System and method for managing multicast and unicast communications

Abstract

A method of wireless communication includes a wireless communication device receiving, from a network, first downlink control information on a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource. The first downlink control information schedules a first transport block (TB). The first downlink channel is specific to the wireless communication device. The method also includes the wireless communication device receiving, from the network, the first TB on a second downlink channel in a second frequency resource. The first TB is received by a plurality of wireless communication devices. The second downlink channel is common to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically, to systems and methods for simultaneous unicast and multicast transmissions. BACKGROUND

[0002] In multicast mode, the same information is transmitted by a network node (e.g., a base station) to a group of user equipments (UEs) using the same transmission mechanism. The multicast transmission can be on a physical data shared channel (PDSCH) that is received by the group of UEs. Such a PDSCH carrying a multicast transport block (TB) can be referred to as a group common PDSCH or a multicast PDSCH. Specifically, there are various network environments (e.g., channel conditions) for different UEs. In order to improve the efficiency of the multicast transmission, it is desirable to categorize the UEs with similar network environments into a group of UEs. Then, the selected transmission mechanism better matches the network environment of each UE in the group of UEs.

[0003] For a group of UEs receiving the same PDSCH for a multicast TB, there are different ways to schedule the PDSCH. One approach is to use a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) such that all UEs in the group will detect the same PDCCH and the PDSCH will be scheduled by the PDCCH. Another approach is to use a UE-specific PDCCH for each UE in the group such that each UE will detect its own PDCCH and different PDCCHs will schedule the same PDSCH.

[0004] For a multicast TB / PDSCH scheduled by downlink control information (DCI) carried on a UE-specific PDCCH, there will be different configuration parameters for unicast and multicast transmissions. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between unicast or multicast transmissions scheduled by DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH, the DCI size determines which rule should be followed, and how to descramble the group common PDSCH, etc. SUMMARY

[0005] The example embodiments disclosed herein are intended to address problems related to one or more difficulties presented in the prior art, and to provide additional features that will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. It should be understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and that it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art reading the following disclosure that various modifications can be made within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0006] In some embodiments, a wireless communication method includes a wireless communication device receiving first downlink control information from a network on a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource; wherein the first downlink control information schedules a first transport block (TB), the first downlink channel is specific to the wireless communication device, and the wireless communication device receives the first TB from the network on a second downlink channel in a second frequency resource, the first TB being received by a plurality of wireless communication devices, and the second downlink channel being common to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

[0007] In other embodiments, a wireless communication method includes a network transmitting first downlink control information to a wireless communication device on a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource, wherein the first downlink control information schedules a first transport block (TB), the first downlink channel is specific to the wireless communication device, and the network transmitting the first TB to a plurality of wireless communication devices, including the wireless communication device, on a second downlink channel in a second frequency resource, wherein the second downlink channel is common to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

[0008] The above and other aspects and their embodiments will be described in more detail in the drawings, specification and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Various exemplary embodiments of this solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of this solution to aid the reader's understanding. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered as limitations on the breadth, scope, or applicability of this solution. It should be noted that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale for clarity and ease of explanation.

[0010] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the time slot structure corresponding to an example configuration 100 for PDCCH monitoring timing according to various embodiments.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a DL BWP pair for simultaneous unicast and multicast transmission according to various embodiments.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating example methods for determining BWP handover and BWP handover delay according to various embodiments.

[0013] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 400 for determining the size of a DCI according to various embodiments.

[0014] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating example methods for aligning unicast and multicast resources in a DCI according to various embodiments.

[0015] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating example methods for scheduling multiple TBs according to various embodiments.

[0016] Figure 7 It is a table of DL BWP pairs of unicast BWP and multicast BWP according to various embodiments.

[0017] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating example methods for determining BWP switching according to various embodiments.

[0018] Figure 9 It is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to the multicast service index according to various embodiments.

[0019] Figure 10 It is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to service types according to various embodiments.

[0020] Figure 11 It is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to the multicast service index according to various embodiments.

[0021] Figure 12A This is a flowchart illustrating example wireless communication methods for sidelink discontinuous reception configurations according to various arrangements.

[0022] Figure 12B This is a flowchart illustrating example wireless communication methods for sidelink discontinuous reception configurations according to various arrangements.

[0023] Figure 13A A block diagram of an example base station according to various arrangements is shown.

[0024] Figure 13B A block diagram of an example user device according to various arrangements is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0025] Various exemplary embodiments of this solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable those skilled in the art to manufacture and use the solution. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, upon reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of this solution. Therefore, this solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Furthermore, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is merely an example approach. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods or processes can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of this solution. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or behaviors in a sample order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, this solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0026] The development of 5G wireless communication systems aims to achieve higher data communication rates (e.g., in Gbps) and a large number of communication links (e.g., 1M / Km). 2 This results in ultra-low latency (e.g., less than 1 ms), higher reliability, and improved energy efficiency (e.g., at least 100 times more efficient than previous systems). To achieve these improvements, multicast TB can be carried on a group-shared PDSCH scheduled by a DCI carried on a PDCCH. There are several ways to schedule multicast TB.

[0027] One way to schedule multicast TB is to use a DCI carried on a group common PDCCH, so that all UEs in the group will detect the same PDCCH for receiving PDSCH. The group common PDCCH is scrambled by a corresponding group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The PDSCH can also be scrambled by the same group common RNTI or another group common RNTI configured similarly via RRC signaling. Another way to schedule multicast TB is to use a DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH for each UE in the group. Specifically, each UE will detect its own PDCCH, and different DCIs carried on different PDCCHs will schedule the same PDSCH. A DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH can also be used to schedule PDSCHs carrying unicast TB. Monitoring information for the “group common PDCCH” or “UE-specific PDCCH”, such as search space set configuration and control resource set (CORESET) configuration, can be indicated in system information or UE-specific RRC signaling.

[0028] In a wireless communication system, a control resource set (CORESET) comprises one or more resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and one or more orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain. One or more PDCCH candidates are transmitted within a CORESET. The configuration parameters of a CORESET are configured by the network for the UE, including the CORESET index, frequency domain resources, and CORESET duration. One or more CORESETs can be configured for a UE to monitor PDCCH.

[0029] In a wireless communication system, the network configures one or more search space sets for the UE. Configuration parameters for a search space set include the search space index, the associated CORESET index, the PDCCH monitoring period and offset, the search space duration, the PDCCH monitoring mode within the time slot, and the search space type. Typically, there are two types of search spaces: UE-specific search space (USS) and common search space (CSS). The search space type also indicates the downlink control information (DCI) format monitored by the UE. The search space set is associated with a CORESET. The PDCCH monitoring period and offset indicate the time slot in which the UE needs to monitor the PDCCH. Based on the search space set configuration and the associated CORESET configuration, the UE is configured to monitor the corresponding PDCCH with the DCI format indicated by the search space type on the resources indicated by the CORESET within the time slot indicated by the PDCCH monitoring period and offset.

[0030] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the time slot structure corresponding to an example configuration 100 for PDCCH monitoring timing according to various embodiments. (Reference) Figure 1 Configuration 100 has eight time slots, designated as time slots 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, 102g, and 102h (collectively referred to as time slots 102a-102h). Figure 1In the diagram, the x-axis corresponds to time, and the y-axis corresponds to frequency or BWP. The PDCCH monitoring period is the period during which the UE monitors the PDCCH. In configuration 100, the PDCCH monitoring period is 4 time slots. That is, time slots 102a-102d are within PDCCH monitoring period 106a, and time slots 102e-102h are within PDCCH monitoring period 106b. The PDCCH monitoring offset in configuration 100 is 0 (e.g., no offset). The search space duration in configuration 100 is 2 time slots. As shown, within PDCCH monitoring period 106a, the search space duration 104a includes time slots 102a and 102b. Within PDCCH monitoring period 106b, the search space duration 104b includes time slots 102e and 102f. In configuration 100, within search duration 104a or 104b, two PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MOs) are configured in a given time slot. For example, time slot 102a includes 44 OFDM symbols 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j, 110k, 110l, 110m, and 110n (collectively referred to as symbols 110a-110n). Symbols 110a and 110h are configured as the first symbols of the MO. Therefore, there are a total of 4 MOs within each PDCCH monitoring period. For example, the first symbols of symbols 110a and 110h, as well as the first symbols of two other MOs in time slot 102b, are all within PDCCH monitoring period 106a. The first symbols of two MOs in each time slot of times slots 102e and 102f are all within PDCCH monitoring period 106b. In each MO, the UE monitors the PDCCH within a resource configured by CORESET.

[0031] In a wireless communication system, there are one or more PDCCH candidates in a search space. Each PDCCH candidate has a PDCCH candidate index. A PDCCH consists of one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), and each Control Channel Element has a CCE index.

[0032] Typically, unicast TBs carried on the PDSCH are scheduled within the active downlink (DL) bandwidth portion (BWP) (e.g., with BWP index #1), making the active BWP a portion of the carrier bandwidth used for serving transmissions. A UE can be configured for more than one DL BWP, but only one DL BWP can be active at any given time. The scheduled PDCCH also resides within the active DL BWP.

[0033] According to an example embodiment, a UE receives first downlink control information (e.g., DCI) on a first downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) in a first frequency resource (e.g., a first BWP), and the first downlink control information is UE-specific. In some embodiments, assuming that a UE-specific RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI) is being scrambled with the CRC of the first DCI, the DCI and PDCCH are characterized as UE-specific. This first downlink control information schedules a first TB. Then, the UE receives the first TB on a second downlink channel (e.g., PDSCH) in a second frequency resource (e.g., a second BWP), which is common to many different UEs. The first TB is received by many different UEs. In some embodiments, considering that a group-common RNTI (e.g., g-RNTI) is used to initialize the scrambling sequence of the second downlink channel, the first TB and the second downlink channel are common to different UEs.

[0034] Several embodiments relate to such a method for simultaneously transmitting unicast and multicast TBs. A first embodiment relates to a method for transmitting a multicast PDSCH from a unicast mode. In this embodiment, the unicast TB carried on the PDSCH is scheduled within an active DLBWP (e.g., having BWP index #1), and the multicast TB is scheduled within a multicast-specific active DLBWP (e.g., having BWP index #2). For a UE that simultaneously receives both unicast and multicast TBs, the UE is required to activate BWP1 and BWP2 together.

[0035] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a DL BWP pair for simultaneous unicast and multicast transmission according to various embodiments. Figure 2 In the diagram, the x-axis corresponds to time, and the y-axis corresponds to frequency or BWP. For example... Figure 2 As shown, carrier 202 includes a first BWP (BWP1) 204 and a second BWP (BWP2) 206. BWP1 204 is a DL BWP for unicast, while BWP2 206 is a DL BWP for multicast. Thus, BWP1 204 and BWP2 206 can be considered as a DL BWP pair for unicast and multicast service transmission, respectively. The aforementioned BWPs can be activated individually or simultaneously. The BWPs in a DL BWP pair need to meet certain constraints (e.g., at least one frequency range of the multicast BWP is located within the frequency range of the unicast BWP, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is the same for both multicast and unicast BWPs, and the cyclic prefix (CP) is the same for both multicast and unicast BWPs). Then, some BWP configuration parameters can be shared by the BWPs in a BWP pair, including but not limited to SCS, CP, etc. Figure 2As shown, BWP2 206 may be entirely contained within BWP1 204 and share the same CP and SCS. In other embodiments (not shown), BWP2 206 may be partially contained within BWP1 204 or not contained within BWP1 204 at all.

[0036] Both unicast TB and multicast TB can be scheduled via DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH. The UE-specific PDCCH is transmitted within BWP1, and the DCI format can be either DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2. The "Bandwidth Part Indicator" field in the DCI can be used to indicate whether the scheduled PDSCH carries a unicast TB or a multicast TB. For example, if the value of the Bandwidth Part Indicator field is equal to a specific value, the scheduled PDSCH carries a multicast TB. This specific value can be predefined or can correspond to a multicast BWP or a multicast frequency resource, one of which is used for multicast service transmission. Specifically, if the Bandwidth Part Indicator field indicates a BWP in a DL BWP pair (i.e., the BWP carrying the PDCCH and the BWP carrying the PDSCH are in a DL BWP pair), there will be no BWP handover delay between data reception in one BWP and data reception in the other BWP.

[0037] Therefore, in this embodiment, if the "Bandwidth Part Indicator" field indicates BWP index #2, the scheduled PDSCH is in BWP2 and carries a multicast TB. Otherwise, if the Bandwidth Part Indicator field indicates BWP index #1, the scheduled PDSCH is in BWP1 and accordingly carries a unicast TB. When a multicast TB is received in BWP2, the downlink resource configuration is based on BWP2.

[0038] The RNTI used to initialize the scrambling sequence of the scheduled PDSCH is determined based on the Bandwidth Part Indicator field or the TB type carried on the PDSCH (i.e., unicast or multicast). For BWP2, multicast TBs are scheduled and carried on the group common PDSCH, and the scrambling sequence of the scheduled PDSCH is initialized using the group common RNTI. The group common RNTI can be a BWP-specific RNTI configured by RRC signaling, or a multicast-specific RNTI configured by RRC signaling or defined in the specification. Otherwise, in BWP1, unicast TBs are scheduled and carried on the group common PDSCH, and the scrambling sequence of the scheduled PDSCH is initialized using the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) of the scheduled UE.

[0039] Correspondingly, when the UE descrambles a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH, the UE will determine the RNTI of the scrambling sequence used to initialize the scheduling of the PDSCH based on the "Bandwidth Part Indicator" field or the type of TB carried on the PDSCH (i.e., unicast or multicast).

[0040] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 300 for determining BWP handover and BWP handover delay according to the first embodiment. Figure 3 As shown, method 300 is performed by base station (BS) 301 and UE 302. At 310, BS 301 transmits a DCI including a BWP indicator to UE 302. At 320, UE 302 receives the DCI on the first BWP, and at 330, determines that the value indicated by the BWP indicator is equal to a predetermined value. If so, method 300 proceeds to 340, where UE 302 determines that no BWP handover is required from the first BWP to the second BWP, where UE 302 receives a TB scheduled by the DCI, and proceeds to 350, where UE 302 determines that there is no BWP handover delay between the first BWP and the second BWP. Then, at 360, BS 301 transmits the TB, which is received by UE 302 at 370 based on the determined parameters.

[0041] The second embodiment relates to a method for determining the size of a DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH that schedules multicast PDSCHs. Regardless of whether the PDSCH carries a unicast TB or a multicast TB, the size of the DCI used to schedule the PDSCH can always be determined based on the configuration of the unicast BWP. Specifically, the information fields contained in the DCI and the size of each information field are determined by the configuration of the unicast BWP.

[0042] In cases where DCI is scheduling multicast TBs, some information fields may have redundant bits or values. For example, the size of the Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field is determined based on the number of RBs in the unicast BWP. More specifically, for Frequency Domain Resource Allocation Type 1, the size of the FDRA field can be determined according to the following formula:

[0043]

[0044] in This refers to the size of the unicast BWP (i.e., the number of RBs in the unicast BWP). For multicast PDSCH, frequency domain resources should be allocated within the multicast BWP, which can be smaller than the size of the unicast BWP.

[0045] There are two methods for frequency resource domain allocation in multicast PDSCH. In the first method, the size of the FDRA field is determined based on the bandwidth of the unicast BWP, and the RB indicated by the FDRA field is confined within the multicast BWP. Therefore, some values ​​of the FDRA field will be redundant values ​​for multicast PDSCH scheduling and are avoided. In the second method, the size of the FDRA field (given as N bits) is determined based on the bandwidth of the unicast BWP. Based on the bandwidth of the multicast BWP, the required number of bits is M. Then, the lower M bits (i.e., the M least significant bits (LSBs)) of the total N bits are used for frequency domain resource allocation for multicast transmission, and the higher (NM) bits (e.g., the NM most significant bits (MSBs)) are filled with zeros. Therefore, some bits of the FDRA field are redundant bits for multicast PDSCH scheduling. Similar processing methods can also be used for other information fields in the DCI carried on the UE-specific PDCCH.

[0046] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 400 for determining the size of a DCI according to the second embodiment. Figure 4 As shown, method 400 is performed by BS 401 and UE 402. Method 400 begins at 410, where BS 401 transmits the DCI to UE 402. At 420, the UE receives the DCI from the BWP, and at 430, the size of the DCI is determined based on the configuration of the BWP. Then, at 430, BS 401 transmits the TB, which is received by UE 402 at 450 based on the determined parameters.

[0047] The third embodiment relates to another method for determining the size of the DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH that schedules multicast PDSCHs. The size of the DCI carried on the UE-specific PDCCH can be determined separately based on the configuration of the unicast BWP and multicast BWP. Therefore, within the search space set, there can be two different DCI sizes for the same DCI format. One DCI size is used for unicast PDSCH scheduling, and the other DCI size is used for multicast PDSCH scheduling, and potential DCI size alignment can be performed by the UE between the two different DCI sizes.

[0048] For DCI size alignment, there are different DCI formats with different functions. For example, DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2 is used for DL ​​scheduling, DCI format 0_0 / 0_1 / 0_2 is used for UL scheduling, DCI format 2_0 is used for Slot Format Indication (SFI), DCI format 2_1 is used for preemption indication, DCI format 2_2 / 2_3 is used for power control, DCI format 2_4 is used for UL cancellation indication, and so on. Each can have a different size, but the UE's ability to use DCI for blind detection (BD) is limited because only four different DCI sizes can be monitored by the UE for a single cell, and the number of different DCI formats with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by C-RNTI cannot exceed three. The limitation of BD can be referred to as the DCI size budget. If the number of DCI sizes exceeds the DCI size budget, DCI size alignment should be performed between different DCI formats.

[0049] There are four methods that can be used for DCI size alignment. Alignment means that each size is the same size (e.g., if A is aligned with B, then the size of A is equal to the size of B). In the first method, the size of the DCI used to schedule unicast PDSCHs is always aligned with the size of the same DCI format used to schedule multicast PDSCHs. In the second method, the size of the DCI used to schedule multicast PDSCHs is always aligned with the size of the same DCI format used to schedule unicast PDSCHs. In the third method, the size of the DCI is always aligned with the larger of the DCI used to schedule unicast PDSCHs and the DCI used to schedule multicast PDSCHs. In the fourth method, if the number of DCI formats with different sizes does not exceed the DCI size budget, then these two do not need to be aligned. If the number of DCI formats with different sizes does exceed the DCI size budget, then one of the first, second, or third methods should be used to align the size of the same DCI format for scheduling unicast and multicast PDSCHs.

[0050] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 500 for aligning unicast and multicast resources in a DCI according to the third embodiment. Figure 5As shown, method 500 is performed by BS 501 and UE 502. Method 500 begins at 510, where BS 501 transmits a DCI to UE 502 in a first BWP. At 520, UE 502 receives the DCI and schedules a TB in a second BWP. At 530, the UE determines the size of the format of the DCI used for scheduling unicast PDSCH. At 540, the UE determines the size of the format of the DCI used for scheduling multicast PDSCH. At 550, the UE aligns the sizes of the unicast and multicast formats. Then, at 560, BS 501 transmits the TB, which is received by UE 502 at 570 based on the determined parameters.

[0051] The fourth embodiment relates to a method for determining the size of a DCI carried on a group common PDCCH that schedules multicast PDSCHs. For a multicast PDSCH scheduled by a DCI carried on a group common PDCCH (i.e., all UEs in the group will detect the same PDCCH for receiving multicast PDSCHs), the group common PDCCH carries a DCI format, wherein the CRC is scrambled by a corresponding group common RNTI configured via RRC signaling. The scrambling sequence of the PDSCH can be initialized by the same group common RNTI, or also by another group common RNTI configured via RRC signaling. In this embodiment, in addition to the first multicast TB scheduled by the first downlink information, the unicast TB and the second multicast TB are scheduled by the second and third downlink information received by the UE from the BS.

[0052] Different UEs within a group should have a common understanding of the size of the DCI used for scheduling multicast PDSCH. For each UE, if the group common PDCCH reuses a DCI format for unicast PDSCH scheduling, the size alignment of the same DCI format used for scheduling unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH should be further considered. Considering that the DL scheduling DCI used for unicast (e.g., DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2) is reused in the group common PDCCH used for scheduling multicast PDSCH, there are three methods for DCI size alignment. In the first method, the size of the DCI used for scheduling unicast PDSCH is always aligned with the size of the same DCI format used for scheduling multicast PDSCH. For example, DCI format 1_0 can be used for scheduling both unicast and multicast PDSCH. The DCI size will be determined based on the multicast BWP configuration. If a smaller size is required for scheduling unicast PDSCH, the DCI size is padded with zeros to align it with DCI format 1_0 used for multicast PDSCH scheduling. If scheduling a unicast PDSCH requires a large size, the DCI size is truncated according to predefined rules to align it with the DCI format 1_0 used for multicast PDSCH scheduling.

[0053] In the second method, the size of the DCI used to schedule two unicast PDSCHs is always aligned with the size of a reference DCI having the same DCI format, which is defined in the specification or configured by RRC signaling. The reference DCI size is defined according to the DCI format. For example, the reference DCI size for DCI format 1_2 is predefined. If either the unicast or multicast PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_2, its size will be aligned with the reference DCI size predefined for DCI format 1_2.

[0054] In the third method, if the number of DCI formats with different sizes does not exceed the DCI size budget, the DCI sizes used for scheduling unicast PDSCH and multicast do not need to be aligned. If the number of DCI formats with different sizes does exceed the DCI size budget, then one of the first or second methods should be used to align the sizes of the same DCI format used for scheduling PDSCH and multicast PDSCH.

[0055] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 600 for scheduling multiple TBs according to the fourth embodiment. Figure 6 As shown, method 600 is performed by BS 601 and UE 602. Method 600 begins at 610, where BS 601 transmits a first DCI to UE 602. At 620, UE 602 receives the first DCI on a first DL resource, which schedules a first multicast TB. Then, at 630, BS 601 transmits a second DCI to UE 602 on a third DL resource. At 640, UE 602 receives the second DCI, which schedules a unicast TB. At 650, BS 601 transmits a third DCI to UE 602 on a fourth DL resource. At 660, UE 602 receives the third DCI, which schedules a second multicast TB. Then, at 670, BS 601 transmits a TB, which is received by UE 602 at 680 based on determined parameters.

[0056] The fifth embodiment relates to a method for indicating a multicast PDSCH transmitted from unicast mode. The mapping relationship between unicast BWPs and multicast BWPs can be configured via RRC signaling and can be bound into DL BWP pairs. The unicast BWP and multicast BWP in a single DL BWP pair will switch together. That is, if an active unicast BWP is switching to another active unicast BWP, the active multicast BWP will be switched accordingly. Figure 7 This is a table of DL BWP pairs for unicast and multicast BWPs according to various embodiments. For example... Figure 7As shown, there are three pairs of DL BWPs. If the active unicast BWP switches from 1 to 2 (i.e., from the second frequency resource to the fourth frequency resource), the active multicast BWP will switch from 4 to 5 (i.e., from the first frequency resource to the third frequency resource). Furthermore, the same multicast BWP can be associated with more than one unicast BWP. For example, multicast BWP 5 can be associated with unicast BWP2 and BWP3. If the active unicast BWP switches from 2 to 3, the active multicast BWP will not be switched. In other words, if a unicast BWP is switched, and the current multicast or broadcast service (MBS) BWP is still in the new unicast BWP, the MBS BWP does not need to be switched. Conversely, if the MBS BWP is not in the new unicast BWP, then the MBS BWP must be switched to the MBS BWP that is in the new unicast BWP.

[0057] Alternatively, a unicast BWP can be switched based on a multicast BWP. For example, if a multicast BWP switches from a first multicast resource to a second multicast resource, but the current unicast resource is not entirely within the second multicast resource (i.e., at least a portion of the current unicast resource is not within the second multicast resource), then the current unicast resource will switch to a unicast resource within the second multicast resource. Conversely, if the current unicast resource is entirely within the second multicast resource, then the current unicast resource will not switch.

[0058] Multicast PDSCHs can be scheduled by DCIs carried on UE-specific PDCCHs and DCIs carried on group common PDCCHs. For PDSCH scheduling where DCIs are carried on UE-specific PDCCHs pointing to multicast BWPs, continuous FDRA is used by default. In the case of multicast PDSCHs scheduled by DCIs carried on UE-specific PDCCHs, the UE will continuously monitor the UE-specific PDCCH in the unicast BWP if certain specific conditions are met. When these specific conditions are not met, the UE switches to the multicast BWP to monitor the DCIs on the multicast BWP. DCIs on multicast BWPs can be carried on either group common PDCCHs or UE-specific PDCCHs. These specific conditions include at least one of the following: a) the multicast BWP is located within a unicast BWP; b) the SCS of the multicast BWP is the same as that of the unicast BWP; c) the CP type of the multicast BWP is the same as that of the unicast BWP; d) the center frequency of the multicast BWP is the same as that of the unicast BWP; and e) the bandwidth of the multicast BWP is the same as that of the unicast BWP. Alternatively, if at least a portion of the multicast BWP is located outside the unicast BWP, or if the SCS of the multicast BWP is different from the SCS of the unicast BWP, the CP of the multicast BWP is different from the CP of the unicast BWP, the center frequency of the multicast BWP is different from the center frequency of the unicast BWP, or if the bandwidth of the multicast BWP is different from the bandwidth of the unicast BWP, the UE will monitor different downlink channels (e.g., group common PDCCH).

[0059] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 800 for determining BWP switching according to the fifth embodiment. Figure 8 As shown, method 800 is performed by BS 801 and UE 802. Method 800 begins at 810, where BS 801 transmits a DCI to UE 802 in a first BWP. At 820, UE 802 receives the DCI and schedules a multicast TB in a second BWP. At 830, UE 802 switches from the first BWP to a third BWP. At 840, UE 802 determines whether the second BWP is entirely within the third BWP. If the second BWP is within the third BWP (840: yes), UE 802 uses the second BWP for multicast service. If at least some portion of the second BWP is outside the third BWP (840: no), UE 802 switches from the second BWP to a fourth BWP for multicast service. Then, at 870, BS 801 transmits a TB, which is received by UE 802 at 880 based on determined parameters (from 850 or 860).

[0060] The sixth embodiment relates to a method for indicating a multicast TB in a DCI carried on a UE-specific PDCCH. In some embodiments, the initial transmission of the multicast TB is scheduled by a DCI carried on a group common PDCCH, such that the CRC of the DCI is scrambled by a group common RNTI (e.g., g-RNTI) configured by RRC signaling. In this embodiment, different multicast services will be configured with different g-RNTIs, such that there is a one-to-one mapping between multicast services and g-RNTIs. For each multicast service, there are one or more HARQ processes. For example, a multicast service contains four HARQ processes, where the HARQ process numbers are HPN0-3. The initial transmission of the multicast TB can be identified by the HPN field and the g-RNTI so that the DCI schedules the initial transmission of the multicast TB.

[0061] For retransmissions of the same multicast TB, the retransmission is scheduled by the DCI carried on the UE-specific PDCCH, such that the CRC of the DCI is scrambled by the UE-specific RNTI (i.e., C-RNTI). The UE then combines the initial transmission and retransmission for the same multicast TB. However, it is important to indicate that the initial transmission and retransmission correspond to the same multicast TB, which can be accomplished according to one of the following methods.

[0062] In the first method used in the sixth embodiment, the subrange of HPN in the DCI with a CRC scrambled with C-RNTI is defined to correspond to a multicast TB or multicast service. That is, if the value of HPN in the DCI with a CRC scrambled with C-RNTI is within the subrange, then the scheduled TB is a multicast TB. When defining the relationship between "the values ​​of HPN and G-RNTI used in the initial transmission scheduling DCI" and "HPN in the retransmission scheduling DCI," this relationship can be configured via RRC signaling or defined in the specification. Furthermore, the index of the multicast service and the corresponding G-RNTI can be configured via RRC signaling. For example, if a multicast service exists, and the subrange of HPN corresponding to the multicast TB is {HPN#8-#15}, then for a 4-bit HPN, the values ​​of the HPN subrange are {1000-1111}, and the relationship can be as follows: Figure 9 The definition is shown.

[0063] Figure 9 This is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to the multicast service index, based on various embodiments. For example... Figure 9As shown, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#0 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#8, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#1 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#9, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#2 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#10, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#3 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#11, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#0 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#12, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#1 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#13, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#2 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#14, and the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#3 corresponds to the retransmission TB with HPN#15. Furthermore, HPN#0-#7 will be used to schedule unicast TBs. Then, if the UE receives a DCI with a CRC scrambled with C-RNTI and an HPN not used for a unicast TB, the scheduled TB is a multicast TB. In some embodiments, the value of the NDI field of the DCI used for retransmission of the multicast TB is not switched compared to the NDI (New Data Indicator) field in the DCI used for scheduling the initial transmission of the multicast TB.

[0064] In the second method used in the sixth embodiment, an STI (Type of Service Indicator) field with a CRC scrambled by the C-RNTI is defined in the scheduling DCI to indicate which service type the scheduled TB belongs to. That is, the STI field indicates whether the scheduled TB is a unicast TB or a multicast TB, and if it is multicast, it indicates which multicast service the TB belongs to. Furthermore, the relationship between the configuration index and the RNTI in the DCI used for initial transport scheduling is configured via RRC signaling. For example, configuration index #0 (i.e., the value of the STI field in the DCI is "00") corresponds to the C-RNTI, causing a unicast TB to be scheduled. Configuration index #1 corresponding to G-RNTI #1 (i.e., the value of the STI field in the DCI is "01") causes a multicast TB belonging to multicast service #1 to be scheduled. Configuration index #2 corresponding to G-RNTI #2 (i.e., the value of the STI field in the DCI is "10") causes a multicast TB belonging to multicast service #2 to be scheduled. In some embodiments, the value of the HPN field used for retransmission in the DCI (where the CRC is scrambled by C-RNTI) is equal to the value of the HPN used for the initial transmission of the multicast TB in the DCI.

[0065] Figure 10 It is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to service types according to various embodiments. For example... Figure 10As shown, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#0 corresponds to the retransmission TB with STI#1 and HPN#0 in the scheduling DCI; the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#1 corresponds to the retransmission TB with STI#1 and HPN#1 in the scheduling DCI; the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#2 corresponds to the retransmission TB with STI#1 and HPN#2 in the scheduling DCI; and the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#3 corresponds to the retransmission TB with STI#1 and HPN#3 in the scheduling DCI. An initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#0 corresponds to a retransmission TB with STI#2 and HPN#0 in the scheduling DCI; an initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#1 corresponds to a retransmission TB with STI#2 or HPN#1 in the scheduling DCI; an initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#2 corresponds to a retransmission TB with STI#2 and HPN#2 in the scheduling DCI; and an initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#3 corresponds to a retransmission TB with STI#2 and HPN#3 in the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, the STI field can be used to directly indicate the Temporary Mobile Group Identifier (TMGI) or G-RNTI of the multicast service.

[0066] In the third method used in the sixth embodiment, a single-bit Service Type Indication (SSTI) field is defined to indicate the attributes of a scheduled TB, such that the scheduled TB is a multicast TB or a unicast TB. Alternatively, the indicator field is used to indicate the purpose of the scheduling DCI, such that the DCI is used to schedule a multicast TB or a unicast TB. More specifically, a value of "0" in the SSTI field indicates that a unicast TB has been scheduled, and a value of "1" in the SSTI field indicates that a multicast TB has been scheduled. Furthermore, a Multicast Service Indication (MSI) field in the scheduling DCI (where the CRC is scrambled by C-RNTI) can be defined to indicate which multicast service the scheduled TB belongs to. If the scheduled TB is a unicast TB, the MSI field is retained.

[0067] For cases where the MSI field indicates the configuration index of the multicast service, the relationship between the configuration index and the G-RNTI is configured RRC signaling. For example, multicast service index #1 (i.e., the value of the MSI field in the DCI is "00") corresponds to G-RNTI #1, multicast service index #2 (i.e., the value of the MSI field in the DCI is "01") corresponds to G-RNTI #2, and so on. However, no value is reserved for indicating whether a unicast TB is scheduled.

[0068] For those cases where multicast TB is scheduled, the value of the HPN field used for retransmission in DCI (where the CRC is scrambled by C-RNTI) is equal to the value of the HPN used for the initial transmission of multicast TB in DCI. Figure 11 This is a table of scheduling DCI values ​​relative to the multicast service index, based on various embodiments. For example... Figure 11 As shown, the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#0 corresponds to the retransmission TB with MSI#1 and HPN#0 in the scheduling DCI. The initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#1 corresponds to the retransmission TB with MSI#1 and HPN#1 in the scheduling DCI; the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#2 corresponds to the retransmission TB with MSI#1 and HPN#2 in the scheduling DCI; the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#1 and HPN#3 corresponds to the retransmission TB with MSI#1 and HPN#3 in the scheduling DCI; and the initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#0 corresponds to the retransmission TB with MSI#1 and HPN#0 in the scheduling DCI. A retransmission TB with MSI#2 and HPN#0 in the DCI corresponds to an initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#1 in the scheduling DCI. An initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#2 corresponds to a retransmission TB with either MSI#2 or HPN#2 in the scheduling DCI. Similarly, an initial transmission TB with G-RNTI#2 and HPN#3 corresponds to a retransmission TB with MSI#2 and HPN#3 in the scheduling DCI. In some embodiments, the MSI field can be used to directly indicate the TMGI or G-RNTI of the multicast service. In other embodiments, the value of the NDI field in the DCI used for scheduling the retransmission of the multicast TB is not switched compared to the NDI field in the DCI used for scheduling the initial transmission of the multicast TB.

[0069] Figure 12A This is a flowchart illustrating an example wireless communication method 1200a according to various arrangements. (Reference) Figures 1-8 Method 1200 can be performed by the UE. Method 1200 begins at 1210, wherein the UE receives first downlink control information from the BS on a UE-specific first downlink channel in the first frequency resource. The first downlink control information schedules the first TB.

[0070] At 1220, the UE receives the first TB on the second downlink channel in the second frequency resource, which is common to the UE group. The first TB is received by the UE group. Figure 6Method 600 extends method 1200a. Method 600 describes an embodiment of method 1200a in which the BS transmits additional downlink control information (in 630 and 650) which is received by the UE (in 640 and 660).

[0071] In some examples, the first downlink control information includes DCI. The first downlink channel is PDCCH. The second downlink channel is PDSCH. The first frequency resource is the first BWP. The second frequency resource is the second BWP.

[0072] In some examples further described in method 300, the first downlink control information includes a BWP indicator indicating a value, and in response to determining that the value is a predetermined value, the wireless communication device (1) determines that no BWP handover is required between receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in the second frequency resource; and / or (2) determines that there is no BWP handover delay between receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in the second frequency resource. In some of these examples, receiving the first TB on the second downlink channel in the second frequency resource includes determining the configuration of the second downlink resource based on the second frequency resource. In other examples of these examples, the RNTI is used to initialize a scrambling sequence for the second downlink channel, which is specific to the second frequency resource or shared by all multicast services. In a further example of these examples, the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource, and the first and second frequency resources have the same CP and SCS.

[0073] In some examples described in further detail in method 400, the UE determines the size of the first downlink control information based on the configuration of the first frequency resources.

[0074] In some examples further described in method 500, the UE determines a first size corresponding to a scheduled unicast downlink resource for each format of the first downlink control information based on the configuration of the first frequency resource. The UE also determines a second size corresponding to a scheduled multicast downlink resource for each format of the first downlink control information based on the configuration of the second frequency resource, and then aligns the first and second sizes. In some of these examples, aligning the first and second sizes includes one of the following: (1) aligning the first size of one of the formats with the second size of the same format; (2) aligning the second size of one of the formats with the first size of the same format; (3) aligning each of the first and second sizes with the maximum size of the same format; or (4) using one of (1), (2), or (3) to align the first and second sizes in response to determining that the number of formats with different sizes exceeds the size budget.

[0075] In some examples described further in method 800, a first frequency resource is paired with a third frequency resource, both of which are used for unicast services, and a second frequency resource is paired with a fourth frequency resource, both of which are used for multicast services. Furthermore, the UE switches from the first frequency resource to the third frequency resource and determines whether the second frequency resource is within the third frequency resource. If the second frequency resource is within the third frequency resource, the UE uses the second frequency resource for multicast services. If at least a portion of the second frequency resource is not within the third frequency resource, the UE switches to the fourth frequency resource for multicast services. In some of these examples, in response to determining that the first frequency resource has been switched to the third frequency resource, the UE switches from the second frequency resource to the fourth frequency resource for multicast services. In other examples, the UE receives second downlink information scheduling the first TB on a third downlink channel common to the UE group. The UE then defaults to continuous FDRA for the second downlink channel.

[0076] In another example of these examples, the UE continuously monitors a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource if at least one of the following conditions is true: (1) the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource; (2) the subcarrier spacing of the second frequency resource is the same as the subcarrier spacing of the first frequency resource; (3) the cyclic prefix (CP) type of the second frequency resource is the same as the CP type of the first frequency resource; (4) the center frequency of the second frequency resource is the same as the center frequency of the first frequency resource; and (5) the bandwidth of the second frequency resource is the same as the bandwidth of the first frequency resource. If any of the above is false, the UE monitors a third downlink channel in the second frequency resource.

[0077] In some examples, as further described in method 600, the UE receives second downlink information on a third downlink channel, which schedules unicast TB, and receives third downlink information on a fourth downlink channel shared by the UE group, which schedules second multicast TB. Here, the format of the second downlink information is reused as the format of the third downlink information. In some of these examples, the UE further performs at least one of the following: (1) aligning the size of the second downlink information with the size of the third downlink information; (2) aligning the size of the second downlink information and the size of the third downlink information with a reference size; or (3) using (1) or (2) to align the size of the second downlink information and the size of the third downlink information in response to determining that the number of formats with different sizes exceeds a size budget.

[0078] Figure 12B This is a flowchart illustrating an example wireless communication method 1200b according to various arrangements. (Reference)Figures 1-8 Method 1200b can be executed by the BS. Method 1200b begins at 1230, where, in the first frequency resource, the BS transmits first downlink control information to the UE on a first downlink channel (which is UE-specific). The first downlink control information schedules a first TB. Then, at 1240, in the second frequency resource, the BS transmits the first TB to the UE group on a second downlink channel, which is common to the UE group.

[0079] In some examples, the first downlink control information includes DCI. The first downlink channel is PDCCH. The second downlink channel is PDSCH. The first frequency resource is the first BWP. The second frequency resource is the second BWP.

[0080] In some examples, the first downlink information includes a BWP indicator that indicates a value indicating whether a BWP handover is required when the UE receives the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receives the first TB in the second frequency resource, or whether a BWP handover delay should be applied between the UE receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in the second frequency resource.

[0081] In some examples, the RNTI is used to initialize the scrambling sequence for the second downlink channel, which is specific to the second frequency resource or shared by all multicast services. In other examples, the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource, and both the first and second frequency resources have the same CP and SCS.

[0082] Figure 13A A block diagram of an example BS 1302 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 13B A block diagram of an example UE 1301 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. References Figures 1-12B UE 1301 (e.g., wireless communication device, terminal, mobile device, mobile user, etc.) is an example implementation of the UE described herein, and BS 1302 is an example implementation of the BS described herein.

[0083] BS 1302 and UE 1301 can include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that do not need to be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, BS 1302 and UE 1301 can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment. For example, BS 1302 can be a BS (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.), a server, a node, or any suitable computing device for implementing various network functions.

[0084] BS 1302 includes a transceiver module 1310, an antenna 1312, a processor module 1314, a memory module 1316, and a network communication module 1318. Modules 1310, 1312, 1314, 1316, and 1318 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 1320. UE 1301 includes a UE transceiver module 1330, a UE antenna 1332, a UE memory module 1334, and a UE processor module 1336. Modules 1330, 1332, 1334, and 1336 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 1340. BS 1302 communicates with UE 1301 or another BS via a communication channel, which can be any wireless channel as described herein or other medium suitable for transmitting data.

[0085] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, BS 1302 and UE 1301 can further include, in addition to Figure 13A and 13B Any number of modules other than those shown. The various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are typically described according to their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. The embodiments described herein can be implemented appropriately for each specific application, but any implementation decision should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0086] According to some embodiments, UE transceiver 1330 includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to antenna 1332. A duplex switch (not shown) can alternately couple the RF transmitter or receiver to the antenna in a time-duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, transceiver 1310 includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which has circuitry coupled to antenna 1312 or an antenna of another BS. A duplex switch can alternatively couple the RF transmitter or receiver to antenna 1312 in a time-duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 1310 and 1330 can be time-coordinated so that while the transmitter is coupled to antenna 1312, the receiver circuitry is coupled to antenna 1332 to receive transmissions over a wireless transmission link. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization with a minimum guard time between changes in duplex direction.

[0087] UE transceiver 1330 and transceiver 1310 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link and cooperate with RF antenna arrangements 1312 / 1332 that are appropriately configured to support specific wireless communication protocols and modulation schemes. In some illustrative embodiments, UE transceiver 1330 and transceiver 1310 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that this disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to specific standards and related protocols. Rather, UE transceiver 1330 and BS transceiver 1310 may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0088] Transceiver 1310 and the transceivers of another BS (such as, but not limited to, transceiver 1310) are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link and cooperate with an RF antenna arrangement appropriately configured to support specific wireless communication protocols and modulation schemes. In some illustrative embodiments, transceiver 1310 and the transceivers of the other BS are configured to support industry standards such as LTE and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that this disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to specific standards and related protocols. Rather, transceiver 1310 and the transceivers of the other BS may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0089] According to various embodiments, BS 1302 may be a BS, such as, but not limited to, an eNB, a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell, or a picocell. BS 1302 can be an RN, a DeNB, or a gNB. In some embodiments, UE 1301 may be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, laptops, wearable computing devices, etc. Processor modules 1314 and 1336 may be implemented or realized by a general-purpose processor, content-addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, to perform the functions described herein. In this way, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0090] Furthermore, the methods or algorithms disclosed herein can be directly embodied in hardware, firmware, software modules executed by processor modules 1314 and 1336 respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. Memory modules 1316 and 1334 can be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 1316 and 1334 can be coupled to processor modules 1314 and 1336 respectively, such that processor modules 1314 and 1336 can read information from and write information to memory modules 1316 and 1334 respectively. Memory modules 1316 and 1334 can also be integrated into their respective processor modules 1314 and 1336. In some embodiments, memory modules 1316 and 1334 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions executed by processor modules 1314 and 1336 respectively. Memory modules 1316 and 1334 may each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 1314 and 1336, respectively.

[0091] Network communication module 1318 typically refers to the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and / or other components of BS 1302 that enable bidirectional communication between transceiver 1310 and other network components, as well as communication nodes communicating with BS 1302. For example, network communication module 1318 may be configured to support Internet or WiMAX traffic. In deployment, without limitations, network communication module 1318 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface, enabling transceiver 1310 to communicate with conventional Ethernet-based computer networks. In this way, network communication module 1318 may include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). In some embodiments, network communication module 1318 includes a fiber optic transmission connection configured to connect BS 1302 to a core network. The terms “configured for,” “configured to,” and their conjunctions, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to devices, components, circuits, structures, machines, signals, etc., that are physically constructed, programmed, formatted, and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

[0092] While various embodiments of this solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented by way of example only and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict exemplary architectures or configurations provided to enable those skilled in the art to understand exemplary features and functionality of this solution. However, those skilled in the art will understand that this solution is not limited to the exemplary architectures or configurations shown, but can be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. Furthermore, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of this disclosure should not be limited by any of the illustrative embodiments described above.

[0093] It should also be understood that any reference to elements in this document using names such as "first," "second," etc., generally does not restrict the number or order of these elements. Rather, these names serve as a convenient means of distinguishing two or more elements or instances of elements. Therefore, a reference to the first element and the second element does not imply that only two elements can be used, or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

[0094] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and processes. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that can be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof.

[0095] Those skilled in the art will further understand that any of the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination thereof), firmware, various forms of program or design code containing instructions (which, for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software module"), or any combination of these technologies. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above according to their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of these technologies depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions do not depart from the scope of this disclosure.

[0096] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein can be implemented within or executed by integrated circuits (ICs), including general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, or any combination thereof. Logic blocks, modules, and circuits may further include antennas and / or transceivers for communication with various components within a network or device. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0097] If implemented as software, the functionality can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, with communication media including any medium that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer.

[0098] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements used to perform the relevant functions described herein. Furthermore, for ease of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions according to embodiments of this solution.

[0099] Furthermore, in embodiments of this solution, memory or other memory, as well as communication components, may be employed. It should be understood that, for clarity, the above description has referenced various functional units and processors in describing embodiments of this solution. However, it will be apparent that any suitable functional distribution among different functional units, processing logic elements, or domains may be used without affecting this solution. For example, functions shown to be performed by different processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are merely references to appropriate means for providing the described functionality and not indications of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0100] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be endowed with the broadest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device, a first downlink control information from a network on a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource, wherein the first downlink control information schedules a first transport block (TB) and includes a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator indicating a value, the first downlink channel being specific to the wireless communication device; in response to the value being a predetermined value, determining, by the wireless communication device, that receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in a second frequency resource does not require a BWP switching; or determining, by the wireless communication device, that there is no BWP switching delay between receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in the second frequency resource; and after the first TB is scheduled in the first frequency resource, receiving, by the wireless communication device, the first TB from the network on a second downlink channel in the second frequency resource, wherein the first TB is received by a plurality of wireless communication devices including the wireless communication device, the second downlink channel being common to the plurality of wireless communication devices. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein: the first downlink control information comprises a downlink control information (DCI) ; the first downlink channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) ; the second downlink channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; the first frequency resource is a first BWP; and the second frequency resource is a second BWP. receiving the first TB on the second downlink channel in the second frequency resource comprises determining a configuration of a second downlink resource according to the second frequency resource.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, a network identifier used to initialize a scrambling sequence of the second downlink channel is specific to the second frequency resource or is shared by all multicast services.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, 5.The method of claim 1, wherein: the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource; and the first frequency resource and the second frequency resource have a same cyclic prefix (CP) and a same subcarrier spacing (SCS). 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the wireless communication device, a size of the first downlink control information according to a configuration of the first frequency resource. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the wireless communication device, a first size of each format of the first downlink control information according to a configuration of the first frequency resource, the first size corresponding to scheduling unicast downlink resources; determining, by the wireless communication device, a second size of each format of the first downlink control information according to a configuration of the second frequency resource, the second size corresponding to scheduling multicast downlink resources; and aligning, by the wireless communication device, the first size and the second size. aligning the first size and the second size comprises one of:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, (1) aligning the first size of one of the formats with the second size of the same format; ​ (2) aligning a second size of one of the formats with a first size of the same format; (3) aligning each of the first size and the second size with a maximum size of the same format; or (4) in response to determining that a number of formats having different sizes exceeds a size budget, using one of (1), (2), or (3) to align the first size and the second size.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first frequency resource and a third frequency resource are used for a unicast service; the second frequency resource and a fourth frequency resource are used for a multicast service; and the method further comprises: switching from the first frequency resource to the third frequency resource for the unicast service; in response to determining that the second frequency resource is within the third frequency resource, the wireless communication device using the second frequency resource for the multicast service; and in response to determining that at least a portion of the second frequency resource is not within the third frequency resource, the wireless communication device switching the second frequency resource to the fourth frequency resource for the multicast service, wherein the fourth frequency resource is within the third frequency resource.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first frequency resource and a third frequency resource are used for a unicast service; the second frequency resource and a fourth frequency resource are used for a multicast service; and the method further comprises: in response to determining that the first frequency resource is switched to the third frequency resource for the unicast service, the wireless communication device switching from the second frequency resource to the fourth frequency resource for the multicast service.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the wireless communication device receiving second downlink control information from the network on a third downlink control channel, wherein the second downlink control information schedules the first TB, the third downlink control channel being common to multiple wireless communication devices; the wireless communication device defaulting to a contiguous frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) for the second downlink channel.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to determining at least one of: the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource; a subcarrier spacing of the second frequency resource is the same as a subcarrier spacing of the first frequency resource; a cyclic prefix (CP) type of the second frequency resource is the same as a CP type of the first frequency resource; a center frequency of the second frequency resource is the same as a center frequency of the first frequency resource; or a bandwidth of the second frequency resource is the same as a bandwidth of the first frequency resource, the wireless communication device continuously monitoring a first downlink channel in the first frequency resource.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to determining at least one of: at least a portion of the second frequency resource is outside of the first frequency resource; a subcarrier spacing of the second frequency resource is different than a subcarrier spacing of the first BWP; the wireless communication device monitoring a third downlink channel in the second frequency resource. a cyclic prefix (CP) type of the second frequency resource is different from a CP type of the first BWP; a center frequency of the second frequency resource is different from a center frequency of the first BWP; or a bandwidth of the second frequency resource is different from a bandwidth of the first BWP.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the wireless communication device, second downlink control information from the network on a third downlink channel, wherein the second downlink control information schedules a unicast TB; and receiving, by the wireless communication device, third downlink control information from the network on a fourth downlink channel, wherein the third downlink control information schedules a second multicast TB, the fourth downlink channel being common to the plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein a format of the second downlink control information is reused as a format of the third downlink control information.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising one of: (1) aligning a size of the second downlink control information with a size of the third downlink control information; (2) aligning the size of the second downlink control information and the size of the third downlink control information with a reference size; or (3) in response to determining that a number of formats having different sizes exceeds a size budget, using one of (1) or (2) to align the size of the second downlink control information with the size of the third downlink control information.

16. A wireless communication apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement the method of any of claims 1-15.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer readable program medium having code stored thereon, the code, when executed by at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to implement the method of any of claims 1-15.

18. A wireless communication method comprising: transmitting, by a network, first downlink control information to a wireless communication device on a first downlink channel in a first frequency resource, wherein the first downlink control information schedules a first transport block (TB) and includes a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator indicating one value, the first downlink channel being specific to the wireless communication device, wherein the value indicates: whether a BWP switch is needed for the wireless communication device to receive the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and the first TB in a second frequency resource; or whether a BWP switch delay is to be applied between the wireless communication device receiving the first downlink control information in the first frequency resource and receiving the first TB in the second frequency resource; and transmitting, by the network, the first TB to a plurality of wireless communication devices including the wireless communication device on a second downlink channel in the second frequency resource after scheduling the first TB in the first frequency resource, wherein the second downlink channel is common to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein: the first downlink control information comprises downlink control information (DCI); the first downlink control channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); the second downlink channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); the first frequency resource is a first BWP; and the second frequency resource is a second BWP.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein, a network identifier used to initialize a scrambling sequence of the second downlink channel is specific to the second frequency resource or shared by all multicast services.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein: the second frequency resource is within the first frequency resource; and the first frequency resource and the second frequency resource have a same cyclic prefix (CP) and a same subcarrier spacing (SCS).

22. A wireless communication apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement the method of any of claims 18-21.

23. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium having code stored thereon, the code, when executed by at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to implement the method of any of claims 18-21.

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