PUCCH and cell grouping capability for NR-CA and NR-DC

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to apparatus, systems, and methods providing enhancements for PUCCH and cell grouping capabilities for NR-CA and NR-DC. A wireless device can transmit, to a base station, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) capability report including at least one of PUCCH grouping capability information and PUCCH location capability information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless devices, and more specifically to apparatus, systems, and methods for providing downlink control for multi-TRP transmissions.

[0002] Related technical descriptions

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices now offer access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and can operate complex applications that utilize these capabilities. Furthermore, many different wireless communication technologies and standards exist. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A (Advanced LTE), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), and BLUETOOTH. TM wait.

[0004] The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functions into wireless communication devices necessitates continuous improvement of both wireless communication and the devices themselves. In addition to the aforementioned communication standards, new wireless communication technologies are under development to increase coverage and better serve the growing demands and scope of intended uses of wireless communication. Therefore, improvements are needed to support these developments and designs. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The implementation plan involves apparatus, systems, and methods for providing enhanced PUCCH and cell packetization capabilities for NR-CA and NR-DC.

[0006] According to the technology described herein, a wireless device can transmit a PUCCH capability report to a base station, including at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information, wherein the PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal downlink (DL) frequency band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) frequency band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) frequency band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) frequency band.

[0007] According to the technology described herein, a base station can receive a PUCCH capability report from a wireless device, including at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information, wherein the PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal downlink (DL) frequency band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) frequency band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) frequency band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) frequency band.

[0008] Therefore, according to at least some implementations, the techniques described herein can be used to transmit information in the SDL and SUL bands for NR-CA and NR-DC.

[0009] The techniques described herein can be implemented in a variety of different types of devices and / or used with a variety of different types of devices, including but not limited to any one of cellular base stations, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players and various other computing devices.

[0010] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0011] A better understanding of the subject matter can be obtained by considering the following detailed description of the various embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system according to some implementation schemes is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 This illustrates a base station (BS) communicating with a user equipment (UE) device according to some implementation schemes;

[0014] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some implementation schemes is shown;

[0015] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a BS according to some implementation schemes is shown;

[0016] Figure 5An exemplary block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments is shown; and

[0017] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for transmitting a PUCCH capability report from a wireless device to a base station according to some implementation schemes.

[0018] While the features described herein may be subject to various modifications and alternatives, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but rather are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0019] the term

[0020] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0021] Memory media—any device of any type of nontransitory memory device or storage device. The term "memory media" is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of nontransitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, memory media may reside in a first computer system executing a program, or may reside in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory media" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations on different computer systems connected via a network, for example. Memory media may store program instructions (e.g., representing a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0022] Carrier medium—the memory medium as described above, and physical transmission medium, such as buses, networks, and / or other physical transmission media for transmitting signals (such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals).

[0023] Programmable hardware elements—including a variety of hardware devices comprising multiple programmable functional blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field-Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). Programmable functional blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinatorial logic units or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units."

[0024] Computer system—any of all types of computing or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, networked appliances, internet-connected appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations thereof. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0025] User equipment (UE) (or “UE device”) — any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone). TM Based on Android TM Telephones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) TM PlayStation Portable TM Gameboy Advance TM iPhone TM Laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily transmitted and capable of wireless communication by a user.

[0026] A wireless device is any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. A wireless device can be portable (or mobile), or it can be stationary or fixed in a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0027] A communication device is any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, which may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or it may be stationary or fixed in a location. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0028] Base station—The term “base station” has the full range of its common meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and is used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0029] A processing element (or processor) is a component or combination of components capable of performing the functions of a device such as user equipment or cellular network equipment. A processing element may include, for example: a processor and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, an entire processor core, a single processor, a processor array, circuitry such as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware components such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and any combination thereof.

[0030] A channel is a medium used to transmit information from a transmitter to a receiver. It should be noted that because the characteristics of the term "channel" can vary depending on different wireless protocols, the term "channel" as used herein can be considered to be used in a standard manner consistent with the type of device to which the term is referenced. In some standards, the channel width can be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE can support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels can be 22 MHz wide, while Bluetooth channels can be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, such as different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0031] Frequency band—The term “frequency band” has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a segment of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or reserved for the same purpose.

[0032] Automatic—means an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuits, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without requiring direct user input to specify or perform that action or operation. Therefore, the term "automatic" contrasts with an action performed or specified manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform that action. An automatic process can be initiated by user-provided input, but the subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a form by selecting each field and providing input to specify information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a checkbox, radio selection, etc.) is considered manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user's actions. The form can be automatically filled out by a computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) which analyzes the fields of the form and fills it out without any user input specifying answers for the fields. As indicated above, the user can invoke the automatic filling of the form but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for the fields, but they are completed automatically). This manual provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by the user.

[0033] Approximately—means a value close to the correct or precise value. For example, approximately can refer to a value within 1% to 10% of the precise (or expected) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold (or tolerance) can vary depending on the application. For example, in some implementations, “approximately” may mean within 0.1% of some specified or expected value, while in various other implementations, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the expectations or requirements of the specific application.

[0034] Concurrency refers to the parallel execution or implementation of tasks, processes, or programs in a manner that at least partially overlaps. For example, concurrency can be achieved using “strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are executed in parallel (at least partially) on corresponding computing elements; or using “weak parallelism,” where tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0035] "Configured as"—Various components can be described as being "configured as" to perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, "configured as" is a broad expression generally meaning "having" a "structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured as" can also be a broad expression generally meaning a structure that "has" a "circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently powered on. Typically, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured as" can include hardware circuitry.

[0036] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". Statements describing a component as configured to perform one or more tasks are explicitly intended not to invoke the interpretation of 35 U.S.SC §112(f) for that component.

[0037] Figure 1 and Figure 2 —Communication System

[0038] Figure 1 A simplified exemplary wireless communication system according to some implementation schemes is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 1 The system described herein is merely one example of a possible system, and the features of this disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0039] As shown in the figure, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipments 106A, 106B to 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0040] Base station (BS) 102A may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site (“cellular base station”), and may include hardware for implementing wireless communication with UE 106A to UE 106N.

[0041] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station can be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102A and UE 106 can be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with air interfaces such as WCDMA or TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-A Advanced, 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if base station 102A is implemented in an LTE environment, its alternative location can be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". Note that if base station 102A is implemented in a 5G NR environment, its alternative location can be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0042] As shown in the figure, base station 102A can also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., in various possibilities, the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Therefore, base station 102A can facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. Specifically, cellular base station 102A can provide UE 106 with various communication capabilities such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0043] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B...102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards can therefore be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services to UE 106A-N and similar devices over a geographical area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0044] Therefore, although base station 102A can act as such Figure 1 The diagram shows the "serving cell" of UEs 106A-N, but each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals (and possibly within its communication range) from one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells". Such cells may also facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. These cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pecimen" cells, and / or any other cells of various other granularities providing service area size. For example, in Figure 1 Base stations 102A to 102B shown can be macro cells, while base station 102N can be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0045] In some implementations, base station 102A may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station or a “gNB”. In some implementations, the gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, the gNB cell may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, a UE capable of operating under 5G NR conditions may connect to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. For example, base station 102A and one or more other base stations 102 may support joint transmission, enabling UE 106 to receive transmissions from multiple base stations (and / or multiple TRPs provided by the same base station).

[0046] It should be noted that UE 106 can communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD, etc.), UE 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). If desired, UE 106 can also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., Advanced Television Systems Committee—Mobile / Handheld (ATSC-M / H)) and / or any other wireless communication protocol. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0047] Figure 2 The illustration shows a user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with base station 102 according to some embodiments. UE 106 can be a cellular communication-capable device, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, computer, laptop, tablet, smartwatch, or other wearable device, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0048] UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments of the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, UE 106 may include any of the programmable hardware elements, such as any of the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), integrated circuits, and / or various other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

[0049] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, NR or LTE using at least some shared radio components. As an additional possibility, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio component and / or GSM or LTE using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communication. Typically, the radio components may include any combination of baseband processors, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.) or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio components may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among various wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0050] In some implementations, UE 106 may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate therewith. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using either LTE or 5G NR (or, in various possibilities, either LTE or 1xRTT, or either LTE or GSM), and separate radio components for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0051] Figure 3 —UE block diagram

[0052] Figure 3 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 3 The block diagram of the communication device is merely one example of possible communication devices. According to the implementation, among other devices, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of devices. As shown, the communication device 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, the set of components 300 may be implemented as individual components or groups of components for various purposes. This set of components 300 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to various other circuitry of the communication device 106.

[0053] For example, communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), input / output interfaces such as connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connection to a computer system; docking station; charging station; input devices such as microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices such as speaker; etc.), a display 360 that may be integrated with or external to communication device 106, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, UMTS, GSM, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.). In some embodiments, communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card for Ethernet, for example.

[0054] The wireless communication circuit 330 may (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) be coupled to one or more antennas, such as one or more antennas 335 as shown in the figure. The wireless communication circuit 330 may include cellular communication circuitry and / or medium-to-short-range wireless communication circuitry, and may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0055] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include one or more receive chains of multiple RATs (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communication ground; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include a single transmit chain that can be switched between radio components dedicated to a particular RAT. For example, a first radio component may be dedicated to a first RAT (e.g., LTE) and can communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with a second radio component. A second radio component may be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and can communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a shared transmit chain.

[0056] The communication device 106 may also include one or more user interface elements and / or be configured to be used with one or more user interface elements. User interface elements may include any of a variety of components such as a display 360 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of the touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other components capable of providing information to the user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0057] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 345 with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC cards (one or more general purpose integrated circuit cards) 345.

[0058] As shown in the figure, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 and display circuitry 304. The processor executes program instructions for the communication device 106, and the display circuitry performs graphics processing and provides display signals to the display 360. One or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 (which may be configured to receive addresses from one or more processors 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)) and / or coupled to other circuitry or devices (such as display circuitry 304, wireless communication circuitry 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0059] As described above, communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. As described herein, communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing any of the various features and techniques described herein. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), processor 302 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or in addition), processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in conjunction with one or more of other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360, processor 302 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0060] Furthermore, as described in this invention, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 302. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 302.

[0061] Furthermore, as described herein, the wireless communication circuit 330 may include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the wireless communication circuit 330. Therefore, the wireless communication circuit 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the wireless communication circuit 330. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the wireless communication circuit 330.

[0062] Figure 4 —Block diagram of a base station

[0063] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 4 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include a processor 404 capable of executing program instructions specific to base station 102. Processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuitry or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0064] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to be coupled to a telephone network and provide access rights as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The telephone network described herein includes multiple devices such as UE device 106.

[0065] Network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0066] In some implementations, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or a “gNB”. In such implementations, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, UEs capable of operating according to 5G NR may connect to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0067] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to function as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0068] Base station 102 can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include LTE radio components for performing communication according to LTE and 5G NR radio components for performing communication according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include multimode radio components capable of performing communication according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and LTE, 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0069] As further described herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting specific implementations of the features described herein. The processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in conjunction with one or more of other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, and 470, the processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the implementations of the features described herein.

[0070] Furthermore, as described in this invention, one or more processors 404 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 404. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 404.

[0071] Furthermore, as described in this invention, the radio component 430 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, the radio component 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the radio component 430. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the radio component 430.

[0072] Figure 5 —Block diagram of cellular communication circuit

[0073] Figure 5 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 5 The block diagram of the cellular communication circuit is merely one example of possible cellular communication circuits; other circuits, such as those including or coupled to sufficient antennas for different RATs to perform uplink activities using independent antennas, or those including or coupled to fewer antennas, such as those that can be shared among multiple RATs, are also possible. According to some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 330 may be included in a communication device such as the communication device 106 described above. As mentioned above, among other devices, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, notebook computer, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of these devices.

[0074] Cellular communication circuitry 330 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335a-b and 336 as shown in the figure. In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (including and / or coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to dedicated processors and / or radio components (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, as Figure 5 As shown, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include a first modem 510 and a second modem 520. The first modem 510 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT (e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A), and the second modem 520 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT (e.g., such as 5G NR).

[0075] As shown, the first modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory 516 communicating with the processors 512. The modem 510 may communicate with a radio frequency (RF) front-end 530. The RF front-end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front-end 530 may include a receiver circuit (RX) 532 and a transmitter circuit (TX) 534. In some embodiments, the receiver circuitry 532 may communicate with a downlink (DL) front-end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via an antenna 335a.

[0076] Similarly, the second modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 communicating with the processors 522. The modem 520 may communicate with an RF front-end 540. The RF front-end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front-end 540 may include receiving circuitry 542 and transmitting circuitry 544. In some embodiments, the receiving circuitry 542 may communicate with a DL front-end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via an antenna 335b.

[0077] In some implementations, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front-end 572. Additionally, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 544 to UL front-end 572. UL front-end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Therefore, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., supported by a first modem 510), switch 570 may be switched to a first state allowing the first modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 534 and UL front-end 572). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., supported by a second modem 520), switch 570 may be switched to a second state allowing the second modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 544 and UL front-end 572).

[0078] As described herein, the first modem 510 and / or the second modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing any of the various features and techniques described herein. For example, processors 512, 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processors 512, 522 may be configured as programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) or as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits). Alternatively (or in addition), processors 512, 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by combining with one or more of other components 530, 532, 534, 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0079] Furthermore, as described herein, processors 512 and 522 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processors 512 and 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processors 512 and 522. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors 512 and 522.

[0080] In some implementations, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include only one transmit / receive chain. For example, the cellular communication circuit 330 may not include modem 520, RF front-end 540, DL front-end 560, and / or antenna 335b. As another example, the cellular communication circuit 330 may not include modem 510, RF front-end 530, DL front-end 550, and / or antenna 335a. In some implementations, the cellular communication circuit 330 may also not include switch 570, and RF front-end 530 or RF front-end 540 may communicate with UL front-end 572, for example, through direct communication.

[0081] Figure 6 —Enhancing PUCCH and cell packet capabilities for NR-CA and NR-DC

[0082] A Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) group refers to a set of frequency bands that can use the same resources to transmit PUCCHs simultaneously. For different 5G architectures, including EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), NG-Enb NR Dual Connectivity (NGEN-DC), NR eNB Dual Connectivity (NE-DC), NR Carrier Aggregation (NR-CA), and NR Dual Connectivity (NR-DC), the following different restrictions apply to PUCCH group configurations (R1-2001306, R1-2001481, also in 38.331 and 38.213):

[0083] Table 1

[0084]

[0085] The relevance of PUCCH groups is defined by feature groups (FG). The following restrictions apply to the relevance of PUCCH groups:

[0086] Table 2

[0087]

[0088] The current capabilities of the PUCCH group are insufficient in the following sense:

[0089] 1) UEs are not allowed to support a single PUCCH group with more than two parameter sets;

[0090] 2) UEs are not allowed to report supported PUCCH group configurations, such as which frequency bands can be configured within the same PUCCH group; and

[0091] 3) UEs are not allowed to report the locations of supported PUCCHs, such as which frequency bands can be configured with PUCCHs.

[0092] To address this issue, in RAN1#103e, RAN1 agreed to introduce the following three additional FGs for NR-CA:

[0093] 1) FG22-6: A single PUCCH group with up to three different SCS.

[0094] The PUCCH location can be reported using carrier type resolution, namely, {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2}.

[0095] 2) FG22-6a: A single PUCCH group with up to four different SCS.

[0096] The PUCCH location can be reported using carrier type resolution.

[0097] 3) FG22-7: PUCCH group report.

[0098] PUCCH packets can be reported using carrier type resolution, i.e., which frequency band / carrier can be configured within the same PUCCH group; and

[0099] The PUCCH location can be reported using carrier type resolution.

[0100] This disclosure aims to address some of the remaining issues with enhanced PUCCH packet / cell packet capability reporting, including:

[0101] 1) SDL processing;

[0102] 2) SUL processing;

[0103] 3) How to count frequency bands and different carrier types; and

[0104] 4) UE capability signaling design.

[0105] Figure 6 This is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of such a method according to at least some implementation schemes. Figure 6The aspects of the method may be implemented by wireless devices such as UE 106 shown in the figures herein, base stations such as BS 102 shown in the figures herein, and / or more generally, may be implemented in other devices in combination with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the above figures, as needed. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such devices may be configured to cause the devices to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0106] like Figure 6 As shown, in step 601, UE 106 may transmit a PUCCH capability report to base station 102, including at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information may indicate the carrier type of frequency bands that can be configured within the same PUCCH group. The frequency bands may include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and zero or more supplementary downlink (SDL) bands. The PUCCH location capability information may indicate the carrier type of frequency bands that can be configured to transmit PUCCH. The frequency bands may include at least one normal uplink (UL) band and zero or more supplementary uplink (SUL) bands.

[0107] Processing of PUCCH grouping capability information / SDL

[0108] PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured within the same PUCCH group. PUCCH packet capability information pertains to DL bands, including normal DL bands and SDL bands.

[0109] The current Supplemental Downlink (SDL) and Supplemental Uplink (SUL) frequency bands defined in 38.101 (2020-09) are as follows.

[0110] Table 3

[0111]

[0112] As mentioned above, there are four existing carrier types: FR1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. A bitmap comprising four bits can be used to indicate the configured carrier type: {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2}. Here, for 5G wireless communication, FR1 covers a frequency range of 450MHz to 6000MHz, and FR2 covers a frequency range of 24250MHz to 52600MHz.

[0113] According to the first implementation scheme, SDL can be introduced as a special carrier type for PUCCH packet reporting. In other words, the bitmap representing the carrier type can be {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2, SDL}. When the UE indicates which frequency bands / CCs can be configured in the same PUCCH group, the UE can indicate this based on the extended carrier type.

[0114] If the bitmap indicates that the UE is configurable with SDL, then it can be configured in the corresponding PUCCH group as long as the frequency band is the SDL band.

[0115] For example, suppose there exists a frequency band combination (BC) containing 4 frequency bands (B1, B2, B3, B4).

[0116] ●B1: FR1 License TDD

[0117] ●B2: FR1 License TDD

[0118] ●B3: FR1 License FDD

[0119] ●B4: FR2

[0120] For this BC, the UE can report PUCCH packet capability information as follows:

[0121] ●For the main PUCCH group, {1 0 1 0}

[0122] ●For the secondary PUCCH group, {0 0 0 1}

[0123] This means the network is configurable:

[0124] ●B1, B2, and B3 in the main PUCCH group

[0125] ●B4 in the auxiliary PUCCH group, {0 0 0 1}.

[0126] When SDL is introduced as a special carrier type for PUCCH packet capability information reporting, the bitmap indicating the carrier type may include 5 bits. If the bitmap indicates that the UE is configurable with SDL, it should be considered the same from the UE capability perspective, as long as the frequency band is the SDL band.

[0127] According to the second implementation scheme, for forward compatibility, the SDL can be further divided into FR1 SDL and FR2 SDL. In other words, the bitmap representing the carrier type can be {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2, FR1SDL, FR2 SDL}. When the UE indicates which frequency bands / CCs can be configured in the same PUCCH group, the UE can indicate this based on the extended carrier type. In this case, the bitmap representing the carrier type can include 6 bits. If the bitmap indicates that the UE can configure FR1SDL, then as long as the frequency band is an FR1 SDL band, it should be considered the same from the UE's capability perspective.

[0128] According to the third implementation, the SDL band is indicated by a predefined mapping relationship that defines the mapping of the SDL band to one of the existing carrier types. For example, if an SDL band is mapped to an FR1-licensed TDD band, then if the UE indicates that it supports the FR1-licensed TDD band, it implies that the UE also supports the corresponding SDL. The mapping relationship of the SDL band, i.e., the duplex direction (FDD or TDD), is predefined in relevant communication specifications such as RAN4 38.101. Only the duplex mode is required because all SDL and SUL bands are currently in the FR1-licensed spectrum, so the only difference is whether it is FR1-licensed TDD or FR1-licensed FDD. Those skilled in the art will understand that if the SDL band or SUL band is available in a FR other than FR1, the mapping relationship can include FR information other than the duplex direction.

[0129] According to the fourth implementation scheme, the SDL band is indicated by mapping it to one of the existing carrier types based on the normal bands it overlaps with. That is, the carrier type (FDD or TDD) of the SDL band depends on the normal bands it overlaps with. If the SDL band overlaps with only one band, it follows the duplex direction of the band it overlaps with. If the SDL band does not overlap with any band, it is fixed as (1) FDD or (2) TDD. If the SDL band overlaps with more than one band, it follows xDD when all overlapping bands have the same xDD, and is fixed as (1) FDD or (2) TDD when different overlapping bands do not have the same xDD.

[0130] Processing of PUCCH location capability information / SUL

[0131] PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH. PUCCH location capability information pertains to UL bands, including normal UL bands and SUL bands.

[0132] According to the first implementation scheme, SUL is introduced as a special carrier type for PUCCH location reporting. In other words, the bitmap representing the carrier type can be {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2, SUL}. When the UE indicates which frequency bands / CCs can be configured for PUCCH transmission, the UE can indicate this based on the extended carrier type.

[0133] When SUL is introduced as a special carrier type for PUCCH packet reporting, the bitmap indicating the carrier type may include 5 bits. If the bitmap indicates that the UE can be configured to transmit PUCCH using SUL, then it can be configured to transmit PUCCH as long as the frequency band is the SUL band.

[0134] According to the second implementation scheme, for forward compatibility, SUL can be further divided into FR1 SUL and FR2 SUL. In other words, the bitmap representing the carrier type can be {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2, FR1SUL, FR2 SUL}. When the UE indicates which frequency bands / CCs can be configured to transmit PUCCH, the UE can indicate this based on the extended carrier type. In this case, the bitmap representing the carrier type can include 6 bits. If the bitmap indicates that the UE can be configured to transmit PUCCH using FR1SUL, then it can be configured to transmit PUCCH as long as the frequency band is the FR1 SUL band.

[0135] According to the third implementation scheme, the SUL band is indicated by mapping to one of the existing carrier types. For example, the carrier type (FDD or TDD) of the SUL band follows its associated normal band. This association is defined in RAN4 specification 38.101. If the SUL band is associated with another band X in 38.101, then if the UE indicates that the NW can configure PUCCH transmission in band X, the UE also supports PUCCH transmission in the corresponding SUL band.

[0136] According to the fourth implementation scheme, the SUL band is indicated by mapping to one of the existing carrier types. When the carrier type (FDD or TDD) of the SUL band follows the band it is associated with, the UE is allowed to further distinguish between FR1 / FR2 and licensed / unlicensed. If the FR2 SUL band is associated with the FR1 NUL (normal uplink) band or the FR1 SUL band is associated with the FR2 NUL (normal uplink) band, the UE is allowed to indicate that it may not support SUL for PUCCH location configuration, even if the UE indicates that it supports the associated NUL band. If the unlicensed SUL band is associated with the licensed NUL (normal uplink) band or the licensed SUL band is associated with the unlicensed NUL (normal uplink) band, the UE is allowed to indicate that it may not support SUL for PUCCH location configuration, even if the UE indicates that it supports the associated NUL band.

[0137] In some cases, the SUL band can be fixed as the FDD band.

[0138] Supplementary frequency bands (SDL or SUL) can be characterized as TDD bands. If 3GPP agrees that an SDL or SUL band is a TDD band, then 3GPP may allow TDD mode configuration for that band. TDD mode prevents certain time slots from being used for communication, i.e., for reception in the SDL band and for transmission in the SUL band, primarily to mitigate potential interference issues. Therefore, a new network (NW) can configure TDD mode (downlink, uplink, special) for the corresponding SDL or SUL band. Otherwise, NW configuration of TDD mode is not permitted. Therefore, all symbols / time slots are UL symbols / time slots for the SUL band, and all symbols / time slots are DL symbols / time slots for the SDL band.

[0139] Counting frequency bands and different carrier types

[0140] Enhancements to PUCCH packet / location capabilities are agreed upon under the following conditions: for NR-CA with three or more frequency bands, each frequency band combination (BC) reports two PUCCH groups with at least two carrier types from carrier types {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2}.

[0141] Many different frequency bands are defined for NR and LTE because different operators may have different spectrum portions. For NR deployment, different operators can use different BCs, where a BC includes multiple frequency bands. In other words, an operator can deploy NR in multiple frequency bands that serve as a BC. There are multiple BCs defined in the specifications requested by different operators. For each BC, the UE can indicate whether it supports NR deployment in that BC. If the UE supports it, the UE can further report the relevant UE capabilities for the PUCCH group.

[0142] Regarding whether and how to count SDL and SUL when counting frequency bands in BC, this disclosure proposes the following possible solutions:

[0143] Solution 1: No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0144] Solution 2: Only the SDL band is counted, but the SUL band is not counted;

[0145] Solution 3: Only the SUL band is counted, but the SDL band is not; or

[0146] Solution 4: All SDL and SUL bands are counted.

[0147] Regarding whether and how to count SDL and SUL when counting different carrier types, this disclosure proposes the following possible solutions:

[0148] Solution 1: No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0149] Solution 2: Only the SDL band is counted, but the SUL band is not counted;

[0150] Solution 3: Only the SUL band is counted, but the SDL band is not; or

[0151] Solution 4: All SDL and SUL bands are counted.

[0152] Capability Signaling

[0153] PUCCH packet capability information or PUCCH location capability information can indicate the carrier type of the frequency bands used for the primary PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group, respectively. When the carrier type is represented as {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2}, for the primary PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group, the UE needs to report which frequency bands / CCs can be configured in the primary PUCCH group or the secondary PUCCH group, and which frequency bands / CCs can be configured to transmit PUCCH in the primary PUCCH group or the secondary PUCCH group.

[0154] For PUCCH packet capability information—that is, which frequency bands / CCs can be configured in the same PUCCH group for each BC—a 4-bit bitmap is allowed for both the primary and secondary PUCCH groups if SDL is not introduced as a new carrier type. Each bit is mapped to one of the carrier types {FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, FR2}. However, if SDL is introduced as a new carrier type, a 5-bit bitmap is allowed for both the primary and secondary PUCCH groups. Furthermore, if SDL is introduced as two new carrier types, a 6-bit bitmap is allowed for both the primary and secondary PUCCH groups.

[0155] For example, if the SDL or SUL bands are indicated by mapping rather than introducing a new carrier type, the UE can report four different carrier types, such as the primary PUCCH group: {1,1,1,0}, and the secondary PUCCH group: {0,0,0,1}. This is interpreted as, within the corresponding band combination (BC), the NW can configure any band belonging to FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, or FR1 licensed FDD in the primary PUCCH group, and the NW can configure any band belonging to FR2 in the secondary PUCCH group.

[0156] If the corresponding BC does not include all carrier types, the number of bits in the bitmap can be reduced accordingly.

[0157] Alternatively, for PUCCH packet capability information, for each BC, the UE is allowed to report an index in a list of 4-bit bitmaps that independently indicate the carrier type for the primary and secondary PUCCH groups. This approach reduces overhead when the number of BCs is very large.

[0158] The same design principles applied to PUCCH packet capability information can be applied to PUCCH location capability information. For the corresponding PUCCH group, the PUCCH location can be further restricted in the supported carrier types.

[0159] For example, PUCCH location capability information {1,0,1,0} means that a PUCCH can be configured in either the FR1 licensed TDD band or the FR1 licensed FDD band. Furthermore, since multiple PUCCH packet reports are allowed, multiple PUCCH location reports are also permitted.

[0160] For example, a PUCCH capability report that includes PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information can be shown as follows:

[0161]

[0162] This means that for BC, the UE supports two possible configurations:

[0163] ●Configuration 1

[0164] ○Main PUCCH Group

[0165] ■ FR1 licensed TDD band and FR1 licensed FDD band can be configured in this PUCCH group.

[0166] ■ PUCCH can be configured in the FR1 licensed TDD band.

[0167] ○Assisted PUCCH Group

[0168] ■The FR2 band is in this PUCCH group

[0169] ■ PUCCH can be configured in the FR2 band.

[0170] ●Configuration 2

[0171] ○Main PUCCH Group

[0172] ■ The FR1 licensed TDD band and FR2 band can be configured in this PUCCH group.

[0173] ■ PUCCH can be configured in the FR1 licensed TDD band or the FR2 band.

[0174] ○Assisted PUCCH Group

[0175] ■ The FR1 FDD band can be licensed in this PUCCH group.

[0176] ■ PUCCH can be configured in the FR1 licensed FDD band.

[0177] The above describes a solution for NR-CA. The same concept can also be applied to NR-DC (Dual Connectivity). In NR-DC, there may be two and only two cell groups: MCG (Primary Cell Group) and SCG (Secondary Cell Group). Within each cell group, there may be one and only one PUCCH group.

[0178] Therefore, for NR-DC, the PUCCH packet configuration is the same as the cell packet configuration, so the PUCCH capability report designed for NR-CA can be used for cell packet capability design for NR-DC.

[0179] Further exemplary implementations are provided below.

[0180] One set of implementations may include a method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising: transmitting to a base station a PUCCH capability report including at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information, wherein the PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal downlink (DL) frequency band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) frequency band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) frequency band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) frequency band.

[0181] According to some implementation schemes, the carrier type of at least one normal DL band or at least one normal UL band includes frequency range (FR) 1 licensed time division duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed frequency division duplex (FDD) and FR2.

[0182] According to some implementations, at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

[0183] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes SDL.

[0184] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SDL and FR2SDL.

[0185] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SDL band is determined by the configurable carrier type of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH packet information and a predefined mapping rule for mapping at least one SDL band to at least one normal DL band of carrier type.

[0186] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SDL band is determined based on the carrier type of at least one normal DL band overlapping with the SDL band, which is one of the configurable carrier types of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH packet information.

[0187] According to some implementation schemes, when the SDL band or SUL band is characterized as a TDD band, all time slots are used for communication or some time slots are blocked from being used for communication.

[0188] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

[0189] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes SUL.

[0190] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SUL and FR2 SUL.

[0191] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SUL band is determined based on the carrier type of the normal UL band associated with at least one SDL band from the configurable carrier types of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH packet information.

[0192] According to some implementations, the duplex mode of at least one SUL band is determined based on the duplex mode of a normal UL band associated with at least one SDL band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information is capable of indicating that the wireless device does not support SUL with an FR or license type different from the normal UL band associated with the SDL band.

[0193] According to some implementation schemes, PUCCH capability reports are transmitted in a band combination (BC) that includes a first number of frequency bands with a second number of carrier types.

[0194] According to some implementation schemes, the first number of frequency bands is counted by considering the SDL and SUL frequency bands according to one of the following:

[0195] No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0196] Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted;

[0197] Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or

[0198] All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

[0199] According to some implementation schemes, a second number of carrier type counts is performed by considering the SDL and SUL frequency bands based on one of the following:

[0200] No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0201] Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted;

[0202] Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or

[0203] All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

[0204] According to some implementation schemes, PUCCH packet capability information or PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency band used for the main PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group, respectively, and the carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using a bitmap that includes the number of bits contained in the PUCCH capability report, the number of bits in the bitmap being determined based on a second number of carrier types included in the frequency band combination (BC).

[0205] According to some implementation schemes, the carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using indices in the bitmap lists of the primary and secondary PUCCH groups for each BC.

[0206] According to some implementation schemes, the SUL band is the FDD band.

[0207] Another set of implementations may include a processor configured to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing implementations.

[0208] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising: at least one antenna; at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor as described above and coupled to the at least one radio component.

[0209] Another set of embodiments may include a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing embodiments.

[0210] Another set of embodiments may include a computer program product including computer program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing embodiments.

[0211] Another exemplary embodiment may include a method performed by a base station, the method comprising: receiving from a wireless device a PUCCH capability report including at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information, wherein the PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal downlink (DL) frequency band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) frequency band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) frequency band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) frequency band.

[0212] According to some implementation schemes, the carrier type of at least one normal DL band or at least one normal UL band includes frequency range (FR) 1 licensed time division duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed frequency division duplex (FDD) and FR2.

[0213] According to some implementations, at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

[0214] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes SDL.

[0215] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SDL and FR2SDL.

[0216] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SDL band is determined by the configurable carrier type of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH packet capability information and a predefined mapping rule that maps at least one SDL band to at least one normal DL band of carrier type.

[0217] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SDL band is determined based on the carrier type of at least one normal DL band overlapping with the SDL band, among the configurable carrier types of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH packet capability information.

[0218] According to some implementation schemes, when the SDL band or SUL band is characterized as a TDD band, all time slots are used for communication or some time slots are blocked from being used for communication.

[0219] According to some implementations, at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

[0220] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes SUL.

[0221] According to some implementation schemes, at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SUL and FR2 SUL.

[0222] According to some implementation schemes, at least one SUL band is determined based on the carrier type of the normal UL band associated with at least one SDL band among the configurable carrier types of at least one normal DL band indicated by PUCCH location capability information.

[0223] According to some implementations, the duplex mode of at least one SUL band is determined based on the duplex mode of a normal UL band associated with at least one SDL band, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information is capable of indicating that the wireless device does not support SUL with an FR or license type different from the normal UL band associated with the SDL band.

[0224] According to some implementation schemes, PUCCH capability reports are transmitted in a band combination (BC) that includes a first number of frequency bands with a second number of carrier types.

[0225] According to some implementation schemes, a first number of frequency bands are counted by considering the SDL and SUL frequency bands based on one of the following:

[0226] No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0227] Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted;

[0228] Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or

[0229] All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

[0230] According to some implementation schemes, a second number of carrier type counts is performed by considering the SDL and SUL frequency bands based on one of the following:

[0231] No SDL and SUL bands were counted;

[0232] Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted;

[0233] Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or

[0234] All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

[0235] According to some implementation schemes, PUCCH packet capability information or PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency band used for the main PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group, respectively, and the carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using a bitmap that includes the number of bits contained in the PUCCH capability report, the number of bits in the bitmap being determined based on a second number of carrier types included in the frequency band combination (BC).

[0236] According to some implementation schemes, the carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using indices in the bitmap lists of the primary and secondary PUCCH groups for each BC.

[0237] Another exemplary implementation may include a processor configured to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing implementation.

[0238] Another exemplary embodiment may include a base station comprising: at least one antenna; at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor according to the foregoing embodiment coupled to the at least one radio component.

[0239] Another exemplary embodiment may include a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a base station to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing embodiments.

[0240] Another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing embodiments.

[0241] Another exemplary embodiment may include a computer program product including computer program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause a base station to perform any or all of the methods according to the foregoing embodiments.

[0242] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting 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 explained to users.

[0243] Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable storage media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0244] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system performs a method, such as any method embodiment of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0245] In some implementations, the device (e.g., UE 106 or BS 102) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, and wherein the processor is configured to read from the memory medium and execute the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations of method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of a variety of forms.

[0246] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the disclosure is fully understood. This disclosure is intended to render the following claims as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising: At least one antenna; At least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and A processor coupled to the at least one radio component, The wireless device is configured as follows: Transmit a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report to the base station. The PUCCH capability report includes at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one extended carrier type includes SDL.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SDL and FR2 SDL.

4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one SDL band is determined by the configurable carrier type of the at least one normal DL band indicated by the PUCCH packet capability information and a predefined mapping rule for mapping the at least one SDL band to the carrier type of the at least one normal DL band.

5. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one SDL band is determined based on the carrier type of the normal DL band overlapping the at least one SDL band among the configurable carrier types of the at least one normal DL band indicated by the PUCCH packet capability information.

6. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one extended carrier type includes SUL.

7. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one extended carrier type includes FR1 SUL and FR2 SUL.

8. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least one SUL band is determined based on the carrier type of the normal UL band to which the at least one SUL band is associated among the configurable carrier types of the at least one normal UL band indicated by the PUCCH location capability information.

9. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the duplex mode of the at least one SUL band is determined based on the duplex mode of the normal UL band to which the at least one SUL band is associated, and wherein the PUCCH location capability information is capable of indicating that the wireless device does not support SUL bands having an FR or license type different from that of the normal UL band to which the SUL band is associated.

10. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the PUCCH capability report is transmitted by frequency band combination (BC), the frequency band combination comprising a first number of frequency bands having a second number of carrier types.

11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the first number of frequency bands is counted by considering the SDL band and the SUL band according to one of the following: No SDL and SUL bands were counted; Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted; Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the second number of carrier types is counted by considering the SDL band and the SUL band according to one of the following: No SDL and SUL bands were counted; Only the SDL band was counted, but the SUL band was not counted; Only the SUL band was counted, but the SDL band was not counted; or All SDL and SUL bands were counted.

13. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the PUCCH packet capability information or the PUCCH location capability information respectively indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands used for the primary PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group, and The carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using a bitmap that includes the number of bits contained in the PUCCH capability report, the number of bits in the bitmap being determined based on the second number of carrier types included in the frequency band combination (BC).

14. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the carrier type of the frequency band is indicated by using an index in a bitmap list for each BC, specifically for the primary PUCCH group and the secondary PUCCH group.

15. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the SUL band is an FDD band.

16. A processor, comprising: One or more integrated circuits, wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to: Transmit a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report to the base station. The PUCCH capability report includes at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

17. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a wireless device to: Transmit a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report to the base station. The PUCCH capability report includes at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

18. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions causing a wireless device, when executed by a processor, to: Transmit a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report to the base station. The PUCCH capability report includes at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

19. A base station, the base station comprising: At least one antenna; At least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and A processor coupled to the at least one radio component, The base station is configured as follows: Receive a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report from a wireless device, the PUCCH capability report including at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

20. A processor, comprising: One or more integrated circuits, wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to: Receive a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report from a wireless device, the PUCCH capability report including at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

21. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a base station to: Receive a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report from a wireless device, the PUCCH capability report including at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

22. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions causing a base station, when executed by a processor, to: Receive a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) capability report from a wireless device, the PUCCH capability report including at least one of PUCCH packet capability information and PUCCH location capability information. The PUCCH packet capability information indicates the carrier type of the frequency bands that can be configured in the same PUCCH group, wherein the frequency bands include at least one normal downlink (DL) band and at least one supplementary downlink (SDL) band. The PUCCH location capability information indicates the carrier type of a frequency band that can be configured to transmit PUCCH, wherein the frequency band includes at least one normal uplink (UL) band and at least one supplementary uplink (SUL) band. The carrier type of the at least one normal DL band or the at least one normal UL band includes Frequency Range (FR) 1 licensed Time Division Duplex (TDD), FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), and FR2. The at least one SDL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2. The at least one SUL band is indicated by a data field that indicates at least one extended carrier type independent of the FR1 licensed TDD, FR1 unlicensed TDD, FR1 licensed FDD, and FR2.

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