Reduced PDCCH monitoring by user equipment

Abstract

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

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to wireless communication systems, and in particular to reduced PDCCH monitoring by user equipment. 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 of 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 decode attempt represents a processing burden for the UE, and a PDCCH monitoring configuration that allows a potentially large number of blind decode attempts may adversely affect UE battery performance. Reduced capability (Redcap) devices, such as industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearables, typically have shorter battery life than devices supporting normal capabilities. Therefore, a PDCCH monitoring configuration that allows a large number of blind decode attempts may be particularly detrimental to the battery performance of Redcap devices. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some example embodiments relate to one or more processors configured to perform operations including: reporting a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability for at least one search space set (SSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to a base station; receiving a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration from the base station, wherein the base station determines the reduced MO configuration based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; and monitoring the PDCCH based on the reduced MO configuration.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) having: a transceiver configured to connect to a base station; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include: reporting a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability to the base station for at least one search space set (SSS) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); receiving a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration from the base station, wherein the base station determines the reduced MO configuration based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability; and monitoring the PDCCH based on the reduced MO configuration. 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 Signaling diagrams for reduced PDCCH monitoring operations according to various exemplary embodiments are 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, according to various exemplary embodiments.

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

[0012] Figure 7 An exemplary diagram illustrating 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 switching scenarios for reduced PDCCH monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0014] Figure 9 An exemplary diagram illustrating 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 bear the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe operations for reducing PDCCH monitoring while balancing various relevant aspects (e.g., latency, PDCCH blocking probability, power consumption, and scheduling flexibility) by utilizing 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 smartphone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, the example with two UEs 110, 112 is provided for illustrative purposes only. In some exemplary embodiments described below, a group of UEs 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 can include a 5G NR chipset for communicating with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset for communicating with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset for communicating with WLAN 124. However, UE 110, 112 can also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., traditional cellular networks), and UE 110 can also communicate with the network via a wired connection. Referring to the exemplary embodiment, UE 110, 112 can establish a connection with 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122.

[0019] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a cellular provider (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] UEs 110 and 112 may connect to 5G NR-RAN 120 via at least one of next-generation Node B (gNB) 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNBs 120A and 120B may be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna arrays), software, and / or firmware to perform massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. Reference to two gNBs 120A and 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments are applicable to any suitable number of gNBs. For example, UEs 110 and 112 may simultaneously connect to and exchange data with multiple gNBs in a multi-cell carrier aggregation configuration. UEs 110 and 112 may also connect to LTE-RAN 122 via either or both eNBs 122A and 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 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 for NR) can be considered 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 can be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 can 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 can be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can 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 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, sensors for detecting conditions 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 a plurality of 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 occasion (MO) configuration from the network, and monitoring the PDCCH based in part on the received configuration, as will be described in further detail below.

[0025] The engine described above as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a standalone 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 input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as one 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 user 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 can 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, ports for electrically connecting the gNB 120A to other electronic devices, and the like.

[0029] The processor 305 may be configured to execute a plurality of 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, as described in detail below.

[0030] The engines described above, each as an application (e.g., a program) executed by processor 305, are exemplary only. The functionality associated with the engines may also be represented as a standalone, integrated component of gNB 120A, or as a modular component coupled to gNB 120A, such as an integrated circuit 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. Furthermore, in some gNBs, the functionality described for processor 305 is split among 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] Memory 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by UE 110, 112. I / O device 320 may be a hardware component or port that enables a user to interact with gNB 120A. Transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with UE 110, 112 and any other UE in system 100. Transceiver 325 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of contiguous frequencies). Thus, 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, the work item "Support for Reduced Capability NR Devices" was approved to study the UE features and parameter list 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. One design goal is to improve the battery life performance of reduced capability (Redcap) devices by reducing the number of blind decodes (BD) and implementing control channel element (CCE) restrictions by reducing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring.

[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 consisting of 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 DCI 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 consists of 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) and uplink (UL) grants. The UE-specific search space is configured for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling and is dedicated to that particular 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 assigned. In order for the UE to decode the PDCCH, it needs to know the PDCCH location (CCE index), structure, scrambling code, etc. However, the UE is not informed of the exact aggregation level (AL) or DCI format used 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 across the entire search space to find PDCCH data (e.g., DCI).

[0036] The exemplary embodiments described herein provide various solutions to reduce PDCCH monitoring with smaller BD and CCE restrictions while balancing different relevant 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 reduced PDCCH monitoring operation is shown. Each signaling step in the signaling diagram 400 will be described in further detail below.

[0038] At 410, the search space set (SSS) is divided into two groups based on associated functionality. At 420, the UE reports a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability for each SSS group. 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 search space type. The first group (G1) includes cell-specific or common search spaces (CSS), which include type-0 / 0A / 1 / 2 PDCCH CSSs. The second group (G2) includes UE-specific search spaces (USSs). In some exemplary embodiments, Redcap devices may not support type-3 PDCCH CSSs to minimize PDCCH monitoring power consumption and therefore not include them in either group G1 or G2. In other exemplary embodiments, type-3 CSSs may be grouped into G2 along with USSs 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 reduction 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 primarily 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, and thereby reduce 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 illustrating different scaling factors applied to first 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, in some embodiments, type 3 CSS), 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, e.g., not 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 across 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 a 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, this value may be reported per aggregation level to improve utilization of the UE's baseband processing power, taking into account factors such as mobility information and SNR geometry. 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 usage by UEs close to the gNB is less likely. A set of α values ​​may be predefined and hardcoded in the specification. In one example, α ∈ {0, 0.33, 0.66, 1}. This set of values ​​may be commonly applied to both 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 values ​​of Y 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 values ​​is shown to enable per-aggregation level (AL) UE capability indication based on a 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. One of these reference BD configurations may then be reported as part of the UE's capabilities along with the AL-specific "α" value.

[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 4. The first monitoring profile is a "high power" profile, and the second monitoring profile is a "low power" profile. In one example, the Rel-15 / 16 PDCCH monitoring configuration without any relaxations may represent a "high power" 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 a PDCCH monitoring periodicity of k timeslots (k ≥ 1). In a second configuration, the maximum number of BDs per timeslot is reduced or made 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 value of k may be hard-coded in the specification. Alternatively, a set of values ​​may be predefined and the supported values ​​of k 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 can define a PDCCH Monitoring Opportunity (MO) window where the total number of blind decodings (BDs) should be reduced compared to Rel-15 / Rel-16, which is subject to UE capability reporting. The window configuration can be provided by the gNB via RRC signaling. Alternatively, bitmap RRC signaling can 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 can be independently configured, 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 conventional 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 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, the UE may be configured with at least two sets of PDCCH monitoring configurations: one for HPC and another 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 the 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 approach, 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 switching between the "HPC" and "LPC" PDCCH monitoring profiles. Alternatively, X=2 bits can be used to implement skipping multiple MOs without changing the PDCCH monitoring profile. Figure 8 An exemplary table 800 illustrates a switching scenario for reduced PDCCH monitoring. An indicator value of "00" indicates not switching the current monitoring profile. An indicator value of "01" indicates switching from one monitoring profile to another. Indicator values ​​of "10" and "11" may indicate skipping a certain number of MOs without changing the monitoring profile.

[0051] Once configured for PDCCH monitoring, the UE may start monitoring PDCCH according to a default PDCCH monitoring profile (e.g., the "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 may start monitoring 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 a second approach, 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 PDCCH according to the HPC PDCCH configuration, the UE resets the timer value to a value provided by higher layers. 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. Figure 9 An exemplary diagram 900 is shown for a switching scheme with reduced PDCCH monitoring. Figure 9As shown, the switching from the HPC configuration to the LPC configuration can be based on DCI or timer, while the switching from the LPC configuration to the HPC configuration can be based only on DCI.

[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 combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms 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 having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one aspect may be combined with features of other aspects in any manner not publicly denied or that is not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the disclosed aspects of the present invention.

[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 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 computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: reporting, for at least one search space set SSS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability to a base station; Receiving a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration from the base station, wherein the base station determines the reduced MO configuration based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability, wherein receiving the reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration comprises: receiving 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, wherein the second monitoring profile comprises at least one of the following: The reduced number of blind decodes per slot relative to the reference number of blind decodes; Increased PDCCH monitoring periodicity; MO window configuration for reduced PDCCH monitoring; as well as a reduced number of different Downlink Control Information (DCI) format sizes to be monitored relative to the first monitoring profile configuration; and The PDCCH is monitored based on the reduced MO configuration.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: A first SSS group including a common search space CSS and a second SSS group including a UE-specific search space USS are determined.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the first SSS packet comprises types 0, 0A, 1, and 2 CSS.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the second SSS packet comprises a Type 3 CSS.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise: Determining, for at least one of the first SSS group or the second SSS group, at least one scaling factor of the blind decoding reference number of the PDCCH; as well as The at least one scaling factor is reported to the base station.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: Based on the received DCI transmission, an indication is received to switch from either the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile to the other monitoring profile of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: Switching from the second monitoring profile to the first monitoring profile is performed according to a timer based on a time slot.

8. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to connect to a base station; and One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: reporting, for at least one search space set SSS of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, a reduced PDCCH monitoring capability to the base station; Receiving a reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration from the base station, wherein the base station determines the reduced MO configuration based on the reported reduced PDCCH monitoring capability, wherein receiving the reduced monitoring capability (MO) configuration comprises: receiving 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, wherein the second monitoring profile comprises at least one of the following: The reduced number of blind decodes per slot relative to the reference number of blind decodes; Increased PDCCH monitoring periodicity; MO window configuration for reduced PDCCH monitoring; as well as a reduced number of different Downlink Control Information (DCI) format sizes to be monitored relative to the first monitoring profile configuration; and The PDCCH is monitored based on the reduced MO configuration.

9. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: A first SSS group including a common search space CSS and a second SSS group including a UE-specific search space USS are determined.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the first SSS packet includes types 0, 0A, 1, and 2 CSS. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the second SSS packet further comprises a Type 3 CSS.

12. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: Determine, for at least one of the first SSS group or the second SSS group, a scaling factor of the blind decoding reference number of the PDCCH; as well as The scaling factor is reported to the base station.

13. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: Based on the received DCI transmission, an indication is received to switch from either the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile to the other monitoring profile of the first monitoring profile or the second monitoring profile.

14. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: Switching from the second monitoring profile to the first monitoring profile is performed according to a timer based on a time slot.

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