Wireless communication apparatus and method

Abstract

A wireless communication apparatus and method are provided. The method for a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first subframe and / or determining a second subframe based on the first subframe, and performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) listening based on the first and / or second subframe. This addresses problems existing in the prior art, providing a method for UE operation in non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems that reduces signaling overhead, provides good communication performance, and / or provides high reliability.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and more particularly, to a wireless communication apparatus and method capable of providing good communication performance and / or high reliability. BACKGROUND

[0002] Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) refers to a network or network segment using spaceborne vehicles or airborne vehicles for transmission. Spaceborne vehicles include satellites, including Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, Medium Earth Orbiting (MEO) satellites, Geostationary Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellites, and Highly Elliptical Orbiting (HEO) satellites. Airborne vehicles include High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) including Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), which include Lighter Than Air (LTA) UAS and Heavier Than Air (HTA) UAS, all of which are generally quasi-stationary operating at altitudes between 8 and 50 kilometers.

[0003] Due to the well-known coverage, communication through satellites is an interesting means to cover locations that cellular operators are not usually willing to deploy due to potentially customers in unstable population (e.g. very remote rural areas) or due to high deployment costs (e.g. in the middle of the ocean or on top of a mountain). Currently, satellite communication is a technology independent of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular technology. With the advent of the 5G era, the two technologies can be integrated together, i.e. we can imagine a 5G terminal that can access both a cellular network and a satellite network. NTN can be a good candidate technology to achieve this purpose. NTN is designed on the basis of 3GPP New Radio (NR) and necessary enhancements are made.

[0004] In NTN, different satellite deployment scenarios can be used. When deploying LEO satellites, the satellite speed can be increased to higher than 7km / s, which greatly exceeds the maximum moving speed of the ground network, for example, the maximum speed of high-speed trains is 500km / h. For this reason, the transmitter and receiver will face a wider range of frequency offset and / or Doppler shift (frequency shift). Due to the high speed of satellite movement, frequency offset and / or Doppler shift (frequency shift) will become a serious problem that needs to be solved in NTN network. However, in the traditional ground, there is no specific work for mitigating frequency offset and / or Doppler shift (frequency shift).

[0005] Running Internet of Things (IoT) in remote areas with low / no cellular connectivity is critical to many different industries, including transportation (maritime, road, rail, air) and logistics, solar, oil and gas collection, utilities, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and mining, etc. The capabilities of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) are well suited for the above cases, but satellite connectivity is needed to provide coverage beyond ground deployments that need IoT connectivity. In view of the existing other solutions, there is an urgent need for a standardized solution that allows global LoT to run anywhere on Earth. It is important to define satellite NB-IoT in a way that is complementary to ground deployments.

[0006] In NTN, due to the high speed of the satellite and the half-duplex of the IoT device, a gap needs to be designed so that the User Equipment (UE) can perform synchronization, timing advance adjustment, or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need for a wireless communication device (such as a user equipment (UE) and / or a base station) and a wireless communication method that can solve the problems in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance, and / or provide high reliability. SUMMARY

[0008] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a wireless communication device (such as a user equipment (UE) and / or a base station) and a wireless communication method that can solve the problems in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance, and / or provide high reliability.

[0009] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication of a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first subframe and / or a second subframe according to the first subframe, and performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe.

[0010] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication of a base station includes controlling a user equipment (UE) to determine a first subframe and / or a second subframe according to the first subframe, and performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe.

[0011] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to determine a first subframe and / or a second subframe according to the first subframe, and perform physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe.

[0012] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a base station includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to control a user equipment (UE) to determine a first subframe and / or a second subframe according to the first subframe, and perform physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe.

[0013] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the above method.

[0014] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a chip includes a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program stored in a memory to cause a device installed with the chip to perform the above method.

[0015] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium stores a computer program that causes a computer to perform the above method.

[0016] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product includes a computer program, and the computer program causes a computer to perform the above method.

[0017] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program causes a computer to perform the above method. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] To more clearly illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure or related art, the following drawings used in describing embodiments will be briefly introduced. Obviously, these drawings are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and one of ordinary skill in the art can obtain other drawings from these drawings without paying any cost.

[0019] Figure 1A is a block diagram of one or more user equipment (UE) and base stations (e.g., next Generation Node B (gNB) or Evolved Node B (eNB)) communicating in a communication network system (e.g., non-terrestrial network (NTN) or terrestrial network) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 1B is a block diagram of one or more user equipment (UE) and base stations (e.g., gNB or eNB) communicating in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by a base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system including a base station (BS) and a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a BS transmitting 3 beams to form 3 footprints on the ground according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an uplink-downlink timing relationship according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission initiation resource determination according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 9is a diagram illustrating an example of scheduling of the same Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system according to embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The technical matters, structural features, implementation targets and effects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the following drawings. Specifically, the terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure are used only for the purpose of describing certain embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure.

[0031] Figure 1A In some embodiments, one or more user equipment (UE) 10 and base station (e.g., gNB or eNB) 20 according to embodiments of the present disclosure are provided for transmission adjustment in a communication network system 30 (e.g., NTN or terrestrial network) are shown. The communication network system 30 includes one or more UEs 10 and base stations 20. The one or more UEs 10 can include a memory 12, a transceiver 13, and a processor 11 coupled with the memory 12 and the transceiver 13. The base station 20 can include a memory 22, a transceiver 23, and a processor 21 coupled with the memory 22 and the transceiver 23. The processor 11 or 21 can be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures, and / or methods described in this detailed description. A radio interface protocol layer can be implemented in the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21 and stores various information to operate the processor 11 or 21. The transceiver 13 or 23 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21, and transmits and / or receives radio signals.

[0032] The processors 11 or 21 can include application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chip sets, logic circuitry, and / or a data processing device. The memories 12 or 22 can include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, storage cards, storage media and / or other storage devices. The transceivers 13 or 23 can include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in the memories 12 or 22 and executed by the processors 11 or 21. The memories 12 or 22 can be implemented within the processors 11 or 21 or external to the processors 11 or 21 in which case that they can be communicatively coupled to the processors 11 or 21 via various means as is known in the art.

[0033] In some embodiments, the communication between the UE 10 and the BS 20 includes non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication. In some embodiments, the base station 20 includes a spaceborne platform or an airborne platform or a high-altitude platform station. The base station 20 can communicate with the UE 10 through a spaceborne platform or an airborne platform, such as an NTN satellite 40, as Figure 1B illustrated.

[0034] Figure 1B A system including the base station 20 and one or more UEs 10 is shown. Optionally, the system can include more than one base station 20, and each base station 20 can be connected to one or more UEs 10. In the present disclosure, there is no limitation. For example, Figure 1B The base station 20 shown can be a mobile base station, such as a spaceborne aerial vehicle (satellite) or an airborne aerial vehicle (drone). The UE 10 can transmit a transmission to the base station 20, and the UE 10 can also receive a transmission from the base station 20. Optionally, Figure 1BNot shown is that the mobile base station can also act as a relay, relaying transmissions received from the UE 10 to the ground base station and vice versa. Optionally, the satellite 40 can be seen as a relay point that relays communications between the UE 10 and the base station 20 (e.g. gNB / eNB). The space-borne platform comprises the satellite 40, which comprises LEO satellites, MEO satellites and GEO satellites. When the satellite 40 is moving, LEO satellites and MEO satellites are moving relative to a given location on Earth. However, for GEO satellites, the GEO satellites are stationary relative to a given location on Earth. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, some embodiments focus on LEO satellite types or MEO satellite types, for which the present disclosure aims to solve a wider range of frequency offset and / or Doppler shift (frequency shift) problems.

[0035] The space-borne platform comprises the satellite, which comprises low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellites. When the satellite 40 is moving, LEO satellites and MEO satellites are moving relative to a given location on Earth. However, for GEO satellites, the GEO satellites are stationary relative to a given location on Earth.

[0036] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to determine a first subframe and / or determine a second subframe according to the first subframe, and perform physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe. This can solve the problems existing in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance and / or provide high reliability.

[0037] In some embodiments, the processor 21 is configured to control the UE 10 to determine a first subframe and / or determine a second subframe according to the first subframe, and perform physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe. This can solve the problems existing in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance and / or provide high reliability. In some embodiments, the PDCCH comprises a narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH)

[0038] Figure 2A wireless communication method 200 performed by a user equipment (UE) 10 according to embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, the method 200 includes determining a first subframe and / or determining a second subframe according to the first subframe, block 202, and performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe, block 204. This can solve the problems existing in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance, and / or provide high reliability.

[0039] Figure 3 A wireless communication method 300 performed by a base station 20 according to embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, the method 300 includes controlling a UE to determine a first subframe and / or to determine a second subframe according to the first subframe, block 302, and controlling the UE to perform physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe, block 304. This can solve the problems existing in the prior art, provide a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, reduce signaling overhead, provide good communication performance, and / or provide high reliability.

[0040] In some embodiments, the UE is configured to receive a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in a first subframe. In some embodiments, the first transmission comprises a Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel (NPDSCH) transmission or a Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel (NPDCCH) transmission. In some embodiments, the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format. In some embodiments, the DCI format comprises DCI format N1 and / or DCI format N2. In some embodiments, the NPDCCH is configured with a PDCCH order. In some embodiments, the PDCCH order initiates a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to perform a second transmission that starts in a second subframe or starts after the second subframe. In some embodiments, the second transmission comprises a Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel (NPUSCH) transmission or a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission. In some embodiments, the NPUSCH transmission comprises Acknowledgement (ACK) / Non-Acknowledgement (NACK) information corresponding to the reception of the first transmission. In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission is requested by the PDCCH order. In some embodiments, the UE determines the second subframe from the first subframe comprises: the second subframe is a certain number of subframes after the first subframe, the certain number comprising a first number and / or a second number and / or a third number. In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission comprises a Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel (NPRACH) transmission.

[0041] In some embodiments, the first number is determined from at least the first information, and the DCI format provides the first information. In some embodiments, the second number is determined from at least the second information, and the second information is provided in system information and / or radio resource control (RRC) specific to the UE. In some embodiments, the second number is related to a timing advance. In some embodiments, the second information includes a first time duration or a second number of subframes. In some embodiments, the second number is greater than or equal to the second number. In some embodiments, the second number includes a first integer, and the first integer is a minimum integer such that a first integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the first time duration. In some embodiments, the third number is a predefined or preconfigured value. In some embodiments, the third number is greater than or equal to 8. In some embodiments, the first subframe includes a first subframe index, and the second subframe includes a second subframe index. In some embodiments, the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in subframes after the first subframe and before the second subframe. In some embodiments, the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in subframes after a subframe corresponding to the first subframe index and before a subframe corresponding to the second subframe index. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to transmit a first transmission, and the first transmission ends in the first subframe.

[0042] In some embodiments, the first transmission comprises a NPUSCH transmission, and the NPUSCH is associated with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process identifier (ID). In some embodiments, the second subframe is a certain number of subframes after the first subframe, where the certain number comprises a third quantity. In some embodiments, the third quantity is related to a time offset between a downlink timing and an uplink timing. In some embodiments, the third quantity is determined at least from third information, and the third information is provided in system information and / or UE-specific RRC. In some embodiments, the third information is used to determine a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) validity time. In some embodiments, the third information is K mac. In some embodiments, the third information comprises a second duration or a third number of subframes. In some embodiments, the third quantity is greater than or equal to the third number. In some embodiments, the third quantity comprises a second integer, and the second integer is a smallest integer such that a second integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the second duration. In some embodiments, the UE expects to receive the second transmission in or after the second subframe. In some embodiments, the second transmission comprises a second NPDCCH transmission, and the NPDCCH comprises a second DCI format. In some embodiments, the DCI format schedules a second NPUSCH transmission, and the second NPUSCH transmission is performed by the UE. In some embodiments, the NPUSCH is associated with the HARQ process ID. In some embodiments, the UE does not expect to receive the second transmission in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe. In some embodiments, the subframes in which the UE performs PDCCH monitoring use a downlink subframe timing. In some embodiments, the downlink subframe timing assumes a timing advance equal to zero. In some embodiments, the first subframe and / or the second subframe use the downlink subframe timing.

[0043] Figure 4 A communication system including a base station (BS) and a UE according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Optionally, the communication system can include more than one base station, and each base station can be connected to one or more UEs. In the present disclosure, there is no limitation. For example, Figure 1A The shown base station can be a mobile base station, e.g., a spaceborne aircraft (satellite) or an airborne aircraft (drone). The UE can transmit a transmission to the base station, and the UE can also receive a transmission from the base station. Optionally, Figure 4 Not shown in the figure is that the mobile base station can also act as a relay, relaying transmissions received from the UE to a ground base station, and vice versa.

[0044] Spaceborne platforms include satellites, which include LEO, MEO, and GEO satellites. When a satellite is moving, LEO and MEO satellites are moving relative to a given location on Earth. However, for GEO satellites, they are stationary relative to a given location on Earth. Mobile base stations or satellites, such as LEO satellites or drones in particular, communicate with user equipment (UEs) on the ground. Due to the long distance between the UE and the base station on the satellite, beamforming transmission is required to extend coverage.

[0045] Optionally, such as Figure 5 As shown, the base station is integrated into a satellite or drone, and the base station transmits one or more beams to the ground, forming one or more coverage areas called footprints. Figure 5 The example shows a BS transmitting three beams (beam 1, beam 2, and beam 3) to form three footprints (footprints 1, 2, and 3). Optionally, the three beams are transmitted at three different frequencies. In this example, bit positions are associated with beams. Figure 5 As shown, in some embodiments, mobile base stations (e.g., particularly for LEO satellites or drones) communicate with user equipment (UEs) on the ground. Due to the long distance between the UE and the base station on the satellite, beamforming transmission is required to extend coverage. For example... Figure 5 As shown, the base station transmits three beams towards the Earth, forming three coverage areas called footprints. Furthermore, each beam can be transmitted on a dedicated frequency so that the beams of footprints 1, 2, and 3 do not overlap in the frequency domain. The advantage of having different frequencies corresponding to different beams is that inter-beam interference can be minimized.

[0046] In some embodiments, a mobile base station (BS), particularly for LEO satellites or drones, communicates with a user equipment (UE) on the ground. The round-trip time (RTT) between the BS and the UE varies over time. The RTT variation is related to the distance between the BS and the UE. The rate of RTT variation is proportional to the BS's speed. To ensure good uplink synchronization, the BS adjusts the uplink transmission timing and / or frequency for the UE. In some embodiments of this disclosure, a method for uplink synchronization adjustment is provided, and the uplink synchronization adjustment includes at least one of the following: transmission timing adjustment or transmission frequency adjustment. Optionally, the transmission timing adjustment further includes timing advance (TA) adjustment.

[0047] Figure 6 An uplink-downlink timing relationship according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6 As shown, in some embodiments, downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, and sidelink transmissions are organized into a duration of T. f =(Δfmax N f / 100)·T c = 10 ms, each frame consisting of a duration T sf = (Δf max N f / 1000)·T c = 1 ms. T f denotes the radio frame duration. Δf denotes the subcarrier spacing. N f denotes the System Frame Number (SFN). T c denotes the basic time unit of NR. T sf denotes the subframe duration. The number of consecutive Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) symbols per subframe is denotes the number of OFDM symbols per subframe configured for the subcarrier spacing. denotes the number of symbols per slot. denotes the number of slots per subframe configured for the subcarrier spacing μ. Each frame is divided into two half frames of equal size, each half frame having 5 subframes, where the subframes 0 to 4 make up the half frame 0 and the subframes 5 to 9 make up the half frame 1. On a carrier, there is a set of frames for the uplink and a set of frames for the downlink. Except for msgA transmission (using T TA = 0) on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the uplink frame number i is started to be transmitted from the UE T TA = (N TA +N TA,offset )T c before the corresponding downlink frame at the UE, where N TA，offset is given by TS 38.213. T TA denotes the timing advance between uplink and downlink. N TA denotes the timing advance between downlink and uplink. N TA，offset denotes the fixed offset used for the calculation of the timing advance. T C denotes the basic time unit of NR.

[0048] In some examples, a method of UE operation in an NTN system is provided. The example method includes LoT UE HARQ-ACK NPUSCH transmission subframe determination, PDCCH order requested PRACH transmission subframe, and NPUSCH scheduling.

[0049] The examples given in this disclosure can be applied to IoT devices or NB-IoT UEs in an NTN system, but the method is not limited to NTN systems, nor to IoT devices or NB-IoT UEs.

[0050] Example 1: NPUSCH transmission with resource determination initiation

[0051] Figure 7 An example of NPUSCH transmission with resource determination initiation is shown according to embodiments of the disclosure. Figure 7 It is shown that, in some examples, a UE receives a NPDSCH transmission ending in subframe (SF) n, and the NPDSCH is transmitted to the UE by the network. The NPDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format (e.g., DCI format N1 and / or N2). After receiving the NPDSCH, the UE can send ACK or NACK feedback to the network. The ACK or NACK information is sent by the UE in a NPUSCH transmission. The NPUSCH transmission starts in SF n+k1+k2, where the value of k1 is determined according to a first indication value, which is given in the DCI format. The value of k2 is provided by the network in system information and / or UE-specific RRC configuration. In some examples, the UE is configured with one or more (e.g., two) HARQ processes. The UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH between SF n+1 and SF n+k1+k2-1.

[0052] Example 2: PDCCH order

[0053] Figure 8 An example of PDCCH order is shown according to embodiments of the disclosure. Figure 8 It is shown that, in some examples, a UE receives a PDCCH order ending in subframe n, and the UE can start a NPRACH transmission at the end of the first subframe n+k2+k3 (NPRACH resources are available) if requested by a higher layer. Here k2 is provided in system information and / or UE-specific RRC configuration, and k3 is a predefined offset greater than or equal to 8. In some examples, the value of the offset includes a number of subframes or time. In some examples, the time unit includes milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds. In some examples, the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH between SF n+1 and SF n+k2+k3-1.

[0054] Example 3: Same HARQ process scheduling

[0055] Figure 9 An example of HARQ process scheduling is shown according to embodiments of the disclosure. Figure 9It is shown that, in some examples, the UE can transmit NPUSCH ending in subframe n’ and the UE does not expect to receive NPDCCH with DCI format N0 or N1 scheduling the same HARQ process ID as the NPUSCH transmission before subframe n’ + offset, where offset is provided by the network in system information and / or UE-specific RRC configuration. In some examples, the UE does expect to receive NPDCCH with DCI format N0 or N1 scheduling the same HARQ process ID as the NPUSCH transmission after subframe n’ + offset.

[0056] The commercial benefits of some embodiments are as follows. 1. Solving the problems in the prior art. 2. Providing a method for UE operation in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system. 3. Reducing signaling overhead. 4. Providing good communication performance. 5. Providing high reliability. 6. Some embodiments of the disclosure are used by 5G-NR chipset vendors, V2X communication system development vendors, automobile manufacturers (including cars, trains, trucks, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, helmets, etc.), drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), smartphone manufacturers, public safety communication equipment, AR / VR device manufacturers for purposes such as gaming, conferences / seminars, education. Some embodiments of the disclosure are a combination of “technologies / processes” that can be adopted in 3GPP specifications to create end products. Some embodiments of the disclosure can be used for 5G NR unlicensed band communication. Some embodiments of the disclosure propose technical mechanisms.

[0057] Figure 10 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and / or software. Figure 10 The system 700 is shown to include radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, baseband circuitry 720, application circuitry 730, a memory / storage 740, a display 750, a camera 760, a sensor 770, and an input / output (I / O) interface 780, which are each communicatively coupled via one or more buses 790— although shown as a single bus, the buses 790 can be split into any number of individual buses that are communicatively coupled to each other. The application circuitry 730 can include electrical circuitry that, among other things, carries out the instructions of various applications and / or operating system to carry out the techniques described herein. The application circuitry 730 can include one or more single-core or multi-core processors, which can be general- purpose processors, application-specific processors, or any combination thereof. The baseband circuitry 720 can support communication with one or more cellular networks, and / or with other networks.

[0058] The baseband circuitry 720 can include, among other things, circuitry such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) can include a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry can handle various radio control functions

[0059] In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry 720 can include circuitry to operate with signal that are not strictly considered as being in a baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry can include circuitry to operate with an intermediate frequency signal. The radio frequency circuitry 710 can communicate signals to and from the wireless network through the non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, the radio frequency circuitry can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. In various embodiments, the radio frequency circuitry 710 can include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a radio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, the radio frequency circuitry can include circuitry to operate with an intermediate frequency signal.

[0060] In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry described above in relation to a user equipment, eNB, or gNB can be embodied in whole or in part in one or more of a radio frequency circuit, a baseband circuit, and / or an application circuit. As used herein, a "circuit" can refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and / or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and / or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuitry can be implemented in one or more software or firmware modules, or the functionality of the circuitry associated with the same can be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, portions of the baseband circuitry, application circuitry, and / or memory / memory elements can be combined or implemented together on a System On a Chip (SOC). The memory / memory 740 can be used to load and store data and / or instructions for use by the system. The memory / memory for one embodiment can include any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) and / or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory).

[0061] In various embodiments, the I / O interface 780 can include one or more user interfaces and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with a system, a user interface designed to enable a user to interact with the system, and a peripheral component interface designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. The user interface can include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. The peripheral component interface can include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power supply interface. In various embodiments, the sensor 770 can include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and / or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensor can include, but is not limited to, a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit can also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry and / or radio frequency circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.

[0062] In various embodiments, display 750 can include a display such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, system 700 can be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a notebook computer computing device, a tablet computer computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, AR / VR glasses, etc. In various embodiments, a system can have more or less components, and / or different architectures. Where appropriate, the methods described herein can be implemented as computer programs. The computer program can be stored on a storage medium, e.g., a non-transitory storage medium.

[0063] Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that each unit, algorithm, and step described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure is implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of software and electronic hardware for computers. Whether these functions are run in hardware or software depends on the application conditions and design requirements of the technical solutions. Those of ordinary skill in the art can use different methods to implement the functions of each specific application, but such implementation should not exceed the scope of the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that, since the working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above are basically the same, they can refer to the working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above. For the purpose of description and simplicity, these working processes are not described in detail here.

[0064] It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in other ways. The above-described embodiments are only examples. The division of units is only based on logical functions, and other divisions exist in implementations. It is possible that multiple units or components are combined or integrated into another system. It is also possible that some features are omitted or skipped. On the other hand, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication coupling shown or discussed is indirectly or communicatively operated in electrical, mechanical, or other forms through some ports, devices, or units.

[0065] The multiple units used for explanation and illustration are physically separate or not separate. The multiple units used for display are physical units or not physical units, i.e., located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the multiple units are used according to the purpose of the embodiments. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment can be integrated in one physically independent processing unit, or integrated in one processing unit with two or more units.

[0066] If the software function unit is implemented, used and sold as a product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions proposed in the present disclosure can be essentially or partially implemented in the form of a software product. Alternatively, part of the technical solutions that are beneficial to conventional technology can be implemented in the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, and the software product includes a plurality of commands for a computing device (such as a personal computer, a server or a network device) to run all or some steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a floppy disk or other types of media capable of storing program codes.

[0067] Although the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with the embodiments considered to be the most practical and preferred, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the appended claims, which are interpreted in the broadest sense.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication of a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a first subframe; and determining a second subframe in accordance with the first subframe; and performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring in accordance with the first subframe and / or the second subframe, wherein the UE is configured to receive a first transmission and the first transmission ends in the first subframe, the UE is configured to perform a second transmission that starts in the second subframe or starts after the second subframe; wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH) transmission and the second transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission or a narrowband random access channel (NPRACH) transmission; wherein the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe, wherein the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format N1, the UE determining the second subframe in accordance with the first subframe comprises that the second subframe is a certain number of subframes after the first subframe, wherein the certain number comprises a first number, a second number and a third number, wherein the first number is determined from at least a first information and the DCI format provides the first information; the second number is determined from at least a second information and the second information is provided in system information and / or radio resource control (RRC) specific to the UE; and the third number is a predefined or preconfigured value. the NPDCCH is configured with a PDCCH order.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the PDCCH order initiates a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, the NPUSCH transmission comprises an acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) information corresponding to reception of the first transmission.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, the second number is related to a timing advance.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, the second information comprises a first duration or a second number of subframes.

6. The method of claim 1 or 5, wherein, the second number is greater than or equal to the second number.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, the second number comprises a first integer and the first integer is a smallest integer such that a first integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the first duration.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, the third number is greater than or equal to 8.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first subframe comprises a first subframe index and the second subframe comprises a second subframe index.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein, the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in a subframe after the subframe corresponding to the first subframe index and before the subframe corresponding to the second subframe index.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, the PDCCH comprises a NPDCCH.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, the subframe in which the UE performs the PDCCH monitoring uses a downlink subframe timing.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein, the downlink subframe timing assumes a timing advance equal to 0.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, the first subframe and / or the second subframe use the downlink subframe timing.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein, 16.A method of wireless communication of a base station, comprising: controlling a user equipment (UE) to determine a first subframe; and determining a second subframe in accordance with the first subframe; and ​ controlling the UE to perform physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, monitoring according to the first subframe and / or the second subframe, wherein the base station controls the UE to receive a first transmission and the first transmission ends in the first subframe, and the base station controls the UE to perform a second transmission starting in or after the second subframe; wherein the first transmission comprises a narrowband physical downlink shared channel, NPDSCH, transmission, and the second transmission comprises a narrowband physical uplink shared channel, NPUSCH, transmission or a narrowband random access channel, NPRACH, transmission; wherein the base station controls the UE in a manner that the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in a subframe after the first subframe and before the second subframe, wherein the NPDSCH transmission is scheduled by a downlink control information, DCI, format N1, and the base station controls the UE to determine the second subframe according to the first subframe comprises that the second subframe is a certain number of subframes after the first subframe, wherein the certain number comprises a first number, a second number and a third number, wherein the first number is determined from at least a first information and the DCI format provides the first information; the second number is determined from at least a second information and the second information is provided in system information and / or radio resource control, RRC, specific to the UE; and the third number is a predefined or preconfigured value.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, the NPDCCH is configured with a PDCCH order.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the PDCCH order initiates a random access channel, RACH, procedure.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, the NPUSCH transmission comprises an acknowledgement, ACK / negative acknowledgement, NACK, information corresponding to an acceptance of the first transmission.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein, the second number is related to a timing advance.

21. The method of claim 16 or 20, wherein, the second information comprises a first duration or a second number of subframes.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, the second number is greater than or equal to the second number.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, the second number comprises a first integer and the first integer is a smallest integer such that a first integer times a subframe duration is greater than or equal to the first duration.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein, the third number is greater than or equal to 8.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein, the first subframe comprises a first subframe index and the second subframe comprises a second subframe index.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein, the base station controls the UE in a manner that the UE does not need to monitor NPDCCH in a subframe after a subframe corresponding to the first subframe index and before a subframe corresponding to the second subframe index.

27. The method of claim 16, wherein, the PDCCH comprises a NPDCCH.

28. The method of claim 16, wherein, the subframe in which the UE performs PDCCH monitoring uses a downlink subframe timing.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein, the downlink subframe timing assumes a timing advance equal to 0.

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein, the first subframe and / or the second subframe uses the downlink subframe timing.

31. A user equipment, UE, comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor coupled with the memory and the transceiver; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 15.

32. A base station comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor coupled with the memory and the transceiver; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 16-30.

33. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

34. A chip, comprising: a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program stored in a memory to cause a device installed with the chip to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

35. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, wherein, The computer program causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

36. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein, The computer program causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

37. A computer program, wherein, The computer program causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30. The computer program causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-30.

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