offset associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) BS.

27. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the index of the second DL time slot or subframe is less than the index of the first UL time slot or subframe by a number of time slots or subframes based at least in part on a timing advance parameter.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication is narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, and the PDCCH is a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH).

29. A method for wireless communication at a base station (BS), comprising: scheduling downlink (DL) communication that triggers UL communication to begin in a first uplink (UL) time slot or subframe; as well as transmitting to a user equipment (UE) the DL communication triggering the UL communication starting in the first UL time slot or subframe on at least one DL time slot or subframe ending in the first DL time slot or subframe, Wherein the DL communication is transmitted in at least a subset of DL time slots or subframes between the first DL time slot or subframe and a second DL time slot or subframe time aligned with the first UL time slot or subframe.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising receiving the UL communication commencing in the first UL time slot or subframe, the UL communication being triggered by the DL communication.

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