To reduce network operation of PDCCH monitoring

Abstract

A base station configures a user equipment (UE) to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The base station receives a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability from the UE for at least one search space set (SSS) of the PDCCH, determines a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration for the UE based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability, and transmits the reduced MO configuration to the UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to network operations to reduce PDCCH monitoring. Background Art

[0002] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space refers to the area in the downlink resource grid that can carry the PDCCH. In order for the user equipment (UE) to decode the PDCCH, the UE needs to know the location (control channel element (CCE) aggregation level and each CCE index), structure, scrambling code, etc. of the PDCCH. However, each PDCCH supports different DCI formats and aggregation levels. The UE is not informed which DCI format or aggregation level to use, and therefore needs to perform blind decoding in the entire search space to find the transmitted downlink control information (DCI).

[0003] Each blind decoding attempt is a processing burden for the UE, and a PDCCH monitoring configuration that allows a potentially large number of blind decoding attempts may adversely affect UE battery performance. Reduced capability (Redcap) devices such as industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices typically have shorter battery life relative to devices supporting normal capabilities. Therefore, a PDCCH monitoring configuration that allows a large number of blind decoding attempts may be particularly detrimental to the battery performance of Redcap devices. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some exemplary embodiments relate to one or more processors configured to perform operations including: receiving, for at least one search space set (SSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability from a user equipment (UE); determining a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration for the UE based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; and transmitting the reduced MO configuration to the UE.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a base station having: a transceiver configured to connect to a user equipment (UE); and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include: receiving a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability from the UE for at least one set of search space sets (SSS) for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); determining a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration for the UE based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; and transmitting the reduced MO configuration to the UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0007] Figure 2 An exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 Exemplary network cells are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4 A signaling diagram for reduced PDCCH monitoring operation according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 5 A diagram illustrating different scaling factors applied to a first search space set (SSS) grouping and a second search space set (SSS) grouping is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0011] Figure 6 Exemplary ASN.1 signaling for α values ​​to enable UE capability indication per aggregation level (AL) according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 An exemplary diagram of window-based PDCCH configuration for Redcap devices to reduce PDCCH monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 An exemplary table illustrating a switching scheme for reduced PDCCH monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0014] Fig. 9 An exemplary diagram of a switching scheme for reduced PDCCH monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and associated drawings, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe operations for reducing PDCCH monitoring while balancing different related aspects (e.g., latency, PDCCH blocking probability, power consumption, and scheduling flexibility) with smaller blind decoding (BD) and control channel element (CCE) restrictions. The exemplary embodiments also provide an overall framework to support adaptive switching between different power consumption profiles for PDCCH monitoring.

[0016] network / equipment

[0017] Figure 1An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a plurality of UEs 110, 112. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a UE may be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a component of a connected car, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a tablet phone, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be appreciated that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, an example with two UEs 110, 112 is provided for illustrative purposes only. In some exemplary embodiments described below, a UE group may be employed to perform corresponding channel measurements.

[0018] UE 110, 112 can communicate directly with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which UE 110, 112 can wirelessly communicate are 5G NR radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. Therefore, UE 110, 112 may include a 5G NR chipset that communicates with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset that communicates with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset that communicates with WLAN 124. However, UE 110, 112 may also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., traditional cellular networks), and UE 110 may also communicate with the network via a wired connection. Referring to the exemplary embodiment, UE 110, 112 may establish a connection with 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122.

[0019] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be parts of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0020] UE 110, 112 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via at least one of next generation Node B (gNB) 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNB 120A, 120B may be configured with necessary hardware (e.g., antenna array), software and / or firmware to perform massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) functions. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. Reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to any appropriate number of gNBs. For example, UE 110, 112 may be connected to multiple gNBs simultaneously in a multi-cell CA configuration and exchange data. UE 110, 112 may also be connected to LTE-RAN 122 via either or both of eNBs 122A, 122B, or to any other type of RAN, as described above. In network arrangement 100, UE 110 is shown as having a connection to gNB 120A, while UE 112 is shown as having a connection to gNB 120B.

[0021] In addition to networks 120, 122, and 124, network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. Cellular core network 130 (e.g., 5GC of NR) can be considered as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of a cellular network. Cellular core network 130 also manages traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140.

[0022] The IMS 150 may be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 may communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 may be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that may be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0023] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, a sensor for detecting the status of the UE 110, and the like. Figure 2 The UE 110 shown may also represent UE 112.

[0024] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a PDCCH monitoring engine 235 for performing operations including reporting a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability to a network, receiving a network PDCCH monitoring opportunity (MO) configuration from the network, and monitoring the PDCCH based in part on the received configuration, which will be described in further detail below.

[0025] The above-described engine as an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independently integrated component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit system for receiving a signal and a processing circuit system for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or multiple separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0026] The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables a user to perform input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G-NR RAN 120, the LTE RAN 122, etc. Therefore, the transceiver 225 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous frequency group).

[0027] Figure 3An exemplary network cell, in this case a gNB 120A, is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. As described above with reference to UE 110, gNB 120A may represent a cell that provides service as a PCell or SCell or is configured independently from UE 110. gNB 120A may represent any access node of a 5G NR network through which UEs 110, 112 may establish connections and manage network operations. Figure 3 The gNB 120A shown may also represent gNB 120B.

[0028] The gNB 120A may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, an input / output (I / O) device 320, a transceiver 325, and other components 330. The other components 330 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the gNB 120A to other electronic devices, and the like.

[0029] The processor 305 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the gNB 120A. For example, the engines may include a PDCCH monitoring engine 335 for performing operations including receiving a UE capability report for reduced PDCCH monitoring capability, selecting a PDCCH monitoring opportunity (MO) configuration for the UE, and configuring the UE with the selected PDCCH MO, which will be described in detail below.

[0030] The engines described above are each represented as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305 and are exemplary only. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as independently integrated components of the gNB 120A, or may be modular components coupled to the gNB 120A, such as integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. In addition, in some gNBs, the functionality described for the processor 305 is split between multiple processors (e.g., a baseband processor, an application processor, etc.). The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the gNB.

[0031] The memory 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110, 112. The I / O device 320 may be a hardware component or port that enables a user to interact with the gNB 120A. The transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with the UE 110, 112 and any other UE in the system 100. The transceiver 325 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of continuous frequencies). Thus, the transceiver 325 may include one or more components (e.g., radio components) to enable data exchange with various networks and UEs.

[0032] PDCCH monitoring reduction

[0033] In the RAN 86 meeting, work item "Support for Reduced Capability NR Devices" was approved to study the UE features and parameter lists for devices with lower terminal capabilities relative to Release 16 eMBB and URLLC NR to serve use cases including: industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance and wearable devices with eMBB and / or URLLC functionality. A design goal is to improve the battery life performance of reduced capability (Redcap) devices by reducing the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, in part by reducing the number of blind decodes (BD) and implementing control channel element (CCE) restrictions.

[0034] The PDCCH search space refers to the area in the downlink resource grid that can carry the PDCCH. The downlink control channel is transmitted as an aggregation of one or more consecutive control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including multiple resource element groups (REGs), for example, 6 REGs (72 resource elements (REs)). The number of REs of the control resource set (CORESET) required to carry the PDCCH DIC message is called the aggregation level (AL) and is expressed in CCEs. For example, aggregation level 1 refers to 1 CCE. In 5G NR, five different PDCCH CCE ALs (AL 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16) are supported, which specify the number of CCEs required to carry the PDCCH DCI message.

[0035] The PDCCH search space includes a UE-specific search space and a common (cell-specific) search space for the UE to monitor potential DCI formats, including, for example, downlink (DL) grants and uplink (UL) grants. The UE-specific search space is configured to the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling and is dedicated to a specific UE, while the common search space is for all or at least a group of UEs in a cell that has an RRC connection with the network / gNB. The CCE index is the CCE number to which the PDCCH is allocated. In order for the UE to decode the PDCCH, the UE needs to know the location (CCE index), structure, scrambling code, etc. of the PDCCH. However, the UE is not informed of the exact aggregation level (AL) or DCI format for PDCCH reception. Instead, it is configured with a set of ALs and multiple DCI formats to ensure scheduling flexibility on the gNB side, and therefore the UE needs to perform blind decoding in the entire search space to find PDCCH data (e.g., DCI).

[0036] The exemplary embodiments described herein provide multiple solutions to reduce PDCCH monitoring with smaller BD and CCE restrictions while balancing different related aspects, such as latency, PDCCH blocking probability, power consumption, and scheduling flexibility. The exemplary embodiments also provide an overall framework to support adaptive switching between different power consumption profiles for PDCCH monitoring.

[0037] Figure 4 A signaling diagram 400 for a reduced PDCCH monitoring operation is shown. Each signaling step in the signaling diagram 400 will be described in further detail below.

[0038] At 410, a search space set (SSS) is divided into two groups based on associated functionality. At 420, the UE reports a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability for different SSS groups. At 430, based on the reported UE capability, the gNB selects a configuration from a plurality of reduced PDCCH monitoring opportunity (MO) configurations. At 440, the UE is configured with the selected PDCCH MO configuration. At 450, based on the configuration and other adaptive signaling (including timer-based signaling, L1 signaling-based signaling, or a combination thereof), the UE monitors the PDCCH.

[0039] First, referring to step 410, the PDCCH search space sets are grouped based on the search space type. The first group (G1) includes cell-specific or common search spaces (CSS), which include type-0 / 0A / 1 / 2-PDCCH CSS. The second group (G2) includes UE-specific search spaces (USS). In some exemplary embodiments, the Redcap device may not support type-3 PDCCH CSS to minimize PDCCH monitoring power consumption, and therefore does not include it in any of the groups G1 or G2. In other exemplary embodiments, the type-3 CSS can be grouped into G2 together with the USS to achieve relaxed PDCCH monitoring capabilities.

[0040] Depending on the grouping type of the two search space sets, different PDCCH monitoring rules may be applied. For one or both of the groups, a scaling factor α may be introduced to reduce the number of blind decoding attempts and / or non-overlapping CCEs. In the first rule, non-reduced or relatively small reductions in blind decoding (BD) and / or non-overlapping CCEs may be applied to the G1 SS relative to the G2 SS. The motivation for the first rule is mainly to enable Redcap devices to share scheduled broadcast messages, such as SIB-x, paging messages, random access response (RAR) messages, etc., with eMBB / URLLC devices with normal capabilities, thereby reducing system overhead. In the second rule, as part of the UE capability signaling, the reduced number of BD / non-overlapping CCEs to be used by the UE may be reported by the Redcap device for G1 and G2, respectively. Alternatively, one or both of the reduced capabilities of G1 and G2 may be hard-coded in the specification and applied to any Redcap device.

[0041] Figure 5 A diagram 500 is shown which illustrates different scaling factors applied to first search space set and second search space set (SSS) groups. Figure 5 As shown, for BD and CCE restrictions, a first scaling factor α may be applied to the second SSS group G2 (including USS and type 3 CSS in some embodiments), and for BD and CCE restrictions, a second scaling factor α less than or equal to the first scaling factor α may be applied to the first SSS group G1 (including type-0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS). As described above, in some embodiments, the scaling factor α for G1 may be 1, for example, without reducing BD or CCE.

[0042] The relaxed PDCCH monitoring capability may be reported by the UE as part of the Redcap UE capability report using a new information element (IE) pdcch-CandidateReductions-r17. This IE allows the UE to report the maximum number of BDs on the G2 search space set in a single slot or over multiple slots. In some exemplary embodiments, the number of reduced BDs supported by the UE is determined by a field value (α*X). The value of "X" may be determined in a variety of ways. In one design, X is hard-coded in the specification according to the following formula: in is the maximum number of PDCCH candidates in one slot or in multiple consecutive slots, and is the maximum number of PDCCH candidates for G1CSS without reducing SCSu, e.g.

[0043] For G2-SSS, the value of α may be signaled by the UE. In some designs, the value may be reported per aggregation level to improve utilization of the UE baseband processing capability, taking into account mobility information / SNR geometry, etc. For example, if the UE is relatively close to the gNB, a lower α value may be used for larger aggregation levels, such as 8 / 16, since the likelihood of usage of UEs close to the gNB is low. A set of α values ​​may be predefined and hardcoded in the specification. In one example, α∈{0,0.33,0.66,1}. The set of values ​​may be commonly applied to single-slot and multi-slot PDCCH monitoring reduction. In another example, different sets of values ​​may be defined for single-slot and multi-slot PDCCH monitoring reduction. In the case of multi-slot PDCCH monitoring reduction, α∈{0,0.50,1,Y>1}. Different Y values ​​may depend on the number of slots to which multi-slot PDCCH monitoring is applied.

[0044] Figure 6 Example ASN.1 signaling 600 for α value is shown to enable UE capability indication per aggregation level (AL) based on reference blind decoding configuration for each AL. In one design, the reference BD configuration for each AL may be hard-coded in the specification. As an example, the reference BD for each AL may be <6,6,2,2,1>. In other designs, more than one reference BD configuration may be hard-coded in the specification. Then, one of these reference BD configurations may be reported along with the AL-specific "α" value as part of the UE capability.

[0045] Generally, from the system perspective, two PDCCH monitoring profiles can be supported and two PDCCH monitoring profiles are configured for Redcap UEs ( Figure 4 430-440 in steps 430-440). The first monitoring profile is a "high power consumption" profile, and the second monitoring profile is a "low power consumption" profile. In an example, the Rel-15 / 16 PDCCH monitoring configuration without any relaxation may represent the "high power consumption" profile PDCCH monitoring configuration.

[0046] Multiple configurations may be supported to relax PDCCH monitoring for Redcap devices, for example for a "low power" profile. In a first configuration, the maximum number of BDs per timeslot is reduced relative to Rel-15 / 16 and the PDCCH monitoring periodicity of k timeslots (k≥1). In a second configuration, the maximum number of BDs per timeslot is reduced or is the same as Rel-15 / 16. However, unlike the first configuration, in the second configuration, the PDCCH monitoring periodicity of k timeslots is greater than one, i.e., k>1, to reduce the burden of PDCCH monitoring. In some designs, the k value may be hard-coded in the specification. Alternatively, a set of values ​​may be predefined and the supported k values ​​reported by the Redcap UE as part of the UE capability report ( Figure 4 420 in step 420).

[0047] In a third configuration, the network may define a PDCCH Monitoring Opportunity (MO) window where the total number of BDs should be reduced compared to Rel-15 / Rel-16 subject to UE capability reporting. The window configuration may be provided by the gNB via RRC signaling. Additionally, bitmap RRC signaling may be used to indicate the exact MO slots within the window. Furthermore, for each MO within the window, different blind decodings (BDs) associated with different AL or DCI format sizes may be configured independently, subject to the rule that the total BD in the window should not exceed the reported UE capabilities. Figure 7 An exemplary diagram 700 of window-based PDCCH configurations for reduced PDCCH monitoring by a Redcap device is shown. The first example shows an MO window configuration 705 for traditional PDCCH monitoring including five MOs. The second example shows an MO window configuration 710 for reduced PDCCH monitoring including two MOs. Figure 7 As shown, the two MOs in the reduced monitoring configuration are aligned with the MOs in the conventional monitoring configuration.

[0048] In a fourth configuration, for Redcap devices, the maximum total number of different DCI format sizes that the C-RNTI is configured to monitor is reduced from 3 (the value supported in Rel-15 / Rel-16) to a smaller value, such as 2 or even 1. The total number of different DCI format sizes that the UE is configured to monitor is reduced from 4 to a smaller value, such as 3 or 2. In some designs, padding operations or truncation operations may be applied to achieve this reduced number of DCI format size targets.

[0049] Different PDCCH monitoring adaptation methods may be considered as follows to switch between “high power” (HPC) and “low power” (LPC) profile PDCCH monitoring configurations based on DCI format triggering, timer-based, etc. In some designs, Figure 4In step 440 of , the UE may be configured with at least two sets of PDCCH monitoring configurations, i.e., one set for HPC and another set for LPC, where each set is associated with a group index. The exact configuration selected from the available LPC configurations depends on the gNB scheduler. In case of carrier aggregation, the CCs configured for the UE may be divided into one or more CC groups, and PDCCH monitoring adaptation, once triggered for one CC, is applied to all CCs within the same CC group.

[0050] In the first method, DCI format-based adaptation is used. In one design, an X-bit flag field can be added to the existing scheduling DCI format transmitted in the USS (e.g., X=1) to dynamically trigger the switch between the "HPC" and "LPC" PDCCH monitoring profiles. In addition, X=2 bits can be used to implement skipping multiple MOs without changing the PDCCH monitoring profile. Figure 8 An exemplary table 800 of switching schemes for reduced PDCCH monitoring is shown. An indication value of "00" indicates not switching the current monitoring profile. An indication value of "01" indicates switching from one monitoring profile to another monitoring profile. Indication values ​​of "10" and "11" may indicate skipping some number of MOs without changing the monitoring profile.

[0051] Once the UE is configured for PDCCH monitoring, it may start monitoring the PDCCH according to a default PDCCH monitoring profile (e.g., an "LPC" PDCCH profile) to save power. If the UE detects that the value of the flag field in the received scheduling DCI format is "1", the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH according to another profile at the first time slot of at least X symbols after the last symbol of the detected scheduling DCI format.

[0052] In the second method, timer-based adaptation is used. A timer value may be provided to the UE and decremented by 1 after each reference slot. In one design, the reference slot is determined based on the minimum SCS within each CC of the CC group. In some designs, once the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH according to the HPC PDCCH configuration, the UE resets the timer value to a value provided by a higher layer. The UE starts monitoring the PDCCH of the serving cell according to the LPC PDCCH configuration and stops monitoring the PDCCH according to the HPC PDCCH configuration at the beginning of the first reference slot of at least M symbols after the timer expires. Figure 4 In step 420, the value of M may be reported as part of the UE capabilities. Fig. 9 An exemplary diagram 900 of a switching scheme for reduced PDCCH monitoring is shown. Fig. 9As shown, the switch from the HPC configuration to the LPC configuration may be DCI-based or timer-based, while the switch from the LPC configuration to the HPC configuration may be only DCI-based.

[0053] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or a combination thereof. An exemplary hardware platform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, a desktop platform with an operating system, a mobile device with an operating system. In yet another example, the exemplary embodiments of the above method may be embodied as a program comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0054] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various aspects, each with different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one aspect may be combined with features of other aspects or features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the aspects disclosed in the present invention in any manner not publicly denied.

[0055] 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 the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0056] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more processors, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment UE, a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability for at least one search space set SSS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH; determining a reduced monitoring capability MO configuration for the UE based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; as well as transmitting the reduced MO configuration to the UE, wherein the received reduced PDCCH monitoring capability includes a reduced capability for a first SSS group including a common search space CSS and a second SSS group including a UE-specific search space USS, The method further comprises: receiving, from the UE, a scaling factor of a blind decoding reference number of the PDCCH for at least one of the first SSS group or the second SSS group, wherein different scaling factors are applied to the first SSS group and the second SSS group; and Based on the scaling factor, the reduced MO configuration is determined.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SSS packet comprises types 0, 0A, 1, and 2 CSS.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second SSS packet comprises a Type 3 CSS.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the reduced MO configuration comprises: The UE is configured with a first monitoring profile and a second monitoring profile, the first monitoring profile being associated with higher power consumption, and the second monitoring profile being associated with lower power consumption.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second monitoring profile comprises at least one of: a number of blind decodes per time slot that is reduced relative to a reference number of blind decodes; Or increase the PDCCH monitoring periodicity.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second monitoring profile configuration comprises an MO window configuration for reduced PDCCH monitoring.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the second monitoring profile configuration comprises: Compared with the first monitoring profile, a reduced number of different downlink control information DCI format sizes to be monitored are configured.

8. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: An indication of switching from any one of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile to another one of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile is transmitted, wherein the indication is transmitted in downlink control information DCI transmission.

9. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: The UE is configured to switch from the second monitoring profile to the first monitoring profile based on a timer based on a time slot.

10. A base station, comprising: a transceiver configured to be connected to a user equipment UE; and One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: receiving, from the UE, a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability for at least one search space set SSS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH; determining a reduced monitoring capability MO configuration for the UE based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; as well as transmitting the reduced MO configuration to the UE, wherein the received reduced PDCCH monitoring capability includes a reduced capability for a first SSS group including a common search space CSS and a second SSS group including a UE-specific search space USS, The operations also include: receiving, from the UE, a scaling factor of a blind decoding reference number of the PDCCH for at least one of the first SSS group or the second SSS group, wherein different scaling factors are applied to the first SSS group and the second SSS group; and Based on the scaling factor, the reduced MO configuration is determined.

11. The base station of claim 10, wherein the first SSS packet includes types 0, 0A, 1, and 2 CSS.

12. The base station of claim 10, wherein the second SSS packet further comprises a Type 3 CSS.

13. The base station of claim 10, wherein transmitting the reduced MO configuration comprises: The UE is configured with a first monitoring profile and a second monitoring profile, the first monitoring profile being associated with higher power consumption, and the second monitoring profile being associated with lower power consumption.

14. The base station of claim 13, wherein the second monitoring profile comprises at least one of: a reduced number of blind decodings per time slot relative to a reference number of blind decodings; or an increased PDCCH monitoring periodicity.

15. The base station of claim 13, wherein the second monitoring profile configuration comprises an MO window configuration for reduced PDCCH monitoring.

16. The base station of claim 13, wherein the second monitoring profile configuration comprises: Compared with the first monitoring profile, a reduced number of different downlink control information DCI format sizes to be monitored are configured.

17. The base station of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: An indication of switching from any one of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile to another one of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile is transmitted, wherein the indication is transmitted in downlink control information DCI transmission.

18. The base station of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: The UE is configured to switch from the second monitoring profile to the first monitoring profile based on a timer based on a time slot.

Images