Paging Early Indication Location Determination

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for PEI location determination. According to certain aspects, a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving a configuration of a paging early indication (PEI) from a network entity, the configuration of the paging early indication (PEI) indicating whether a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is scheduled in a plurality of paging opportunities (POs) in a plurality of paging frames (PFs); identifying a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; and monitoring the PEI at a location of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset.

Description

[0001] Cross - reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 944,896, filed on September 14, 2022, which claims priority and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 266,558, filed on January 7, 2022. Both of these applications are assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Background of the disclosure

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication and, more particularly, to techniques for positioning paging early indication (PEI) occasions.

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple - access techniques that are capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources). Multiple - access techniques may rely on any one of code - division, time - division, frequency - division, orthogonal frequency - division, single - carrier frequency - division, or time - division synchronous code - division, to name just a few examples. These and other multiple - access techniques have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global levels.

[0005] Despite the significant technological advancements made by wireless communication systems over the years, challenges still remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and wireless receivers, disrupting various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms for managing and optimizing the use of limited wireless channel resources. Therefore, there is a need to further improve wireless communication systems to overcome various challenges. Summary of the invention

[0006] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network entity, a configuration of a paging early indication (PEI) that indicates, for multiple paging opportunities (POs) in multiple paging frames (PFs), whether a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is scheduled in the multiple POs; identifying a reference PF from among the multiple PFs; and monitoring the PEI at a location of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset.

[0007] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method comprising: sending a configuration of a paging early indication (PEI) to a UE, the configuration of the PEI indicating, for a plurality of paging occasions (POs) in a plurality of paging frames (PFs), whether to schedule a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the plurality of POs; identifying a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; and sending the PEI at a location of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset.

[0008] Other aspects provide: an apparatus capable of operating to, configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform the foregoing method and those methods described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing method and those methods described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the foregoing method and those methods described elsewhere herein; and an apparatus comprising means for performing the foregoing method and those methods described elsewhere herein. By way of example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having the processing system, or a processing system cooperating via one or more networks.

[0009] For illustrative purposes, certain features are set forth in the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered to limit the scope of the disclosure.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless communication network.

[0012] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating aspects of an example of a base station and user equipment.

[0013] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B 、 Figure 3C and Figure 3D depict various example aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network.

[0014] Figure 4 depicts an example timeline for paging early indication (PEI) occasions and paging occasions (POs) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 5 depicts a call flow diagram for PEI occasion location determination in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 6A and Figure 6BDepicts an example of PEI timing position determination in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 7A and Figure 7B Depicts an example timeline for PEI timing position determination in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 8 and Figure 9 Depicts an example process of wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 10 and Figure 11 Depicts an example communication device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0020] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for determining the location of a paging early indication (PEI) occasion. These techniques may allow a user equipment (UE) and a base station (BS) to coordinate this location and synchronize with respect to the location of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasions to be used for PEI.

[0021] The UE may enter an idle or inactive mode while monitoring paging information from the network (e.g., in sparse occasions) such as the PDCCH to receive system information block (SIB) updates, earthquake and tsunami warning system (ETWS) messages, and / or various other messages when the UE is paged to save battery power. To allow the UE to stay in a low-power state for a longer time, PEI may be used.

[0022] PEI generally refers to a signal or message used as an early notice before an actual paging message is sent in a corresponding paging occasion (PO). By monitoring the PEI, if the associated PEI indicates that the UE is to be paged in a subsequent PO, the UE can monitor only these subsequent POs for paging. A potential advantage of this PDCCH-based PEI is that it can convey more information than a sequence-based PEI. For example, the PDCCH-based PEI may be able to provide indications for multiple POs. This information aggregation can help reduce the signaling load on the paging channel. The PEI configuration may indicate what type of information is conveyed in the PDCCH-based PEI, such as the number of POs indicated by the PEI and the number of copies of the PEI sent (e.g., to increase the likelihood of successful reception of the PEI). The PEI occasion (PEI-O) may be a PDCCH monitoring occasion for the PEI sent on all synchronization signal block (SSB) beams.

[0023] In some systems, a single PEI can be used to indicate whether the UE is paged in one or more POs across multiple PFs. In such cases, the UE can determine the PEI-O to be monitored by applying a frame-level timing offset and a system-level timing offset with respect to a reference point (in time), where the frame-level timing offset and the system-level timing offset are determined based on the start of the reference PF.

[0024] Unfortunately, there may be uncertainty as to which PF will be used as the reference PF for applying the frame-level timing offset. Therefore, it may not always be clear which PF will be used as the reference PF for applying the frame-level timing offset. This ambiguity may cause the UE to monitor too many PEI opportunities unnecessarily, resulting in a waste of processing power. In addition, this ambiguity may also cause the UE to miss the PEI and the corresponding paging, which may lead to latency when reaching the UE and degradation of system performance and user experience.

[0025] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various solutions that can help remove this ambiguity, thereby helping the UE and the base station to stay synchronized regarding the location of the PEI opportunity. For example, after receiving the configuration of the PEI indicating whether the paging PDCCH is scheduled in multiple POs across multiple PFs, aspects of the present disclosure allow the UE to identify a reference PF from one of the multiple PFs. The UE can monitor the PEI at the location of the PEI opportunity determined based on the reference PF and the timing offset.

[0026] In some cases, the timing offset may include a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In such cases, the UE determines the location of the PEI opportunity by determining a reference point for the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI opportunity for the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point. Identifying the reference PF may involve identifying a PF among the multiple PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from the PDCCH monitoring opportunity (PMO) of the PEI opportunity configuration. In some cases, identifying the reference PF is based on a start offset configured by a network entity.

[0027] The proposed aspects can help remove the uncertainty in the reference timing, thereby allowing the UE to uniquely identify the PEI-O to be monitored. Removing the uncertainty in the reference timing can help the UE avoid monitoring too many PEI-Os, which can help avoid unnecessary power consumption. The proposed aspects can also help the UE avoid missing the PEI, which can help avoid latency when reaching the UE, thereby improving system performance and user experience.

[0028] Introduction to Wireless Communication Networks

[0029] Figure 1FIG. 0 depicts an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which aspects described herein may be implemented.

[0030] Generally, the wireless communication network 100 includes base stations (BSs) 102, user equipment (UEs) 104, and one or more core networks (such as an evolved packet core (EPC) 160 and a 5G core (5GC) network 190), which interoperate to provide wireless communication services.

[0031] The BS 102 may provide an access point to the EPC 160 and / or 5GC 190 for the UE 104 and may perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, delivery of warning messages, and other functions. In various contexts, a base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, NodeB, eNB, ng-eNB (e.g., an eNB that has been enhanced to provide connections to both the EPC 160 and 5GC 190), an access point, a transceiver base station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, or a transceiver function, or a transmit receive point.

[0032] A base station (such as BS 102) may include components located at a single physical location or components located at various physical locations. In an example where a base station includes components located at various physical locations, the various components may each perform various functions such that the various components together implement functions similar to those of a base station located at a single physical location. Thus, a base station may equivalently refer to a stand-alone base station or a base station that includes components located at respective physical or virtualized locations. In some particular implementations, a base station that includes components located at respective physical locations may be referred to as or associated with a disaggregated radio access network (RAN) architecture (such as an open RAN (O-RAN) or virtualized RAN (VRAN) architecture). In some particular implementations, such components of a base station may include or refer to one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU).

[0033] BS102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120. Each BS in BS102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110, which may overlap in some cases. For example, small cell 102' (e.g., low-power base station) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cells (e.g., high-power base stations).

[0034] The communication link 120 between BS102 and UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to BS102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from BS102 to UE 104. In various aspects, the communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0035] Examples of UE 104 include cellular phones, smartphones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptop devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablet devices, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, utility meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or other similar devices. Some of the UEs in UE 104 may be Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, ovens, vehicles, heart monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. UE 104 may also be more generally referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, cell phone, user agent, mobile client, or client.

[0036] Compared with lower-frequency communications, communications using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range. Therefore, certain base stations (e.g., Figure 1 180 in) may utilize beamforming 182 with UE 104 to improve path loss and range. For example, base station 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays to facilitate beamforming.

[0037] In some cases, base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmission directions 182'. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 180 in one or more reception directions 182". UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 180 in one or more transmission directions 182". Base station 180 may also receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more reception directions 182'. Base station 180 and UE 104 may then perform beam training to determine the optimal reception and transmission directions for each of base station 180 and UE 104. It is noted that the transmission and reception directions of base station 180 may be the same or different. Similarly, the transmission and reception directions of UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0038] Wireless communication network 100 includes PEI location determination component 199, which may identify the locations of configured PEI opportunities. Wireless communication network 100 also includes PEI location determination component 198, which may be used to identify the locations of configured PEI opportunities.

[0039] Figure 2 Aspects of example BS102 and UE 104 are depicted. Generally, BS102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a - 234t (collectively 234), transceivers 232a - 232t (collectively 232) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that implement wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, BS102 may transfer and receive data between itself and UE 104.

[0040] BS102 includes controller / processor 240 that may be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the depicted example, controller / processor 240 includes PEI location determination component 241, which may represent Figure 1 the PEI location determination component 199. It is noted that while depicted as an aspect of controller / processor 240, in other specific implementations, PEI location determination component 241 may additionally or alternatively be implemented in various other aspects of BS102.

[0041] Generally, UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), antennas 252a - 252r (collectively 252), transceivers 254a - 254r (collectively 254) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that implement wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

[0042] UE 104 includes a controller / processor 280 that can be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the example depicted, the controller / processor 280 includes a PEI location determination component 281, which can represent Figure 1 the PEI location determination component 198. It should be noted that although depicted as an aspect of the controller / processor 280, in other specific implementations, the PEI location determination component 281 can additionally or alternatively be implemented in various other aspects of the UE 104.

[0043] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B 、 Figure 3C and Figure 3D depict aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network (such as Figure 1 the wireless communication network 100). Specifically, Figure 3A is a diagram 300 that illustrates an example of a first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 3B is a diagram 330 that illustrates an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe, Figure 3C is a diagram 350 that illustrates an example of a second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 3D is a diagram 380 that illustrates an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0044] Further discussion of Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B 、 Figure 3C and Figure 3D is provided later in this disclosure.

[0045] Introduction to mmWave Wireless Communication

[0046] In wireless communication, the electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, frequency bands, channels, or other characteristics. The subdivision is typically provided based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency can also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, channel, tone, or subband.

[0047] 5G networks can utilize several frequency ranges defined in some cases by standards such as 3GPP standards. For example, although the 3GPP technical standard TS 38.101 currently defines frequency range 1 (FR1) as including 600 MHz - 6 GHz, specific uplink and downlink allocations may fall outside of this general range. Thus, FR1 is commonly referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub - 6 GHz" band.

[0048] Similarly, although TS 38.101 currently defines Frequency Range 2 (FR2) as including 26 GHz - 41 GHz, again, specific uplink and downlink allocations may fall outside of this general range. FR2 is sometimes referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" ("mmW" or "mmWave") band, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz), which is identified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the "millimeter wave" band, because the wavelengths at these frequencies are between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters.

[0049] Compared to lower frequency communications, communications using mmWave / near mmWave radio frequency bands (e.g., 3 GHz - 300 GHz) may have higher path loss and shorter range. As described above with respect to Figure 1 a base station (e.g., 180) configured to communicate using mmWave / near mmWave radio frequency bands may utilize beamforming (e.g., 182) with a UE (e.g., 104) to improve path loss and range.

[0050] Aspects Related to the Determination of PEI Timing Positions

[0051] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for determining the location of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion for a Physical Entity Identifier (PEI).

[0052] As described above, the PEI may allow a UE to conserve battery power by entering an idle or inactive mode. By monitoring the PEI, if the associated PEI indicates that the UE is to be paged in subsequent Paging Opportunities (POs), the UE may monitor only those subsequent POs for paging.

[0053] As Figure 4 illustrated in timing diagram 400 of

[0054] In Figure 4 the example shown, PF1 is the reference PF, and the reference point is determined by applying a frame-level timing offset from the start of PF1 (and the frame-level timing offset value is 1). The location of the PEI occasion may then be determined by applying a symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to locate the first PDCCH monitoring occasion of the PEI occasion.

[0055] As described above, it may not always be clear which PF will be used as the reference PF for applying the frame-level timing offset, which may cause the UE to unnecessarily monitor too many PEI occasions, or may cause the UE to miss the PEI and thus miss the corresponding paging indicated thereby.

[0056] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various techniques for determining the positions of PDCCH monitoring occasions for PEIs associated with multiple POs among multiple PFs.

[0057] The determination of the PEI position according to aspects of the present disclosure can be understood with reference Figure 5 to the call flow diagram 500, which assumes that the UE is served by a gNB.

[0058] As illustrated, the gNB may signal to the UE the configuration for the PEI, which indicates whether paging PDCCH is scheduled among the multiple POs for multiple paging frames (PFs).

[0059] The UE may determine the position of the PEI occasion based on a reference PF, a frame-level timing offset, and a symbol-level timing offset. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate various examples of how the UE may identify the reference PF and determine the position of the PEI occasion from the reference PF. The UE monitors the PEI at the configured PEI occasion at the determined position.

[0060] In some cases, the network may configure the PEI-O position based on the PDCCH search space set configuration for the PEI. In such cases, the search space set configuration may provide the UE with the periodicity and offset of the first PDCCH monitoring occasion (PMO) for the PEI-O.

[0061] In such cases, the network may configure a PF for the UE in each paging cycle (also referred to as a discontinuous reception or DRX cycle). The UE may evaluate each PF as a potential candidate to serve as the reference PF for applying the frame-level timing offset in order to determine the position of the PEI-O.

[0062] For example, the UE may evaluate the PF by applying the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to the start of the PF, and for it to be eligible as a valid PF reference candidate, the UE would expect the resulting start position to align with the start of the first PMO of the PEI-O. Examples of such evaluation are shown in Figure 6A and Figure 6B .

[0063] In Figure 6AAmong them, the UE evaluates PF2 as a potential reference PF candidate. As illustrated, when the UE applies frame-level timing offset and symbol-level timing offset to the start of PF2, the resulting position does not align with the configured PMO of the configured PEI-O. Therefore, PF2 is excluded as a valid reference PF.

[0064] However, as Figure 6B illustrated, when the UE evaluates PF1 as a potential reference PF candidate, by applying frame-level timing offset and symbol-level timing offset to the start of PF1, the resulting position aligns with the configured PMO of the configured PEI-O. Therefore, PF1 is identified as a valid reference PF.

[0065] In some cases, if the PF configured by the network does not satisfy the timing relationship between the start of the first PMO of the PEI-O and the PF determined by the frame-level timing offset and symbol-level timing offset, the UE may take some appropriate actions. For example, according to the first option, the UE may not process its PO (the PO configured for the UE) in the paging cycle. According to the second option, the UE may ignore the PEI in the paging cycle and process the paging PDCCH in its PO. In other words, the UE may ignore the PEI indication or even not monitor the PEI in the PEI-O, but monitor the paging PDCCH in its PO (which may have a potentially adverse impact on power saving). This can be considered a fallback procedure to the conventional (legacy) paging procedure.

[0066] According to Figure 6A and Figure 6B the example PEI-O position determination procedure shown, the UE and the network can determine the reference PF based on the configured frame-level timing offset and symbol-level timing offset (which can be part of the PEI configuration), and determine the first PMO of the configured PEI-O from the reference PF. In such cases, the network can take measures to ensure that both the first PF and the first PMO are properly configured to satisfy the offset between the first PF and the first PMO. In some cases, this may mean taking measures to ensure that two independent configurations of the PEI PDCCH search space set and the paging frame for the UE are compatible.

[0067] As described with reference to Figure 6A and Figure 6B the UE may need to perform additional processing work to evaluate the candidate reference PF. For example, the UE can hypothetically derive the PEI-O position by assuming that its PF is the reference (first) PF associated with the PEI-O or the PF before its PF is the first PF associated with the PEI-O. As described above, the candidate PF that conforms (aligns) with the PEI PDCCH search space set configuration is used to determine the PEI-O position.

[0068] In some cases, the network may configure the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle. For example, this configuration may be conveyed via the system information block (SIB) of the serving cell. In such cases, the UE may use the frame-level timing offset of its own PF to determine the PEI-O position. In other words, the network can ensure that the separately configured frame-level timing offset results in alignment with the corresponding PEI-O position for a given UE.

[0069] Figure 7A An example timeline for determining the PEI occasion position based on separately configured frame-level timing offsets is depicted. As illustrated, if PF1 is the PF for the UE, it may apply the (first) frame-level timing offset configured for PF1 to determine the reference point. On the other hand, if PF2 is the PF for the UE, it may apply the (second) frame-level timing offset configured for PF2 to determine the reference point.

[0070] Once the reference point is determined by the frame-level timing offset from the start of the PF for the UE, the UE can use the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to locate the start of the first PDCCH MO of the PEI-O to identify the PEI-O position.

[0071] In some cases, if more than one PF is associated with the PEI-O, the network may configure (explicitly indicate) a start offset to determine the reference PF. This start offset can be indicated according to various options.

[0072] According to the first option, the start offset may be defined based on the radio frame number. For example, the reference PF can be determined as:

[0073] mod(radio frame number + start offset, I pf ) = 0,

[0074] where I pf is the time duration of adjacent PFs associated with the same PEI-O.

[0075] According to the first option, the start offset may be defined based on the index of the PF within the paging cycle. For example, the reference PF can be determined as:

[0076] mod(index of the PF within the paging cycle + start offset, N pf,PEI ) = 0;

[0077] where N pf,PEI is the number of PFs associated with the same PEI-O. As an example, if N pf,PEI= 2 and if the starting offset is 0, the reference PF in the PF associated with PEI-O is the PF with an even PF index. On the other hand, if the starting offset is 1, the first PF in the PF associated with PEI-O is the PF with an odd PF index. Figure 7B Illustrates the option with a starting offset of 0 when two PFs are associated with PEI-O.

[0078] In some cases, whether a PF has an odd or even index can determine whether the PF is a reference PF. For example, if two PFs are associated with the same PEI-O, only the even-numbered PFs (i.e., the PFs with even indices) in the paging cycle can be used as reference PFs. In this case, if the UE's PF has an odd index, the UE will use the PF before it as the reference PF. This simple method can provide flexibility for network configuration while resulting in relatively low UE processing effort.

[0079] Various other optimizations can help ensure relatively simple network configuration and UE implementation. For example, in some cases, if a PF is associated with a PEI, all POs within that PF can be mapped to that PEI (e.g., mapping partial POs of a PF to a PEI is not supported). As another example, in some cases, if more than one PF is associated with a PEI, all PFs associated with that PEI are within the same paging cycle (e.g., PFs mapped from different paging cycles to a PEI may not be supported).

[0080] The various examples above assume a PEI to which POs are mapped in two PFs (PF1 and PF2). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the PEI-O location determination techniques described herein can be extended to cases where a PEI is mapped to more than two PFs.

[0081] Example Method

[0082] Figure 8 Shows an example of a method 800 for wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some aspects, a user equipment (such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 UE 104) or Figure 10 the processing system 1005 of

[0083] Method 800 begins at step 805, receiving a configuration of a PEI from a network entity, the configuration of the PEI indicating whether to schedule a paging PDCCH among the multiple POs for multiple PFs. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the PEI configuration circuit as described in reference to Figure 10 or can be performed by the PEI configuration circuit.

[0084] Then, method 800 proceeds to step 810 to identify a reference PF from one of the plurality of PFs. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the reference PF circuit as described in the reference Figure 10 or can be performed by the reference PF circuit.

[0085] Then, method 800 proceeds to step 815 to monitor for PEI at a position of the PEI opportunity determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the PEI monitoring circuit as described in the reference Figure 10 or can be performed by the PEI monitoring circuit.

[0086] In some aspects, the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, the UE determines the position of the PEI opportunity by determining a reference point for the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI opportunity as the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying one of the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from the configured PMO of the PEI opportunity by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset.

[0087] In some aspects, identifying one of the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from the configured PMO of the PEI opportunity by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset includes using the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to evaluate candidate PEI opportunity positions derived for the plurality of PFs to identify the reference PF.

[0088] In some aspects, method 800 further includes: if the UE cannot identify a PF whose start is offset from the configured PMO of the PEI opportunity by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset, then perform at least one of the following: skip the PO in the paging cycle and do not process the paging PDCCH, or ignore the PEI in the paging cycle and process the paging PDCCH in the PO.

[0089] In some aspects, the network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI opportunity as part of the search space set configuration. In some aspects, the periodicity and offset provided by the network are for a first PMO of the PEI opportunity.

[0090] In some aspects, the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF for the PO of the UE as the reference PF. In some aspects, method 800 further includes using the frame-level timing offset configured for the PF of the PO of the UE to determine the position of the reference point. In some aspects, method 800 further includes using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI opportunity.

[0091] In some aspects, identifying a reference PF is based on a starting offset configured by a network entity. In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of multiple PFs. In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on the index of the PF within a paging cycle. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within a paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of multiple PFs.

[0092] In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying one PF with an odd index among multiple PFs as the reference PF, or identifying one PF with an even index among multiple PFs as the reference PF. In some aspects, all POs within multiple PFs are mapped to a PEI. In some aspects, the multiple PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0093] Figure 9 An example of a method 900 for wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some aspects, a base station (such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 BS102) or Figure 11 the processing system 1105 of

[0094] can execute method 900. Figure 11 Method 900 begins at step 905 of sending a configuration of a PEI to a UE, the configuration of the PEI indicating whether to schedule a paging PDCCH among multiple POs in the multiple PFs. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the PEI configuration circuit as described in reference to

[0095] or can be executed by the PEI configuration circuit. Figure 11 Then, method 900 proceeds to step 910 of identifying a reference PF from one of the multiple PFs. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the reference PF circuit as described in reference to

[0096] or can be executed by the reference PF circuit. Figure 11 Then, method 900 proceeds to step 915 of sending the PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to the PEI sending circuit as described in reference to

[0097] In some aspects, the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, the network entity determines the position of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion of the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

[0098] In some aspects, identifying a reference PF includes identifying a PF among a plurality of PFs whose starting PMO from the PEI occasion is configured with a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, a network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of the search space set configuration. In some aspects, the periodicity and offset provided by the network are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion.

[0099] In some aspects, the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle. In some aspects, identifying a reference PF includes identifying the PF for the PO of the UE as the reference PF. In some aspects, method 900 further includes using the frame-level timing offset configured for the PF for the PO of the UE to determine the location of the reference point. In some aspects, method 900 further includes using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI occasion.

[0100] In some aspects, identifying a reference PF is based on a starting offset configured by a network entity. In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of a plurality of PFs.

[0101] In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on the index of the PF within the paging cycle. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of a plurality of PFs.

[0102] In some aspects, identifying a reference PF includes identifying a PF with an odd index among a plurality of PFs, or identifying a PF with an even index among a plurality of PFs. In some aspects, all POs within a plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI. In some aspects, the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0103] Example Wireless Communication Device

[0104] Figure 10 Depicted is an example communication device 1000 including various components capable of operating to, configured to, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein (such as the operations Figure 8 depicted and described). In some examples, communication device 1000 can be, for example, the UE 104 Figure 1 and Figure 2 described.

[0105] The communication device 1000 includes a processing system 1005 coupled to a transceiver 1055 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1055 is configured to transmit (or convey) and receive signals for the communication device 1000 via an antenna 1060, such as the various signals described herein. The transceiver 1055 can communicate bidirectionally via the antenna 1060, a wired link, or a wireless link as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1055 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1055 can also include or be connected to a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets for transmission, and to demodulate the received packets. In some examples, the transceiver 1055 can be tuned to operate at a specified frequency. For example, the modem can configure the transceiver 1055 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the communication protocol used by the modem.

[0106] The processing system 1005 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1000, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1000. The processing system 1005 includes one or more processors 1010 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1030 via a bus 1050.

[0107] In some examples, the one or more processors 1010 can include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., general processing components, digital signal processors (DSPs), central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), microcontrollers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the one or more processors 1010 are configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller is integrated into the one or more processors 1010. In some cases, the one or more processors 1010 are configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory to perform various functions. In some aspects, the one or more processors 1010 include dedicated components for modem processing, baseband processing, digital signal processing, or transmit processing.

[0108] In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1010, cause the one or more processors 1010 to perform Figure 8 the illustrated operations or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

[0109] In one aspect, the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 includes PEI configuration code 1035, reference PF code 1040, and PEI monitoring code 1045.

[0110] Examples of the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), solid-state memory, hard disk drives, hard disk drives, etc. In some examples, the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 is used to store computer-readable, computer-executable software including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, among other things, the memory includes a basic input / output system (BIOS) that controls basic hardware or software operations, such as interactions with peripheral components or devices. In some cases, a memory controller operates the memory cells. For example, the memory controller may include a row decoder, a column decoder, or both. In some cases, the memory cells within the memory store information in the form of logical states.

[0111] The various components of the communication device 1000 may provide means for performing the methods described herein (including with respect to Figure 8 ).

[0112] In some examples, the means for transmitting or conveying (or the means for outputting for transmission) may include Figure 2 the transceiver 254 and / or the antenna 252 of the illustrated UE 104 and / or Figure 10 the transceiver 1055 and the antenna 1060 of the communication device in

[0113] In some examples, the means for receiving (or the means for obtaining) may include Figure 2 the transceiver 254 and / or the antenna 252 of the illustrated UE 104 and / or Figure 10 the transceiver 1055 and the antenna 1060 of the communication device in

[0114] In some examples, the means for performing the various operations described herein may include various components of the processing system 1005, such as: Figure 10 one or more processors 1010 in Figure 2 or aspects of the UE 104 depicted in

[0115] In one aspect, one or more processors 1010 include a PEI configuration circuit 1015, a reference PF circuit 1020, and a PEI monitoring circuit 1025.

[0116] According to some aspects, the PEI configuration circuit 1015 receives the configuration of the PEI from a network entity, and the configuration of the PEI indicates whether to schedule the paging PDCCH in multiple POs among multiple PFs. In some aspects, all POs within multiple PFs are mapped to the PEI. In some aspects, multiple PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0117] According to some aspects, the reference PF circuit 1020 identifies a reference PF from one of the multiple PFs.

[0118] According to some aspects, the PEI monitoring circuit 1025 monitors the PEI at the position of the PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset. In some aspects, the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, the UE determines the position of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point that is the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion that is the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

[0119] In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying one of the multiple PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from the PMO of the PEI occasion configuration. In some aspects, identifying one of the multiple PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from the PMO of the PEI occasion configuration includes using the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to evaluate the candidate PEI occasion positions derived for the multiple PFs to identify the reference PF. In some examples (e.g., if the UE cannot identify the PF whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from the PMO of the PEI occasion configuration), the PEI configuration circuit 1015 skips the PO in the paging cycle and does not process the paging PDCCH, ignores the PEI in the paging cycle and processes the paging PDCCH in the PO, or both.

[0120] In some aspects, the network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of the search space set configuration. In some aspects, the periodicity and offset provided by the network are for the first PMO of the PEI occasion. In some aspects, the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF. In some examples, the PEI configuration circuit 1015 uses the frame-level timing offset configured for the PF of the PO for the UE to determine the position of the reference point. In some examples, the PEI configuration circuit 1015 uses the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI occasion.

[0121] In some aspects, the reference PF circuit 1020 identifies the reference PF based on a starting offset configured by a network entity. In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of multiple PFs. In some aspects, the starting offset is defined based on the index of the PF within a paging cycle. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within a paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of multiple PFs. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying a PF with an odd index among multiple PFs as the reference PF, or identifying a PF with an even index among multiple PFs as the reference PF.

[0122] It is noted that Figure 10 is merely an example, and many other examples and configurations of communication devices are possible.

[0123] Figure 11 Depicted is an example communication device 1100 that includes various components capable of operating to, configured to, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations Figure 9 depicted and described. In some examples, the communication device can be, for example, the BS 102 as referenced Figure 1 and Figure 2 described.

[0124] The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1105 coupled to a transceiver 1155 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1155 is configured to transmit (or convey) and receive signals for the communication device 1100 via an antenna 1160, such as the various signals described herein. The transceiver 1155 can communicate bidirectionally via the antenna 1160, a wired link, or a wireless link as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1155 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1155 can also include or be connected to a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets for transmission, and demodulating the received packets. In some examples, the transceiver 1155 can be tuned to operate at a specified frequency. For example, the modem can configure the transceiver 1155 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the communication protocol used by the modem.

[0125] The processing system 1105 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1100, including processing signals received by and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1100. The processing system 1105 includes one or more processors 1110 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1130 via a bus 1150.

[0126] In some examples, one or more processors 1110 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., general-purpose processing components, DSPs, CPUs, GPUs, microcontrollers, ASICs, FPGAs, programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some cases, one or more processors 1110 are configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller is integrated into one or more processors 1110. In some cases, one or more processors 1110 are configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory to perform various functions. In some aspects, one or more processors 1110 include dedicated components for modem processing, baseband processing, digital signal processing, or transmit processing.

[0127] In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1110, cause one or more processors 1110 to perform Figure 9 the illustrated operations or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

[0128] In one aspect, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 includes PEI configuration code 1135, reference PF code 1140, and PEI transmit code 1145.

[0129] Examples of the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 include RAM, ROM, solid-state memory, hard disk drives, hard disk drives, etc. In some examples, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 is used to store computer-readable, computer-executable software that includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory contains a BIOS, etc., that controls basic hardware or software operations, such as interactions with peripheral components or devices. In some cases, a memory controller operates memory cells. For example, the memory controller may include a row decoder, a column decoder, or both. In some cases, the memory cells within the memory store information in the form of logical states.

[0130] The various components of the communication device 1100 may provide means for performing the methods described herein (including with respect to Figure 9 ).

[0131] In some examples, the means for transmitting or conveying (or the means for outputting for transmission) may include Figure 2 the transceiver 232 and / or the antenna 234 of the illustrated BS102 and / or Figure 11 the transceiver 1155 and the antenna 1160 of the communication device in

[0132] In some examples, the component for receiving (or the component for obtaining) may include Figure 2 the transceiver 232 and / or the antenna 234 of the illustrated BS102 and / or Figure 11 the transceiver 1155 and the antenna 1160 of the communication device in [[ ]].

[0133] In some examples, the components for performing the various operations described herein may include various components of the processing system 1105, such as: Figure 11 one or more processors 1110 in [[ ]], or Figure 2 aspects of the BS102 depicted in [[ ]], including the receiving processor 238, the transmitting processor 220, the TX MIMO processor 230, and / or the controller / processor 240 (including the PEI location determination component 241).

[0134] In one aspect, one or more processors 1110 include a PEI configuration circuit 1115, a reference PF circuit 1120, and a PEI transmission circuit 1125.

[0135] According to some aspects, the PEI configuration circuit 1115 sends a configuration of the PEI to the UE, and the configuration of the PEI indicates whether to schedule a paging PDCCH in the multiple POs among the multiple PFs. In some aspects, all POs within the multiple PFs are mapped to the PEI. In some aspects, the multiple PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0136] According to some aspects, the reference PF circuit 1120 identifies a reference PF from one PF among the multiple PFs.

[0137] According to some aspects, the PEI transmission circuit 1125 transmits a PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on a reference PF and at least one timing offset. In some aspects, the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, the network entity determines the position of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion of the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying a PF among a plurality of PFs whose start is offset from the configured PMO of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset. In some aspects, the network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of a search space set configuration. In some aspects, the periodicity and offset provided by the network are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion. In some aspects, the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset individually for each PF in the paging cycle. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF. In some examples, the PEI configuration circuit 1115 determines the position of the reference point using the frame-level timing offset of the PF configured for the PO for the UE. In some examples, the PEI configuration circuit 1115 determines the start of the PEI occasion using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point.

[0138] In some aspects, the reference PF circuit 1120 identifies the reference PF based on a start offset configured by the network entity. In some aspects, the start offset is defined based on a radio frame number. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the start offset, and the time duration of a plurality of PFs. In some aspects, the start offset is defined based on the index of the PF within a paging cycle. In some aspects, the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the start offset, and the number of a plurality of PFs. In some aspects, identifying the reference PF includes identifying a PF with an odd index among a plurality of PFs as the reference PF, or identifying a PF with an even index among a plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

[0139] It is noted that Figure 11 is merely an example, and many other examples and configurations of communication devices are possible.

[0140] Example Clauses

[0141] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0142] Clause 1: A method for wireless communication by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a configuration of a PEI from a network entity, the configuration of the PEI indicating, for a plurality of POs in a plurality of PFs, whether to schedule a paging PDCCH among the plurality of POs; identifying a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; and monitoring the PEI at a location of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset.

[0143] Clause 2: The method according to Clause 1, wherein the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and the UE determines the location of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion as the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

[0144] Clause 3: The method according to Clause 2, wherein identifying the reference PF includes identifying one PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from a PMO of the configuration of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset.

[0145] Clause 4: The method according to Clause 3, wherein identifying one PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from a PMO of the configuration of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset includes: using the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to evaluate candidate PEI occasion locations derived for the plurality of PFs to identify the reference PF.

[0146] Clause 5: The method according to Clause 4, further comprising: if the UE cannot identify a PF whose start is offset from a PMO of the configuration of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset, performing at least one of the following: skipping a PO in a paging cycle and not processing a paging PDCCH; or ignoring the PEI in the paging cycle and processing a paging PDCCH in the PO.

[0147] Clause 6: The method according to Clause 3, wherein the network entity provides a periodicity and an offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of a search space set configuration.

[0148] Clause 7: The method according to Clause 6, wherein the periodicity and the offset provided by the network are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion.

[0149] Clause 8: The method according to Clause 2, wherein the configuration configures a frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in a paging cycle; and identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF.

[0150] Clause 9: The method according to Clause 8, further comprising: using the frame-level timing offset of the PF configured for the PO for the UE to determine the position of the reference point; and using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI occasion.

[0151] Clause 10: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein identifying the reference PF is based on a starting offset configured by the network entity.

[0152] Clause 11: The method according to Clause 10, wherein the starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

[0153] Clause 12: The method according to Clause 10, wherein the starting offset is defined based on an index of a PF within a paging cycle; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

[0154] Clause 13: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein identifying the reference PF includes: identifying a PF with an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; or identifying a PF with an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

[0155] Clause 14: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein all POs within the plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI.

[0156] Clause 15: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 14, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0157] Clause 16: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method comprising: sending a configuration of a PEI to a UE, the configuration of the PEI indicating whether to schedule a paging PDCCH among a plurality of POs in a plurality of PFs; identifying a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; and sending the PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset.

[0158] Clause 17: The method according to clause 16, wherein the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and the network entity determines the position of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion of the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

[0159] Clause 18: The method according to clause 17, wherein identifying the reference PF includes identifying one PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from the configured PMO of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset.

[0160] Clause 19: The method according to clause 18, wherein the network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of the search space set configuration.

[0161] Clause 20: The method according to clause 19, wherein the periodicity and the offset provided by the network are for the first PMO of the PEI occasion.

[0162] Clause 21: The method according to clause 17, wherein the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle; and identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF.

[0163] Clause 22: The method according to clause 21, further comprising: using the frame-level timing offset of the PF configured for the PO for the UE to determine the position of the reference point; and using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI occasion.

[0164] Clause 23: The method according to any one of clauses 16 to 22, wherein identifying the reference PF is based on a start offset configured by the network entity.

[0165] Clause 24: The method according to clause 23, wherein the start offset is defined based on a radio frame number; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the start offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

[0166] Clause 25: The method according to clause 24, wherein the start offset is defined based on the index of the PF within the paging cycle; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the start offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

[0167] Clause 26: The method according to any one of Clauses 16 to 25, wherein identifying the reference PF includes: identifying a PF with an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; or identifying a PF with an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

[0168] Clause 27: The method according to any one of Clauses 16 to 26, wherein all POs within the plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI.

[0169] Clause 28: The method according to any one of Clauses 16 to 27, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

[0170] Clause 29: A processing system, comprising: a memory including computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the processing system to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0171] Clause 30: A processing system, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0172] Clause 31: A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0173] Clause 32: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, including code for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0174] Additional Considerations for Wireless Communication Networks

[0175] The techniques and methods described herein can be used in various wireless communication networks (or wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) and radio access technologies (RATs). Although aspects may be described herein using terms typically associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0176] 5G wireless communication networks can support various advanced wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), millimeter wave (mmWave), machine type communication (MTC), and / or ultra-reliable, low-latency communication (URLLC) for mission-critical applications. These services and other services may include latency and reliability requirements.

[0177] Return Figure 1, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented within the exemplary wireless communication network 100.

[0178] In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the coverage area of a NodeB and / or the narrowband subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In an NR system, the terms "cell" and BS, next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit-receive point may be used interchangeably. A BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, and / or other types of cells.

[0179] A macro cell typically may cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., with a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs having a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a stadium) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs having a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs associated with that femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) and UEs of users in the home). The BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. The BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. The BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS, home BS, or home NodeB.

[0180] The BS 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., the S1 interface). The BS 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or next-generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. The BSs 102 may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via the EPC 160 or the 5GC 190) on a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., the X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may generally be wired or wireless.

[0181] The small cell 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may adopt NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' adopting NR in unlicensed spectrum may improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0182] Some base stations, such as BS180 (e.g., gNB), may operate in traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, and / or near mmWave frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When BS180 operates in mmWave or near mmWave frequencies, BS180 may be referred to as a mmWave base station.

[0183] The communication link 120 between BS102 and, for example, UE 104 may be through one or more carriers. For example, for each carrier allocated in carrier aggregation with a total of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, BS102 and UE 104 may use a spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, and other MHz). The carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL compared to UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as the primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carriers may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells).

[0184] The wireless communication network 100 further includes a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0185] Certain UEs 104 may use device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158 to communicate with each other. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as the physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), the physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), PSSCH, and the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), which are just a few options.

[0186] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management.

[0187] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides IP address allocation for the UE and other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to an IP service 176, which may include, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and / or other IP services.

[0188] The BM-SC 170 may provide functions for MBMS user service configuration and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS services to the BSs 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area for a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting charging information related to eMBMS.

[0189] The 5GC 190 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

[0190] The AMF 192 is generally a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the 5GC 190. Generally, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management.

[0191] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the UPF 195, which is connected to an IP service 197 and provides IP address allocation for the UE and other functions for the 5GC 190. The IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and / or other IP services.

[0192] Return Figure 2, depicts various example components of a BS 102 and a UE 104 (e.g., Figure 1 of the wireless communication network 100) that can be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure.

[0193] At the BS 102, a transmit processor 220 can receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller / processor 240. The control information can be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and others. In some examples, the data can be for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0194] A media access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that can be used for the exchange of control commands between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE can be carried in a shared channel (such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a PSSCH).

[0195] The transmit processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and the control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols (such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH DMRS, and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)).

[0196] A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and can provide the output symbol streams to a modulator (MOD) in a transceiver 232a - 232t. Each modulator in the transceiver 232a - 232t can process the corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from the modulators in the transceiver 232a - 232t can be transmitted via antennas 234a - 234t, respectively.

[0197] At the UE 104, antennas 252a - 252r may receive downlink signals from the BS 102 and may provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) in transceivers 254a - 254r, respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 254a - 254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain the received symbols.

[0198] The MIMO detector 256 may obtain the received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a - 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols when applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) these detected symbols, provide the decoded data for the UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0199] On the uplink, at the UE 104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from the data source 262 (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from the controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266 when applicable, further processed by modulators in transceivers 254a - 254r (e.g., for SC - FDM), and transmitted to the BS 102.

[0200] At the BS 102, the uplink signals from the UE 104 may be received by antennas 234a - 234t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a - 232t, detected by the MIMO detector 236 when applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain the decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0201] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the BS 102 and the UE 104, respectively.

[0202] The scheduler 244 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0203] 5G can utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a Cyclic Prefix (CP) on both the uplink and downlink. 5G can also support half-duplex operation using Time Division Duplexing (TDD). OFDM and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often referred to as tones and bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulated symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. In some examples, the minimum resource allocation (referred to as an RB) can be 12 consecutive subcarriers. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover multiple RBs. NR can support a base Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) of 15KHz, and other SCSs (e.g., 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz, etc.) can be defined relative to the base SCS.

[0204] As described above, Figure 3A , Figure 3B , Figure 3C and Figure 3D depict various example aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network (such as Figure 1 wireless communication network 100).

[0205] In aspects, the 5G frame structure can be Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL. The 5G frame structure can also be Time Division Duplexing (TDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In the example provided by Figure 3A and Figure 3C , the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL) and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (mostly UL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is for flexible use between DL / UL. Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown with slot formats 34 and 28 respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any one of the various available slot formats 0 - 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are DL and UL respectively. The other slot formats 2 - 61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically configured via Downlink Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured via RRC signaling) through the received Slot Format Indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G frame structure that is TDD.

[0206] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. One frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include mini-slots, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot configuration.

[0207] For example, for time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, while for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. Symbols on the DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-constrained scenarios; limited to single stream transmission).

[0208] The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and numerology. For time slot configuration 0, different numerologies (μ) 0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 time slots per subframe, respectively. For time slot configuration 1, different numerologies 0 to 2 allow 2, 4, and 8 time slots per subframe, respectively. Thus, for time slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2μ time slots / subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the numerology. The subcarrier spacing may be equal to 2 μ × 15 kHz, where μ is numerology 0 to 5. Thus, numerology μ = 0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, while numerology μ = 5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B 、 Figure 3C and Figure 3D An example is provided with time slot configuration 0 having 14 symbols per time slot and numerology μ = 2 having 4 time slots per subframe. The time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0209] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes an RB (also known as a physical RB (PRB)) that extends over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0210] As Figure 3A illustrated, some REs carry information for the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2Reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE 104). The RS may include demodulation RS (DM-RS) (denoted as Rx for a particular configuration, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are also possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam refinement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0211] Figure 3B Illustrates examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCE), each CCE including nine resource element groups (REG), each REG including four consecutive resource elements (RE) in an OFDM symbol.

[0212] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be in symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 the UE 104) to determine subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity.

[0213] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be in symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing.

[0214] Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the aforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of resource blocks (RB) in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent via the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0215] As Figure 3CAs illustrated, some REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (designated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the previous one or two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and according to the particular PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted with different configurations. The UE may transmit sounding reference signals (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs in the comb. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0216] Figure 3D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0217] Additional Notes

[0218] The foregoing description provides examples of PEI location determination in a communication system. The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Each example may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, the features described for some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of the aspects set forth herein may be used to implement a device or practice a method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods practiced using other structures, functionality, or a combination of structures and functionality in addition to or different from the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[0219] The techniques described herein can be used in various wireless communication technologies, such as 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and others. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, and others. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are UMTS versions that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0220] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, a system-on-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0221] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. Depending on the particular application and overall design constraints of the processing system, the bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges. The bus may link together various circuits, including a processor, machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, etc., to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement signal processing functions of the physical (PHY) layer. In the case of a user equipment (such as in the Figure 1 example UE 104), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, touch screen, biometric sensor, proximity sensor, light emitting element, and others) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as a timing source, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and similar circuits, which are well known in the art and will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or dedicated processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality of the processing system depending on the specific application and overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0222] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier modulated with data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon that is separate from a wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor via a bus interface. Alternatively or in addition, the machine-readable medium or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, such as in the case of having a cache and / or a general register file. By way of example, examples of the machine-readable medium may include RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disk drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied by a computer program product.

[0223] Software modules may include a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer-readable medium may include multiple software modules. A software module includes instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. Software modules may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, when a trigger event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard disk drive into RAM. During the execution of a software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to improve access speed. Then one or more cache lines may be loaded into the general register file for the processor to execute. When the functionality of a software module is mentioned hereinafter, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from the software module.

[0224] As used herein, the phrase referring to "at least one" of a list of items refers to any combination of those items (which includes a single member). By way of example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, and a - b - c, as well as any combination having multiple identical elements (e.g., a - a, a - a - a, a - a - b, a - a - c, a - b - b, a - c - c, b - b, b - b - b, b - b - c, c - c, and c - c - c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0225] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Additionally, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Further, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, picking, establishing, and the like.

[0226] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. The steps and / or actions of the method can be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. That is, unless a specific order of the steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of the specific steps and / or actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Additionally, the various operations of the methods described above can be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding functions. The component can include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in the figures, those operations can have corresponding components plus functional components with similar numbers.

[0227] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but should be accorded the full scope consistent with the claim language. In the claims, unless otherwise specified, the recitation of an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" but "one or more." Unless otherwise specified, the term "some" means one or more. No claim element shall be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the phrase "step for." All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later will be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Additionally, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, whether or not such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment UE, comprising: Receiving, from a network entity, a configuration of a paging early indication PEI indicating whether a paging physical downlink control channel PDCCH is scheduled in a plurality of paging opportunities PO in a plurality of paging frames PF; Identifying a reference PF from one of the plurality of PFs; And Monitoring the PEI at a position of a PEI opportunity determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset relative to the start of the reference PF.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and The UE determines the position of the PEI opportunity by determining a reference point that is the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI opportunity that is the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein identifying the reference PF includes identifying a PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from a PDCCH monitoring opportunity PMO of the configuration of the PEI opportunity.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein identifying a PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from a PDCCH monitoring opportunity PMO of the configuration of the PEI opportunity includes: Using the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to evaluate candidate PEI opportunity positions derived for the plurality of PFs to identify the reference PF.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: If the UE cannot identify a PF whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from the PMO of the configuration of the PEI opportunity, then at least one of the following is performed: Skipping a PO in a paging cycle and not processing a paging PDCCH; or Ignoring the PEI in the paging cycle and processing the paging PDCCH in the PO.

6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising receiving, from the network entity, a periodicity and an offset of the PMO for the PEI opportunity as part of a search space set configuration.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the periodicity and the offset are for a first PMO of the PEI opportunity.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The configuration configures a frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in a paging cycle; and Identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: Using the frame-level timing offset configured for the PF of the PO for the UE to determine the position of the reference point; And Using the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI opportunity.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the reference PF is based on a start offset configured by the network entity.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the starting offset is defined based on the radio frame number; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function related to the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the starting offset is defined based on the index of the PF within the paging cycle; and the reference PF is identified based on a modulo function related to the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the reference PF includes: identifying one PF with an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; or identifying one PF with an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein all POs within the plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

16. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: sending, to a user equipment UE, a configuration of a paging early indication PEI indicating whether a paging physical downlink control channel PDCCH is scheduled among a plurality of paging opportunities POs in a plurality of paging frames PF; identifying a reference PF from one PF among the plurality of PFs; and sending the PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset relative to the start of the reference PF.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and the network entity determines the position of the PEI occasion by determining a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF and determining the start of the PEI occasion as the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein identifying the reference PF includes identifying one PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from a PDCCH monitoring occasion PMO configured for the PEI occasion.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the network entity provides the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of a search space set configuration.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the periodicity and the offset provided by the network entity are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein: the configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle; and identifying the reference PF includes identifying the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Determine the position of the reference point using the frame-level timing offset of the PF configured for the PO of the UE; And Determine the start of the PEI occasion using the symbol-level timing offset of the reference point.

23. The method according to claim 16, wherein identifying the reference PF is based on a starting offset configured by the network entity.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number; and The reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The starting offset is defined based on the index of the PF within a paging cycle; and The reference PF is identified based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

26. The method according to claim 16, wherein identifying the reference PF includes: Identifying a PF with an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; Or Identifying a PF with an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

27. The method according to claim 16, wherein all POs within the plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI.

28. The method according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

29. A user equipment UE configured for wireless communication, comprising: One or more memories including executable instructions; And One or more processors configured to be capable of executing the instructions and cause the UE to: Receive, from a network entity, a configuration of a paging early indication PEI indicating whether a paging physical downlink control channel PDCCH is scheduled among a plurality of paging occasions POs in a plurality of paging frames PF; Identify a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; And Monitor the PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset relative to the start of the reference PF.

30. The UE according to claim 29, wherein: The at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to determine a reference point of the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF, and determine the start of the PEI occasion of the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

31. The UE according to claim 30, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to identify a PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset from a PDCCH monitoring occasion PMO configured for the PEI occasion.

32. The UE according to claim 31, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to evaluate candidate PEI occasion positions derived for the plurality of PFs using the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset to identify the reference PF.

33. The UE according to claim 32, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to perform at least one of the following: Skip the PO in the paging cycle and not process the paging PDCCH; or Ignore the PEI in the paging cycle and process the paging PDCCH in the PO.

34. The UE according to claim 31, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to receive, from the network entity, the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of a search space set configuration.

35. The UE according to claim 34, wherein the periodicity and the offset are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion.

36. The UE according to claim 30, wherein: The configuration configures the frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in the paging cycle; and The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to identify the PF of the PO for the UE as the reference PF.

37. The UE according to claim 36, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to: Use the frame-level timing offset configured for the PF of the PO for the UE to determine the position of the reference point; and Use the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine the start of the PEI occasion.

38. The UE according to claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to identify the reference PF based on a start offset configured by the network entity.

39. The UE according to claim 38, wherein: The start offset is defined based on the radio frame number; And The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to identify the reference PF based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the start offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

40. The UE according to claim 38, wherein: The start offset is defined based on the index of the PF within the paging cycle; And The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to identify the reference PF based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the start offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

41. The UE according to claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the UE to: Identify one PF having an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; or Identify one PF having an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

42. The UE according to claim 29, wherein all the Paging Opportunities (POs) within the plurality of Paging Frames (PFs) are mapped to the Paging Early Indicator (PEI).

43. The UE according to claim 29, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

44. A network entity configured for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories including executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to: send to a User Equipment (UE) a configuration of a Paging Early Indicator (PEI) indicating whether a Paging Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is scheduled among a plurality of Paging Opportunities (POs) within a plurality of Paging Frames (PFs); identify a reference PF from among the plurality of PFs; and send the PEI at a position of a PEI occasion determined based on the reference PF and at least one timing offset relative to a start of the reference PF.

45. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein: the at least one timing offset includes a frame-level timing offset and a symbol-level timing offset; and the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to determine a reference point that is the frame-level timing offset before the start of the reference PF, and determine a start of the PEI occasion that is the symbol-level timing offset before the reference point.

46. The network entity according to claim 45, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to identify a PF among the plurality of PFs whose start is offset from a PDCCH Monitoring Occasion (PMO) of the configuration of the PEI occasion by the frame-level timing offset and the symbol-level timing offset.

47. The network entity according to claim 46, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to send to the UE the periodicity and offset of the PMO for the PEI occasion as part of a search space set configuration.

48. The network entity according to claim 47, wherein the periodicity and the offset are for a first PMO of the PEI occasion.

49. The network entity according to claim 45, wherein: the configuration configures a frame-level timing offset separately for each PF in a paging cycle; and the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to identify a PF of a PO for the UE as the reference PF.

50. The network entity according to claim 49, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to: use the frame-level timing offset for the PF of the PO for the UE to determine a position of the reference point; and use the symbol-level timing offset from the reference point to determine a start of the PEI occasion.

51. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to identify the reference PF based on a starting offset configured by the network entity.

52. The network entity according to claim 51, wherein: The starting offset is defined based on a radio frame number; and The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to identify the reference PF based on a modulo function involving the radio frame number, the starting offset, and the time duration of the plurality of PFs.

53. The network entity according to claim 52, wherein: The starting offset is defined based on an index of a PF within a paging cycle; and The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to identify the reference PF based on a modulo function involving the index of the PF within the paging cycle, the starting offset, and the number of the plurality of PFs.

54. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions and cause the network entity to: Identify a PF having an odd index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF; or Identify a PF having an even index among the plurality of PFs as the reference PF.

55. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein all POs within the plurality of PFs are mapped to the PEI.

56. The network entity according to claim 44, wherein the plurality of PFs are within the same paging cycle.

57. A user equipment UE configured for wireless communication, comprising: Means for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 - 15.

58. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment UE, cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 - 15.

59. A network entity configured for wireless communication, comprising: Means for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 16 - 28.

60. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network entity, cause the network entity to perform the method according to any one of claims 16 - 28.

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