Method for search space grouping in wireless communications

Abstract

The present application relates to devices and components including apparatuses, systems, and methods for search space grouping to facilitate repeated transmission of a physical downlink control channel in a wireless communication system.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Release 15 of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) specifies that a user equipment (UE) can decode the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) based on the configuration of a search space (SS) and a control channel resource set (CORSET). Repeated transmission of the PDCCH to enhance coverage may complicate the decoding process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Figure 1 A network environment is shown according to some embodiments.

[0003] Figure 2 A physical downlink control channel coding process according to some embodiments is shown.

[0004] Figure 3 Downlink resources according to some embodiments are shown.

[0005] Figure 4 Downlink resources according to some embodiments are shown.

[0006] Figure 5 Downlink resources according to some embodiments are shown.

[0007] Figure 6 Physical downlink control channel decoding combining according to some embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 7 Physical downlink control channel decoding combining according to some embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 8 Physical downlink control channel decoding combining according to some embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 9 Physical downlink control channel decoding combining according to some embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 10 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 11 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0013] Figure 12 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0014] Figure 13 User equipment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0015] Figure 14A gNB according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments can be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments due to unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0017] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0018] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) configured to provide the described functionality, an application specific integrated circuit "ASIC", a field programmable device "FPD" (e.g., a field programmable gate array "FPGA", a programmable logic device "PLD", a complex PLD "CPLD", a high capacity PLD "HCPLD", a structured ASIC or a programmable system on a chip "SoC"), a digital signal processor "DSP", etc. In some embodiments, the circuit can execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0019] As used herein, the term "processor circuitry" refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that is capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuitry" may refer to an application processor, a baseband processor, a central processing unit "CPU," a graphics processing unit, a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes).

[0020] As used herein, the term "interface circuitry" refers to circuitry that enables, is part of, or includes information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuitry" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, and the like.

[0021] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can represent a remote user of network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0022] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing resources or networked resources.

[0023] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, database, and application, workload units, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage, or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage, or network resources provided by a virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources accessible to a computer device / system via a communication network. The term "system resource" may refer to any type of shared entity that provides a service and may include computing resources or network resources. System resources may be considered a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0024] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term indicating a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices for transmitting and receiving information.

[0025] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0026] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0027] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, etc.

[0028] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains the contents. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0029] Figure 1 A network environment 100 is shown according to some embodiments. Network environment 100 may include a UE 104 and a gNB 108. The gNB 108 may provide a radio access cell, such as a NR cell, through which the UE may communicate with the gNB 108. The UE 104 and the gNB 108 may communicate over an air interface compatible with 3GPP technical specifications, such as those defining the fifth generation "5G" NR system standards.

[0030] UE 104 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, an actuator, etc.), a video monitoring / surveillance device (e.g., a camera, a video camera, etc.), a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device. In some embodiments, UE 104 can be a reduced-capability UE, also known as an NR-light UE.

[0031] The gNB 108 can transmit information (e.g., data and control signaling) in the downlink direction by mapping logical channels onto transport channels and transport channels onto physical channels. Logical channels can carry data between the radio link control (RLC) layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer; transport channels can carry data between the MAC layer and the physical (PHY) layer; and physical channels can carry information across the air interface.

[0032] The physical channels may include a physical broadcast channel "PBCH"; a physical downlink control channel "PDCCH"; and a physical downlink shared channel "PDSCH".

[0033] The PBCH may be used to broadcast a Master Information Block (MIB) to provide information that facilitates access to NR cells. The MIB may include the system frame number, a cell barring flag, and information that may be used to receive System Information Block 1 (SIB1). The MIB and SIB1 may be used to transmit minimum system information that provides a basic set of parameters that a UE 104 may use for initial access or to obtain any other system information.

[0034] The PBCH may be transmitted in a synchronization signal "SS" / PBCH block along with a physical synchronization signal "PSS" and a secondary synchronization signal "SSS." The SS / PBCH block "SSB" may be used by the UE 104 during the cell search process and for beam selection.

[0035] The PDSCH may be used to transmit end-user application data, Signaling Radio Bearer "SRB" messages, system information messages (in addition to, for example, the MIB), and paging messages.

[0036] The PDCCH may carry downlink control information "DCI," which is used by the base station packet scheduler to allocate both uplink and downlink resources. The DCI may also be used to provide uplink power control commands, configure the timeslot format, or indicate that preemption has occurred.

[0037] The gNB 108 may also transmit a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for different physical channels. The DMRS may be a sequence known or discoverable to the UE 104. The UE 104 may compare the received version of the DMRS with the transmitted known DMRS sequence to estimate the impact of the propagation channel. The UE 104 may then apply an inversion of the propagation channel during the demodulation process for the corresponding physical channel transmission. A single antenna port (e.g., antenna port 2000) may be used to transmit the PDCCH and its associated DMRS.

[0038] Information from the physical channel can be mapped to the resources of the resource grid. For a given antenna port, subcarrier spacing configuration and transmission direction (e.g., downlink or uplink), there is one resource grid. The basic unit of the NR downlink resource grid can be a resource element, which can be defined by one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing "OFDM" symbol in the time domain. Twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain can constitute a resource block. A resource element group "REG" can include one resource block and one OFDM symbol in the time domain, for example, 12 resource elements. The REG bundle includes L REGs, where L is determined by the RRC parameter REG bundle size. A control channel element "CCE" can represent a resource group used to transmit PDCCH. One CCE can be mapped to multiple REGs, for example, six REGs.

[0039] Figure 2 A PDCCH encoding process 200 is shown according to some embodiments. The PDCCH encoding process 200 may be performed by the gNB 108 or a component thereof (e.g., the baseband processor 1404A).

[0040] At 204, process 200 may include adding cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits to the PDCCH payload. The CRC bits may allow UE 104 to detect errors in the received PDCCH. In some embodiments, a set of 24 CRC bits may be calculated from the PDCCH payload. The CRC bits may be scrambled using a radio network temporary identifier to change some bits from 1 to 0 and other bits from 0 to 1.

[0041] At 208, process 200 may include channel coding the PDCCH payload and CRC bits. Polar coding may be used for the PDCCH, and the coding rate may depend on the CCE aggregation level assigned to the PDCCH. The CCE aggregation level may indicate the number of CCEs, and therefore REGs and resource elements, used for PDCCH transmission. In various embodiments, the CCE aggregation level may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16. Generally, the gNB 108 may use a higher CCE aggregation level, corresponding to a lower coding rate and higher redundancy, for UEs in poor coverage, and a lower CCE aggregation level for UEs in good coverage.

[0042] At 212, process 200 may include rate matching to ensure that the number of bits matches the capacity of the resource elements available for the PDCCH after accounting for the DMRS to be transmitted with the PDCCH. In some embodiments, rate matching may also include an interleaving operation to change the order of the transmitted bits.

[0043] At 216, process 200 can include scrambling the bits using a pseudorandom sequence. Initialization of the pseudorandom sequence can depend on the type of search space.

[0044] At 220, process 200 can include modulating the scrambled bits to generate a set of modulation symbols. In some implementations, the modulation can include Quadrature Phase Shift Keying "QPSK" modulation.

[0045] At 224, process 200 can include mapping the set of modulation symbols onto resource elements of a resource grid.

[0046] UE 104 can use Figure 2 The PDCCH transmission is decoded using an operation complementary to the encoding operation.

[0047] To decode the PDCCH transmission, the UE 104 may rely on the search space "SS" and control channel resource set "CORESET" configurations. Figure 3 1 shows downlink resources 300 including a search space 304 according to some embodiments. Downlink resources 300 may be a bandwidth portion in the frequency domain and a time slot in the time domain. A bandwidth portion may be a contiguous set of resource blocks. Search space 304 may be configured by SS and CORESET configuration information. UE 104 may determine the frequency location, number of symbols, and TCI state of search space 304 based on the CORESET configuration, and may determine the time slot and starting symbol index of search space 304 based on the SS configuration.

[0048] In some embodiments, the SS and CORESET can be configured via RRC signaling. For example, the gNB 108 can use RRC signaling to provide a ControlResourceSet information element to configure the CORESET and a SearchSpace information element to configure the search space. In some embodiments, some or all of the configuration information can be predefined and available at the UE 104.

[0049] The ControlResourceSet information element may include parameters such as: control resource set identifier; frequency domain resources; duration; CCE-REG mapping type; precoder granularity; TCI state for adding or releasing; indication of whether TCI is present in the DCI; and PDCCH DMRS scrambling identifier. In some embodiments, the ControlResourceSet information element may include additional or alternative parameters.

[0050] The control resource set identifier identifies a CORESET within a serving cell and may have a range from 0 to 11, which may be used across all bandwidth portions of the serving cell.

[0051] Frequency domain resources may be indicated by an information element specifying the resource blocks allocated to a CORESET.The information element may be a 45-bit string, where each bit corresponds to a set of six consecutive resource blocks within the downlink bandwidth portion.

[0052] The duration may be indicated by an information element indicating the number of symbols allocated to the CORESET. The duration may be one, two or three OFDM symbols.

[0053] The CCE-REG mapping type can indicate whether CCEs are mapped to REGs using an interleaved or non-interleaved approach. Interleaved mapping can be used to provide frequency diversity by distributing the REGs carrying CCEs across a portion of the bandwidth. Non-interleaved mapping can facilitate interference coordination with neighboring cells by concentrating the REGs on a smaller portion of the bandwidth.

[0054] The precoder granularity may provide the UE with some knowledge of the precoding that the base station applies to generate the beam for the PDCCH. In particular, the precoder granularity may provide an indication of whether the same precoding weights are used for all resource blocks within a REG bundle or whether the same precoding weights are used for all REGs within a set of contiguous resource blocks.

[0055] The indication of the TCI state to be added or released can provide the UE with beam-related information, such as information about quasi-co-located "QCL" antenna ports, to facilitate PDCCH reception. Antenna ports can be QCL if they share certain characteristics, such as Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, or delay spread. The CORESET can perform QCL with synchronization signal blocks "SSB" or channel state information reference signals "CSI-RS".

[0056] The TCI status, which can also be configured by RRC using the TCI status information element, can provide information about which channel characteristics are common between the PDCCH and SSB / CSI-RS. QCL type A can indicate common channel characteristics, including Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread. QCL type B can indicate common channel characteristics, including Doppler shift and Doppler spread. QCL type C can indicate common channel characteristics, including Doppler shift and average delay. QCL type D can indicate common channel characteristics, including spatial receiver parameters.

[0057] The SearchSpace information element may define how and where the UE 104 will search for PDCCH candidates. Each search space may be associated with a CORESET. The SearchSpace information element may include parameters such as a search space identifier, a CORESET identifier, monitoring slot periodicity and offset, duration, monitoring symbols within a slot, and the number of candidates. In some embodiments, the SearchSpace information element may include additional or alternative parameters.

[0058] The search space identifier may identify the search space set being configured and may range from 0 to 39.

[0059] The CORESET identifier may identify the CORESET to which the search space is mapped. The CORESET may determine the specific resource blocks and number of symbols available for the search space set as described above.

[0060] Monitoring Timeslot Periodicity and Offset The periodicity / offset may be configured to define the timeslots used for PDCCH monitoring.

[0061] The duration may indicate the number of consecutive time slots that the search space lasts in each occasion, for example, over each cycle as given in the monitoring time slot periodicity and offset. The duration indication may include a range from 2 to 2559.

[0062] The monitoring symbol within the slot indication may provide a first symbol for PDCCH monitoring in a slot configured for PDCCH monitoring by the monitoring slot periodicity and offset and duration indication. The indication may be a bit string where each bit corresponds to a symbol within the slot.

[0063] The candidate number indication may indicate the number of PDCCH candidates per CCE aggregation level. The gNB 108 may use this indication to focus blind decoding attempts from the UE 104 on the most appropriate aggregation level.

[0064] The PDCCH scheduling SIB1 may be transmitted in a Type 0 common search space set "CSS". The Type 0 CSS may have multiple PDCCH candidates per CCE aggregation level, as shown in Table 1. See, for example, Section 10.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213 v16.2.0 (June 2020).

[0065] CCE aggregation level Number of candidates 4 4 8 2 16 1

[0066] Table 1

[0067] As defined in 38.213, 10.1, for each PDCCH candidate The possible CCE can be calculated based on the following formula:

[0068] For any CSS, for any CSS, For the user-specific search space "USS", Y p,-1 =n RNTI ≠0, for pmod3=0, A p =39827, for pmod3=1, A p =39829, for pmod3=2, A p =39839, and D = 65537; i = 0, ..., L-1; N CCE,p is from 0 to N in CORESETp (and each RB set if any) CCE,p -1 is the number of CCEs; n CI is the Carrier Indicator field value if the UE is configured with the Carrier Indicator field via the CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig of the serving cell used to monitor the PDCCH; otherwise, including for any CSS, n CI =0, in is the number of PDCCH candidates that the UE is configured to monitor corresponding to n CI The aggregation level L of the search space set s of the serving cell; for any CSS, And for USS, M (s，max)((L)) is the n of all configurations of CCE aggregation level L in search space set s Ci Value The maximum value of .

[0069] UE 104 may need to blindly decode CCEs with different CCE aggregation levels until it correctly decodes the PDCCH. In some embodiments, to enhance PDCCH coverage, the PDCCH may be transmitted in multiple repetitions. The same or different beams may be applied to each PDCCH repetition, and different repetitions may be carried by different search spaces. To facilitate decoding of PDCCHs that are repeatedly transmitted in multiple search spaces, embodiments describe how to determine whether PDCCHs in some search spaces are repetitions of each other; and how to perform blind detection with reduced UE complexity.

[0070] In some embodiments, the search space may be divided into search space groups “SSGs.” The PDCCH may be repeatedly transmitted in a search space within the same SSG.

[0071] Figure 44 shows a downlink resource 400 according to some embodiments. The downlink resource 400 may include a first repeating unit 404 and a second repeating unit 408. Each repeating unit may have a time domain dimension and a frequency domain dimension. As shown, the time domain dimension is a time slot, and the frequency domain dimension is a bandwidth portion. In some embodiments, the time domain dimension of a repeating unit may also be referred to as an SSG duration.

[0072] Each repeating unit may include three search spaces. The first repeating unit 404 may include a first search space "SS1" 412, a second search space "SS2" 416, and a third search space "SS3" 420. SS1 412 and SS3 420 may both be associated with the first search space group "SSG1," while SS2 416 may be associated with the second search space group "SSG2." The second repeating unit 408 may include SS1 424, SS2 428, and SS3 432. SS1 424 and SS3 432 may both be associated with SSG1, while SS2 428 may be associated with SSG2.

[0073] UE 104 may determine that search spaces associated with the same search space group within a particular repetition unit may be repetitions of each other. Thus, for example, SS1 412 and SS3 420 in first repetition unit 404 may be repetitions of each other. SS2 416 may be a different PDCCH transmission than the PDCCH transmissions in SS1 416 and SS3 420. Similarly, SS1 424 and SS3 432 in second repetition unit 408 may be repetitions of each other, and SS2 may be a different PDCCH transmission than the PDCCH transmissions in SS1 424 and SS3 432. The PDCCH transmissions in the search spaces of first repetition unit 404 may be different from the PDCCH transmissions in the search spaces of second repetition unit 408.

[0074] The SSG duration may be based on a duration parameter provided in the search space configuration. In some embodiments, the duration of all search spaces associated with the same search space group may be configured to be the same. In other embodiments, at least two of the durations of the search spaces within a group may differ from each other. In these embodiments, the SSG duration may be the minimum duration of all search spaces in the group or the maximum duration of all search spaces in the group. In other embodiments, the SSG duration may be another function of the search space duration, for example, the SSG duration may be an average of the search space durations.

[0075] Although Figure 4A repeating unit having an SSG duration of one slot is shown, but other embodiments may have an SSG duration greater or less than one slot. Figure 4 A repetition unit is shown with one bandwidth portion in the frequency domain, but other embodiments may have smaller or larger dimensions in the frequency domain. For example, in some embodiments, the frequency domain dimension of the repetition unit may be multiple (or all) bandwidth portions of a serving cell. In another example, the repetition unit may cover bandwidth portions in one or more serving cells. A serving cell may be within a frequency band, a frequency band group, or across all frequency bands of a frequency range. Thus, a search space across multiple bandwidth portions in a serving cell may be configured with groups for repeating PDCCH transmissions, or a search space across serving cells within a frequency band or frequency band group or across all frequency bands may be configured with groups for repeating PDCCH transmissions.

[0076] In some embodiments, the search space group associated with the search space can be configured via higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling or MAC signaling (e.g., a MAC control element). In some embodiments, the SearchSpace information element can include an SSG parameter to associate the search space with an SSG. In some embodiments, the association of the search space with the SSG can be based on pre-configured information.

[0077] It can be noted that the SS / CORESET configurations within a group should be configured with the same parameters that will result in the same DCI format. For example, the search space type, TCI present in the DCI, and other parameters can be the same to ensure that the DCI payload size is the same for each PDCCH repetition.

[0078] In some embodiments, CORESETs may be divided into CORESET groups.The PDCCH may then be repeatedly transmitted in search spaces associated with CORESETs within the same CORESET group.

[0079] Figure 5 5. Downlink resource 500 according to some embodiments is shown. Downlink resource 500 may include a first repeating unit 504 and a second repeating unit 508. Each repeating unit may have a time domain dimension and a frequency domain dimension. As shown, the time domain dimension is a time slot, and the frequency domain dimension is a bandwidth portion. In some embodiments, the time domain dimension of a repeating unit may also be referred to as an SSG duration.

[0080] Each repeating unit may include three search spaces. The first repeating unit 504 may include SS1 512, SS2 516, and SS3 520. SS1 512 may be associated with CORESET 1, SS2 516 may be associated with CORESET 2, and SS3 520 may be associated with CORESET 3. The second repeating unit 508 may include SS1 524, SS2 528, and SS3 532. SS1 524 may be associated with CORESET 1, SS2 528 may be associated with CORESET 2, and SS3 532 may be associated with CORESET 3.

[0081] It is also considered that the CORESET configuration has the group index as shown in Table 2.

[0082] Control resource set 1 2 3 CORESET group index 0 1 0

[0083] Table 2

[0084] In repetition unit 504, both SS1 512 and SS3 520 are associated with CORESETs of CORESET group 0 (e.g., CORESET 1 and CORESET 3, respectively). Therefore, UE 104 may consider PDCCH transmissions within these search spaces to be repetitions. CORESET 2 of SS2 516 is associated with a different CORESET group (e.g., CORESET group 1). Therefore, the PDCCH in SS2 516 may be different from the PDCCH repetitions of the other search spaces in repetition unit 504.

[0085] Similarly, in repetition unit 508, SS1 524 and SS3 532 are both associated with CORESETs (e.g., CORESET 1 and CORESET 3), respectively, of CORESET group 0. Therefore, UE 104 may consider PDCCH transmissions within these search spaces to be PDCCH repetitions. CORESET 2 of SS2 528 is associated with a different CORESET group (e.g., CORESET group 1). Therefore, the PDCCH in SS2 524 may be different from the PDCCH repetitions of the other search spaces in repetition unit 508.

[0086] Although Figure 5 A repeating unit having an SSG duration of one time slot is shown, but other embodiments may have a duration greater or less than one time slot. Figure 5A repetition unit is shown with one bandwidth portion in the frequency domain, but other embodiments may have smaller or larger dimensions in the frequency domain. For example, in some embodiments, the frequency domain dimension of the repetition unit may be multiple (or all) bandwidth portions of a serving cell. In another example, the repetition unit may include bandwidth portions in one or more serving cells. A serving cell may be within a frequency band, a frequency band group, or across all frequency bands. Thus, a CORESET across multiple bandwidth portions in a serving cell may be configured with a group for repeating PDCCH transmissions, or a serving cell across a frequency band or frequency band group or across all frequency bands may be configured with a group for repeating PDCCH transmissions.

[0087] In some embodiments, a CORESET may be associated with a corresponding CORESET group via higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling or MAC signaling (e.g., a MAC control element). In some embodiments, a ControlResourceSet information element may include a CORESETGroup parameter to configure a CORESET with an associated CORESET group. In some embodiments, the association of a CORESET with a CORESET group may be based on pre-configured information.

[0088] The receiver of UE 104 may calculate the soft bits for all subcarriers of the candidate PDCCH repetition and may then try different possible CCE combinations to decode the PDCCH. For example, if there are two PDCCH repetitions in the corresponding search space and the candidate PDCCH for each search space is configured with CCE aggregation level = {2, 4}; and the number of total CCEs = 4, then according to some embodiments, UE 104 may have to try nine combinations 600 to decode the PDCCH, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 shown.

[0089] In combination 1, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 2, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 3, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 4, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 5, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 6, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space. In combination 7, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 8, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space. In combination 9, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space.

[0090] As the number of total CCEs and CCE aggregation levels increase, the UE complexity may also become very high.Therefore, some embodiments describe aspects that allow a UE to jointly decode all PDCCH repetitions with reduced UE complexity for blind detection.

[0091] Figures 7 to 9 Various CCE combinations used to decode 2 PDCCH repetitions are shown.Candidate PDCCHs for each search space may be configured with CCE aggregation level = {2, 4} and number of total CCEs = 4.

[0092] Figure 7 Figure 700 shows a CCE combination 700 used to decode the PDCCH according to some embodiments. In these embodiments, the PDCCH candidate index can be the same for all PDCCH repetitions. The gNB 108 will restrict repeated PDCCH transmissions in different search spaces of the group (or search spaces associated with the same group of CORESETS) to include the same PDCCH candidate index. In this way, the UE 104 may only need to decode four possible combinations.

[0093] In combination 1, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 2, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 3, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. It can be noted that even though the aggregation levels of the two CCEs in this combination are different, the PDCCH candidate index is the same. In combination 4, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space.

[0094] Figure 8 Figure 1 shows CCE combinations used to decode PDCCH according to some embodiments. In these embodiments, the CCE aggregation level can be the same. For example, gNB 108 will restrict repeated PDCCH transmissions in different search spaces of the group (or search spaces associated with the same group of CORESETS) to include the same CCE aggregation level. In this way, UE 104 may only need to decode five possible combinations.

[0095] In combination 1, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 2, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 3, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 4, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 5, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space.

[0096] Figure 9 Figure 1 shows CCE combinations used to decode PDCCH according to some embodiments. In these embodiments, the CCE aggregation level and PDCCH candidate index can be the same. For example, gNB 108 will restrict repeated PDCCH transmissions in different search spaces of the group (or search spaces associated with the same group of CORESETS) to include the same CCE aggregation level and PDCCH candidate index. In this way, UE 104 may only need to decode three possible combinations.

[0097] In combination 1, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1 and 2 from the first search space and CCEs 1 and 2 from the second search space. In combination 2, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 3 and 4 from the first search space and CCEs 3 and 4 from the second search space. In combination 3, UE 104 may attempt to decode CCEs 1-4 from the first search space and CCEs 1-4 from the second search space.

[0098] In some embodiments, UE decoding complexity can be further reduced by restricting one or more additional parameters of the search space configuration to be common across all search spaces in a group (or search spaces associated with a CORESET having the same group). These parameters may include, but are not limited to, monitoring slot periodicity and offset, duration, and number of candidates.

[0099] In some embodiments, the maximum number of blind detections to decode a PDCCH with repetitions may take into account different kinds of CCE combinations. The maximum number may be predefined or based on UE capabilities. In some embodiments, UE 104 may signal an indication of UE capabilities to gNB 108. For example, in some embodiments, UE 104 may signal a UE capability to gNB 108 that indicates that the UE does not perform more than three blind detections to decode a PDCCH with repetitions. Thus, in these embodiments, gNB 108 may restrict repeated PDCCH transmissions in different search spaces of a group (or search spaces associated with CORESETS of the same group) to include the same CCE aggregation level and PDCCH candidate index, as described above with respect to Figure 9 As stated.

[0100] In some embodiments, UE 104 may decode each PDCCH repetition in the PDCCH repetition individually. If UE 104 successfully decodes the PDCCH repetition in the first search space, UE 104 may skip PDCCH detection / decoding for other search spaces within the group (or other search spaces associated with a CORESET within the same group).

[0101] In some embodiments, the monitored search space may have an impact on certain downlink processing operations. For example, when the scheduling offset between the DCI and the signal scheduled by the DCI is less than a threshold that can be reported by the UE, the UE 104 can determine a default beam for buffering downlink signals including, for example, PDSCH / aperiodic CSI-RS. When multiple CORESETs are configured, the default beam can be based on the CORESET with the monitored SS in the most recent timeslot with the lowest ID. For example, with respect to the PDSCH, if the offset between the DCI and the PDSCH is less than a threshold, the UE 104 can assume that "the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH are quasi-co-located with the [reference signal] relative to the QCL parameters of the PDCCH quasi-co-location indication for the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest controlResourceSetId in the most recent timeslot, where one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored by the UE." 3GPP TS 38.214 v16.2.0, section 5.1.5 (June 2020). And, with respect to CSI-RS, if “when receiving aperiodic CSI-RS, the scheduling offset between the last symbol of the PDDCH carrying the triggering DCI and the first symbol of the aperiodic CSI-RS resource is less than a UE-reported threshold [and certain conditions exist], the UE applies the QCL hypothesis for the CORESET associated with the monitored search space with the lowest controlResourceSetId in the latest slot in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are monitored.” 3GPP TS 38.214, section 5.2.1.5.1.

[0102] Given that in some embodiments certain search spaces may be skipped when repeated PDCCHs are correctly decoded, consideration may be given to determining whether the skipped search spaces are considered monitored search spaces. In some embodiments, the skipped search spaces may not be considered monitored search spaces when determining the PDSCH / aperiodic CSI-RS default beam. In other embodiments, the skipped search spaces may be considered monitored search spaces when determining the PDSCH / aperiodic CSI-RS default beam.

[0103] In some embodiments, whether a UE decodes PDCCH repetitions jointly or individually may be configured by higher layer signaling (eg, RRC or MAC signaling) or reported by UE capabilities.

[0104] Depending on whether the PDCCH repetitions are decoded individually or separately, the last detected / decoded PDCCH may be different. This may lead to some ambiguity with respect to the scheduling offset. Therefore, in some embodiments, for individual decoding of PDCCH repetitions, the scheduling offset may be determined by the last symbol of the search space used for the last PDCCH repetition. And, for joint decoding of PDCCH repetitions, the scheduling offset may be determined by the last symbol of the PDCCH used for the last PDCCH repetition.

[0105] Figure 10 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 according to some embodiments may be included. The operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may be performed or implemented by a UE (such as UE 104 or 1300) or a component thereof (eg, baseband processor 1304A).

[0106] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include, at 1004, determining that a plurality of search spaces are associated with a search space group. In some embodiments, the determination at 1004 may be based on configuration information received from the gNB. The configuration information may configure each search space with an SSG index. Therefore, search spaces with the same SSG index may be considered associated with the same SSG.

[0107] In various implementations, the configuration information may be provided to the UE via higher layer signaling. For example, the configuration information may be provided to the UE via RRC signaling or MAC CE.

[0108] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may also include, at 1008, determining whether a PDCCH transmission in a search space is a repetition. The UE may determine that PDCCH transmissions in a search space associated with a common SSG and within a repetition unit may be repetitions of each other. A repetition unit may define, in the frequency domain or time domain, where a particular group of SSs will include repetitive PDCCH transmissions. For example, a repetition unit may include a frequency range (e.g., a bandwidth portion) and an SSG duration (e.g., one time slot). Thus, in this example, all PDCCH transmissions in a search space associated with the same SSG and within a BWP and SSG duration may be considered repetitions.

[0109] In some embodiments, the SSG duration may be based on the duration associated with each search space in the search space. For example, if all search spaces have a common duration, the SSG duration may be set to the common duration. However, if at least some of the search spaces have different search space durations, the SSG duration may be a function of the durations of the individual search spaces. For example, in some embodiments, the SSG duration may be set to the maximum duration of the individual durations, e.g., the maximum duration of the set. In other embodiments, the SSG duration may be set to the minimum duration of the individual durations, e.g., the minimum duration of the set. In still other embodiments, other functions may be used, such as taking the average of the durations of the set.

[0110] In addition to the time domain restrictions provided by the SSG duration, other time / frequency restrictions may additionally / alternatively apply. For example, in some embodiments, only search spaces within the common bandwidth portion may be considered within the group for determining repeated PDCCH transmissions. In another example, search spaces across multiple bandwidth portions (up to all bandwidth portions) of a serving cell may be considered within the group for determining repeated PDCCH transmissions. In yet another example, search spaces across multiple serving cells within a frequency band or frequency band group, or across all frequency bands, may be considered within the group for determining repeated PDCCH transmissions.

[0111] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may also include, at 1012, decoding a PDCCH transmission that is determined to be a repetition. Because each repetition of a PDCCH transmission contains identical information, including, for example, data and parity bits, the UE's receiver may combine decoding efforts from the individual repetitions to exploit repetition coding. For example, in some embodiments, the receiver may perform chase combining to combine received bits of a PDCCH repetition with the same bits from a previous PDCCH repetition. Consequently, each successive repetition may increase the energy of the PDCCH transmission and, therefore, increase the cumulative signal-to-noise ratio.

[0112] In other embodiments, PDCCH repetitions may be decoded individually. In case one repetition is successfully decoded, subsequent repetitions may be skipped.

[0113] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to decode the PDCCH repetitions jointly or individually via higher layer signaling such as RRC or MAC signaling. In some embodiments, the UE may provide an indication to the gNB as to whether the UE is capable of jointly or individually decoding the PDCCH repetitions.

[0114] Figure 11An operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 according to some embodiments may be included. The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may be performed or implemented by a UE (such as UE 104 or 1300) or a component thereof (eg, baseband processor 1304A).

[0115] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include, at 1104, accessing group information. The group information may be accessed from a memory of the device. In some embodiments, the UE may extract the group information from configuration information received from the gNB and store the extracted group information in memory. For example, the configuration information may be CORESET configuration information or search space configuration information. The group information may include information for associating a search space with a group. The group information may include search space group information or CORESET group information. In some embodiments, the group information may also include information indicating the dimension of the repeating unit.

[0116] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may also include, at 1108, determining a search space of a repetition unit associated with the group. The UE may identify a search space associated with a common group within the repetition unit based on the group information accessed from the memory. For example, all search spaces configured with the same search space group index as provided by the group information may be determined to be associated with the common group. In another example, all search spaces associated with a CORESET configured with the same CORESET group index as provided by the group information may be determined to be associated with the common group.

[0117] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may further include determining that the PDCCH transmissions within the search space are repetitions, at 1112. The UE may determine that all PDCCH transmissions within the search space associated with the group and within a particular repetition unit are repetitions of each other.

[0118] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may further include decoding one or more PDCCHs of the repeated PDCCH transmission at 1116. The UE may decode the PDCCHs individually or jointly as described above with respect to the decoding of 1012.

[0119] Figure 12 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 according to some embodiments may be included. In some embodiments, the operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may be performed or implemented by a gNB (e.g., gNB 108 or 1400) or a component thereof (e.g., baseband processor 1404A).

[0120] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include generating group configuration information to associate search spaces within a repeating unit with a group, at 1204. In some embodiments, the group configuration information may be generated by constructing a search space information element to associate a search space with a search space group. In other embodiments, the group configuration information may be generated by constructing a coreset information element to associate a coreset with a coreset group.

[0121] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may also include, at 1208, encoding PDCCH repetitions within the search space. In various embodiments, the PDCCH repetitions may include 2, 4, 8, or 16 repetitions. In some embodiments, the gNB may determine that the PDCCH for UEs with lesser receive capability may include more repetitions. The lesser receive capability may be based on: a simplified UE design (e.g., reduced capability UE, machine type communication UE, IoT UE); network conditions; or the location of the UE (e.g., cell edge UE). The gNB may determine that the PDCCH for UEs with greater receive capability may include fewer repetitions.

[0122] In some embodiments, the gNB may encode multiple PDCCH repetitions in a manner that limits the number of blind decoding attempts that may be required by the UE. For example, the gNB may encode multiple PDCCH repetitions using a common PDCCH candidate index or a common CCE aggregation level. In some embodiments, encoding the PDCCH repetitions to limit the number of blind decoding attempts may be based on a UE capability message transmitted from the UE to the gNB.

[0123] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may further include transmitting group configuration information and PDCCH repetitions at 1212. The group configuration information may be transmitted using RRC or MAC signaling.

[0124] Figure 13 UE 1300 according to some embodiments is shown. UE 1300 may be similar to Figure 1 UE 104 and is essentially interchangeable therewith.

[0125] Similar to what is described above with respect to UE 104, UE 1300 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, an actuator, etc.), a video surveillance / monitoring device (e.g., a camera, a video camera, etc.), a wearable device, or a loose IoT device. In some embodiments, the UE can be a RedCap UE or an NR-Light UE.

[0126] UE 1300 may include a processor 1304, RF interface circuitry 1308, memory / storage 1312, a user interface 1316, sensors 1320, driver circuitry 1322, a power management integrated circuit "PMIC" 1324, and a battery 1328. The components of UE 1300 may be implemented as an integrated circuit "IC," portions of an integrated circuit, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic components, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Figure 13 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 1300. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0127] Components of the UE 1300 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1332, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extended), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc. that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipset) to interact with each other.

[0128] The processor 1304 may include processor circuits such as a baseband processor circuit "BB" 1304A, a central processor unit circuit "CPU" 1304B, and a graphics processor unit circuit "GPU" 1304C. The processor 1304 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes) from the memory / storage device 1312 to cause the UE 1300 to perform operations as described herein.

[0129] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuit 1304A can access the communication protocol stack 1336 in the memory / storage device 1312 to communicate over a 3GPP-compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 1304A can access the communication protocol stack to perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and PDU layer; and control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and non-access stratum (NAS) layer. In some embodiments, PHY layer operations can additionally / alternatively be performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1308.

[0130] The baseband processor circuit 1304A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some embodiments, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM ("CP-OFDM") in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM ("DFT-S-OFDM") in the uplink.

[0131] The baseband processor circuit 1304A may also access group information 1325 from the memory / storage 1312 to determine search space groups in which multiple repetitions of the PDCCH may be transmitted.

[0132] The memory / storage 1312 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 1300. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 1312 may be located on the processor 1304 itself (e.g., an L1 cache and an L2 cache), while other memory / storage 1312 may be external to the processor 1304 but accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage 1312 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory "DRAM," static random access memory "SRAM," erasable programmable read-only memory "EPROM," electrically erasable programmable read-only memory "EEPROM," flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0133] RF interface circuitry 1308 may include transceiver circuitry and a radio frequency front-end module (RFEM), which allows UE 1300 to communicate with other devices over a radio access network. RF interface circuitry 1308 may include various components arranged in either a transmit path or a receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, and the like.

[0134] In the receive path, the RFEM receives the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 1323 and further filters and amplifies the signal (using a low-noise amplifier). The signal is provided to the transceiver's receiver, which converts the RF signal down to a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of processor 1304.

[0135] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides an RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before the signal is radiated across the air interface via the antenna 1323.

[0136] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuit 1308 may be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0137] Antenna 1323 may include multiple antenna elements, each of which converts electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converts received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1323 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to enable beamforming and multiple-input / multiple-output communications. Antenna 1323 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, and the like. Antenna 1323 may have one or more panels designed for specific frequency bands, including those in FR1 or FR2.

[0138] User interface circuitry 1316 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable a user to interact with UE 1300. User interface circuitry 1316 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a trackpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, and the like. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying or otherwise communicating information, such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information. Output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary state indicators such as light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, and the like), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, and the like is generated or produced by the operation of UE 1300.

[0139] Sensors 1320 may include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in their environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system or nanoelectromechanical system including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, or a magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0140] The driver circuit 1322 may include software and hardware components for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1300. The driver circuit 1322 may include various drivers to allow other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the UE 1300. For example, the driver circuit 1322 may include a display driver for controlling and enabling access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and enabling access to a touch screen interface, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings from the sensor circuit 1320 and controlling and enabling access to the sensor circuit 1320, a driver for obtaining actuator positions of electromechanical components or controlling and enabling access to electromechanical components, a camera driver for controlling and enabling access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and enabling access to one or more audio devices.

[0141] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1324 may manage the power provided to various components of the UE 1300. Specifically, with respect to the processor 1304, the PMIC 1324 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0142] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1324 can control or otherwise be part of various power-saving mechanisms for the UE 1300. For example, if the platform UE is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform can enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the UE 1300 can power down for short intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period, the UE 1300 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the UE is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handovers. The UE 1300 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, in which the platform periodically wakes up again to listen to the network before powering down again. The UE 1300 may not receive data in this state; to do so, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can prevent the device from using the network for periods exceeding the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will incur significant delays, assuming that the delay is acceptable.

[0143] The battery 1328 can power the UE 1300, but in some examples, the UE 1300 can be installed to be deployed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. The battery 1328 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 1328 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0144] Figure 14 A gNB 1400 is shown in accordance with some embodiments. The gNB node 1400 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with gNB 148.

[0145] gNB 1400 may include a processor 1404, RF interface circuitry 1408, core network “CN” interface circuitry 1412, and memory / storage device circuitry 1416.

[0146] Components of gNB 1400 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1428.

[0147] The processor 1404, RF interface circuit 1408, memory / storage circuit 1416 (including communication protocol stack 1410), antenna 1424, and interconnect 1428 may be similar to those of reference 1404. Figure 13 Like-named elements are shown and described.

[0148] The CN interface circuitry 1412 can provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5GC using a 5th Generation Core Network (5GC)-compatible network interface protocol (such as a Carrier Ethernet protocol) or some other suitable protocol). Network connectivity can be provided to / from the gNB 1400 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 1412 can include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 1412 can include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0149] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0150] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below. For another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0151] Example

[0152] In the following sections, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0153] Embodiment 1 includes a method of operating a UE, comprising: determining that multiple search spaces within a repetition unit are associated with a search space group "SSG"; determining that a physical downlink control channel "PDCCH" transmission in the multiple search spaces is a repetition based on the SSG; and decoding one or more of the PDCCH transmissions in the multiple search spaces based on determining that the PDCCH transmission is a repetition.

[0154] Embodiment 2 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the repetition unit comprises an SSG duration, and the plurality of search spaces comprises individual durations and SSG durations that are equal to each other.

[0155] Embodiment 3 includes a method according to embodiment 1, wherein the repetition unit includes an SSG duration, and the multiple search spaces include separate search space durations, at least two of the separate search space durations are not equal, and the method further includes determining that the SSG duration is a minimum duration among the multiple search space durations or a maximum duration among the multiple search space durations.

[0156] Embodiment 4 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: processing radio resource control or medium access control signaling to determine group indexes of multiple search spaces; and determining that multiple search spaces within a repetition unit are associated with an SSG based on the group index.

[0157] Embodiment 5 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the repeating unit comprises a frequency domain dimension of a bandwidth portion.

[0158] Embodiment 6 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the repetition unit comprises frequency domain dimensions of multiple bandwidth portions in one or more serving cells.

[0159] Embodiment 7 includes the method of embodiment 6 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the one or more serving cells are within a frequency band, within a frequency band group, or across all frequency bands of a frequency range.

[0160] Embodiment 8 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: processing configuration information that configures multiple search spaces using parameters in a downlink control information "DCI" format shared in the multiple search spaces.

[0161] Embodiment 9 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein decoding one or more of the PDCCH transmissions comprises jointly decoding the PDCCH transmissions.

[0162] Embodiment 10 includes a method of operating a UE, the method comprising accessing group information; determining that multiple search spaces within a repetition unit are associated with a group based on the group information; determining that a physical downlink control channel "PDCCH" transmission within the multiple search spaces is a repetition; and decoding one or more of the PDCCH transmissions.

[0163] Embodiment 11 includes a method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, wherein group information is used to associate multiple control resource sets "CORESETs" with a CORESET group, and the method further includes: processing configuration information, the configuration information being used to: associate separate search spaces with corresponding CORESETs in the multiple control resource sets "CORESETs"; and associate multiple CORESETs with the CORESET group; and storing the group information in a memory based on the configuration information.

[0164] Embodiment 12 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein determining whether the PDCCH transmission within the plurality of search spaces is repeated comprises determining that each search space in the plurality of search spaces is associated with one of the plurality of CORESETs associated with the CORESET group.

[0165] Embodiment 13 includes a method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: successfully decoding a first PDCCH transmission among PDCCH transmissions; and skipping decoding a second PDCCH transmission among multiple PDCCH transmissions based on the successful decoding of the first PDCCH transmission.

[0166] Embodiment 14 includes a method according to embodiment 13 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: determining a plurality of monitored search spaces to include a search space containing a second PDCCH transmission; and determining a default beam for a physical downlink shared channel or a non-periodic channel state information-reference signal based on the plurality of monitored search spaces.

[0167] Embodiment 15 includes a method according to embodiment 13 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: determining that one or more monitored search spaces do not include a search space containing a second PDCCH transmission; and determining a default beam for a physical downlink shared channel or non-periodic channel state information-reference signal based on the one or more monitored search spaces.

[0168] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method further comprises: jointly decoding the PDCCH transmission; and determining a scheduling offset between the PDCCH transmission and a signal scheduled by downlink control information "DCI" based on the last symbol of the last repetition of the PDCCH transmission.

[0169] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: separately decoding one or more of the PDCCH transmissions; and determining a scheduling offset between the PDCCH transmission and a signal scheduled by downlink control information "DCI" based on a last symbol of a last search space in a plurality of search spaces.

[0170] Embodiment 18 includes a method of operating a gNB, comprising: generating group configuration information for associating a plurality of search spaces within a repetition unit with a group; encoding a plurality of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetitions within the plurality of search spaces; and transmitting the group configuration information and the plurality of PDCCH repetitions.

[0171] Embodiment 19 includes a method according to embodiment 18 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the group configuration information includes: a search space information element "IE" for associating a search space with a search space group; or a CORESETIE for associating a control resource set "CORESET" with a CORESET group.

[0172] Embodiment 20 includes the method of embodiment 18 or some other embodiment herein, wherein encoding multiple PDCCH repetitions further comprises encoding the multiple PDCCH repetitions using a common PDCCH candidate index or a common control channel element (CCE) aggregation level.

[0173] Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Examples 1-20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0174] Example 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0175] Embodiment 23 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1-20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0176] Example 24 may include methods, techniques, or processes as described or related to any one of Examples 1 to 20, or portions or components thereof.

[0177] Embodiment 25 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, as described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20.

[0178] Embodiment 26 may include a signal as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof.

[0179] Embodiment 27 may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described or associated with any one of embodiments 1 to 20, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0180] Embodiment 28 may include a signal encoded with data as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0181] Embodiment 29 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or associated with any of the above embodiments 1 to 64, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0182] Embodiment 30 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform the method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion thereof.

[0183] Embodiment 31 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion thereof.

[0184] Embodiment 32 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0185] Embodiment 33 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0186] Embodiment 34 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0187] Embodiment 35 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0188] Unless expressly stated otherwise, any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0189] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause user equipment (UE) to: extracting group information from search space configuration information received from the gNB, wherein the group information includes information associating a plurality of search spaces with a search space group index; determining that the plurality of search spaces associated with the search space group index are associated with a common group; determining that Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmissions in the plurality of search spaces associated with the common group and within a repetition unit are repetitions, wherein the repetition unit includes a frequency domain dimension of one bandwidth part and a time domain dimension of one time slot; and One or more of the PDCCH transmissions in the plurality of search spaces are decoded based on determining that the PDCCH transmission is a duplicate.

2. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the repetition unit comprises a search space group (SSG) duration, and the plurality of search spaces associated with the common group comprise individual durations that are equal to one another.

3. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the repetition unit comprises a search space group (SSG) duration, and the plurality of search spaces comprise individual search space durations, at least two of the individual search space durations being unequal, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: determine whether the SSG duration is a minimum duration among the individual search space durations or a maximum duration among the individual search space durations.

4. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: The group information is extracted from radio resource control signaling.

5. One or more computer-readable media according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: process configuration information, wherein the configuration information configures the multiple search spaces using parameters of the downlink control information (DCI) format shared in the multiple search spaces.

6. One or more computer-readable media according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein to decode one or more of the PDCCH transmissions, the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: jointly decode the PDCCH transmissions.

7. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory for storing search space configuration information; a processing circuit coupled to the memory to access the search space configuration information, the processing circuit being configured to: extracting group information from the search space configuration information, wherein the group information includes information associating a plurality of search spaces with a search space group index; determining that the plurality of search spaces associated with the search space group index are associated with a common group; determining that a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission within the plurality of search spaces associated with the common group and within a repetition unit is a repetition, wherein the repetition unit includes a frequency domain dimension of one bandwidth part and a time domain dimension of one time slot; and One or more of the plurality of PDCCH transmissions are decoded.

8. The UE of claim 7, wherein the plurality of search spaces comprises a first search space and a second search space, and the processing circuit is configured to: monitoring a first PDCCH transmission among the plurality of PDCCH transmissions in the first search space based on a first control channel element (CCE) aggregation level and a first PDCCH candidate index; and A second PDCCH transmission among the plurality of PDCCH transmissions in the second search space is monitored based on the first CCE aggregation level and the first PDCCH candidate index.

9. The UE of claim 7, wherein the plurality of search spaces comprises a first search space and a second search space, and the processing circuit is configured to: monitoring one or more control channel elements (CCEs) of the first search space for a first PDCCH transmission in the plurality of PDCCH transmissions, the one or more CCEs of the first search space respectively having one or more first CCE indices; and One or more CCEs of the second search space are monitored for a second PDCCH transmission among the plurality of PDCCH transmissions, the one or more CCEs of the second search space respectively having the one or more first CCE indices.

10. The UE of claim 7, wherein the plurality of search spaces comprises a first search space and a second search space, and the processing circuit is configured to: The first search space is monitored for a first PDCCH transmission of the plurality of PDCCH transmissions and the second search space is monitored for a second PDCCH transmission of the plurality of PDCCH transmissions using one or more common parameters including a periodicity, a slot offset, or a duration.

11. The UE according to claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: An indication of the UE's ability to process a maximum number of blind detections to decode a PDCCH with repetitions is transmitted.

12. The UE according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: jointly decoding the PDCCH transmission; and A scheduling offset between the PDCCH transmission and a signal scheduled by downlink control information (DCI) is determined based on a last symbol of a last repetition of the PDCCH transmission.

13. A method for searching for a spatial group by a user equipment (UE), comprising: extracting group information from search space configuration information received from the gNB, wherein the group information includes information associating a plurality of search spaces with a search space group index; determining that the plurality of search spaces associated with the search space group index are associated with a common group; determining that Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmissions in the plurality of search spaces associated with the common group and within a repetition unit are repetitions, wherein the repetition unit includes a frequency domain dimension of one bandwidth part and a time domain dimension of one time slot; and One or more of the PDCCH transmissions in the plurality of search spaces are decoded based on determining that the PDCCH transmission is a duplicate.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the repetition unit comprises a search space group (SSG) duration, and the plurality of search spaces associated with the common group comprise individual durations that are equal to one another.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the repetition unit comprises a search space group (SSG) duration, and the plurality of search spaces comprise individual search space durations, at least two of the individual search space durations being unequal, and the method further comprising: It is determined whether the SSG duration is a minimum duration among the individual search space durations or a maximum duration among the individual search space durations.

16. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: The group information is extracted from radio resource control signaling.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, further comprising: Configuration information is processed, the configuration information configuring the multiple search spaces using parameters of a downlink control information (DCI) format shared among the multiple search spaces.

18. The method of any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein to decode one or more of the PDCCH transmissions, the method further comprises: The PDCCH transmission is jointly decoded.

19. A method of operating a gNB, the method comprising: generating search space configuration information having group configuration information for associating a plurality of search spaces with a search space group index to indicate that the plurality of search spaces are associated with a common group; encoding a plurality of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) repetitions within the plurality of search spaces and within a repetition unit, wherein the repetition unit includes a frequency domain dimension of one bandwidth part and a time domain dimension of one time slot; and The search space configuration information and the plurality of PDCCH repetitions are transmitted.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the group configuration information comprises: Search Space Information Element IE used to associate a search space with a search space group.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein encoding the plurality of PDCCH repetitions further comprises: The plurality of PDCCHs are repetitively encoded using a common PDCCH candidate index or a common control channel element (CCE) aggregation level.

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