Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving wireless signals in a wireless communication system

Abstract

According to at least one of the embodiments disclosed herein, a terminal can receive paging early indication (PEI) related information through uplink signaling, attempt to detect a PEI associated with “M” paging occasions (POs) based on the PEI related information, determine whether to perform or skip monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a specific PO related to the terminal among the plurality of POs, and receive at least one of a paging downlink control information (DCI) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in a state in which it has been determined to monitor the PDCCH, wherein the paging DCI is carried by the PDCCH and the PDSCH is scheduled by the paging DCI.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Background Technology

[0002] Typically, wireless communication systems are evolving to provide communication services such as audio communication and data communication by covering a wider range of areas. Wireless communication is a multiple access system capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmission power, etc.). For example, a multiple access system can be any of the following: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). Summary of the Invention

[0003] Technical issues

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently performing wireless signal transmission / reception processes.

[0005] Those skilled in the art will understand that the purposes that can be achieved using this disclosure are not limited to those specifically described above, and the above and other purposes that can be achieved using this disclosure will become clearer from the following detailed description.

[0006] Technical solution

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for a user equipment (UE) to receive signals in a wireless communication system may include the following steps: receiving Paging Early Indication (PEI) related information via higher-layer signaling; attempting to detect PEIs associated with “M” paging opportunities (POs) based on the PEI related information; determining, based on the detected PEIs, whether to perform or skip monitoring of the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in a specific PO associated with the UE among the plurality of POs; and, if the UE determines to perform PDCCH monitoring, receiving at least one of Paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the Paging DCI. The “M” POs may be associated with “M” UE groups, and each UE group may include “N” UE subgroups. The specific PO associated with the UE may be a PO associated with a specific UE group to which the UE belongs, and the specific UE group may be determined based on a UE_ID assigned to the UE. The PEI may include a UE subgroup indication field of variable size, and based on the number of UE groups being "M" and the number of UE subgroups per UE group being "N", the UE can process the PEI by assuming that the UE subgroup indication field includes a total of "M*N" bits. The UE can determine whether to perform or skip PDCCH monitoring based on the bit value of a specific bit among the total "M*N" bits that is related to the specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs. The UE can determine the number of UE groups being "M" and the number of UE subgroups per UE group being "N" based on PEI-related information received via higher-layer signaling.

[0008] PEI can be a PEI-related DCI that is different from paging DCI.

[0009] At least a portion of PEI-related information can be received in the System Information Block (SIB).

[0010] The UE can determine the number of UE groups "M" based on the SIB.

[0011] Based on the identification of the specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs in the paging DCI and PEI, the UE can determine whether to receive PDSCH.

[0012] Based on the fact that a specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs is identified in the PEI but not in the paging DCI, the UE can determine that it will not receive the PDSCH.

[0013] Paging DCI may include UE clustering information based on a clustering method different from the UE subgrouping method associated with PEI.

[0014] Based on the fact that the UE belongs to a specific UE cluster indicated by the paging DCI, the UE can determine whether to receive the PDCCH.

[0015] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a processor-readable recording medium for recording a program for performing a signal receiving method may be provided.

[0016] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a UE for performing a signal receiving method may be provided.

[0017] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for performing a signal receiving method may be provided.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for transmitting signals by a base station (BS) in a wireless communication system may include the following steps: transmitting PEI-related information via higher-layer signaling; transmitting PEIs associated with “M” POs based on the PEI-related information; and transmitting a PDCCH in a specific PO associated with a first UE among the plurality of POs. The “M” POs may be associated with “M” UE groups, and each UE group includes “N” UE subgroups. The specific PO associated with the first UE may be a PO associated with a specific UE group to which the first UE belongs, and the specific UE group may be determined based on a UE_ID assigned to the first UE. The PEI may include a UE subgroup indication field of variable size, and based on the number of UE groups being “M” and the number of UE subgroups per UE group being “N”, the BS may configure the UE subgroup indication field using a total of “M*N” bits. The BS may instruct the first UE to monitor the PDCCH using the bit value of a specific bit associated with the specific UE subgroup to which the first UE belongs out of the total “M*N” bits. The BS may signal to the first UE via the PEI-related information that the number of UE groups is “M” and the number of UE subgroups per UE group is “N”.

[0019] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a BS for performing a signal transmission method may be provided.

[0020] Beneficial effects

[0021] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the power reduction effect of Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle / inactive UEs can be enhanced by providing the user equipment (UE) group and UE subgroup that should be monitored for paging in advance through Paging Early Indication (PEI).

[0022] Those skilled in the art will understand that the effects that can be achieved using this disclosure are not limited to those specifically described above, and other advantages of this disclosure will become clearer from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 The physical channel used in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) system, which serves as an exemplary wireless communication system, and the general signal transmission method using it are illustrated.

[0024] Figure 2 The structure of a radio frame is shown.

[0025] Figure 3 The resource grid for the time slot is shown.

[0026] Figure 4 An exemplary mapping of physical channels in a time slot is shown.

[0027] Figure 5 This illustrates an exemplary Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission and reception process.

[0028] Figure 6 This illustrates an exemplary Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception and acknowledgment / negative acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) transmission process.

[0029] Figure 7 An exemplary Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission process is shown.

[0030] Figure 8 This shows the wake-up signal based on Long Term Evolution (LTE).

[0031] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a base station (BS) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figures 11 to 13 Methods for indicating UE groups and UE subgroups according to various embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0034] Figure 14 The UE subgroup indication field included in the paging early indication (PEI) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Figure 15 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for a UE to receive signals according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for a UE to transmit signals according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figures 17 to 20 Examples of communication system 1 and wireless device applicable to this disclosure are shown.

[0038] Figure 21 An exemplary discontinuous reception (DRX) operation applicable to this disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0039] The embodiments of this disclosure are applicable to various radio access technologies such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). CDMA can be implemented as radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA can be implemented as radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) / Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolution (EDGE). OFDMA can be implemented as radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)), IEEE 802.16 (Global Microwave Access Interoperability (WiMAX)), IEEE 802.20, and Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA). UTRA is part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) is part of Evolved UMTS using E-UTRA (E-UMTS), and LTE-Advanced (A) is an evolution of 3GPP LTE. 3GPP NR (New Radio or New Radio Access Technology) is an evolution of 3GPP LTE / LTE-A.

[0040] As more and more communication devices require greater communication capacity, there is a need for enhanced mobile broadband communications compared to traditional radio access technologies (RATs). Furthermore, the ability to provide various services anytime, anywhere by connecting multiple devices and objects is another important consideration for next-generation communications. Communication system designs considering reliability and latency-sensitive services / UEs are also being discussed. Therefore, the introduction of new radio access technologies incorporating enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive MTC, and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) is being discussed. In embodiments of this disclosure, for simplicity, this technology will be referred to as NR (New Radio or New RAT).

[0041] For the sake of brevity, this disclosure primarily describes 3GPP NR, but the technical concepts herein are not limited thereto.

[0042] For background information, definitions of terms and abbreviations related to this disclosure, the following references may be incorporated by way of citation.

[0043] 3GPP LTE

[0044] -TS 36.211: Physical Channels and Modulation

[0045] -TS 36.212: Multiplexing and Channel Coding

[0046] -TS 36.213: Physical Layer Processes

[0047] -TS 36.300: General Description

[0048] -TS 36.321: Media Access Control (MAC)

[0049] -TS 36.331: Radio Resource Control (RRC)

[0050] 3GPP NR

[0051] -TS 38.211: Physical Channels and Modulation

[0052] -TS 38.212: Multiplexing and Channel Coding

[0053] -TS 38.213: Physical layer procedures for control

[0054] -TS 38.214: Physical layer procedures for data

[0055] -TS 38.300: General Description of NR and NG-RAN

[0056] -TS 38.321: Media Access Control (MAC)

[0057] -TS 38.331: Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification

[0058] -TS 37.213: Introduces channel access procedures for unlicensed spectrum for NR-based access.

[0059] Terms and abbreviations

[0060] -PSS: Master Synchronization Signal

[0061] -SSS: Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0062] -CRS: Cell Reference Signal

[0063] -CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0064] -TRS: Tracking Reference Signal

[0065] -SS: Search Space

[0066] -CSS: Public Search Space

[0067] -USS: UE-specific search space

[0068] -PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel; PDCCH is used to represent the various structures of PDCCH that can be used for the same purpose in the following description.

[0069] -PO: Paging opportunity

[0070] -MO: Monitoring Timing

[0071] -BD: Blind Decoding

[0072] -DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0073] -WUS: Wake-up signal; WUS can be used to indicate other method signals or channels that perform similar functions (e.g., Early Paging Indication (PEI)).

[0074] In a wireless communication system, a user equipment (UE) receives information from a base station (BS) via a downlink (DL) and transmits information to the BS via an uplink (UL). The information transmitted and received by the BS and UE includes data and various control information, and involves various physical channels depending on the type / purpose of the information transmitted and received by the UE and BS.

[0075] Figure 1 The physical channels used in a 3GPP NR system and the general signal transmission methods using them are shown.

[0076] When the UE is powered on again from a power-off state or enters a new cell, in step S101, the UE performs an initial cell search procedure (e.g., establishing synchronization with the BS). For this purpose, the UE receives a synchronization signal block (SSB) from the BS. The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The UE establishes synchronization with the BS based on the PSS / SSS and obtains information such as the cell identifier (ID). The UE can obtain broadcast information within the cell based on the PBCH. During the initial cell search process, the UE can receive a DL reference signal (RS) to monitor the DL channel status.

[0077] After the initial cell search, in step S102, the UE can obtain more specific system information by receiving the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and receiving the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) based on the information in the PDCCH.

[0078] In steps S103 to S106, the UE may perform a random access procedure to access the BS. For random access, the UE may send a preamble to the BS on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) (S103) and receive a response message for the preamble on the PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH (S104). In the case of contention-based random access, the UE may further perform a contention resolution procedure by sending a PRACH (S105) and receiving the PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH (S106).

[0079] Following the aforementioned process, the UE can receive the PDCCH / PDSCH (S107) and transmit the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) / Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (S108), as part of the general downlink / uplink signal transmission process. The control information sent from the UE to the BS is called Uplink Control Information (UCI). UCI includes Hybrid Automatic Repeat and Request Acknowledgment / Nack Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK / NACK), Scheduling Request (SR), Channel State Information (CSI), etc. CSI includes Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), etc. Although UCI is usually transmitted on the PUCCH, it can be transmitted on the PUSCH when control information and service data need to be transmitted simultaneously. Additionally, UCI can be transmitted aperiodically via the PUSCH according to network requests / commands.

[0080] Figure 2 The radio frame structure is shown. In NR, uplink and downlink transmissions are configured in frames. Each radio frame is 10ms long and is divided into two 5ms half-frames (HF). Each half-frame is further divided into five 1ms subframes (SF). Subframes are divided into one or more time slots, and the number of time slots in a subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing (SCS). Depending on the cyclic prefix (CP), each time slot includes 12 or 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. When using a normal CP, each time slot includes 14 OFDM symbols. When using an extended CP, each time slot includes 12 OFDM symbols.

[0081] Table 1 illustrates, for example, how the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per frame, and the number of slots per subframe vary according to SCS when using normal CP.

[0082] [Table 1]

[0083] <![CDATA[SCS(15*2 u )]]> <![CDATA[N slot symb ]]> <![CDATA[N frame,u slot ]]> <![CDATA[N subframe,u slot ]]> 15kHz (u=0) 14 10 1 30kHz (u=1) 14 20 2 60kHz (u=2) 14 40 4 120kHz (u=3) 14 80 8 240kHz (u=4) 14 160 16

[0084] *N slot symb Number of symbols in a time slot

[0085] *N frame,u slot Number of time slots in a frame

[0086] *N subframe,u slot Number of time slots in a subframe

[0087] Table 2 shows the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per frame, and the number of slots per subframe that vary according to SCS when using extended CP.

[0088] [Table 2]

[0089] <![CDATA[SCS(15*2 u )]]> <![CDATA[N slot symb ]]> <![CDATA[N frame,u slot ]]> <![CDATA[N subframe,u slot ]]> 60kHz (u=2) 12 40 4

[0090] The frame structure is only an example. The number of subframes, time slots, and symbols in a frame can vary.

[0091] In NR systems, OFDM parameter sets (e.g., SCS) can be configured differently for multiple cells aggregated for a single UE. Therefore, the (absolute time) duration of time resources (e.g., SF, time slots, or TTI) (referred to as time units (TU) for simplicity) consisting of the same number of symbols can be configured differently among the aggregated cells. Here, symbols can include OFDM symbols (or CP-OFDM symbols) and SC-FDMA symbols (or Discrete Fourier Transform-Extended-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

[0092] Figure 3 The resource grid shows a time slot. A time slot comprises multiple symbols in the time domain. For example, when using a normal CP, a time slot comprises 14 symbols. However, when using an extended CP, a time slot comprises 12 symbols. A carrier comprises multiple subcarriers in the frequency domain. A resource block (RB) is defined as multiple consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 12 consecutive subcarriers). A bandwidth portion (BWP) can be defined as multiple consecutive physical RBs (PRBs) in the frequency domain and corresponds to a single set of parameters (e.g., SCS, CP length, etc.). A carrier can include up to N (e.g., five) BWPs. Data communication can be performed through enabled BWPs, and only one BWP can be enabled for a UE. In the resource grid, individual elements are called resource elements (REs), and a complex symbol can be mapped to individual REs.

[0093] Figure 4This illustrates an example of mapping physical channels within a time slot. In an NR system, a frame is characterized by a self-contained structure consisting of a DL control channel, DL or UL data, and a UL channel, all of which can be included within a single time slot. For example, the first N symbols of a time slot can be used to carry a DL channel (e.g., PDCCH) (hereinafter referred to as the DL control region), and the last M symbols of the time slot can be used to carry a UL channel (e.g., PUCCH) (hereinafter referred to as the UL control region). Each of N and M is an integer equal to or greater than 0. The resource region between the DL control region and the UL control region (hereinafter referred to as the data region) can be used to transmit DL data (e.g., PDSCH) or UL data (e.g., PUSCH). The guard period (GP) provides a time gap for switching from transmit mode to receive mode or from receive mode to transmit mode. Some symbols in a subframe during a DL-to-UL handover can be configured as GP.

[0094] The PDCCH transmits DCI. For example, the PDCCH (i.e., DCI) may carry information about the transmission format and resource allocation of the DL-SCH, resource allocation information for the Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH), paging information for the PCH, system information for the DL-SCH, resource allocation information for higher-layer control messages (e.g., RARs transmitted on the PDCCH), transmission power control commands, and information about enabling / releasing configured schedules. The DCI includes Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). The CRC is masked using various identifiers (IDs) (e.g., Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs)) depending on the owner or purpose of the PDCCH. For example, if the PDCCH is used for a specific UE, the CRC is masked using the UE ID (e.g., Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI)). If the PDCCH is used for paging messages, the CRC is masked using the Paging-RNTI (P-RNTI). If the PDCCH is used for system information (e.g., System Information Block (SIB)), the CRC is masked using the System Information RNTI (SI-RNTI). When the PDCCH is used for RAR, the CRC is masked using the Random Access-RNTI (RA-RNTI).

[0095] Figure 5 An exemplary PDCCH send / receive process is shown.

[0096] Reference Figure 5The BS can send a control resource set (CORESET) configuration to the UE (S502). A CORESET is defined as a set of resource element groups (REGs) with a given set of parameters (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc.). Each REG is defined as an OFDM symbol by a (physical) resource block (P)RB. Multiple CORESETs for a UE can overlap in the time / frequency domain. A CORESET can be configured by system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB)) or higher-layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). For example, configuration information about a specific common CORESET (e.g., CORESET#0) can be sent in the MIB. For example, the PDSCH carrying System Information Block 1 (SIB1) can be scheduled by a specific PDCCH, and CORESET#0 can be used to send a specific PDCCH. The system information (SIB1) broadcast in the cell includes cell-specific PDSCH configuration information PDSCH-ConfigCommon. PDSCH-ConfigCommon includes a list (or lookup table) of parameters related to time-domain resource allocation, pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList. Each pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList may include up to 16 entries (or rows), each entry being jointly encoded as {K0, PDSCH mapping type, PDSCH start symbol and length (SLIV)}. In addition to the pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList configured via PDSCH-ConfigCommon, a pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList can be provided via UE-specific PDSCH configuration PDSCH-Config. The pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList configured in a UE-specific manner has the same structure as the pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList provided in a UE-common manner. Refer to the following description for K0 and SLIV of the pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList. Furthermore, configuration information regarding CORESET#N (e.g., N>0) can be sent via RRC signaling (e.g., cell-common RRC signaling, UE-specific RRC signaling, etc.). For example, UE-specific RRC signaling carrying CORESET configuration information may include (but is not limited to) various types of signaling, such as RRC establishment messages, RRC reconfiguration messages, and / or BWP configuration information. Specifically, CORESET configuration may include the following information / fields.

[0097] -controlResourceSetId: Indicates the ID of CORESET.

[0098] -frequencyDomainResources: Indicates the frequency domain resources of CORESET. Resources are indicated by a bitmap corresponding to each bit and RB group (= 6 (contiguous) RBs). For example, the most significant bit (MSB) of the bitmap corresponds to the first RB group in BWP. The RB group corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 is allocated as the frequency domain resources of CORESET.

[0099] -duration: Indicates the time-domain resources of the CORESET. It indicates the number of consecutive OFDM symbols included in the CORESET. The duration has a value between 1 and 3.

[0100] -cce-REG-MappingType: Indicates the mapping type from Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to REGs. Interleaved and non-interleaved types are supported.

[0101] -interleaverSize: Indicates the interleaver size.

[0102] -pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID: Indicates the value used for PDCCH DMRS initialization. When pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID is not included, the physical cell ID of the serving cell is used.

[0103] -precoderGranularity: Indicates the precoder granularity in the frequency domain.

[0104] -reg-BundleSize: Indicates the REG bundle size.

[0105] -tci-PresentInDCI: Indicates whether the Transport Configuration Index (TCI) field is included in the DL-related DCI.

[0106] -tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList: Indicates a subset of TCI states configured in pdcch-Config that are used to provide quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships between DL RS and PDCCH DMRS ports in the RS set (TCI states).

[0107] In addition, the BS can send PDCCH search space (SS) configuration to the UE (S504). The PDCCH SS configuration can be sent via higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, RRC signaling may include (but is not limited to) various types of signaling, such as RRC establishment messages, RRC reconfiguration messages, and / or BWP configuration information. Although for the sake of description, Figure 5The CORESET configuration and PDCCH SS configuration are shown as being signaled separately, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the CORESET configuration and PDCCH SS configuration may be sent in a single message (e.g., via an RRC signaling) or separately in different messages.

[0108] The PDCCH SS configuration may include information about the configuration of the PDCCH SS set. A PDCCH SS set can be defined as a set of PDCCH candidates monitored by the UE (e.g., blind detection). One or more SS sets can be configured for the UE. Each SS set can be a UE-specific search space (USS) set or a common search space (CSS) set. For convenience, the PDCCH SS set may be referred to as "SS" or "PDCCH SS".

[0109] The PDCCH SS set includes PDCCH candidates. PDCCH candidates are the CCEs that the UE monitors to receive / detect PDCCHs. Monitoring includes blind decoding (BD) of the PDCCH candidates. A PDCCH (candidate) includes 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs depending on the aggregation level (AL). A CCE includes 6 REGs. Each CORESET configuration is associated with one or more SSs, and each SS is associated with a CORESET configuration. An SS is defined based on an SS configuration, and the SS configuration may include the following information / fields.

[0110] -searchSpaceId: Indicates the ID of the SS.

[0111] -controlResourceSetId: Indicates the CORESET associated with SS.

[0112] -monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset: Indicates the periodicity (in slots) and offset (in slots) of the PDCCH monitoring.

[0113] -monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot: Indicates the first OFDM symbol used for PDCCH monitoring in the slot configured for PDCCH monitoring. The first OFDM symbol used for PDCCH monitoring is indicated by a bitmap of individual bits corresponding to OFDM symbols in the slot. The MSB of the bitmap corresponds to the first OFDM symbol in the slot. The OFDM symbol corresponding to the bit set to 1 corresponds to the first symbol of the CORESET in the slot.

[0114] -nrofCandidates: Indicates the number of PDCCH candidates for each AL (one of the values ​​0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8), where AL = {1, 2, 4, 8, 16}.

[0115] -searchSpaceType: Indicates the DCI format used in CSS or USS and the corresponding SS type.

[0116] Subsequently, the BS can generate a PDCCH and send it to the UE (S506), and the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates in one or more SSs to receive / detect the PDCCH (S508). The timing when the UE monitors the PDCCH candidates (e.g., time / frequency resources) is defined as the PDCCH (monitoring) timing. One or more PDCCH (monitoring) timings can be configured in a time slot.

[0117] Table 3 shows the characteristics of each SS.

[0118] [Table 3]

[0119]

[0120] Table 4 shows the DCI format transmitted on the PDCCH.

[0121] [Table 4]

[0122]

[0123] DCI format 0_0 can be used to schedule PUSCH based on TB (or TB level), and DCI format 0_1 ​​can be used to schedule PUSCH based on TB (or TB level) or PUSCH based on code block group (CBG) (or CBG level). DCI format 1_0 can be used to schedule PDSCH based on TB (or TB level), and DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule PDSCH based on TB (or TB level) or PDSCH based on CBG (or CBG level) (or DL-licensed DCI). DCI formats 0_0 / 0_1 can be referred to as UL-licensed DCI or UL scheduling information, and DCI formats 1_0 / 1_1 can be referred to as DL-licensed DCI or DL ​​scheduling information. DCI format 2_0 is used to transmit dynamic slot format information (e.g., dynamic slot format indicator (SFI)) to the UE, and DCI format 2_1 is used to transmit DL preemption information to the UE. DCI formats 2_0 and / or DCI format 2_1 can be transmitted to the corresponding group of UEs on the group common PDCCH (PDCCH pointing to a group of UEs).

[0124] DCI formats 0_0 and 1_0 can be referred to as fallback DCI formats, while DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 can be referred to as non-fallback DCI formats. In fallback DCI formats, the DCI size / field configuration remains the same regardless of the UE configuration. Conversely, in non-fallback DCI formats, the DCI size / field configuration varies depending on the UE configuration.

[0125] The CCE to REG mapping type is configured as either an interleaved CCE to REG type or a non-interleaved CCE to REG type.

[0126] - Non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping (or local CCE to REG mapping) Figure 5 ): The 6 REGs used for a given CCE are grouped into a REG bundle, and all REGs used for a given CCE are adjacent. One REG bundle corresponds to one CCE.

[0127] - Interleaved CCE to REG mapping (or distributed CCE to REG mapping) Figure 6 ): Two, three, or six REGs for a given CCE are grouped into a REG bundle, and the REG bundles are interleaved within the CORESET. In a CORESET containing one or two OFDM symbols, the REG bundle consists of two or six REGs, and in a CORESET containing three OFDM symbols, the REG bundle consists of three or six REGs. The REG bundle size is set based on the CORESET.

[0128] Figure 6 This illustrates an exemplary PDSCH reception and ACK / NACK transmission process. (Refer to...) Figure 6 The UE can detect the PDCCH in time slot #n. The PDCCH includes DL scheduling information (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1) and indicates the DL assignment to the PDSCH offset K0 and the PDSCH-HARQ-ACK reporting offset K1. For example, DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1 may include the following information.

[0129] - Frequency domain resource assignment: Indicates the set of RBs allocated to the PDSCH.

[0130] - Time Domain Resource Assignment: Indicates the starting position of the PDSCH in K0 (e.g., time slot offset), time slot #n+K0 (e.g., OFDM symbol index), and the duration of the PDSCH (e.g., the number of OFDM symbols). As mentioned above, the row index of the pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationList, provided in a UE-common or UE-specific manner, may be indicated by the TDRA field.

[0131] -PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timer indicator: Indicates K1.

[0132] - HARQ process ID (4 bits): The HARQ process ID that indicates the data (e.g., PDSCH or TB).

[0133] -PUCCH Resource Indicator (PRI): Indicates the PUCCH resource to be used for UCI transmission among multiple PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set.

[0134] After receiving the PDSCH in time slot #(n+K0) according to the scheduling information of time slot #n, the UE can send a UCI on the PUCCH in time slot #(n+K1). The UCI may include a HARQ-ACK response to the PDSCH. For convenience, Figure 5 The assumption that the SCS of the PDSCH is equal to the SCS of the PUCCH and that slot #n1 = slot #(n+K0) should not be construed as limiting this disclosure. When the SCSs are different, K1 can be indicated / interpreted based on the SCS of the PUCCH.

[0135] When the PDSCH is configured to carry a maximum of one TB, the HARQ-ACK response can be configured in one bit. When the PDSCH is configured to carry a maximum of two TBs, the HARQ-ACK response can be configured in 2 bits if spatial bundling is not configured, and in 1 bit if spatial bundling is configured. When slot #(n+K1) is designated as the timing for HARQ-ACK transmissions of multiple PDSCHs, the UCI transmitted in slot #(n+K1) includes HARQ-ACK responses for multiple PDSCHs.

[0136] Whether a UE should perform spatial binding in response to a HARQ-ACK response can be configured for each cell group (e.g., via RRC / higher-layer signaling). For example, spatial binding can be configured for individual HARQ-ACK responses sent on the PUCCH and / or on the PUSCH.

[0137] Spatial binding is supported when up to two (or more) TBs (or codewords) can be received at once in the corresponding serving cell (which may be scheduled by a single DCI) (e.g., when the higher-layer parameter maxNrofCodeWordsScheduledByDCI indicates 2 TBs). More than four layers can be used for 2TB of transmission, and up to four layers can be used for 1TB of transmission. As a result, when spatial binding is configured for a corresponding cell group, spatial binding can be performed for serving cells within the cell group that can be scheduled for more than four layers. A UE wishing to send a HARQ-ACK response via spatial binding can generate a HARQ-ACK response by performing a (bit-wise) logical AND operation on the A / N bits of multiple TBs.

[0138] For example, suppose a UE receives a DCI that schedules two TBs and receives the two TBs on the PDSCH based on the DCI. The UE performing spatial bundling can generate a single A / N bit by performing a logical AND operation between the first A / N bit of the first TB and the second A / N bit of the second TB. As a result, when both the first TB and the second TB are ACK, the UE reports the ACK bit value to the BS, and when at least one TB is NACK, the UE reports the NACK bit value to the BS.

[0139] For example, when only one TB is actually scheduled in a serving cell configured to receive two TBs, the UE can generate a single A / N bit by performing a logical AND operation on the A / N bit and bit value 1 of a TB. As a result, the UE reports the A / N bit of one TB to the BS.

[0140] Multiple parallel DL HARQ processes exist at the BS / UE for DL ​​transmission. While the BS awaits HARQ feedback indicating the success or failure of a previous DL transmission, multiple parallel HARQ processes allow for continuous DL transmission. Each HARQ process is associated with a HARQ buffer in the Media Access Control (MAC) layer. Each DL HARQ process manages status variables such as the number of MAC Physical Data Unit (PDU) transmissions, HARQ feedback to MAC PDUs in the buffer, and the current redundancy version. Each HARQ process is identified by a HARQ process ID.

[0141] Figure 7 An exemplary PUSCH transmission process is shown. (Refer to...) Figure 7 The UE can detect the PDCCH in time slot #n. The PDCCH includes DL scheduling information (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or 1_1). DCI format 1_0 or 1_1 may include the following information.

[0142] - Frequency domain resource assignment: Indicates the set of RBs assigned to PUSCH.

[0143] - Time-domain resource assignment: Indicates the slot offset K2 and the start position (e.g., OFDM symbol index) and duration (e.g., number of OFDM symbols) of the PUSCH within the slot. The start symbol and length of the PUSCH can be indicated by the start and length indicator value (SLIV) or separately.

[0144] Then, the UE can send the PUSCH in time slot #(n+K2) according to the scheduling information in time slot #n. The PUSCH includes the UL-SCH TB.

[0145] paging

[0146] The network can (i) access UEs in the RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED states via paging messages, and (ii) notify UEs in the RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED states of system information changes and Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System / Commercial Mobile Alarm System (ETWS / CMAS) notifications via short messages. Both paging messages and short messages are transmitted on a P-RNTI-based PDCCH. Paging messages are transmitted on a logical channel (Paging Control Channel (PCCH)), while short messages are transmitted directly on the physical channel PDCCH. Because the logical channel PCCH is mapped to the physical channel PDSCH, paging messages can be understood as being scheduled on a P-RNTI-based PDCCH basis.

[0147] While the UE remains in the RRC_IDLE state, the UE monitors the paging channel and initiates paging through the core network (CN). In the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE also monitors the paging channel and initiates paging through the radio access network (RAN). The UE does not need to continuously monitor the paging channel. Discontinuous paging reception (DRX) is defined as the UE in either the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state monitoring the paging channel only during one paging opportunity (PO) per DRX cycle. The paging DRX cycle is configured by the network as follows.

[0148] 1) When CN initiates paging, broadcast the default loop in the system information.

[0149] 2) When paging is initiated by CN, configure a specific loop for UE via NAS signaling.

[0150] 3) When the RAN initiates signaling, configure a UE-specific cycle via RRC signaling.

[0151] Because all POs used for CN-initiated signaling and RAN-initiated signaling of a UE are based on the same UE ID, the two POs overlap. The number of POs in the DRX cycle can be set through system information, and the network can assign UEs to POs based on their IDs.

[0152] When the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE monitors the paging channel SI change indication and PWS notification in each PO notified by system information signaling. In Bandwidth Adaptation (BA), the RRC_CONNECTED UE only monitors the paging channel in the active BWP where the configured CSS is located.

[0153] In shared spectrum channel access, additional PDCCH monitoring opportunities can be configured in the UE's PO for paging monitoring. However, when the UE detects a P-RNTI-based PDCCH transmission in its PO, the UE does not need to monitor subsequent PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the PO.

[0154] To reduce power consumption, the UE can use DRX in RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states. The UE monitors one PO per DRX cycle. A PO is a collection of PDCCH monitoring opportunities and may include multiple time slots (e.g., subframes or OFDM symbols) that can transmit paging DCI. A paging frame (PF) is a radio frame and may include one or more POs or the start of one or more POs.

[0155] In multi-beam operation, the UE assumes that the same paging message and the same short message are repeated in all transmission beams. The paging message is identical for both RAN-initiated and CN-initiated paging.

[0156] Upon receiving a paging request from the RAN, the UE initiates an RRC connection restoration procedure. When receiving a paging request from the CN while in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE transitions to the RRC_IDL state and notifies the NAS of the CN's paging request.

[0157] The PF and PO used for paging are determined as follows:

[0158] -PF's SFN is determined by the following formula:

[0159] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N)

[0160] - The index i_s that indicates the index of PO is determined by the following formula:

[0161] i_s = floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns

[0162] The following parameters can be used to calculate PF and i_s above.

[0163] -T: UE's DRX cycle (T is determined by the minimum of the UE-specific DRX value (if configured by RRC and / or upper layers) and the default DRX value broadcast in the system information. In RRC_IDLE state, if the UE-specific DRX is not configured by the upper layer, the default value is applied).

[0164] -N: Total number of paging frames in T

[0165] -Ns: Number of POs in PF

[0166] -PF_offset: The offset used to determine PF.

[0167] -UE_ID: 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024

[0168] WUS (Wake-up Signal) / PEI (Early Paging Indication)

[0169] In LTE Rel-15 NB-IoT and MTC, a Wake-up Signal (WUS) is introduced to save UE power. A WUS is a signal that pre-indicates the presence of an actual paging transmission in a paging service block (SS) at a specific location. When the service block (BS) wants to send a paging signal in a point of origin (PO) at a specific location, the BS can send a WUS at the WUS transmission location associated with the PO. The UE monitors the WUS transmission locations associated with the PO at the specific location. If a WUS at a WUS transmission location is detected, the UE can expect to send a paging signal in the PO; if a WUS at a WUS transmission location is not detected, the UE can not expect a paging signal in the PO. This operation can achieve power saving gains. In LTE Rel-16 NB-IoT and MTC, UE group WUS is introduced to increase the power saving gains of Rel-15 WUS. By using the WUS transmission location and sequence determined based on the UE's UE group ID, UE group WUS can advantageously reduce the probability of unnecessary UE wake-ups.

[0170] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating WUS in an LTE system. (See reference...) Figure 8In MTC and NB-IoT, WUS can be used to reduce power consumption associated with paging monitoring. WUS is a physical layer signal that, based on cell configuration, indicates whether the UE should monitor paging signals (e.g., MPDCCH / NPDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI). For a UE without eDRX configured (i.e., only DRX configured), WUS can be associated with one PO (N=1). Conversely, for a UE with eDRX configured, WUS can be associated with one or more POs (N≥1). When WUS is detected, the UE can monitor N POs after associating with WUS. When WUS is not detected, the UE can maintain a sleep mode until the next WUS monitoring by skipping PO monitoring. The UE can receive WUS configuration information from the BS and monitor WUS based on the WUS configuration information. WUS configuration information may include, for example, the maximum WUS duration, the number of consecutive POs associated with WUS, and gap information. The maximum WUS duration may refer to the maximum time period for which WUS can be transmitted and may be expressed as a ratio to the maximum number of repetitions (e.g., Rmax) associated with the PDCCH (e.g., MPDCCH or NPDCCH). Although the UE can anticipate repeated WUS transmissions within the maximum WUS duration, the actual number of WUS transmissions may be less than the maximum number of WUS transmissions within the maximum WUS duration. For example, for a UE with good coverage, the number of WUS repetitions may be smaller. The resources / opportunities for transmitting WUS within the maximum WUS duration are called WUS resources. WUS resources can be defined as multiple consecutive OFDM symbols × multiple consecutive subcarriers. WUS resources can be defined as multiple consecutive OFDM symbols × multiple consecutive subcarriers in a subframe or time slot. For example, WUS resources can be defined as 14 consecutive OFDM symbols × 12 consecutive subcarriers. When WUS is detected, the UE does not monitor WUS until the first PO associated with the WUS. When no WUS is detected during the maximum WUS duration, the UE does not monitor paging signals in the PO associated with the WUS (or the UE remains in sleep mode).

[0171] In communication systems such as NR, an Early Paging Indication (PEI) (e.g., a sequence-based or DCI-based PEI) can be used to indicate whether the UE should monitor the paging DCI in the PO or whether to provide the paging DCI. When the UE successfully detects the PEI, the UE monitors the paging DCI (and / or the PDSCH carrying the corresponding paging message). When the PEI is not detected, the UE can skip monitoring the paging DCI in the PO.

[0172] UE group and subgroup indication for paging

[0173] In communication systems such as LTE and NR, paging is used to trigger RRC settings, system information modifications, and / or PWS / ETWS notifications. The UE monitors the PDCCH at the location of the PO configured by the BS, and when a DCI scrambled with P-RNTI is detected, it performs the operation indicated by the DCI.

[0174] In LTE Rel-15 NB-IoT and MTC, WUS (Write-Only Message Signal) is introduced to save UE power. WUS is a signal indicating the presence of an actual paging transmission in a PO (Point of Purchase) at a specific location. When the BS (Base Station) wants to send a paging message in a PO at a specific location, the BS can send a WUS at the WUS transmission location associated with the PO. The UE monitors the WUS transmission location associated with the PO at that specific location. When a WUS is detected at the WUS transmission location, the UE can expect to send a paging message in the PO. When the UE fails to detect a WUS at the WUS transmission location, the UE does not expect to send a paging message in the PO. This operation provides power saving gains. In LTE Rel-16 NB-IoT and MTC, UE group WUS is introduced to increase the power saving gains of Rel-15 WUS. The advantage of UE group WUS is that the probability of unnecessary UE wake-ups can be reduced using WUS transmission locations and sequences determined based on the UE's UE group ID.

[0175] In Rel-16 NR, a DCI-based power-saving technique was introduced to support power saving in connected mode. For this purpose, a new DCI format, DCI Format 2-6, was introduced. The UE receives an indication of the location of the bit to be monitored from the BS via DCI Format 2-6 and determines the power-saving operation during the active time period based on the bit information at that location.

[0176] As discussed in Rel-16 NB-IoT and MTC, when an idle / inactive UE monitors a Point of Interest (PO), paging to another UE sharing the same PO may lead to unnecessary wake-ups, increasing UE power consumption. As previously mentioned, although a DCI-based approach has been introduced in the current NR to reduce unnecessary monitoring by connected UEs and thus achieve power saving, the same (or similar) approach still needs to be defined for idle / inactive UEs. Therefore, Rel-17 NR is discussing the introduction of a PEI (Presentation of Partition Indicator) to indicate whether a UE needs to be woken up in the PO for power saving. One of the power-saving effects expected from the PEI is reducing unnecessary UE wake-ups by introducing a UE subgroup indicator.

[0177] Based on the current Rel-16 NR standard, this describes a method for generating multiple UE groups using the UE_ID and distinguishing UE groups by time-domain resources. Specifically, TS 38.304Rel.16 describes UE grouping based on UE_ID, as shown in Table 5 below.

[0178] [Table 5]

[0179]

[0180] Referring to Table 5, each PO can correspond to multiple UEs (i.e., UE groups). Each UE can identify the index i_s of the PO it needs to monitor based on parameters Ns, parameter N, and UE_ID. Parameters Ns and N can refer to parameters determined based on higher-layer signaling (e.g., SIB1).

[0181] In the examples disclosed herein, a UE group can be subdivided into multiple UE subgroups. For example, UE subgroups can be used to further divide each UE group and individually indicate whether to send or receive paging messages. When a UE (before corresponding PO) knows in advance via PEI that there is no paging message to send / receive for its UE subgroup, the UE can skip the PDSCH decoding process used to receive paging messages, thus gaining power saving.

[0182] Typically, as UE subgroups are defined more finely, the power-saving gain through UE subgroups is expected to increase. On the other hand, when transmitting information about UE subgroups in a specific signal or channel, the amount of information to be included in the signal / channel can increase significantly. Therefore, detection / decoding performance may degrade or resource overhead may increase.

[0183] One of the key factors to consider during PEI design is the increased signaling overhead for PEI transmission and reception. The BS needs to transmit the PEI to inform the UE whether to send a paging message. This can lead to additional overhead on the BS side. To address this overhead issue, methods for associating a PEI with multiple POs (e.g., associating a PEI-RNTI with multiple PO indices) are being discussed through the Rel-17 NR standard. When the functionality of a PEI that can be associated with multiple POs (hereinafter referred to as OtoM_PEI) is applied, the BS can indicate whether to send paging messages to multiple UE groups (or POs) via a single PEI, thus expecting a gain in reducing the signaling overhead caused by the PEI. To prevent the UE from unnecessarily monitoring its PO due to paging to another UE group, it may be necessary to add indication information for multiple UE groups to the PEI, resulting in an increase in the amount of signaling / channel information. Furthermore, when providing the functionality of OtoM_PEI along with UE subgroup indications via the PEI, the configuration of the indicated information and the relevant methods for operating the UE should be defined.

[0184] Against this background, a method for configuring information applicable when information regarding OtoM_PEI and UE subgroup indication is provided by PEI and paging DCI, and associated UE operations, are proposed. The proposed method can increase the detection performance of PEI or enhance the effect of saving resources required per transmission by allocating information to be provided via PEI. Furthermore, adaptively configuring a limited amount of information can thus postpone additional resource-saving gains for the UE. Although the proposed method is described below focusing on sending and receiving PEIs that pre-indicate whether to send or receive paging and the sending and receiving operations in the associated PO, this disclosure is not limited to the proposed method, and those skilled in the art will understand that this disclosure generally applies to signals or channels indicating whether to send and receive specific channels and their association with specific channels.

[0185] As examples of applying the methods proposed in this disclosure, they can be used in communication systems such as LTE and NR to pre-send and receive information related to paging transmissions prior to paging transmissions. However, the proposed methods are not limited to the examples described above and can generally be applied to other scheduling methods where the transmission and reception of specific signals / channels can be anticipated, without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.

[0186] BS operation

[0187] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary BS operation to which the method proposed in this disclosure is applicable.

[0188] Reference Figure 9 The BS can generate and send configuration information related to the PEI (FC101). For example, the configuration information can be sent via (at least one) higher-layer signal (e.g., SIB or RRC signaling). Information provided via higher-layer signals may include at least one of information about the UE group, information about the UE subgroup, or information about the PEI-RNTI. At least a portion of the PEI-related configuration information can be provided via SIBx.

[0189] When there is paging information to be sent to a specific UE, the BS can send the PEI (FC102) based on the PEI-related configuration information. The PEI can be a DCI in a specific format, and the DCI can be sent on a PDCCH with a CRC scrambled with PEI-RNTI. When the PEI is configured to correspond to multiple UE groups, the PEI can include information about the UE groups. Furthermore, when the PEI can include information about multiple UE subgroups, the PEI can include all or part of the information about the UE subgroups. For convenience, the information about the UE subgroup included in the PEI can be referred to as UE subgroup A information.

[0190] Subsequently, the BS generates a paging DCI for each UE group (e.g., each UE group paging is indicated by PEI) and transmits the paging DCI on a PDCCH (e.g., a PDCCH with a CRC scrambled by P-RNTI), wherein each PDCCH may be transmitted in a PO configured for each UE group (FC103).

[0191] For example, the PEI can be configured to fully specify the UE subgroup to be paged. For example, the PEI can be configured such that the UE subgroup to be paged is specified only by the UE subgroup A information.

[0192] In another example, the PEI can be configured such that the UE subgroup to be paged is specified by a combination of the PEI and the paging DCI. In this case, the UE subgroup information included in the paging DCI is referred to as UE subgroup B information. When the UE subgroup to be paged is specified only by UE subgroup A information, the UE subgroup B information can be omitted.

[0193] If a paging message (e.g., PDSCH) is available to be sent, the BS may send a paging DCI that includes scheduling information for transmitting the paging message.

[0194] Subsequently, when a paging message is to be sent, the BS can send a PDSCH (FC104) including the paging message based on the scheduling information about the PDSCH sent on the PDCCH. If no paging message is to be sent by the BS, this operation can be skipped.

[0195] UE operation

[0196] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary UE operation to which the method proposed in this disclosure is applicable.

[0197] Reference Figure 10 The UE can receive PEI-related configuration information (FC201) from the BS. For example, the configuration information can be received in at least one higher-layer signal (e.g., SIB or RRC signaling). The information provided via the higher-layer signal may include at least one of information about the UE group, information about the UE subgroup, or information about the PEI-RNTI. At least a portion of the PEI-related configuration information can be provided via SIBx.

[0198] The UE can attempt to detect and receive the PEI based on the received PEI-related configuration information (FC202). The PEI can be a DCI in a specific format, and the DCI can be received via a PDCCH with a CRC scrambled with PEI-RNTI. The UE can perform blind detection based on PEI-RNTI across the PEI search space. In this case, when the PEI is configured to correspond to multiple UE groups, the UE can expect to receive information about the UE groups in the PEI, and the PEI may also include information about multiple UE subgroups.

[0199] Subsequently, when the PEI information at the receiving location of the PEI instructs the UE to perform a receiving operation in the PO corresponding to its UE group, the UE can monitor the PDCCH at the location of the PO for the purpose of detecting the paging DCI (FC203).

[0200] For example, the PEI can be configured to fully specify the UE subgroup to be paged. Alternatively, the PEI can be configured to specify the UE subgroup to be paged only using UE subgroup A information.

[0201] In another example, the PEI can be configured to specify the UE subgroup to be paged via a combination of the PEI and the paging DCI. In this case, the UE subgroup information included in the paging DCI is referred to as UE subgroup B information. For example, the PEI can be configured to specify the UE subgroup to be paged only via UE subgroup A information.

[0202] Subsequently, when the UE is instructed via PDCCH to receive a paging message corresponding to its UE subgroup and to receive scheduling information about the PDSCH used for reception, the UE can expect to receive a PDSCH including the paging message based on the scheduling information about the PDSCH received on the PDCCH (FC204). If no PDSCH transmission for the UE was indicated to the UE in the previous steps, the corresponding operation can be skipped.

[0203] One or more of the following embodiments can be implemented in combination or individually. Some terms, symbols, sequences, etc., can be replaced with other terms, symbols, sequences, etc.

[0204] Although a signal or channel carrying paging-related information (specifically, an indication of whether a paging has been sent) will be described as an example to illustrate the principles of this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the proposed methods are not limited to the purpose of such a physical signal / channel or the information transmitted by such a signal / channel. Therefore, it will be apparent, even without separate description, that the methods proposed in this disclosure are applicable to any type of physical signal / channel and the purpose of the information transmitted by such a signal / channel within the principles of this disclosure.

[0205] Although the principles of this disclosure are described using an NR system as an example, the proposed method is not limited to any particular transmit / receive type in NR unless otherwise stated. Therefore, it is apparent that the proposed method is applicable to any wireless communication transmit / receive architecture within the principles of this disclosure.

[0206] In this disclosure, for ease of description, the following terms are defined and used. The terms defined and used below are intended to aid in understanding this disclosure, and the concepts presented in this disclosure are not limited to these terms.

[0207] In this disclosure, a signal or channel configured to indicate whether to transmit a paging PDCCH / PDSCH in a particular PO is defined as a PEI, and the PEI is described. Although the following description is given in the context of a PEI configured to provide information in the form of DCI, the proposed method can be applied to other types of PEIs (e.g., distinguishing information by sequence) even without separate explanation.

[0208] [Use PEI to indicate both UE group and UE subgroup]

[0209] In this embodiment, the PEI is considered to provide both indication information for UE groups and indication information for UE subgroups. Among the multiple UE subgroups belonging to the indicated UE group, the UEs belonging to the indicated UE subgroup can be expected to receive paging DCIs with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI in the corresponding PO.

[0210] For example, when the PEI is configured as a DCI of a specific format, the DCI used to transmit the PEI (hereinafter referred to as PEIDCI) may include at least one bit field to provide information about the UE group and information about the UE subgroup. For example, there may be separate bit fields for providing information about the UE group and bit fields for providing information about the UE subgroup, or a single bit field (e.g., a bitmap of size equal to the number of UE groups * the number of UE subgroups per UE group) may indicate both information about the UE group and information about the UE subgroup.

[0211] - Proposal 1: Size of the UE group / subgroup indication field in PEIDCI

[0212] The size (number of bits) of the fields included in the PEIDCI can be configured by the BS. The BS can transmit one or more parameters for determining the field size in at least one higher-layer signal, such as the SIB. The size of at least one field included in the PEIDCI (e.g., a variable field size) can be determined based on the higher-layer parameters provided by the BS. In addition to information about the size of the individual fields, the BS can provide the UE with information about the payload size of the PEIDCI via higher-layer signaling.

[0213] For example, when the payload size of PEIDCI is indicated as X, the UE can attempt to detect the DCI size based on X bits (blind detection) with a PDCCH scrambled with a CRC using PEI-RNTI.

[0214] For example, the UE can obtain parameters of the field size through at least one higher-level signaling such as SIB sent by the BS, and determine the size Y of a specific field included in PEIDCI based on these parameters.

[0215] For example, when a UE detects a PDCCH with a CRC scrambled using PEI-RNTI and obtains X bits, the UE can decode the X bits, assuming that the Y bit at a predefined position within the X bits is the UE group / subgroup indicator field. If the UE incorrectly calculates at least one of the X or Y values, the UE may not be able to correctly decode the PEIDCI received from the BS, resulting in the inability to send and receive paging messages. Therefore, the UE and BS need to reach a consensus on the PEIDCI payload size and field size.

[0216] Examples of this disclosure may include a field providing information about UE groups (hereinafter referred to as the UE group indication field) as one of the bit fields with a configurable field size. The size of the configurable UE group indication field may be determined based on the mapping relationship between PEIs and POs. For example, the size of the UE group indication field may be determined based on the number of POs associated with a PEI. In other words, the relationship between PEIs and POs may be determined by the number of POs that a PEI can indicate (i.e., the number of UE groups that can be distinguished by the information included in the PEI). For example, when a PEI includes information that can distinguish M UE groups (M>1), the size of the UE group indication field may be set to M bits, and the UE group indication field may be given in the form of a bitmap, where each bit corresponds to a different UE group. The number M of POs associated with a PEI may be determined based on the SIBs sent by the BS. When the bit mapped to the PO (UE group) in the above example has a value of 1, a paging procedure may be performed in the PO belonging to the UE group; when the bit has a value of 0, a paging procedure may not be performed in the PO.

[0217] In another example, when a PEI is configured to include information corresponding to only one UE group, the size of the UE group indication field in the PEI is 0 bits, or even if the size of the UE group indication field is 1 bit, it can be specified that the UE group indication field is not used for the purpose of indicating the UE group (or for other purposes).

[0218] The advantage of this method is that it prevents unnecessary increases in the overhead of PEIDCI while ensuring the scheduling flexibility of BS to adjust the relationship between PEI and PO according to network conditions.

[0219] In addition, the field that provides information about the UE subgroup (hereinafter referred to as the UE group indication field) can be one of the configurable bit fields. Specifically, one of the following options 1-1-1, 1-1-2, and 1-1-3 can be applied.

[0220] Option 1-1-1) The size of the UE subgroup indication field can be determined based on the number of UE subgroups configured by the higher-layer signals. For example, the size of the UE subgroup indication field can be configured independently by a separately specified parameter. This can be advantageous in terms of scheduling flexibility, allowing the BS to adjust the PEIDCI payload considering the network environment and the UE's power efficiency.

[0221] Option 1-1-2) The total number of bits included in the UE subgroup indication field and the UE group indication field can always be set to a constant. For example, the bit size available to represent the two fields is N. total In such cases, it can be stipulated that when the size of the UE group indication field is indicated as M bits via higher-layer signals, the size of the UE subgroup indication field is determined to be N bits. total -M bits. This method offers the advantage of flexibility, allowing the BS to control the information provided through PEI by taking into account the network environment and the power efficiency of the UE, while maintaining the PEIDCI payload at a constant size.

[0222] Option 1-1-3) The size of the UE subgroup indication field can be set to increase proportionally to the number of UE groups that can be indicated by PEIDCI. For example, when the number of UE subgroups per UE group that can be distinguished by PEI increases from N... perGroup This indicates that when M UE groups can be distinguished by PEI, M*N perGroup Bits can be used to indicate UE subgroups. When using this method, a UE subgroup indication field in PEIDCI provides UE group information and UE subgroup indication functionality, while non-UE group indication fields are configured separately from the UE subgroup indication field in PEIDCI. This ensures that the smallest granularity level or higher used to distinguish the UE subgroup indications provided for each UE group is independent of the number of UE groups that can be distinguished by PEI.

[0223] Figure 14 This shows an exemplary configuration of the UE subgroup indication field according to option 1-1-3. (Refer to...) Figure 14 The UE subgroup indication field in the PEI is associated with M POs (e.g., M UE groups), and a PO includes N perGroup There are N UE subgroups. For example, for all POs, the number of UE subgroups per PO can be set to an equal number of N. perGroupThe UE subgroup indicator field can be in the form of a variable-size bitmap, as a bit field included in the PEI. The UE should determine the size of the variable-size UE subgroup indicator field to interpret (process, decode, and parse) the various fields included in the PEI. The UE can determine the number M of UE groups from higher-layer signaling information (e.g., SBI1) received from the BS. The UE can determine the number N of UE subgroups per PO based on the higher-layer signaling information received from the BS. perGroup The number of UE groups M and the number of UE subgroups N perGroup Each of these can be indicated by a separate higher-level signaling, or it can be associated with the same higher-level signaling. For example, the UE can determine the number of UE groups M and the number of UE subgroups N separately. perGroup And the size of the UE subgroup indication field is determined to be M*N perGroup Bits. For example, the UE can assume that Y (=M*N) out of the total X bits included in the PEI. perGroup The ) bit is the UE subgroup indicator field used to decode / process / interpret the PEI. A constraint can be imposed that Y does not exceed X. For example, the number of UE groups and the number of UE subgroups can be determined / limited to make (M, M*N) possible. perGroup The number of combinations does not exceed X bits. The UE can identify M*N based on the UE group #i and UE subgroup #k to which the UE belongs. perGroup The bits that correspond to the UE. For example, the UE may determine that it includes M*N. perGroup The (i*k)th bit in the bitmap is the bit corresponding to the UE. When the corresponding bit has a first value (e.g., 0), assuming there will be no paging for the UE subgroup to which the UE belongs, the UE can skip paging PDCCH / PDSCH monitoring. When the corresponding bit has a second value (e.g., 1), the UE monitors the paging PDCCH with P-RNTI in PO#i. When the result of monitoring and detecting the paging PDCCH is a UE-scheduled paging message, the UE receives the PDSCH.

[0224] Option 1-1-4) The size of the total UE subgroup indicator field can always be set to remain the same, and the size of the UE subgroup indicator field for each UE group can be set to be inversely proportional to the total number of UE groups whose information can be distinguished by PEIDCI. For example, when the bit size available to represent the UE subgroup indicator field is N... total Furthermore, when M UE groups can be distinguished by higher-layer signals via PEIDCI, N can be divided as evenly as possible among the M UE groups. total Bits (e.g., to make the UE subgroup indication field assigned to each UE group N) total / M bits). When using this method, the UE subgroup indication field can provide UE group information through a function that includes the UE group indication field, rather than configuring the UE group indication field separately in PEIDCI. This is advantageous because it provides flexibility, allowing the BS to control the information provided through PEI taking into account the network environment and the power efficiency of the UE, while the PEIDCI payload is configured to maintain a constant size.

[0225] - Proposal 2: Include information in the UE subgroup indication field of PEIDCI

[0226] The fields of PEIDCI may include fields that provide information about UE subgroups (hereinafter referred to as UE subgroup indication fields). Examples of this disclosure may include methods for interpreting the information in the UE subgroup indication field when both the UE group indication field and the UE subgroup indication field are present in the PEIDCI. As a specific method, one of options 1-2-1 and 1-2-2 below may be applied.

[0227] Option 1-2-1) When the size of the UE subgroup indication field is N bits, UEs in a UE group monitored by the PEIDCI can be configured to always be expected to be divided into N UE subgroup information. When configuring the UE group indication field in the PEIDCI, it can be specified that all UE groups monitored by the same PEIDCI share the N-bit UE subgroup indication field.

[0228] Option 1-2-2) When the size of the UE subgroup indication field is N bits, and the number of UE groups monitored by the PO via PEIDCI is M act At that time, it can be targeted at M act The UE subgroup indicator field of the same PEIDCI is divided as evenly as possible among each UE group. For example, the UE subgroup indicator corresponding to each UE group can be assigned N / M. act Bit-based indication. The advantage of this method is that, when multiple UE groups are indicated by PEIDCI, different UE subgroup indication information can be provided to different UE groups, and the fewer the number of indicated UE groups, the more granular the UE subgroup indication can be provided. Therefore, favorable effects can be expected when low paging probabilities are anticipated. Figure 11 This illustrates an example of applying the proposed method when four POs correspond to one PEI, the UE group indication field is 4 bits in size, and the UE subgroup indication field is 8 bits in size. Figure 11 In example (a), PO monitoring is indicated only for one UE group via PEI, therefore all 8 bits are used for the UE subgroup indication of UE group 1. Figure 11 In example (b), PO monitoring is indicated for two UE groups, so 4 bits are allocated to each UE group.

[0229] Proposal 3: Provide SMS messages based on UE group indication field and UE subgroup indication field

[0230] In NR, besides scheduling paging messages, paging DCI can also be used to provide short message information. Therefore, UEs expected to receive short messages and paging messages should be provided with the option to receive notifications from the PEI regarding whether a PO is being monitored. When the PEI includes UE group indication information and UE subgroup indication information, the simplest approach is to indicate PO monitoring for all UE groups and UE subgroups. However, when including short messages that can be repeatedly indicated during the modification period (e.g., SI change notifications), the UE may not expect the gain from repeated transmission of short messages during the modification period. To address this issue, when the PEIDCI includes UE group indication fields and / or UE subgroup indication fields, a method is proposed to indicate short message-related operations to the UE through these fields.

[0231] In the examples disclosed herein, when the UE subgroup indication field is included in the PEIDCI and all UE subgroup indication fields indicate sleep operation (i.e., in the absence of a UE subgroup indicating PO monitoring via PEI), the UE can expect to send only short messages without scheduling paging messages at the location of the PO corresponding to the PEIDCI. Furthermore, when the PEIDCI can indicate PO monitoring to multiple UE groups, short message-only operation can only be indicated if the information provided by the UE subgroup indication field (i.e., information indicating sleep for all UE subgroups) is satisfied for all UE groups corresponding to the PEI. The advantage of this is that since the PEI indicating sleep for all UE subgroups is unnecessary information for paging message scheduling, short message-only operation can be indicated without affecting paging message scheduling. Moreover, when the UE can expect short message-only operation at the location of the PO, the UE does not need to prepare to receive PDSCH, thus power saving gains can be expected.

[0232] In the proposed method, where the operation of indicating sleep by all UE subgroup indication fields of PEIDCI is applied to cases indicating only short messages, when the UE group indication field is included in PEIDCI, the UE group indication field of PEIDCI can be used to indicate the location of the PO where the UE is expected to receive short messages. For example, when the UE subgroup indication field of PEIDCI indicates short message only information, and the UE group indication field indicates PO monitoring to M1 out of M UE groups, the UE can expect to receive short message only paging DCI at the location of the PO corresponding to the indicated M1 UE groups. The UE can attempt to detect paging DCI at the location of the PO in another UE group for short message reception, even if the PO does not correspond to its UE group. This method can be beneficial in providing information to allow all UE groups expected to receive PEI to receive short messages, even if the BS skips paging PDCCH transmission at some PO locations depending on network conditions.

[0233] [Two-step UE subgroup instruction]

[0234] A UE subgroup indication is a method for indicating information about the UE to be received before the PDSCH is received. The UE subgroup indication can be provided via a signal or channel transmitted before the UE decodes the scheduled PDSCH. The following considers the case where UE subgroup indication information is transmitted via PEI and paging PDCCH. Furthermore, a structure using both PEI and paging PDCCH to transmit and receive UE subgroup indication information is considered. By way of characteristics, the examples of this disclosure propose a method to provide more detailed UE subgroup information than that which can be provided by a single signal / channel by combining the information from PEI and the information carried by the paging PDCCH into a UE subgroup indication. For ease of description, the UE subgroup information provided by PEI is defined as Info-A, and the UE subgroup information provided by paging PDCCH is defined as Info-B.

[0235] Proposal 4: Provide independent information from Info-A and Info-B.

[0236] In the examples disclosed herein, let the entire set of UE_IDs that can be included in a UE group be represented by Set_UE_group. Then, all UE_IDs included in Set_UE_group can undergo UE subgrouping in Info-A and Info-B. In the proposed method, UE subgrouping can be performed independently in Info-A and Info-B based on different criteria. This means that UE_IDs included in the same UE subgroup in Info-A can be included in different UE subgroups in Info-B. For example, when M1 UE subgroups are formed in Info-A and M2 UE subgroups are included in Info-B, the UE subgroup index for a particular UE_ID for a particular UE group can be determined by the following formula: In the following formula, i_A represents the index of the UE subgroup expected by the UE in PEI, and i_B represents the index of the UE subgroup expected by the UE in paging PDCCH. Equation 1 below is an example used to describe the operation of this disclosure, and the same effect can be expected even if the order of i_A and i_B is changed (i.e., even if the formula for i_B is applied to PEI and the formula for i_B is applied to paging PDCCH).

[0237] [Formula 1]

[0238] i_A=floor(UE_ID / (N*Ns))mod M1

[0239] i_B = floor(UE_ID / (N*Ns*M2))

[0240] Figure 12 Examples of applying the proposed method are shown. Figure 12In the example, although the UE_ID included in the UE group is represented as a consecutive number {0,1,2,...7}, and the value N = Ns = 1 is arbitrarily chosen, for the sake of convenience, the proposal of this disclosure is not limited to this example. Figure 12 As shown in the example, Info-A and Info-B have different types of UE subgroups, and all UE_IDs included in the UE group can be distinguished between Info-A and Info-B.

[0241] When the BS indicates that a paging message should be received for a specific UE_ID, the BS can send a PEI and a paging PDCCH by representing the UE subgroup including the specific UE_ID in each of Info-A and Info-B. The UE can receive Info-A and Info-B in the PEI and paging PDCCH respectively. When its UE subgroup information is identified in both Info-A and Info-B, the UE can expect to receive the paging message and perform a receive operation on the scheduled PDSCH. If the UE successfully receives the PEI in Info-A of the detected PEI but fails to receive the paging message reception indication corresponding to its UE_ID, the UE can not expect to receive the paging message. If the UE successfully receives the paging PDCCH in Info-B of the detected paging PDCCH but fails to receive the paging message reception indication corresponding to its UE_ID, the UE can not expect to receive the paging message. For example, in Figure 12 In the example, UE_ID#4 is included in the UE subgroup (masked) that should receive paging messages in both Info-A and Info-B. When the UE successfully receives both the PEI and the paging PDCCH, the UE can expect to receive the paging message. Conversely, in Figure 12 In the example, although the UE with UE_ID#0 identifies the UE subgroup index to which the paging message is destined via PEI, the UE is excluded during the paging PDCCH reception step. Therefore, the UE may not expect to receive the paging message.

[0242] The proposed method offers advantageous benefits because it provides the UE subgroup benefits even if the UE does not receive the PEI. During PEI-supported paging, the BS can skip PEI transmissions, and the UE may fail to receive the PEI even though the BS sends it. Examples of these scenarios include (1) when the UE's default operation is configured to monitor the associated PO when it fails to receive the PEI, (2) when the UE knows the condition that the BS does not transmit the PEI at a specific location, and the UE is allowed to monitor the PO for that condition, or (3) when the UE performs paging PDCCH monitoring autonomously without monitoring the PEI. In essence, when the UE skips PEI reception at a specific location based on one of these conditions and successfully receives the paging PDCCH through paging PDCCH monitoring, the UE can determine whether to receive the PDSCH for receiving paging messages based solely on Info-B. This allows the UE to anticipate UE subgroup information simply by receiving the paging PDCCH when the UE misses the PEI or when the UE can skip PEI reception according to a pre-agreed rule between the UE and the BS. Alternatively, this method can advantageously provide a structure in which the UE can achieve UE sub-packet gain using only the paging PDCCH, even when the UE skips PEI reception considering its circumstances (e.g., power efficiency). For example, in Figure 12 In the example, when a UE with UE_ID#4 and a UE with UE_ID#5 successfully receive the paging PDCCH, the UE can perform a PDSCH receive operation to receive the paging message.

[0243] The method described above provides UE subgroup information in two steps, which is beneficial for distinguishing UE subgroups with detailed classifications. Furthermore, by providing a structure in which the UE can obtain and use partial UE subgroup information even when the UE only receives the paging PDCCH based on the characteristics of the UE and PEI, power-saving effects based on UE subgroups can be expected.

[0244] Although the proposed method has been described above in the context of selecting UE subgroup indices based on UE_ID, it is equally applicable to UE subgroup indications that are not based on UE_ID. For example, a method in which the BS (or its upper-layer nodes) considers some UE characteristic indications to be applied to the indices of UE subgroups Info-A and Info-B (i.e., i_A and / or i_B) can also be used.

[0245] Proposal 5: Determine Info-B based on Info-A

[0246] In the examples disclosed herein, let the entire set of UE_IDs that may be included in a UE group be represented by Set_UE_group. Then, all UE_IDs included in Set_UE_group can be subgrouped in Info-A, and Info-B can be configured based on information about the UE subgroups identified in Info-A. For example, Info-B may provide only UE subgroup information about the UE subgroups that the PO indicates to be monitored in Info-A. For example, when M1 UE subgroups are formed for a specific UE group in Info-A, and information is sent to M1 of the M1 UE subgroups... act When monitoring a UE subgroup indication PO, the UE subgroup indication field transmitting Info-B can be divided into M1. act This area, and this M1 act Each region can be assigned to the corresponding M1. act Each region is a UE subgroup. For example, when the size of the UE subgroup indication field in Info-B is M2 bits, the size of the UE subgroup indication field corresponding to each UE subgroup defined in Info-A in Info-B can be floor(M2 / M1). act ).

[0247] Figure 13 An example of the proposed method is shown. Figure 12 In the example, the structure of the 4-bit UE subgroup indication field can be configured in each of the PEI and paging PDCCH. Figure 13 (a) shows an indication of a UE subgroup via PEI (in Figure 13 In the example, consider the case of UE subgroup A-1. In this case, the UE subgroup indication field of the paging PDCCH can be used entirely to refine the UE_ID belonging to UE subgroup A-1. On the other hand, Figure 13 (b) shows the indication of two UE subgroups via PEI (in Figure 13 In the example, the case of UE subgroups A-1 and A-3. In this case, the UE subgroup indication field of the paging PDCCH can be used to refine the UE_ID by evenly distributing 2 bits to each of the UE subgroups A-1 and A-3.

[0248] According to the proposed method, UE subgroups are indicated in Info-B by further subdividing the UE subgroups defined in Info-A. Therefore, the UE subgroups can be refined in a way that reduces the impact between UE subgroups defined in Info-A. Furthermore, the refinement level for adding UE subgroups is adaptively determined based on the number of indicated UE subgroups, resulting in efficient bit management.

[0249] Figure 15 This is a flowchart illustrating a signal receiving method for a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Because... Figure 15 This is a specific implementation example of the above example, therefore the scope of this disclosure is not limited to... Figure 15 The above description can be used as a reference. Figure 15 .

[0250] Reference Figure 15 The UE can receive PEI-related information (A05) through higher-layer signaling.

[0251] The UE can attempt to detect PEIs (A10) associated with “M” POs based on PEI-related information.

[0252] The UE can determine, based on the detected PEI, whether to perform or skip PDCCH monitoring in a specific PO related to the UE among multiple POs (A15).

[0253] When the UE determines to perform PDCCH monitoring, the UE may receive at least one of the paging DCI carried by the PDCCH or the PDSCH scheduled by the paging DCI (A20).

[0254] Each of the “M” POs is associated with one of the “M” UE groups, and each UE group may include “N” UE subgroups.

[0255] A specific PO associated with a UE can be a PO associated with a specific UE group to which the UE belongs, and the specific UE group can be determined based on the UE_ID assigned to the UE.

[0256] PEI may include a UE subgroup indication field with a variable size.

[0257] Based on the number of UE groups being “M” and the number of UE subgroups per UE group being “N”, the UE can process PEI by assuming that the UE subgroup indication field includes a total of “M*N” bits.

[0258] The UE can determine whether to perform or skip PDCCH monitoring based on the bit value of a specific bit in the total "M*N" bits that is related to the specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs.

[0259] The UE can determine the number of UE groups as “M” and the number of UE subgroups in each UE group as “N” based on PEI-related information received via higher-layer signaling.

[0260] PEI can be a PEI-related DCI that is different from paging DCI.

[0261] At least some of the PEI-related information can be received in the SIB.

[0262] The UE can determine the number of UE groups "M" based on the SIB.

[0263] Based on the identification of the specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs in the paging DCI and PEI, the UE can determine whether to receive PDSCH.

[0264] Based on the fact that a specific UE subgroup to which the UE belongs is identified in the PEI but not in the paging DCI, the UE can determine that it will not receive the PDSCH.

[0265] Paging DCI may include UE clustering information based on a clustering method different from the UE subgrouping method associated with PEI.

[0266] Based on the fact that the UE belongs to a specific UE cluster indicated by the paging DCI, the UE can determine whether to receive the PDCCH.

[0267] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Because... Figure 16 This is a specific implementation example of the above example, therefore the scope of this disclosure is not limited to... Figure 16 The above description can be used as a reference. Figure 16 .

[0268] The BS can send PEI-related information (B05) via higher-level signaling.

[0269] The BS can send PEI (B10) associated with “M” POs based on PEI-related information.

[0270] The BS can send PDCCH(B15) in a specific PO associated with the first UE among multiple POs.

[0271] Each of the “M” POs can be associated with one of the “M” UE groups, and each UE group can include “N” UE subgroups.

[0272] The specific PO associated with the first UE can be a PO associated with a specific UE group to which the first UE belongs, and the specific UE group can be determined based on the UE_ID assigned to the first UE.

[0273] PEI may include a UE subgroup indication field with a variable size.

[0274] Based on the number of UE groups being “M” and the number of UE subgroups per UE group being “N”, the BS can configure the UE subgroup indication field using a total of “M*N” bits.

[0275] The BS can instruct the first UE to monitor the PDCCH by using the bit value of a specific bit in the total "M*N" bits that is related to the specific UE subgroup to which the first UE belongs.

[0276] The BS can use PEI-related information to signal the first UE that the number of UE groups is "M" and the number of UE subgroups in each UE group is "N".

[0277] The various descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operation flowcharts disclosed herein can be applied to (but are not limited to) various fields where wireless communication / connectivity (e.g., 5G) is required between devices.

[0278] Specific examples will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings / descriptions, unless otherwise indicated, the same reference numerals may denote the same or corresponding hardware blocks, software blocks, or functional blocks.

[0279] Figure 17 A communication system 1 applied to this disclosure is shown.

[0280] Reference Figure 17 The communication system 1 applied to this disclosure includes wireless devices, base stations (BS), and networks. Herein, a wireless device refers to a device that performs communication using a radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G New RAT (NR) or Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and may be referred to as a communication / radio / 5G device. Wireless devices may include (but are not limited to) robots 100a, vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2, extended reality (XR) devices 100c, handheld devices 100d, home appliances 100e, Internet of Things (IoT) devices 100f, and artificial intelligence (AI) devices / servers 400. For example, vehicles may include vehicles with wireless communication capabilities, autonomous vehicles, and vehicles capable of performing communication between vehicles. Herein, vehicles may include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones). XR devices may include augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) / mixed reality (MR) devices, and may take the form of head-mounted displays (HMDs), head-up displays (HUDs) installed in vehicles, televisions, smartphones, computers, wearable devices, home appliances, digital signage, vehicles, robots, etc. Handheld devices may include smartphones, smart tablets, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches or smart glasses) and computers (e.g., laptops). Home appliances may include TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines. IoT devices may include sensors and smart meters. For example, the BS and network may be implemented as wireless devices, and a particular wireless device 200a may operate as a BS / network node relative to other wireless devices.

[0281] Wireless devices 100a to 100f can connect to network 300 via BS200. AI technology can be applied to wireless devices 100a to 100f, and wireless devices 100a to 100f can connect to AI server 400 via network 300. Network 300 can be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, or a 5G (e.g., NR) network. Although wireless devices 100a to 100f can communicate with each other via BS200 / network 300, wireless devices 100a to 100f can perform direct communication with each other (e.g., sidelink communication) without going through the BS / network. For example, vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2 can perform direct communication (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) / vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). IoT devices (e.g., sensors) can perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices 100a to 100f.

[0282] Wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b, or 150c can be established between wireless devices 100a to 100f / BS200 or between BS200 / BS200. In this document, wireless communication / connections can be established via various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink / downlink communication 150a, sidelink communication 150b (or D2D communication), or inter-BS communication (e.g., relay, integrated access backhaul (IAB)). Wireless devices and BS / wireless devices can transmit / receive radio signals to / from each other via wireless communication / connections 150a and 150b. For example, wireless communication / connections 150a and 150b can transmit / receive signals via various physical channels. For this purpose, at least a portion of the configuration information for configuring the process of transmitting / receiving radio signals, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel coding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and resource mapping / demapping), and resource allocation processes can be performed based on various proposals of this disclosure.

[0283] Figure 18 A wireless device applicable to this disclosure is shown.

[0284] Reference Figure 18 The first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200 can transmit radio signals via various RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). In this document, {first wireless device 100 and second wireless device 200} can correspond to... Figure 17 {Wireless Device 100x and BS200} and / or {Wireless Device 100x and Wireless Device 100x}.

[0285] The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and additionally include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processors 102 may control the memories 104 and / or the transceivers 106, and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed herein. For example, the processor 102 may process information in the memory 104 to generate a first information / signal, and then transmit a radio signal including the first information / signal via the transceivers 106. The processor 102 may receive a radio signal including a second information / signal via the transceivers 106, and then store the information obtained by processing the second information / signal in the memory 104. The memory 104 may be connected to the processor 102 and may store various information relating to the operation of the processor 102. For example, the memory 104 may store software code including commands for performing some or all of the processes controlled by the processor 102 or for performing the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed herein. In this document, processor 102 and memory 104 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). Transceiver 106 may be connected to processor 102 and transmit and / or receive radio signals via one or more antennas 108. Each transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. Transceiver 106 may be used interchangeably with a radio frequency (RF) unit. In embodiments of this disclosure, a wireless device may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0286] The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204, and additionally include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processors 202 may control the memories 204 and / or the transceivers 206, and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processors 202 may process information in the memories 204 to generate a third information / signal, and then transmit a radio signal including the third information / signal via the transceivers 206. The processors 202 may receive a radio signal including a fourth information / signal via the transceivers 206, and then store the information obtained by processing the fourth information / signal in the memories 204. The memories 204 may be connected to the processors 202 and may store various information relating to the operation of the processors 202. For example, the memories 204 may store software code including commands for executing some or all of the processes controlled by the processors 202 or for executing the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. In this document, processor 202 and memory 204 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). Transceiver 206 may be connected to processor 202 and transmit and / or receive radio signals via one or more antennas 208. Each transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. Transceiver 206 may be used interchangeably with an RF unit. In embodiments of this disclosure, a wireless device may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0287] The hardware elements of wireless devices 100 and 200 will be described in more detail below. One or more protocol layers may be implemented by (but are not limited to) one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and SDAP). One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more Protocol Data Units (PDUs) and / or one or more Service Data Units (SDUs) according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information, according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document, and provide the generated signals to one or more transceivers 106 and 206. One or more processors 102 and 202 may receive signals (e.g., baseband signals) and acquire PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information from one or more transceivers 106 and 206, according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document.

[0288] One or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. One or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be configured to include modules, processes, or functions. Firmware or software configured to execute the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be included in one or more processors 102 and 202 or stored in one or more memories 104 and 204 to be driven by one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document can be implemented using firmware or software in the form of code, commands, and / or command sets.

[0289] One or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals, messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and / or commands. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured with read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk drive, registers, cache memory, computer-readable storage media, and / or combinations thereof. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be located internally and / or externally to one or more processors 102 and 202. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 via various technologies such as wired or wireless connections.

[0290] One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels mentioned in the methods and / or operation flowcharts of this document to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels mentioned in the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit and receive radio signals. For example, one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform controls to enable one or more transceivers 106 and 206 to transmit user data, control information, or radio signals to one or more other devices. One or more processors 102 and 202 may perform controls to enable one or more transceivers 106 and 206 to receive user data, control information, or radio signals from one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to one or more antennas 108 and 208, and one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels mentioned in the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document via one or more antennas 108 and 208. In this document, one or more antennas may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received radio signals / channels, etc., from RF band signals to baseband signals for processing by one or more processors 102 and 202. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., processed by one or more processors 102 and 202 from baseband signals to RF band signals. For this purpose, one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters.

[0291] Figure 19 Another example of a wireless device applied to this disclosure is shown. The wireless device may vary depending on usage / service (see reference). Figure 17 It can be realized in various forms.

[0292] Reference Figure 19 Wireless devices 100 and 200 can correspond to Figure 18The wireless devices 100 and 200 are configured with various elements, components, units / parts, and / or modules. For example, each of the wireless devices 100 and 200 may include a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a memory unit (memory) 130, and additional components 140. The communication unit may include a communication circuit 112 and a transceiver 114. For example, the communication circuit 112 may include... Figure 18 One or more processors 102 and 202 and / or one or more memories 104 and 204. For example, transceiver 114 may include Figure 18 The device comprises one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and / or one or more antennas 108 and 208. Control unit 120 is electrically connected to communication unit 110, memory 130, and add-on components 140, and controls the overall operation of the wireless device. For example, control unit 120 may control the electrical / mechanical operation of the wireless device based on programs / code / commands / information stored in memory unit 130. Control unit 120 may transmit information stored in memory unit 130 to an external source (e.g., other communication devices) via communication unit 110 through a wireless / wired interface, or store information received from an external source (e.g., other communication devices) via communication unit 110 in memory unit 130 via a wireless / wired interface.

[0293] The additional component 140 can be configured differently depending on the type of wireless device. For example, the additional component 140 may include at least one of a power supply unit / battery, an input / output (I / O) unit, a drive unit, and a computing unit. The wireless device may be configured according to (but is not limited to) a robot. Figure 17 100a), vehicles ( Figure 17 100b-1 and 100b-2), XR device ( Figure 17 100c), handheld device ( Figure 17 100d), home appliances ( Figure 17 100e), IoT devices ( Figure 17 100f), digital broadcasting terminals, holographic devices, public safety devices, MTC devices, medical devices, fintech devices (or financial devices), security devices, climate / environmental devices, AI servers / devices ( Figure 17 400), BS ( Figure 17 This can be achieved through 200 network nodes, etc. Wireless devices can be used in mobile or fixed locations depending on the use case / service.

[0294] exist Figure 19In wireless devices 100 and 200, all elements, components, units / parts, and / or modules may be interconnected via wired interfaces, or at least a portion thereof may be wirelessly connected via communication unit 110. For example, in each of wireless devices 100 and 200, control unit 120 and communication unit 110 may be wired connected, and control unit 120 and first units (e.g., 130 and 140) may be wirelessly connected via communication unit 110. The various elements, components, units / parts, and / or modules within wireless devices 100 and 200 may also include one or more elements. For example, control unit 120 may be configured as a collection of one or more processors. As an example, control unit 120 may be configured as a collection of communication control processors, application processors, electronic control units (ECUs), graphics processing units, and memory control processors. As another example, memory 130 may be configured as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and / or combinations thereof.

[0295] Figure 20 The illustration shows a vehicle or autonomous vehicle applicable to this disclosure. The vehicle or autonomous vehicle may be a mobile robot, car, train, manned / unmanned aerial vehicle (AV), vessel, etc.

[0296] Reference Figure 20 The vehicle or autonomous vehicle 100 may include an antenna unit (antenna) 108, a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a drive unit 140a, a power supply unit 140b, a sensor unit 140c, and an autonomous driving unit 140d. The antenna unit 108 may be configured as part of the communication unit 110. Blocks 110 / 130 / 140a to 140d respectively correspond to... Figure 19 Blocks 110 / 130 / 140.

[0297] Communication unit 110 can send and receive signals (e.g., data and control signals) to and from external devices such as other vehicles, BSs (e.g., gNBs and roadside units), and servers. Control unit 120 can perform various operations by controlling the components of the vehicle or autonomous vehicle 100. Control unit 120 may include an electronic control unit (ECU). Drive unit 140a enables the vehicle or autonomous vehicle 100 to move on a road. Drive unit 140a may include an engine, motor, powertrain, wheels, brakes, steering mechanism, etc. Power supply unit 140b can supply power to the vehicle or autonomous vehicle 100 and includes wired / wireless charging circuitry, battery, etc. Sensor unit 140c can acquire vehicle status, surrounding environment information, user information, etc. Sensor unit 140c may include inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors, collision sensors, wheel sensors, speed sensors, slope sensors, weight sensors, heading sensors, position modules, vehicle forward / reverse sensors, battery sensors, fuel sensors, tire sensors, steering sensors, temperature sensors, depth sensors, ultrasonic sensors, lighting sensors, pedal position sensors, etc. Autonomous driving unit 140d can implement technologies for maintaining the vehicle within its lane, technologies for automatically adjusting speed (e.g., adaptive cruise control), technologies for autonomously driving along a determined path, and technologies for automatically setting a route if a destination is set, etc.

[0298] For example, communication unit 110 can receive map data, traffic information data, etc., from an external server. Autonomous driving unit 140d can generate an autonomous driving path and driving plan from the acquired data. Control unit 120 can control drive unit 140a, enabling the vehicle or autonomous vehicle 100 to move along the autonomous driving path according to the driving plan (e.g., speed / direction control). During autonomous driving, communication unit 110 can periodically or non-periodically acquire recent traffic information data from an external server and acquire surrounding traffic information data from neighboring vehicles. During autonomous driving, sensor unit 140c can acquire vehicle status and / or surrounding environment information. Autonomous driving unit 140d can update the autonomous driving path and driving plan based on newly acquired data / information. Communication unit 110 can transmit information about vehicle location, autonomous driving path, and / or driving plan to an external server. The external server can predict traffic information data using AI technology, etc., based on information collected from the vehicle or autonomous vehicle, and provide the predicted traffic information data to the vehicle or autonomous vehicle.

[0299] Figure 21 This is a diagram illustrating the DRX operation of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0300] The UE can perform DRX operation within the procedures and / or methods described / presented above. A UE configured with DRX can reduce power consumption by discontinuously receiving DL signals. DRX can be performed in the RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED states. The UE performs DRX in the RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states to receive paging signals discontinuously. DRX in the RRC_CONNECTED state (RRC_CONNECTED DRX) will be described below.

[0301] Reference Figure 21 The DRX cycle includes an on-duration period and a DRX opportunity. The DRX cycle defines the time interval between periodic repetitions of the on-duration period. The on-duration period is the time period during which the UE monitors the PDCCH. When the UE is configured with DRX, the UE performs PDCCH monitoring during the on-duration period. When the UE successfully detects a PDCCH during the PDCCH monitoring period, the UE starts an inactivity timer and remains awake. Conversely, when the UE fails to detect any PDCCH during the PDCCH monitoring period, the UE transitions to a sleep state after the on-duration period. Therefore, when DRX is configured, PDCCH monitoring / reception can be performed discontinuously in the time domain within the processes and / or methods described / presented above. For example, when DRX is configured, the PDCCH reception opportunity (e.g., a time slot with a PDCCH SS) can be configured discontinuously according to the DRX configuration in embodiments of this disclosure. Conversely, when DRX is not configured, PDCCH monitoring / reception can be performed continuously in the time domain. For example, when DRX is not configured, the PDCCH reception opportunity (e.g., a time slot with a PDCCH SS) can be configured continuously in embodiments of this disclosure. Regardless of whether DRX is configured, PDCCH monitoring can be limited during the time period configured as a measurement interval.

[0302] Table 6 describes the DRX operation of the UE (in RRC_CONNECTED state). Referring to Table 6, DRX configuration information is received via higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), and DRX is controlled to be on / off via DRX commands from the MAC layer. Once DRX is configured, the UE can perform PDCCH monitoring discontinuously while executing the procedures and / or methods described / presented above.

[0303] [Table 6]

[0304]

[0305]

[0306] MAC-CellGroupConfig includes the configuration information required to configure MAC parameters for a cell group. MAC-CellGroupConfig may also include DRX configuration information. For example, when defining a DRX, MAC-CellGroupConfig may include the following information.

[0307] The value of -drx-OnDurationTimer defines the duration of the starting period of the DRX loop.

[0308] The value of -drx-InactivityTimer defines the duration of the time period after the UE is woken up following the detection of a PDCCH timing that indicates the initial UL or DL ​​data.

[0309] The value of -drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL defines the maximum time period from the initial DL transmission received until a DL retransmission is received.

[0310] The value of -drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL defines the maximum duration of the time period from receiving the initial UL transmission permission until receiving the UL retransmission permission.

[0311] -drx-LongCycleStartOffset: Defines the duration and start time of the DRX loop.

[0312] -drx-ShortCycle (optional): Defines the duration of a short DRX cycle.

[0313] When any of drx-OnDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL are running, the UE performs PDCCH monitoring at each PDCCH timing and remains in the wake-up state.

[0314] The above embodiments correspond to combinations of the elements and features of this disclosure in a prescribed form. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated otherwise, each element or feature may be considered optional. Each element or feature may be implemented without combination with other elements or features. Moreover, embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by partially combining elements and / or features together. The order of operations described for each embodiment of this disclosure may be modified. Some configurations or features of one embodiment may be included in another embodiment, or may replace corresponding configurations or features of another embodiment. Furthermore, embodiments may be configured by combining claims not explicitly referenced in the appended claims, or may be included as new claims after filing the application.

[0315] Those skilled in the art will understand that this disclosure may be practiced in other specific forms besides those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of this disclosure. Therefore, the above embodiments should be construed in all respects as illustrative rather than restrictive. The scope of this disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the foregoing description, and all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the appended claims are intended to be covered therewith.

[0316] Industrial applicability

[0317] This disclosure applies to UE, BS or other devices in wireless mobile communication systems.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising the following steps: Early Paging Indication (PEI) related information is received via higher-layer signaling, including i) the number of Paging Occurrences (POs) associated with the PEI and ii) the number of subgroups per PO; The size of the first field in the downlink control information (DCI) for the PEI is determined based on i) the number of POs and ii) the number of subgroups of each PO; Detect the DCI used for the PEI; Whether to monitor a PO determined based on the UE_ID assigned to the UE is determined based on the DCI used for the PEI; as well as The paging DCI is received based on the monitoring of the PO. Wherein, based on i) the number of POs is M and ii) the number of subgroups per PO is N, the size of the first field is determined by the UE to be a total of "M*N" bits, and The UE determines whether to monitor the PO based on the bit value of a specific bit related to a specific subgroup to which the UE belongs out of the total "M*N" bits.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The DCI used for the PEI is different from the paging DCI.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, At least a portion of the PEI-related information is received in the System Information Block (SIB).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The quantity M is provided based on the SIB.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Based on the identification of the specific subgroup to which the UE belongs in the paging DCI and in the DCI used for PEI, the UE determines to receive the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the paging DCI.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Based on the fact that the specific subgroup to which the UE belongs is identified in the DCI used for PEI but not in the paging DCI, the UE determines not to receive the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the paging DCI.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The paging DCI includes UE clustering information based on a clustering method that is different from the subgrouping method used for the DCI in PEI.

8. A non-transitory processor-readable medium that records a program, which, when executed by a processor, performs the method according to claim 1.

9. An apparatus comprising: Memory configured to store instructions; as well as A processor configured to perform operations by executing the instructions. The operations of the processor include: Early Paging Indication (PEI) related information is received via higher-layer signaling, including i) the number of Paging Occurrences (POs) associated with the PEI and ii) the number of subgroups per PO; The size of the first field in the downlink control information (DCI) for the PEI is determined based on i) the number of POs and ii) the number of subgroups of each PO; Detect the DCI used for the PEI; Whether to monitor a PO determined based on the device ID assigned to the device is determined based on the DCI used for the PEI; and The paging DCI is received based on the monitoring of the PO. Wherein, based on i) the number of POs is M and ii) the number of subgroups per PO is N, the size of the first field is determined by the device to be a total of "M*N" bits, and The device determines whether to monitor the PO based on the bit value of a specific bit in the total "M*N" bits that is related to a specific subgroup to which the device belongs.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising: transceiver The device is a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless communication system.

11. A method performed by a base station (BS), the method comprising the following steps: Early Paging Indication (PEI) related information is sent via higher-level signaling, including i) the number of Paging Occurrence Points (POs) associated with the PEI and ii) the number of subgroups per PO; The size of the first field in the downlink control information (DCI) for the PEI is determined based on i) the number of POs and ii) the number of subgroups of each PO; Send the DCI for the PEI to the user equipment (UE); as well as Send a paging DCI to the UE in the PO determined based on the UE_ID assigned to the UE. Wherein, based on i) the number of POs is M and ii) the number of subgroups per PO is N, the size of the first field is determined to be a total of "M*N" bits, and The BS instructs the UE to monitor the paging DCI based on the bit value of a specific bit in the total "M*N" bits that is related to a specific subgroup to which the UE belongs.

12. A base station (BS), the BS comprising: transceiver; Memory configured to store instructions; as well as A processor configured to perform operations by executing the instructions. The operations of the processor include: Early Paging Indication (PEI) related information is sent via higher-level signaling, including i) the number of Paging Occurrence Points (POs) associated with the PEI and ii) the number of subgroups per PO; The size of the first field in the downlink control information (DCI) for the PEI is determined based on i) the number of POs and ii) the number of subgroups of each PO; Send the DCI for the PEI to the user equipment (UE); and Send a paging DCI to the UE in the PO determined based on the UE_ID assigned to the UE. Wherein, based on i) the number of POs is M and ii) the number of subgroups per PO is N, the size of the first field is determined to be a total of "M*N" bits, and The BS instructs the UE to monitor the paging DCI based on the bit value of a specific bit in the total "M*N" bits that is related to a specific subgroup to which the UE belongs.

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