Method for transmitting and receiving uplink channel and downlink channel, and apparatus therefor

Abstract

Disclosed is a method by which a terminal transmits an uplink (UL) signal or receives a downlink (DL) signal in a wireless communication system. In particular, the method may include: receiving information related to at least one first time interval that is not available for transmission or reception; and transmitting the UL signal or receiving the DL signal through at least one second time interval other than at least one first time interval in which transmission of the UL signal and reception of the DL signal are not performed, and receiving information related to the at least one first time interval through downlink control information (DCI) or a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for transmitting and receiving uplink (UL) channels and downlink (DL) channels, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for notifying a user equipment (UE) whether each of one or more durations is turned on / off and transmitting and receiving DL / UL channels for network energy saving (NES) based on whether each of the one or more durations is turned on / off. Background Art

[0002] As more and more communication devices require greater communication traffic in line with the current trend, the next generation, the 5th generation (5G) system is needed to provide enhanced wireless broadband communication compared to the traditional LTE system. In the next generation 5G system, communication scenarios are divided into enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), massive machine type communication (mMTC), etc.

[0003] In this article, eMBB is a next-generation mobile communication scenario characterized by high spectral efficiency, high user experience data rate and high peak data rate, URLLC is a next-generation mobile communication scenario characterized by ultra-high reliability, ultra-low latency and ultra-high availability (for example, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), emergency services and remote control), and mMTC is a next-generation mobile communication scenario characterized by low cost, low energy, short packets and large-scale connections (for example, the Internet of Things (IoT)). Summary of the invention

[0004] Technical issues

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of transmitting and receiving uplink and downlink channels and an apparatus thereof.

[0006] Those skilled in the art will understand that the objects that can be achieved by the present disclosure are not limited to those specifically described above, and the above and other objects that can be achieved by the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

[0007] Technical Solution

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for transmitting an uplink (UL) signal or receiving a downlink (DL) signal by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system may include the following steps: receiving information related to at least one first duration that is unavailable; and transmitting a UL signal or receiving a DL signal during at least one second duration other than the at least one first duration. The transmission of the UL signal and the reception of the DL signal may not be performed during the at least one first duration, and the information related to the at least one first duration may be received through downlink control information (DCI) or a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

[0009] The at least one first duration may be one of a plurality of unavailable first durations indicated by the information.

[0010] Furthermore, the at least one first time duration may be at least one symbol indicated as unavailable by a slot format indicator SFI.

[0011] Furthermore, the at least one second duration may be at least one symbol after expiration of a timer corresponding to the at least one first duration.

[0012] In addition, based on whether the DL signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) or the UL signal is a physical random access channel (PRACH), reception of the DL signal and transmission of the UL signal may be performed during the at least one first duration.

[0013] Furthermore, based on monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) during the at least one first duration, a period of a search space (SS) set for the at least one first duration may be greater than a period of a SS set for the at least one second duration.

[0014] In addition, the information related to the at least one first duration can be used to indicate a pattern including the at least one first duration and the at least one second duration, and information about the duration for which the pattern is applied can also be received through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0015] Furthermore, UL transmission or DL ​​reception may be performed in a time resource after the end time of the duration.

[0016] In addition, after the end time of the duration, UL transmission or DL ​​reception may be performed based on a mode different from the mode and a duration corresponding to the different mode. A UE that transmits a UL signal or receives a DL signal in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure may include: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one memory, at least one memory operably connected to at least one processor and storing instructions, which, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations. The operations may include: receiving information related to at least one first duration that is unavailable through the at least one transceiver; and sending a UL signal or receiving a DL signal through the at least one transceiver during at least one second duration other than the at least one first duration. During the at least one first duration, transmission of UL signals and reception of DL signals may not be performed, and information related to the at least one first duration is received through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0017] The at least one first duration may be one of a plurality of unavailable first durations indicated by the information.

[0018] Furthermore, the at least one first duration may be at least one symbol indicated by the SFI as being unavailable.

[0019] Furthermore, the at least one second duration may be at least one symbol after expiration of a timer corresponding to the at least one first duration.

[0020] In addition, based on whether the DL signal is an SSB or a CSI-RS or the UL signal is a PRACH, reception of the DL signal and transmission of the UL signal may be performed during the at least one first duration.

[0021] Furthermore, based on monitoring the PDCCH during the at least one first duration, a period of the SS set for the at least one first duration is greater than a period of the SS set for the at least one second duration.

[0022] In addition, the information related to the at least one first duration is used to indicate a pattern that may include the at least one first duration and the at least one second duration, and information about the duration for which the pattern is applied may also be received through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0023] Furthermore, UL transmission or DL ​​reception may be performed in a time resource after the end time of the duration.

[0024] Furthermore, after the end time of the duration, UL transmission or DL ​​reception may be performed based on a mode different from the mode and a duration corresponding to the different mode.

[0025] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for receiving a UL signal or transmitting a DL signal by a BS in a wireless communication system may include the following steps: transmitting information related to at least one unavailable duration; and receiving a UL signal or transmitting a DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration. The reception of the UL signal and the transmission of the DL signal may not be performed during the at least one duration, and the information related to the at least one duration may be transmitted through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0026] A BS that receives a UL signal or sends a DL signal in a wireless communication system according to the present disclosure may include: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory being operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions, which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations may include: sending information related to at least one duration of unavailability through the at least one transceiver; and receiving a UL signal or sending a DL signal through the at least one transceiver during a duration other than the at least one duration. Reception of the UL signal and transmission of the DL signal may not be performed during the at least one duration, and information related to the at least one duration may be sent through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0027] A computer-readable storage medium according to the present disclosure may include at least one computer program that causes at least one processor to perform operations. The operations may include: receiving information related to at least one unavailable duration; and sending a UL signal or receiving a DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration. The transmission of the UL signal and the reception of the DL signal may not be performed during the at least one duration, and the information related to the at least one duration may be received through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0028] According to the present disclosure, a device for transmitting a UL signal or receiving a DL signal in a wireless communication system may include: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory being operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions, which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations may include: receiving information related to at least one unavailable duration; and transmitting a UL signal or receiving a DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration. The transmission of the UL signal and the reception of the DL signal may not be performed during the at least one duration, and the information related to the at least one duration may be received through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0029] Beneficial Effects

[0030] According to the present disclosure, a method of transmitting and receiving DL / UL channels based on not semi-static but dynamic on / off for each of one or more durations for NES operation of a BS is proposed to reduce power consumption of the BS and UE.

[0031] Furthermore, transmission and reception optimized for the NES mode may be performed by defining a penalty different from a conventional penalty for a UE that fails to receive a response to a physical random access channel (PRACH) / scheduling request (SR) due to an OFF duration.

[0032] In addition, a method for enabling a UE that does not support NES operation to access a NES mode BS is provided, so that legacy UEs can also operate in the NES mode efficiently.

[0033] Those skilled in the art will understand that the effects that can be achieved through the present disclosure are not limited to the effects that have been specifically described above, and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 Physical channels in a 3GPP system as an example of a wireless communication system and a general signal transmission method using the physical channels are illustrated.

[0035] Figure 2 A radio frame structure is illustrated.

[0036] Figure 3 A resource grid during the duration of a time slot is illustrated.

[0037] Figure 4 DCI format 2_0 is illustrated.

[0038] Figure 5 Network energy saving is illustrated.

[0039] Figures 6 to 8 The overall operation process of a user equipment (UE) and a base station (BS) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0040] Fig. 9 An exemplary ON / OFF mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0041] Fig.10 An exemplary communication system applied to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0042] Fig.11 An exemplary wireless device suitable for use with the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0043] Fig.12 An exemplary vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle suitable for use with the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The following technologies may be used in various wireless access systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), etc. CDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) / Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE802.16 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), IEEE 802.20, Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), etc. UTRA is part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a part of Evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using E-UTRA, and LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolution of 3GPP LTE. 3GPP New Radio or New Radio Access Technology (NR) is an evolved version of 3GPP LTE / LTE-A.

[0045] Although the following description is given in the context of a 3GPP communication system (e.g., NR) for the sake of clarity, the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not limited to the 3GPP communication system. For the background technology, terms and abbreviations used in the present disclosure, reference is made to the technical specifications (e.g., 38.211, 38.212, 38.213, 38.214, 38.300, 38.331, etc.) published before the present disclosure.

[0046] Hereinafter, 5G communication involving a new radio access technology (NR) system will be described.

[0047] The three key demand areas for 5G are (1) enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), (2) massive machine type communications (mMTC), and (3) ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).

[0048] Some use cases may require multiple dimensions for optimization, while others may focus on just one key performance indicator (KPI). 5G supports these various use cases in a flexible and reliable manner.

[0049] eMBB goes far beyond basic mobile Internet access and covers rich interactive work, media and entertainment applications in the cloud or augmented reality (AR). Data is one of the key drivers of 5G, and in the 5G era, we may not see dedicated voice services for the first time. In 5G, it is expected that voice will be processed as an application using only the data connectivity provided by the communication system. The main driving force for the increase in traffic is the increase in the size of content and the number of applications that require high data rates. As more and more devices are connected to the Internet, streaming services (audio and video), interactive video, and mobile Internet connections will continue to be more widely used. Many of these applications require always-on connectivity to push real-time information and notifications to users. Cloud storage and applications for mobile communication platforms are increasing rapidly. This applies to both work and entertainment. Cloud storage is a specific use case that drives the growth of uplink data rates. 5G will also be used for remote work in the cloud, and when this remote work is done with a tactile interface, much lower end-to-end latency is required to maintain a good user experience. Entertainment (e.g., cloud gaming and video streaming) is another key driver for increasing demand for mobile broadband capabilities. Entertainment will be essential on smartphones and tablets anywhere, including high mobility environments such as trains, cars and airplanes. Another use case is AR for entertainment and information search, which requires very little latency and a large amount of real-time data.

[0050] One of the most anticipated 5G use cases is the ability to actively connect embedded sensors in every field (i.e., mMTC). It is expected that there will be 20.4 billion potential Internet of Things (IoT) devices by 2020. In industrial IoT, 5G is one of the areas that will play a key role in enabling smart cities, asset tracking, smart utilities, agriculture, and secure infrastructure.

[0051] URLLC includes services that will revolutionize industries using ultra-reliable / available low-latency links such as remote control of critical infrastructure and autonomous vehicles. The levels of reliability and latency are critical for smart grid control, industrial automation, robotics, drone control and tuning, etc.

[0052] Now, multiple use cases in a 5G communication system including an NR system will be described in detail.

[0053] 5G can complement fiber to the home (FTTH) and cable-based broadband (or cable data service interface specification (DOCSIS)) as a means of delivering streaming data rates of hundreds of megabits per second to gigabits per second. Such high speeds are also needed for TV broadcasts with a resolution of 4K or higher (6K, 8K or higher) as well as virtual reality (VR) and AR. VR and AR applications mainly include immersive sports events. Specific applications may require special network configurations. For example, for VR games, gaming companies may have to integrate the network operator's core servers with edge network servers in order to minimize latency.

[0054] The automotive industry is expected to become a very important new driver of 5G in the case of many use cases for mobile communications for vehicles. For example, entertainment for passengers requires mobile broadband with both high capacity and high mobility, as future users will expect to continue their high-quality connection regardless of their location and speed. Other use cases in the automotive industry are AR dashboards. These dashboards will overlay information on what the driver is seeing through the front window, identify objects in the dark, and inform the driver of the distance and movement of objects. In the future, wireless modules will enable communication between the vehicles themselves, information exchange between the vehicle and the supporting infrastructure, and information exchange between the vehicle and other connected devices (e.g., devices carried by pedestrians). Safety systems can guide drivers to take alternative courses of action to enable them to drive more safely and reduce the risk of accidents. The next stage will be remotely controlled or autonomous vehicles. This requires very reliable and very fast communication between different autonomous vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructure. In the future, driverless vehicles will perform all driving activities, while the driver will focus on traffic anomalies that are difficult for the vehicle itself to detect. The technical requirements for autonomous vehicles require ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability, thereby increasing traffic safety to a level that cannot be achieved by humans.

[0055] Smart cities and smart homes, often referred to as smart societies, will be embedded with dense wireless sensor networks. Distributed networks of smart sensors will identify cost and energy efficiency maintenance conditions for cities or homes. A similar setup can be made for each household, where temperature sensors, window and heating controls, burglar alarms, and home appliances are all connected wirelessly. Many of these sensors are typically characterized by low data rates, low power, and low cost, but real-time high-definition (HD) video may be required in certain types of devices for surveillance, for example.

[0056] The consumption and distribution of energy, including heat or gas, is becoming highly decentralized, giving rise to the need for automatic control of very distributed sensor networks. Smart grids interconnect these sensors using digital information and communication technologies to collect and act on information. This information can include information about the behavior of suppliers and consumers, enabling smart grids to improve the efficiency, reliability, economic viability, and sustainability of the production and distribution of fuels such as electricity in an automated manner. Smart grids can be viewed as another sensor network with less latency.

[0057] The health sector has many applications that can benefit from mobile communications. Communication systems enable telemedicine, which provides clinical care at a distance. It helps to eliminate distance barriers and improve access to medical services, which are often not permanently available in remote rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations. Wireless sensor networks based on mobile communications can provide remote monitoring and sensors for parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure.

[0058] Wireless and mobile communications are becoming increasingly important for industrial applications. Wires are expensive to install and maintain, and the possibility of replacing cables with reconfigurable wireless links is an attractive opportunity for many industries. However, to achieve this, wireless connections need to operate with latency, reliability, and capacity similar to cables, and to simplify their management. Low latency and very low error probability are new requirements that 5G needs to address.

[0059] Finally, logistics and freight tracking are important use cases for mobile communications, i.e. enabling tracking of inventory and packages wherever they are located by using location-based information systems. Logistics and freight tracking use cases typically require lower data speeds, but require wider coverage and reliable location information.

[0060] Figure 1 Physical channels in a 3GPP system and a general signal transmission method using the physical channels are illustrated.

[0061] When the UE is powered on or enters a new cell, the UE performs an initial cell search (S11). The initial cell search involves the acquisition of synchronization with the BS. To this end, the UE receives a synchronization signal block (SSB) from the BS. The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The UE synchronizes its timing to the BS and obtains information such as a cell identifier (ID) based on the PSS / SSS. In addition, the UE can obtain information broadcast in the cell by receiving the PBCH from the BS. During the initial cell search, the UE can also monitor the DL channel status by receiving a downlink reference signal (DL RS).

[0062] After the initial cell search, the UE may acquire more detailed system information by receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH (S12).

[0063] Subsequently, in order to complete the connection with the BS, the UE may perform a random access procedure with the BS (S13 to S16). Specifically, the UE may send a preamble on a physical random access channel (PRACH) (S13), and may receive a PDCCH and a random access response (RAR) to the preamble on a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH (S14). The UE may then send a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by using the scheduling information in the RAR (S15), and perform a contention resolution procedure including receiving a PDCCH and a PDSCH signal corresponding to the PDCCH (S16).

[0064] When the random access procedure is performed in two steps, steps S13 and S15 may be performed as one step (wherein message A is transmitted by the UE), and steps S14 and S16 may be performed as one step (wherein message B is transmitted by the BS).

[0065] After the above process, in the general UL / DL signal transmission process, the UE can receive PDCCH and / or PDSCH from the BS (S17), and send a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and / or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to the BS (S18). The control information sent by the UE to the BS is generally referred to as uplink control information (UCI). UCI includes hybrid automatic repeat and request acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK / NACK), scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI), etc. CSI includes channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix index (PMI), rank indication (RI), etc. In general, UCI is transmitted on PUCCH. However, if control information and data should be sent simultaneously, the control information and data can be sent on PUSCH. In addition, when a request / command is received from the network, the UE can send UCI on PUSCH non-periodically.

[0066] Figure 2 A radio frame structure is illustrated.

[0067] In NR, UL and DL transmissions are configured in the form of frames. Each radio frame has a length of 10ms and is divided into two 5ms half-frames. Each half-frame is divided into five 1ms subframes. A subframe is divided into one or more time slots, and the number of time slots in a subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing (SCS). Depending on the cyclic prefix (CP), each time slot includes 12 or 14 OFDM (A) symbols. When a normal CP is used, each time slot includes 14 OFDM symbols. When an extended CP is used, each time slot includes 12 OFDM symbols. Symbols may include OFDM symbols (or CP-OFDM symbols) and SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fourier transform extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

[0068] Table 1 exemplarily illustrates that the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per frame, and the number of slots per subframe vary according to the SCS in the normal CP case.

[0069] [Table 1]

[0070] SCS(15*2^u) <![CDATA[N slot symb ]]> <![CDATA[N frame,u slot ]]> <![CDATA[N subframe,u slot ]]> 15KHz(u=0) 14 10 1 30KHz(u=1) 14 20 2 60KHz(u=2) 14 40 4 120KHz(u=3) 14 80 8 240KHz(u=4) 14 160 16

[0071] *N slot symb : The number of symbols in a time slot

[0072] *N frame,u slot : Number of time slots in a frame

[0073] *N subframe,u slot : Number of time slots in a subframe

[0074] Table 2 illustrates that the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per frame, and the number of slots per subframe vary according to the SCS in the extended CP case.

[0075] [Table 2]

[0076] SCS(15*2^u) <![CDATA[N slot symb ]]> <![CDATA[N frame,u slot ]]> <![CDATA[N subframe,u slot ]]> 60KHz(u=2) 12 40 4

[0077] The frame structure is only an example, and the number of subframes, the number of time slots, and the number of symbols in a frame may be changed in various ways. In the NR system, different OFDM (A) parameter sets (e.g., SCS, CP length, etc.) may be configured for multiple cells aggregated for one UE. Therefore, the (absolute time) duration (for convenience, referred to as a time unit (TU)) of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a time slot, or a transmission time interval (TTI)) consisting of the same number of symbols may be configured differently between aggregated cells.

[0078] In NR, various parameter sets (or SCS) can be supported to support various 5th generation (5G) services. For example, with an SCS of 15kHz, wide areas in traditional cellular bands can be supported, while with an SCS of 30kHz or 60kHz, dense urban areas, lower latency, and wide carrier bandwidth can be supported. With an SCS of 60kHz or higher, bandwidths greater than 24.25kHz can be supported to overcome phase noise.

[0079] The NR frequency band may be defined by two types of frequency ranges FR1 and FR2. FR1 and FR2 may be configured as described in Table 3 below. FR2 may be millimeter wave (mmW).

[0080] [Table 3]

[0081] Frequency range specification Corresponding frequency range Subcarrier spacing FR1 450MHz-7125MHz 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz FR2 24250MHz-52600MHz 60, 120, 240kHz

[0082] Figure 3 A resource grid during the duration of a time slot is illustrated. A time slot includes multiple symbols in the time domain. For example, a time slot includes 14 symbols in the normal CP case and 12 symbols in the extended CP case. A carrier includes multiple subcarriers in the frequency domain. A resource block (RB) can be defined by multiple (e.g., 12) consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. A bandwidth part (BWP) can be defined by multiple consecutive (physical) RBs ((P)RBs) in the frequency domain and corresponds to a parameter set (e.g., SCS, CP length, etc.). A carrier can include up to N (e.g., 5) BWPs. Data communication can be performed in an active BWP, and only one BWP can be activated for a UE. Each element in the resource grid can be referred to as a resource element (RE), and a complex symbol can be mapped to the resource element.

[0083] Now, a detailed description will be given of the physical channels.

[0084] DL channel structure

[0085] The eNB transmits a relevant signal to the UE on a DL channel described later, and the UE receives a relevant signal from the eNB on the DL channel.

[0086] (1) Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)

[0087] PDSCH carries DL data (e.g., DL shared channel transport block (DL-SCHTB)) and uses a modulation scheme such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64-ary QAM (64QAM), or 256-ary QAM (256QAM). TB is encoded as a codeword. PDSCH can deliver up to two codewords. The codewords are individually scrambled and modulated, and the modulation symbols from each codeword are mapped to one or more layers. OFDM signals are generated by mapping each layer to a resource together with a DMRS and are sent through the corresponding antenna port.

[0088] (2) Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

[0089] PDCCH delivers DCI. For example, PDCCH (i.e., DCI) can carry information about the transmission format and resource allocation of the DL shared channel (DL-SCH), resource allocation information of the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information on the paging channel (PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, information about resource allocation of high-layer control messages such as RAR sent on the PDSCH, transmit power control commands, information about activation / release of configured scheduling, etc. DCI includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Depending on the owner or use of the PDCCH, the CRC is masked with various identifiers (IDs) (e.g., radio network temporary identifiers (RNTI)). For example, if the PDCCH is used for a specific UE, the CRC is masked by the UE ID (e.g., cell-RNTI (C-RNTI)). If the PDCCH is used for a paging message, the CRC is masked by the paging-RNTI (P-RNTI). If the PDCCH is used for system information (e.g., system information block (SIB)), the CRC is masked by the system information RNTI (SI-RNTI). When the PDCCH is used for RAR, the CRC is masked by a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI).

[0090] PDCCH uses a fixed modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK). A PDCCH includes 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 control channel elements (CCEs) depending on its aggregation level (AL). A CCE includes 6 resource element groups (REGs), each REG being defined by one OFDM symbol multiplied by one (P)RB.

[0091] The PDCCH is sent in a control resource set (CORESET). A CORESET corresponds to a set of physical resources / parameters for delivering PDCCH / DCI in a BWP. For example, a CORESET is defined as a set of REGs with a given parameter set (e.g., SCS, CP length, etc.). A CORESET can be configured by system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB)) or UE-specific high-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, the following parameters / information can be used to configure a CORESET, and multiple CORESETs can overlap each other in the time / frequency domain.

[0092] -controlResourceSetId: indicates the ID of the CORESET.

[0093] -frequencyDomainResources: Indicates the frequency domain resources of the CORESET. The frequency domain resources are indicated by a bitmap, and each bit of the bitmap corresponds to an RB group (i.e., six consecutive RBs). For example, the most significant bit (MSB) of the bitmap corresponds to the first RB group of the BWP. The RB group corresponding to the bit set to 1 is allocated as the frequency domain resource of the CORESET.

[0094] -duration: Indicates the time region resource of the CORESET. It indicates the number of consecutive OFDMA symbols in the CORESET. For example, the duration is set to one of 1 to 3.

[0095] -cce-REG-MappingType: indicates the mapping type of CCE to REG. Both interleaved and non-interleaved types are supported.

[0096] -precoderGranularity: Indicates the precoder granularity in the frequency domain.

[0097] -tci-StatesPDCCH: Provides information indicating the transmission configuration indication (TCI) state (eg, TCI-StateID) of the PDCCH. The TCI state is used to provide a quasi-co-location relationship between the DLRS and the PDCCH DMRS ports in the RS set (TCI-state).

[0098] -tci-PresentInDCI: indicates whether the TCI field is included in the DCI.

[0099] -pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID: Provides information for initializing the PDCCH DMRS scrambling sequence.

[0100] To receive the PDCCH, the UE may monitor (e.g., blindly decode) a set of PDCCH candidates in a CORESET. A PDCCH candidate is a CCE that the UE monitors for PDCCH reception / detection. PDCCH monitoring may be performed in one or more CORESETs in an active DL BWP on each active cell configured with PDCCH monitoring. The set of PDCCH candidates monitored by the UE is defined as a PDCCH search space (SS) set. The SS set may be a common search space (CSS) set or a UE-specific search space (USS) set.

[0101] Table 4 lists exemplary PDCCH SSs.

[0102] [Table 4]

[0103]

[0104] The SS set may be configured by system information (e.g., MIB) or UE-specific higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling. S or fewer SS sets may be configured in each DL BWP of a serving cell. For example, the following parameters / information may be provided for each SS set. Each SS set may be associated with one CORESET, and each CORESET configuration may be associated with one or more SS sets. -searchSpaceId: indicates the ID of the SS set.

[0105] -controlResourceSetId: Indicates the CORESET associated with the SS set.

[0106] - monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset: indicates the PDCCH monitoring period (in time slots) and the PDCCH monitoring offset (in time slots).

[0107] -monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot: Indicates the first OFDMA symbol used for PDCCH monitoring in a slot configured with PDCCH monitoring. The OFDMA symbol is indicated by a bitmap, and each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one OFDM symbol in the slot. The MSB of the bitmap corresponds to the first OFDM symbol of the slot. The OFDMA symbol corresponding to the bit set to 1 corresponds to the first symbol of the CORESET in the slot.

[0108] -nrofCandidate: indicates the number of PDCCH candidates per AL={1,2,4,8,16} (eg, one of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8).

[0109] -search SpaceType: Indicates whether the SS type is CSS or USS.

[0110] -DCI format: indicates the DCI format of the PDCCH candidate.

[0111] The UE may monitor PDCCH candidates in one or more SS sets in a time slot based on the CORESET / SS set configuration. The timing (e.g., time / frequency resource) at which the PDCCH candidates should be monitored is defined as the PDCCH (monitoring) timing. One or more PDCCH (monitoring) timings may be configured in a time slot.

[0112] Table 5 illustrates an exemplary DCI format transmitted on the PDCCH.

[0113] [Table 5]

[0114]

[0115] DCI format 0_0 can be used to schedule TB-based (or TB-level) PUSCH, and DCI format 0_1 ​​can be used to schedule TB-based (or TB-level) PUSCH or code block group (CBG)-based (or CBG-level) PUSCH. DCI format 1_0 can be used to schedule TB-based (or TB-level) PDSCH, and DCI format 1_1 can be used to schedule TB-based (or TB-level) PDSCH or CBG-based (or CBG-level) PDSCH (DL grant DCI). DCI format 0_0 / 0_1 can be referred to as UL grant DCI or UL scheduling information, and DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 can be referred to as DL grant DCI or DL ​​scheduling information. DCI format 2_0 is used to transmit dynamic slot format information (e.g., dynamic slot format indicator (SFI)) to the UE, and DCI format 2_1 is used to transmit DL preemptive information to the UE. DCI format 2_0 and / or DCI format 2_1 can be transmitted to a corresponding group of UEs on a group common PDCCH (PDCCH pointing to a group of UEs). DCI format 0_0 and DCI format 1_0 may be referred to as fallback DCI formats, while DCI format 0_1 ​​and DCI format 1_1 may be referred to as non-fallback DCI formats. Under the fallback DCI format, the DCI size / field configuration remains the same regardless of the UE configuration. In contrast, under the non-fallback DCI format, the DCI size / field configuration varies according to the UE configuration.

[0116] UL channel structure

[0117] The UE transmits a relevant signal to the BS on a UL channel to be described later, and the BS receives a relevant signal from the UE through the UL channel to be described later.

[0118] (1) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)

[0119] The PUCCH carries UCI, HARQ-ACK and / or Scheduling Request (SR), and is divided into a short PUCCH and a long PUCCH according to a PUCCH transmission length.

[0120] The UCI includes the following information.

[0121] -SR: Information used to request UL-SCH resources.

[0122] -HARQ-ACK: A response to a DL data packet (e.g., a codeword) on the PDSCH. HARQ-ACK indicates whether the DL data packet is successfully received. In response to a single codeword, a 1-bit HARQ-ACK may be sent. In response to two codewords, a 2-bit HARQ-ACK may be sent. The HARQ-ACK response includes a positive ACK (abbreviated as ACK), a negative ACK (NACK), a discontinuous transmission (DTX), or NACK / DTX. The term "HARQ-ACK" may be used interchangeably with HARQ ACK / NACK and ACK / NACK.

[0123] -CSI: Feedback information for DL ​​channels. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) related feedback information includes RI and PMI.

[0124] Table 6 shows an exemplary PUCCH format. Based on PUCCH transmission duration, the PUCCH format may be divided into short PUCCH (formats 0 and 2) and long PUCCH (formats 1, 3, and 4).

[0125] [Table 6]

[0126]

[0127] PUCCH format 0 transmits up to 2 bits of UCI and is mapped in a sequence-based manner for transmission. Specifically, the UE sends a specific UCI to the BS by sending one of multiple sequences on the PUCCH of PUCCH format 0. Only when the UE sends a positive SR, the UE sends the PUCCH of PUCCH format 0 in the PUCCH resources used for the corresponding SR configuration. PUCCH format 1 transmits up to 2 bits of UCI and the modulation symbol of the UCI is extended in the time domain using an orthogonal cover code (OCC) (configured differently depending on whether frequency hopping is performed). DMRS is sent in symbols where modulation symbols are not sent (i.e., sent in time division multiplexing (TDM)).

[0128] PUCCH format 2 transmits more than 2 bits of UCI and the modulation symbols of DCI are sent with DMRS in frequency division multiplexing (FDM). DMRS is located in symbols #1, #4, #7 and #10 of a given RB with a density of 1 / 3. Pseudo-noise (PN) sequence is used for DMRS sequence. For 2-symbol PUCCH format 2, frequency hopping can be activated.

[0129] PUCCH format 3 does not support UE multiplexing in the same PRBS and transmits UCI of more than 2 bits. In other words, the PUCCH resources of PUCCH format 3 do not include OCC. The modulation symbols and DMRS are sent in TDM.

[0130] PUCCH format 4 supports multiplexing of up to 4 UEs in the same PRBS and transmits more than 2 bits of UCI. In other words, the PUCCH resources of PUCCH format 3 include OCC. The modulation symbols and DMRS are sent in TDM.

[0131] (2) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)

[0132] The PUSCH carries UL data (e.g., UL shared channel transport block (UL-SCHTB)) and / or UL control information (UCI), and transmits the PUSCH based on a cyclic prefix-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform or a discrete Fourier transform-spread spectrum-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform. When the PUSCH is transmitted based on the DFT-s-OFDM waveform, the UE transmits the PUSCH by applying transform precoding. For example, when transform precoding is not allowed (e.g., transform precoding is disabled), the UE may transmit the PUSCH based on the CP-OFDM waveform. When transform precoding is allowed (e.g., transform precoding is enabled), the UE may transmit the PUSCH based on the CP-OFDM waveform or the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. PUSCH transmission may be dynamically scheduled by a UL grant in the DCI or may be semi-statically scheduled based on higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling (and / or layer 1 (L1) signaling (e.g., PDCCH)) (configured grant). PUSCH transmission may be performed in a codebook-based or non-codebook-based manner.

[0133] On the DL, the BS can dynamically allocate resources for DL ​​transmission to the UE through PDCCH (including DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1). In addition, the BS can indicate to a specific UE through PDCCH (including DCI format 2_1) that some resources pre-scheduled for the UE have been preempted for signal transmission to another UE. In addition, the BS can configure the DL assignment period through high-layer signaling in a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) scheme and activate / deactivate the signal of the configured DL assignment through PDCCH configuration to provide the DL assignment for initial HARQ transmission to the UE. When retransmission of the initial HARQ transmission is required, the BS explicitly schedules the retransmission resources through PDCCH. When a DCI-based DL assignment conflicts with an SPS-based DL assignment, the UE may give priority to the DCI-based DL assignment.

[0134] Similar to DL, for UL, the BS can dynamically allocate resources for UL transmission to the UE through PDCCH (including DCI format 0_0 or DCI format 0_1). In addition, the BS can allocate UL resources for initial HARQ transmission to the UE based on the configured grant (CG) method (similar to SPS). Although dynamic scheduling involves PDCCH for PUSCH transmission, the configured grant does not involve PDCCH for PUSCH transmission. However, UL resources for retransmission are explicitly allocated through PDCCH. In this way, the operation of the BS pre-configuring UL resources without dynamic grant (DG) (for example, by scheduling UL grant of DCI) is called "CG". Two types of CG are defined.

[0135] - Type 1: UL grant with a predetermined period is provided through higher layer signaling (without L1 signaling).

[0136] -Type 2: The period of UL grant is configured through higher layer signaling, and the activation / deactivation of CG is signaled through PDCCH to provide UL grant.

[0137] Dynamic slot format indication information (e.g., DCI format 2_0)

[0138] Basically, the slot format indicates the usage of each symbol in a given slot, indicating one of downlink (D), uplink (U) or flexible (F) for each symbol. The slot format related information can be sent in one or more of the following signals:

[0139] - Static or semi-static slot format indication (SFI) via higher layer signaling (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and / or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated);

[0140] - Measurement-related scheduling signals (e.g., measurement-related signals configured by UE-specific RRC signaling);

[0141] - Dynamic SFI (e.g., signaled in DCI format 2_0); and

[0142] - UE-specific data transmission scheduling signal (eg UE-specific DCI).

[0143] Static or semi-static SFI may be indicated by cell-specific RRC signaling (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon) or UE-specific RRC signaling (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated). Measurement-related signals may be indicated by UE-specific RRC signaling and indicate periodic / semi-persistent CSI-RS for CSI reporting, periodic CSI reporting, periodic / semi-persistent SRS, etc. UE-specific data transmission-related signals may include UE-specific DCI that triggers PDSCH, PUSCH, or PUCCH with A / N for PDSCH, and DCI that triggers aperiodic measurement-related signals (such as aperiodic CSI-RS, aperiodic SRS, etc.).

[0144] The time slot format includes formats for zero, one or two switching points. Figure E1 illustrates various time slot formats. Specifically, Figure 14 (a) illustrates a time slot format for zero switching points, Figure 14 (b) illustrates a time slot format for one switching point, and Figure 14 (c) illustrates a time slot format for two switching points.

[0145] The slot format of zero switching point includes 14 DL symbols, 14 flexible symbols or 14 UL symbols. The slot format of one switching point is configured to start with zero or more DL symbols and end with zero or more UL symbols, with one or more flexible symbols and DL / UL symbols in between. The slot format of two switching points includes the first seven symbols starting with zero or more DL symbols and including one or more UL symbols ending with the seventh symbol, and another seven (second seven) symbols starting with one or more DL symbols and ending with zero or more UL symbols. The first seven symbols and the other seven symbols can each include zero or more flexible symbols.

[0146] Up to 256 slot formats can be defined, and their configuration is defined by standard documents such as TS 38.211. The UE is configured with a UE-specific SFI table based on up to 256 slot formats through high-layer signaling, and receives a specific index value in the UE-specific SFI table through DCI format 2_0 (or group common PDCCH).

[0147] The UE determines the time slot format based on the following prioritization of the signal carrying the above-mentioned time slot format related information. More specifically, when the UE receives the time slot format related information through multiple signals, the UE considers the indication information in the signal with the following prioritization, with the purpose of determining that only the high priority signal uses the symbol indicated as a flexible symbol.

[0148] "Slot format information through cell-specific higher layer signaling (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon) > slot format information through UE-specific higher layer signaling (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated) > slot format information through group common PDCCH (e.g., DCI format 2_0) > UE-specific data transmission scheduling information > measurement-related scheduling information"

[0149] Therefore, when a specific symbol in a time slot is indicated to the UE as DL / UL through cell-specific RRC signaling or UE-specific RRC signaling, the UE does not expect DCI format 2_0 (or a group-specific PDCCH including DCI format 2_0) to indicate the specific symbol as UL / DL or flexible. When DCI format 2_0 (or a group-specific PDCCH including DCI format 2_0) indicates a specific symbol in a time slot as a flexible symbol, the UE sends or receives a related signal in the specific symbol only when receiving separate scheduling information (e.g., UE-specific scheduling DCI), otherwise, signal transmission / reception is not performed in the specific symbol.

[0150] In addition, DCI format 2_0 (or a group-specific PDCCH including DCI format 2_0) may also include information about the switching of available RB sets, channel occupancy time (COT) duration, and search space set groups. Specifically, DCI format 2_0 may include one or more of the following information: The CRC of DCI format 2_0 may be scrambled with a UE group common ID (e.g., SFI-RNTI). The size of DCI format 2_0 may be configured by a higher layer (e.g., RRC layer) to be up to 128 bits.

[0151] - Slot format indicator 1, slot format indicator 2, ..., slot format indicator N

[0152] - If the high-level parameter availableRB-SetPerCell is configured,

[0153] - Available RB set indicator 1, available RB set indicator 2, ..., available RB set indicator N1

[0154] - If the high-level parameter CO-DurationPerCell is configured

[0155] - COT duration indicator 1, COT duration indicator 2, ..., COT duration indicator N2

[0156] - If the high-level parameter searchSpaceSwitchTrigger is configured

[0157] - Monitoring group mark 1, monitoring group mark 2, ..., monitoring group mark M

[0158] The RB set corresponds to a frequency resource in which a channel access procedure (CAP) is performed separately in a shared spectrum, and includes a plurality of contiguous (P) RBs. The available RB set indicator indicates the index of the RB set available for DL ​​reception within the cell. The COT duration indicator indicates the COT shared between the BS and the UE in the shared spectrum. The monitoring group flag indicates the search space group to be monitored by the UE among multiple search space groups (e.g., group #0 / #1) configured for the same cell. DCI format 2_0 is group common control information, and the position (e.g., starting point) of the information for each UE can be indicated by a high-level (e.g., RRC) signaling. For example, availableRB-SetPerCell is a UE-specific signal and may include information about the position (e.g., starting point) of the available RB set indicator for the UE in DCI format 2_0. Similarly, CO-DurationPerCell and search SpaceSwitchTrigger are also UE-specific signals and may each include information about the position (e.g., starting point) of the information for the UE in DCI format 2_0.

[0159] Energy saving of BS is considered important in wireless communication systems including 3GPP because it can contribute to building an environmentally friendly network by reducing carbon emissions and reducing the operating expenditure (OPEX) of communication industry participants. In particular, since the introduction of 5G communication requires high transmission rates, BS should be equipped with more antennas and provide services in wider bandwidths and frequency bands. As a result, according to recent studies, the energy cost of BS has reached 20% of the total OPEX. Due to this increased interest in BS energy saving, a new research project called "Network Energy Saving Research" was approved in 3GPP NR Release 18.

[0160] Specifically, the following enhancement techniques are considered in order to improve the energy saving capability of the BS from the perspectives of transmission and reception.

[0161] - How to more efficiently apply one or more NES techniques in the time, frequency, space and power domains for dynamic and / or semi-static operation in transmission and reception and finer granularity adaptation of operation based on UE assistance information and potential support / feedback from UE.

[0162] The present disclosure proposes a time-domain BS energy saving method.

[0163] In the present disclosure, the scenario in which the BS dynamically configures / indicates a specific ON duration that allows the transmission of a DL or UL signal / channel and a OFF duration that does not allow the transmission of a DL or UL signal / channel is mainly considered, thereby increasing the network energy saving (NES) gain. For example, the BS can preconfigure multiple OFF durations to turn off the transmission of a specific DL signal during a specific duration (e.g., one or more time slots / symbols / subframe durations), and dynamically indicate one of the multiple OFF durations to notify the UE that the DL signal will not be sent during the time period corresponding to the preconfigured OFF duration. Therefore, the power consumption of the BS and the UE can be reduced, and the interference mitigation effect can also be expected.

[0164] In the present disclosure, for example, when it is said that a BS operates in NES mode for energy saving (ES), this may mean that the BS configures a plurality of off-durations to turn off the transmission of a specific DL signal during a specific duration, and dynamically indicates one of the plurality of off-durations so that the DL signal is not transmitted during a time period corresponding to the preconfigured off-duration, thereby saving power of the BS and the UE. For example, the off-duration may refer to a discontinuous transmission (DTX) period of the BS.

[0165] Alternatively, for example, when a BS is said to operate in NES mode, this may mean that operations such as bandwidth part (BWP) switching or dynamic resource block (RB) adaptation are performed in the frequency domain as well as the time domain. In addition, the NES mode of the BS may refer to an operation mode in which, for example, when a specific transmit (Tx) / receive (Rx) antenna port of the BS is semi-statically or dynamically turned off in the spatial domain, the BS does not transmit and / or receive through the antenna port, thereby reducing power consumption of the BS and the UE.

[0166] Figures 6 to 8 is a diagram illustrating an overall operation procedure of a UE and a BS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0167] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an overall operation process of a UE according to the present disclosure.

[0168] Reference Figure 6 , the UE may receive information related to the NES operation of the BS (S601). For example, the information related to the NES operation may be information related to on / off of one or more durations or information related to whether the BS operates in the NES mode. Alternatively, it may be information related to the period of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the NES mode. For example, the UE may receive information related to the NES operation based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0169] The UE may receive / transmit DL / UL channels during one or more durations based on the information related to the NES operation (S603). For example, the UE may receive / transmit DL / UL channels based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0170] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an overall operation procedure of a BS according to the present disclosure.

[0171] Reference Figure 7 , the BS may send information related to the NES operation of the BS (S701). For example, the information related to the NES operation may be information related to on / off of one or more durations, or information related to whether the BS operates in the NES mode. Alternatively, it may be information related to the period of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the NES mode. For example, the BS may send the information related to the NES operation based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0172] The BS may transmit / receive DL / UL channels during one or more durations based on the information related to the NES operation (S603). For example, the BS may transmit / receive DL / UL channels based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0173] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the overall operation process of a network according to the present disclosure.

[0174] Reference Figure 8 , the BS may send information related to the NES operation of the BS to the UE (S801). For example, the information related to the NES operation may be information related to the on / off of one or more durations, or information related to whether the BS operates in the NES mode. Alternatively, it may be information related to the period of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the NES mode. For example, the BS may send information related to the NES operation to the UE based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0175] The BS may transmit / receive DL / UL channels to / from the UE during one or more durations based on the information related to the NES operation (S803). For example, the BS may transmit / receive DL / UL channels to / from the UE based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0176] In [Method #1] to [Method #7] to be described below, the specific duration may refer to one or more slots / symbols / subframes.

[0177] [Method #1] The BS indicates the shutdown of DL / UL signals / channels during a specific duration via (group common) Downlink Control Information (DCI) or Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE)

[0178] 1. Method #1-1

[0179] The BS may preconfigure a plurality of off durations and indicate one of the plurality of off durations through DCI or MAC-CE.

[0180] - In this case, infinite or not applicable values ​​may be configured as candidates for multiple preconfigured off durations, and when infinite / non-numeric / not applicable values ​​are indicated by (GC-)DCI or MAC CE, the off state may be maintained until on is separately indicated.

[0181] 2. Method #1-2

[0182] The timer value can be preconfigured, and when the indication is turned off, the DL / UL signal / channel transmission / reception can be turned off during the corresponding timer duration. In addition, when the corresponding timer expires, the DL / UL signal / channel transmission / reception can be turned on again.

[0183] 3. Method #1-3

[0184] In addition to the downlink (D) / uplink (U) / flexible (F) states that may be indicated by the existing slot format indicator (SFI), an additional state (e.g., N) may be added. The symbol duration of the state (e.g., N) indicated by the SFI may be subjected to the operation of the shutdown duration proposed by the proposed method (e.g., operation based on any one of methods #1 to #7).

[0185] 4. Method #1-4

[0186] According to the indication method proposed in the present disclosure, even during the duration when the transmission / reception of the DL / UL signal / channel is turned off, it is possible to allow exceptional transmission / reception of a specific DL / UL signal / channel. For example, the specific DL / UL signal / channel may be a synchronization signal block (SSB) and / or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) for tracking and / or a physical random access channel (PRACH).

[0187] 5. Method #1-5

[0188] According to the indication method proposed in the present disclosure (for example, an indication method based on any one of methods #1 to #7), when PDCCH monitoring continues even during the duration when DL / UL signal / channel transmission and reception are turned off, the search space set group (SSSG) associated with the on duration and the SSSG associated with the off duration can be configured separately, or the period of the SS set during the off duration can be configured to be greater than the period of the SS set during the on duration.

[0189] However, the preconfigured OFF duration and / or timer candidate value may be common to all DL / UL signals / channels. Alternatively, the OFF duration and / or timer candidate value may be configured individually for each DL / UL signal / channel.

[0190] Furthermore, when indicating the off-duration time and / or timer value for a specific DL / UL signal / channel, the DL / UL signal / channel to be turned off may be preconfigured or predefined or directly indicated by the BS.

[0191] In addition, when the association between DL / UL signals / channels is preconfigured and the shutdown of a specific signal / channel is indicated, the associated signal / channel may also be shut down. The signal / channel to be shut down may also include a PDCCH, and when the PDCCH is shut down, the UE may not perform PDCCH monitoring during the shutdown duration and / or timer duration. When the PDCCH is not included in the shutdown signal / channel, the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring during the shutdown duration and / or timer duration, and receive an indication of extending the shutdown duration or switching to the on duration through the PDCCH.

[0192] When the shutdown duration and / or timer-based shutdown is indicated by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, the start time and length of the application shutdown duration and / or timer can be configured by a separate parameter when configuring the shutdown duration and / or timer candidate value, or can be configured by joint coding with each of the shutdown duration and / or timer candidate values. Alternatively, the start time and length of the application shutdown duration and / or timer can be determined as a pre-agreed value (e.g., a specific value defined in the standard), or can be configured differently for each UE in consideration of the processing time of the UE. Alternatively, the start time and length of the application shutdown duration and / or timer can be dynamically indicated together with the shutdown indication by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0193] In addition, when the shutdown duration and / or timer is indicated by a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, the inactivity-related timers configured for the UE (e.g., BWPinactiveTimer, SCellinactiveTimer, dataInactiveTimer, and discontinuous reception (DRX) related timers) may be maintained during the shutdown duration and resumed at the end of the shutdown duration, or may be stopped during the shutdown duration and restarted at the end of the shutdown duration.

[0194] There are methods for achieving power saving effects by semi-statically shutting down transmission / reception in specific subframes / time slots. However, these methods may cause significant delays in data transmission and it is difficult to change the transmission rate immediately, resulting in severe performance degradation of the UE.

[0195] In particular, these methods may be inefficient and difficult to use in delay-sensitive services such as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Therefore, a method for dynamically configuring / indicating the on / off duration of DL / UL signals / channels in units of symbols that are finer in granularity than subframes / time slots may be needed to reduce power consumption of the BS and UE while minimizing the reduction in the data transmission / reception rate of the UE.

[0196] To this end, multiple on / off durations that can be configured in symbol units can be pre-configured for each UL / DL signal / channel through high-layer signaling such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and the turning off of a specific DL / UL signal during a specific duration can be indicated by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0197] For example, the on / off duration configuration may be configured as {on duration, duration 1, duration 2, ..., infinite value}. For example, the on / off duration candidate value of the PDSCH may be configured as {on, 2 symbols, 4 symbols, ..., infinite}, and one of the on / off duration candidate values ​​may be indicated. When the indication is configured to be applied after 4 symbols, and the MAC-CE indicates 14 symbols, the PDSCH may be turned off during 14 symbols after 4 symbols from the time when the UE receives the indication, so that the BS does not send the PDSCH and the UE does not receive the PDSCH, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0198] In addition, an infinite or not applicable value may be configured as a preconfigured off-duration candidate value, and when an infinite / non-numeric / not applicable value is indicated by a (GC-)DCI or MAC CE, the UE may maintain the corresponding DL / UL signal / channel in an off state until a separate on indication is received from the BS.

[0199] In another method, multiple candidate timer values ​​and DL / UL signals / channels to which the corresponding timers are applied may be preconfigured. In this case, the DL / UL signals / channels to which the corresponding timers are applied may be configured with values ​​for multiple candidate timers in common, or may be configured separately for each of the multiple candidate timer values.

[0200] When one of the multiple candidate timer values ​​is indicated by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, the specific DL / UL signal / channel for the corresponding timer value can be turned off (deactivated) to not send or receive, so that the BS and UE can obtain energy saving effects. When the corresponding timer expires, the specific DL / UL signal channel can be turned on (activated) again for sending or receiving. For example, when a 3ms timer value is configured for the periodic CSI-RS and the periodic CSI-RS is configured to be turned on after a specific time (e.g., 1 time slot) from the expiration of the timer value, the periodic CSI-RS can be turned off (deactivated) for the duration of the timer operation, and turned on again for sending / receiving after a specific time (e.g., 1 time slot) from the expiration of the timer. In this case, for example, even if the turned-on periodic CSI-RS is not actually sent or received during the off duration, the periodic CSI-RS can be sent and received after the on duration considering the original transmission timing of the periodic CSI-RS during the off duration.

[0201] For example, the periodic CSI-RS may be considered to be dropped or deactivated during the off duration. Alternatively, assuming that the transmission and reception of the periodic CSI-RS is released during the off duration, the periodic CSI-RS may be transmitted and received like a new periodic CSI-RS when the on duration begins.

[0202] In the above example, the timer may also be started after a specific time (eg, 1 time slot) from the time when the DCI or MAC-CE is received, thereby entering the off-duration period.

[0203] The above-mentioned preconfigured off duration and / or timer candidate value may be common to all DL / UL signals and channels, or may be configured for each DL / UL signal and channel. In other words, a specific off duration and / or timer candidate value may be configured for a single DL / UL signal / channel, or multiple DL or UL signals / channels may be used in conjunction with the same off duration and / or timer candidate value.

[0204] The specific DL / UL signal / channel that is turned off by indicating the shutdown duration and / or timer value may be preconfigured / pre-agreed or defined in the standard, or may be directly indicated by a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE. In addition, the association between the DL / UL signals / channels may be preconfigured, and when a specific signal / channel is indicated to be turned off, the associated signal / channel may also be turned off. For example, in the case where the association between a periodic CSI-RS (P-CSI-RS) and a periodic SRS (P-SRS) is preconfigured, when the shutdown duration and / or timer value for the P-CSI-RS is indicated by a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, not only the P-CSI-RS may be turned off during the time period corresponding to the shutdown duration and / or timer value, but also the associated P-SRS may be turned off.

[0205] The signal / channel to be turned off may also include a PDCCH, and when the PDCCH is turned off, the UE may not perform PDCCH monitoring during the off duration and / or timer duration. When the PDCCH is not included in the off signal / channel, the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring during the off duration and / or timer duration, and receive an indication of extending the off duration or switching to an indication of the on duration through the PDCCH. When an indication is received in a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, the start time and length of the application off duration and / or timer may be configured by a separate parameter when configuring the off duration and / or timer candidate value, or may be configured by jointly encoding with each of the off duration and / or timer candidate values. Alternatively, the start time and length of the application off duration and / or timer may be determined as a pre-agreed value (e.g., a specific value defined in the standard), or may be configured differently for each UE in consideration of the processing time of the UE. Alternatively, the start time and length of the application off duration and / or timer may be dynamically indicated by a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE together with the off indication.

[0206] In NR, symbols in a slot can be semi-statically configured as U / D / F through cell-specific signaling or UE-specific signaling.

[0207] In addition, for UEs configured with DCI format 2_0 monitoring, symbols configured as F can be dynamically indicated by DCI format 2_0 as one of D / U / F. UEs not configured with SFI monitoring can perform RRC configured DL / UL reception / transmission in symbols configured as F.

[0208] In addition, in the case where the UE is configured to monitor SFI, 1) when the UE fails to receive SFI, it can perform PDCCH monitoring only in symbols configured as F, and 2) when the UE receives SFI and the symbol configured as F is again indicated as F by the SFI, the UE does not perform RRC configured DL / UL reception / transmission including PDCCH monitoring.

[0209] Based on the above description, in addition to the states D / U / F that can be indicated by the existing SFI, one state (e.g., N) can be added. The symbol duration of the state (e.g., N) indicated by the SFI can be subjected to the operation of the shutdown duration proposed by the proposed method (e.g., the operation based on any one of methods #1 to #7).

[0210] According to the indication method proposed in the present disclosure, even during the duration when the transmission / reception of the DL / UL signal / channel is turned off, it is possible to allow abnormal transmission / reception of a specific DL / UL signal / channel. For example, because signals / channels such as SSB and / or CSI-RS for tracking and / or PRACH are necessary, it is preferable to allow them to be transmitted / received even during the off duration.

[0211] In addition, when according to the indication method proposed in the present disclosure (for example, an indication method based on any one of method #1 to method #7), when PDCCH monitoring continues even during the duration when DL / UL signal / channel transmission and reception are turned off, the SSSG associated with the on duration and the SSSG associated with the off duration can be configured separately.

[0212] For example, SS set configuration #1 having a relatively small PDCCH monitoring period may be used during the on-duration and switched to SS set configuration #2 having a relatively large PDCCH monitoring period during the off-duration.

[0213] In another example, SSSG index #0 may be used during the on-duration and switched to SSSG index #1 during the off-duration. In this case, SSSG index #0 may have a relatively small PDCCH monitoring period, and SSSG index #1 may have a relatively large PDCCH monitoring period. Alternatively, the period of the SS set during the off-duration may be configured to be greater than the period of the SS set during the on-duration.

[0214] According to [method #1], compared with configuring the on / off of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the semi-static on / off mode, the scheduling delay (waiting time) can be reduced by dynamically indicating the off for at least one of the multiple durations, and the on / off of the DL / UL signal / channel is quickly indicated according to the cell condition. Therefore, the DL / UL signal / channel is not transmitted / received during the off duration, thereby minimizing the DL / UL performance degradation and effectively reducing the power consumption of the UE and the BS.

[0215] [Method #2] Method for dynamically adjusting the period of DL / UL signals / channels

[0216] 1. Method #2-1

[0217] Method for pre-configuring multiple periodic candidates for (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS and indicating one of the multiple periodic candidates through (group common) DCI or MAC CE

[0218] 2. Method #2-2

[0219] Method for pre-grouping (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS into multiple groups according to their periodicity and indicating a specific group among the multiple groups through a (group common) DCI or MAC CE to adjust the periodicity

[0220] The above method is applicable to all DL / UL signals / channels (e.g., semi-persistent PDSCH and CG-PUSCH) and (periodic) CSI-RS that are preconfigured and transmitted, and multiple period candidate values ​​can be common to all DL / UL signals / channels or configured for each DL / UL signal / channel. In addition, when indicating a change in the period of a specific DL / UL signal / channel, the DL / UL signal / channel whose period is to be changed can be preconfigured or predefined or directly indicated.

[0221] In addition, when an association is configured between a DL / UL signal and a channel, and a change in the period of a specific signal / channel is indicated, the period of the associated signal / channel may also be changed. An infinite or not applicable value may be configured as a preconfigured period candidate value, and when an infinite / non-numeric / not applicable value is indicated by (GC-)DCI or MAC CE, the existing period may be maintained until a separate indication is given.

[0222] In addition, when the period is indicated by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, the inactivity-related timers configured for the UE (e.g., BWPinActiveTimer, SCellinactiveTimer, dataInactiveTimer, and DRX-related timers) may be maintained during the duration in which CSI-RS / SRS is not sent according to the changed period and resumed at the end of the duration, or may be stopped during the duration and restarted at the end of the duration.

[0223] For example, (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS can be pre-configured with periodic transmittable and receivable resources through high-layer signaling such as RRC signaling, and even if the BS does not send DCI (DL assignment or UL authorization) separately, the UE can receive CSI-RS and send SRS in the pre-configured resources. However, since the period and resources are semi-statically assigned to these periodic DL / UL signals / channels, it is difficult to dynamically change the period, and RRC reconfiguration is required to change the period. Therefore, since it takes a relatively long time to change the period, it is not easy to dynamically turn off and on a signal with a specific period according to the traffic situation of the base station, which is not efficient in terms of power saving.

[0224] For example, when the BS has almost no data to send to the UE during a specific duration, the BS can switch to sleep mode, thereby saving power. However, when P-CSI-RS or P-SRS resources are configured in the middle of the duration, the BS should send or receive P-CSI-RS or P-SRS, and thus consume transition time and power for transition. Therefore, the BS may not be able to enter sleep mode at all, or may only be able to sleep for a very short time, resulting in insignificant power saving effects. However, since such low traffic situations occur dynamically, it is difficult to predict traffic situations, and it may not be desirable to perform RRC reconfiguration every time a low traffic situation or traffic change occurs.

[0225] Therefore, when the BS configures periodic DL / UL signals and channels such as (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS, it can configure multiple period candidate values. When the period needs to be changed to save BS power, the period can be dynamically changed by indicating one of the multiple pre-configured period candidates through (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0226] For example, when the BS configures (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS, the BS may configure multiple period candidate values, such as {very short period (in units of one symbol), short period (in units of several symbols), normal period (in units of one time slot), long period (in units of several time slots), very long period (in units of tens of time slots)}, and change the period of the (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS by dynamically indicating one of the period candidate values ​​via (group common) DCI or MAC-CE as needed. When the traffic condition of the BS changes from high to low, it may be indicated to change the period of the DL / UL signal / channel configured with a short period to a long period or a very long period, so as to save power by maintaining the sleep mode for as long as possible.

[0227] Alternatively, (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS may be pre-grouped into multiple groups according to their periodicity, and the BS may adjust the periodicity by indicating a specific one of the multiple groups via a (group common) DCI or MAC CE. For example, similar to SSSG switching, where the monitoring period of the SS set of the UE is changed according to within or outside the channel occupancy time (COT) in Release 16 NR-U, a CSI-RS / SRS with a short periodicity may be configured as group index #0, and a CSI-RS / SRS with a long periodicity may be configured as group index #1. The BS may dynamically change the periodicity of the (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS by indicating one of the group indexes #0 and #1 as needed.

[0228] The SSB-based RRM Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) is a period configured with measurement resources for radio resource management (RRM), similar to the Discovery Measurement Timing Configuration (DMTC) in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

[0229] DMTC is a time window in which a discovery reference signal (DRS) for synchronization and channel estimation of UEs can be sent, because given the nature of a cell operating as a secondary cell (SCell) in LTE-LAA, it is difficult to periodically send signals such as the primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS) / common reference signal (CRS).

[0230] DRS is a signal defined for small cell enhancement in Release 12. DRS is a control signal including PSS / SSS / CRS and is periodically transmitted every 40 ms.

[0231] SMTC is also a time window in which measurement resources for RRM can be configured in NR. Since there is no reference signal in NR that is always sent like LTE's CRS, RRM can be performed in the SSS and PBCH demodulation reference signals (DMRS) of the SS / PBCH blocks and the CSI-RS configured in the active BWP. SMTC-related configurations may include SMTC window duration, period, and timing offset, and multiple periods may be set for SMTC1 and SMTC2. For example, multiple SMTCs may be configured, and a period may be set for each of the multiple SMTCs. In this case, SMTC1 and SMTC2 may have different periods, but the same timing offset and SMTC window duration.

[0232] As an example of applying the above-mentioned method #2-1 or method #2-2, SSB and / or SIB (e.g., PDCCH and PDSCH that schedule SIB) and / or paging (e.g., DCI and paging message) and / or SMTC may be considered.

[0233] That is, multiple period candidate values ​​can be preconfigured for SSB / broadcast data / SMTC, and the BS can change the period of SSB / broadcast data / SMTC by indicating one of the multiple period candidate values ​​via (GC-)DCI or MAC CE. SSB / SIB is a necessary signal for the initial access or radio resource measurement (RRM) of the UE, and therefore needs to be sent periodically. However, from the perspective of BS power saving, SSB / SIB may need to be sent periodically even when there is almost no data to send. In this case, it may be necessary to configure multiple period candidate values ​​and allow the BS to change the period more dynamically through (group common) DCI or MAC-CE in order to reduce the power consumption of the BS.

[0234] The above-mentioned dynamic period change method can be applied not only to (periodic) CSI-RS or SRS, but also to all DL / UL signals / channels that are preconfigured and transmitted. In addition, multiple period candidate values ​​can be common to all DL / UL signals / channels, or can be configured for each DL / UL signal / channel. In addition, when indicating to change the period of a specific DL / UL signal / channel, the DL / UL signal / channel whose period is to be changed can be preconfigured or predefined, or can be directly indicated.

[0235] In addition, the association between DL / UL signals and channels can be configured, and when the cycle of a specific signal / channel is changed, the cycle of the associated signal / channel can also be changed. An infinite or not applicable value can be configured as a preconfigured cycle candidate value, and when an infinite / non-numeric / not applicable value is indicated by (GC-)DCI or MAC CE, the existing cycle can be maintained until a separate instruction is given.

[0236] In addition, as another example of a DL / UL signal / channel to which method #2 is applicable, multiple period candidate values ​​may be preconfigured for a semi-persistent (SPS)-PDSCH or a configuration grant (CG)-PUSCH, and the BS may indicate one of the multiple period candidate values ​​through a (group common) DCI or MAC CE. In another example, the SPS-PDSCH or CG-PUSCH may be pre-grouped into multiple groups according to their period, and the BS may adjust the period by indicating a specific one of the multiple groups through a (group common) DCI or MAC CE.

[0237] According to [Method #2], when the BS operates in NES mode for energy saving, the period of the periodic DL / UL signal / channel can be dynamically changed to a relatively large period, thereby maximizing the duration during which transmission and reception of the DL / UL signal / channel is not allowed (e.g., the duration of the sleep mode of the BS), and preventing unnecessary measurement and reporting of the UE. Therefore, the total power consumption of the UE and the BS can be reduced.

[0238] [Method #3] Pre-configure multiple on / off modes and indicate specific on / off modes via (group common) DCI or MAC-CE

[0239] 1. Method #3-1

[0240] Information related to the duration or timer for which the on / off mode continues may be additionally configured in the on / off mode configuration information, or may be configured / indicated separately from the on / off mode configuration information.

[0241] 2. Method #3-2

[0242] When the duration or timer for which the on / off mode lasts ends, it may switch to the on duration or switch to a preconfigured next on / off mode and the duration or timer corresponding to the next on / off mode.

[0243] Inactivity-related timers configured for the UE (e.g., BWPinactiveTimer, SCellinactiveTimer, dataInactiveTimer, and DRX-related timers) may be maintained during the off duration and resumed at the end of the off duration, or may be stopped during the off duration and restarted at the end of the off duration.

[0244] A method as follows can be considered, in which similar to the DRX cycle of the UE, the BS also semi-statically preconfigures the on / off duration, normally sends / receives DL / UL signals / channels during the on duration, and switches its operation mode to sleep mode / power saving mode during the off duration to reduce power consumption. However, this method of performing transmission and reception in the semi-static on / off duration can achieve energy saving effects during the preconfigured off duration. However, when an emergency service occurs, such as SR or PRACH transmission of the UE, in the off duration, the BS cannot respond immediately until the on duration, and the large delay generated when sending the RAR or UL authorization may degrade the performance of the UE. Therefore, multiple on / off modes can be preconfigured, and the BS can dynamically change the length of the on duration and the off duration by indicating a specific one of the multiple on / off modes via (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0245] For example, Fig. 9 As shown, the BS can pre-configure {mode 1: always on, mode 2: 1 time slot on + 9 time slots off, mode 3: 2 time slots on + 8 time slots off, ...} for the UE, and dynamically indicate to the UE through (group common) DCI or MAC-CE which of the three modes will be used to turn on / off the DL / UL signal / channel. In addition, the DL / UL signal / channel to which the on / off mode and the duration of the on / off mode are to be applied can be pre-configured or defined (in the standard). Alternatively, the BS can directly indicate the DL / UL signal / channel to which the on / off mode and the duration of the on / off mode are to be applied.

[0246] In addition, when the association between DL / UL signals / channels is preconfigured and the on / off pattern and the duration of the on / off pattern are indicated as applying to a specific signal / channel, the same on / off pattern and the duration of the on / off pattern or a predefined specific on / off pattern and the duration of the on / off pattern may also be applied to the associated signal / channel.

[0247] For example, similar to [Method #1], when an association between periodic CSI-RS and periodic SRS is configured, and the on / off pattern and the duration of the on / off pattern are indicated for P-CSI-RS by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, P-SRS can also be sent and received according to the on / off pattern and the duration, or according to a specific on / off pattern predefined for P-SRS and the duration of the on / off pattern.

[0248] According to [Method #3], since the BS configures the on / off of multiple durations through signaling in the form of a pattern, the power consumption of the UE and the BS can be reduced while reducing the signaling overhead for indicating the on / off of multiple durations. In addition, the on / off pattern is dynamically changed according to the operation state of the cell while reducing the signaling overhead, thereby minimizing the scheduling delay of the UE and the DL / UL performance degradation, thereby achieving efficient energy saving.

[0249] [Method #4] Operation of advanced UE when BS operates in power saving mode. For example, power saving mode may mean sending and receiving DL / UL signals / channels based on off duration / timer / mode according to method #1, method #2 and / or method #3 of the present disclosure.

[0250] 1. Method #4-1

[0251] No penalty for PRACH transmission failure may be applied. For example, a penalty may mean applying power ramping, preamble counter and / or preamble backoff. In addition, a PRACH transmission failure may mean that the UE does not receive a RAR from the BS.

[0252] 2. Method #4-2

[0253] A RACH opportunity (RO) allocated to a duration in which the RAR window and the OFF duration overlap may be processed as invalid.

[0254] 3. Method #4-3

[0255] A penalty for SR transmission failure (no response to SR transmission) may not be applied. For example, the penalty may mean applying an SR counter and / or an SR prohibit timer. In addition, SR transmission failure may mean that the UE does not receive a response (e.g., UL grant) to the UE's SR transmission from the BS.

[0256] 4. Method #4-4

[0257] In the power saving mode, the SSB period and the RO are associated so that the SSB to RO mapping can be implicitly changed according to the change of the SSB period.

[0258] 5. Method #4-5

[0259] SRS / CSI reporting / CG-PUSCH resources overlapping or associated with the off duration may be turned off.

[0260] 6. Method #4-6

[0261] The more relaxed RAN4 requirements may be applied in normal mode.

[0262] 7. Method #4-7

[0263] Some pre-configured Paging Occasions (POs) may be considered invalid for the NES in order to save power.

[0264] When the BS operates according to the off duration / timer / mode applied to the BS and the UE (as shown in method #1, method #2 and / or method #3 of the present disclosure) to save power, the transmission / reception of a specific DL / UL signal / channel or all DL / UL signals / channels is turned off (deactivated) during the corresponding duration. Therefore, different criteria may be required from the subsequent operation of sending / receiving a specific signal / channel during the on duration defined for the UE.

[0265] For example, when the UE sends PRACH but fails to receive RAR within the RAR window while the BS operates in normal mode, the standard defines that the UE performs the following subsequent operations, such as ramping up the transmit power of PRACH, resending it, increasing a counter value, backing off when a specific power value (e.g., maximum power) or a maximum counter value is reached, selecting another PRACH preamble code, and attempting retransmission.

[0266] However, when the BS is operating in a power saving mode, it may be configured that PRACH reception itself is not allowed during the off duration. Thus, when the UE transmits PRACH during this duration, the channel itself may be turned off and the BS may not attempt to receive, rather than the BS failing to correctly receive the PRACH transmitted by the UE and failing to transmit the RAR. In this case, different criteria than previously defined for subsequent UE operation may be required.

[0267] For example, subsequent UE operations such as the above-mentioned method #4 may be defined for an advanced UE that is capable of receiving and applying the configuration / indication related to the power saving mode of the BS in the methods #1, #2, and #3 of the present disclosure. In this case, since the legacy UE may not have the ability to apply the configuration / indication related to the power saving mode of the BS, it may inevitably follow the existing procedures defined in the standard for power saving of the BS, which may result in a penalty.

[0268] When the BS operates in a power saving mode by applying a method such as an off duration / timer / mode, and an advanced UE capable of receiving and applying the configuration / instruction of the BS transmits DL / UL signals / channels to the BS and receives DL / UL signals / channels from the BS (as in the above example), a penalty for PRACH transmission failure may not be applied within the off duration / timer / mode. For example, as described above, the penalty may mean applying a power ramp, a preamble counter, and / or a preamble backoff. In addition, PRACH transmission failure may mean that the UE does not receive a RAR or contention resolution message.

[0269] In other words, even if the UE sends PRACH and fails to receive RAR, considering that the BS intentionally did not receive the PRACH due to the BS pre-configured / indicated off-duration / timer / pattern, the UE may not follow the existing subsequent procedures defined for RAR reception failure. For example, the UE may not perform power ramp-up for PRACH, not apply preamble counter and backoff, wait until the on-duration, and then send PRACH again. In other words, during the on-duration, the UE may resend PRACH with the same power as the PRACH sent during the off-duration, without increasing or decreasing the preamble counter and backoff.

[0270] In addition, when the UE sends PRACH in a specific RO, a RAR window associated with the RO is configured, and Msg1 transmission is considered successful only when the UE receives a RAR in response to the PRACH within the corresponding duration. However, when the RAR window associated with the specific RO overlaps with the BS's off duration / timer / mode, the BS may not perform transmission itself during the corresponding duration, and therefore, RAR transmission may not be expected. Therefore, in order to prevent unnecessary PRACH transmission in a RO allocated to a duration where the RAR window and the off duration overlap, the RO may be treated as invalid.

[0271] When there is UL data to be sent in the buffer, the UE sends the PUCCH using the SR resources preconfigured by the BS. When the BS successfully receives the SRPUCCH sent by the UE, it can allocate resources for the UE's UL transmission by sending an UL grant. However, when the UE fails to receive an UL grant from the BS, a penalty for SR transmission failure defined in the standard may be applied, which is similar to the penalty for PRACH transmission failure. For example, the penalty may mean applying an SR counter and / or an SR prohibit timer. In addition, SR transmission failure may mean that the UE does not receive a response (e.g., UL grant) to the UE's SR transmission from the BS.

[0272] However, since UL grant transmission is also turned off within the off duration / timer / mode configured by the BS for power saving, for the same reason as the failure of RAR for PRACH, and SR is intentionally not received, penalties such as SR counter or SR prohibit timer may not be applied to SR transmission when the BS operates in power saving mode.

[0273] In addition, SSB transmission may also be included in the off duration / timer / mode for power saving mode operation. Since there is a mapping relationship between SSB and RO, when the SSB period changes or the number of SSBs sent decreases, the SSB to RO mapping needs to be changed accordingly. The SSB to RO mapping relationship to be changed can be explicitly indicated, or implicitly indicated according to the BS's pre-agreement (e.g., defined in the standard) or pre-configuration, rather than indicated each time an event occurs. For example, when the SSB period is changed to a large value or the number of SSBs is changed to a small value, the SSB can be mapped to the RO every N radio frames or every multiple of N radio frames, or only in a few radio frames near the SSB (e.g., after the SSB is sent), rather than mapping the RO to the SSB in each radio frame.

[0274] Similarly, for SRS / CSI reports / CG-PUSCH resources that overlap or are related to the off duration / timer / mode, the advanced UE may turn off the resources and reports and not send them even without a separate indication / configuration from the BS. In addition, when the BS operates in power saving mode, more relaxed RAN4 requirements than in normal mode may apply. For example, cell selection / reselection criteria, RM-related requirements, and / or time and frequency tracking / offsets may be more relaxed than in normal mode.

[0275] Alternatively, for NES, power saving can be achieved by treating some preconfigured paging occasions (POs) as invalid. Although this method may be very disadvantageous for legacy UEs, advanced UEs can identify invalid POs, and the BS can achieve power saving effects by not performing transmission in some POs that are treated as invalid.

[0276] According to [Method #4], when a PRACH process or a process after SR transmission is not performed due to a power saving mode, a penalty may not be imposed, so that the PRACH transmission or SR transmission may not interfere with the transmission and reception of other UEs, and unnecessary penalty may not be imposed on the UE.

[0277] [Method #5] Method for indicating power saving mode operation of a BS to a UE during initial access or idle (or inactive) mode

[0278] 1. Method #5-1

[0279] The BS can inform the UE whether the associated serving cell (or BS) is currently operating in power saving mode, or that the cell can operate in power saving mode (even if it is not currently operating in power saving mode) by using a pre-agreed SSB pattern / SIB / PBCH / paging DCI.

[0280] (1) Initial access A UE may determine whether to access a cell based on the SSB pattern or SIB / Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) information.

[0281] (2) Since the current barring interpretation or barring indication of SIB1 is different, a legacy UE may be barred by a cell and may not access a cell or a BS, whereas an advanced UE may access a cell or a BS.

[0282] An initial access UE or an idle / inactive UE may need to know that the BS that the UE is trying to access or camp on is operating in a power saving mode, or is currently operating in a normal mode but can be switched to a power saving mode. For example, in the case where the BS operates in a power saving mode by applying the off duration / timer / mode in method #1 and / or method #2 and / or method #3 of the present disclosure, when the BS does not send a response to a PRACH or SR to a legacy UE, the legacy UE may perform an existing defined penalty process as in the example of method #4, and thus unnecessarily continue to resend the PRACH or SR, thereby unnecessarily consuming power. In addition, processes such as BWP switching or cell reselection may be triggered unnecessarily.

[0283] Therefore, the BS needs to inform the initial access or idle / inactive mode UE through the pre-agreed SSB pattern / SIB / PBCH / paging DCI that the BS is operating in the power saving mode or the cell can operate in the power saving mode.

[0284] For example, a specific multiplexing pattern between SSB and type 0-PDCCH or a specific FR1 / FR2 subcarrier spacing (SCS) combination can be indicated. Alternatively, whether the BS operates in power saving mode and the possibility of operating in power saving mode can be configured by information in SIB1 or PBCH or paging DCI. In particular, the interpretation of the cell barring indication in SIB1 or the cell barring indication itself can be distinguished for legacy UEs and advanced UEs, and when a configuration indicating that the BS is operating in power saving mode or can operate in power saving mode is configured, the legacy UE can camp on another cell without camping on the BS by performing a cell barring operation, while the advanced UE that supports the power saving operation of the BS can access the BS.

[0285] The types of periodic DL / UL signals / channels to which the method proposed in the present disclosure is applicable may include not only periodic CSI-RS / SRS, but also SPS-PDSCH / PUSCH / CSI-RS and CG-PUSCH transmitted based on resource pre-configuration. In addition, in the present disclosure, when the DL / UL signal / channel is indicated to be turned off during a specific duration by (group common) DCI or MAC-CE or timer, the period of the periodic DL / UL signal / channel is dynamically adjusted, or when energy of the BS and UE is to be saved by multiple pre-configured on / off modes, the corresponding on / off duration / mode in the time domain can be used only in a specific carrier / cell.

[0286] Alternatively, this can be extended to multiple carriers / cells through an interface between gNBs (e.g., X2 interface) or an interface between gNBs and the core network (e.g., S1 interface) so that a common time domain on / off duration / pattern can be applied to multiple carriers / cells. In this case, the duration for which the time domain on / off duration / pattern is commonly applied to multiple carriers / cells can be limited to a portion of the entire duration.

[0287] According to [Method #5], cell reselection and cell barring may be applied differently depending on whether the BS can operate in the power saving mode and whether the UE supports the power saving mode, thereby preventing unnecessary cell switching caused by determining the measurement state as the normal mode even in a natural measurement state based on the off duration and thus unnecessary concentration of multiple UEs in one cell.

[0288] [Method #6] A method for notifying a UE of an operation mode switch (e.g., switching between a non-NES mode and a NES mode) by a BS through a group common (or cell specific) DCI or MAC-CE and a method for restarting at least one configured timer

[0289] 1. Method #6-1

[0290] A common search space (CSS) may be configured to monitor for indications of switching between non-NES mode and NES mode.

[0291] 2. Method #6-2

[0292] New types of CSS specific to NES can be introduced.

[0293] 3. Method #6-3

[0294] A new Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) may be introduced for monitoring NES indications in certain types of CSSs.

[0295] 4. Method #6-4

[0296] During inactive time or when operating in a DRX configuration and / or DRX group for NES, a UE configured with C-DRX may not expect CSI-RS reception and may not perform measurements and reporting.

[0297] 5. Method #6-5

[0298] The (group common) DCI loss problem can be handled.

[0299] 6. Method #6-6

[0300] The BS may indicate time offset information together with the BS's operating mode switching, the time offset information indicating an absolute or relative time interval (or interval) from the MACCE or DCI indication time to the time when the NES mode starts to be applied. Alternatively, the time to start applying the NE mode may be preconfigured or defined (in the standard).

[0301] 7. Method #6-7

[0302] When the group-common DCI or MAC-CE indicates that the BS has switched from the NES mode to the non-NES mode, all timers (eg, inactivity timers) currently running in the UE may be restarted.

[0303] In the method proposed in the present disclosure, multiple off durations may be preconfigured, and the BS may indicate one of the off durations through a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE to indicate the shut down of the DL / UL signal / channel during a specific duration. Alternatively, multiple period candidate values ​​for (periodic) CSI-RS / SRS may be preconfigured, and the BS may indicate one of the period values ​​through a (group common) DCI or MAC CE. Alternatively, multiple on / off modes may be preconfigured, and the BS may indicate a specific one of the multiple on / off modes through a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0304] As in the method proposed above, the BS may configure the UE with a common CSS for receiving group common DCI or MAC-CE, or with a new type of CSS to indicate the off duration, on / off mode or cycle through (group common) DCI or MAC-CE. Alternatively, a specific RNTI for monitoring NES mode switching indication in a specific type of CSS may be agreed / configured.

[0305] For example, when one of the existing CSS types (e.g., type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 / 3-CSS) is used as the CSS for NES mode switching indication, multiple common or group-based monitoring opportunities (MOs) may be configured considering the on-duration or PO of the UE configured with C-DRX or I-DRX. In addition, in addition to the existing CSS types, a new type of CSS for NES indication may be introduced.

[0306] Alternatively, in addition to the current RNTI used for search space monitoring, a new RNTI for NES indication reception may be introduced. In the case where a PDCCH monitoring window for NES mode switching indication is periodically configured, the UE may monitor the NES mode switching indication during the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window duration. When no NES mode switching indication is detected during the PDCCH monitoring window duration, the UE may operate by equivalently applying the most recently received NES mode indication or based on a preconfigured default mode (e.g., non-NES mode).

[0307] When the UE is in connected mode after initially accessing the BS, it should continuously perform PDCCH monitoring to identify whether there is a transmission scheduled for the UE in each configured search space (SS). However, when there is no scheduling at all, performing unnecessary PDCCH monitoring each time may be wasteful, thereby quickly draining the UE's battery. Therefore, the BS can configure connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX) for the UE by configuring the duration (e.g., on duration) during which PDCCH monitoring should be performed and the off duration during which PDCCH monitoring should not be performed, so that the UE can obtain a power saving effect.

[0308] The UE performs PDCCH monitoring in the on-duration to identify whether there is DL / UL data to be sent and received. Upon receiving the PDCCH, the UE performs DL reception or UL transmission as indicated. In the UL, when there is data to be sent in the UL buffer, the UE can wake up and send an SR even in sleep mode regardless of C-DRX. In the case of an idle mode UE, it can operate in an idle mode DRX (I-DRX) where the UE periodically monitors paging and goes back to sleep when it is not a target UE.

[0309] When the UE operates in sleep mode, this may mean "regardless of the active time determined by C-DRX" or "for a duration other than the active time determined by C-DRX". The BS may switch to and operate in energy saving mode to save power for the off duration or for a duration other than the active time of the UE.

[0310] In addition, when the BS configures C-DRX for the UE through RRC, it can configure two DRX groups with separate DRX parameters.

[0311] The DRX parameters configured individually for each DRX group are drx-onDurationTimer and drx-InactivityTimer, and the DRX parameters shared by the DRX group are drx-SlotOffset, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle (optional), drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional), drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and ULHARQ-Mode (optional).

[0312] In addition, when the secondary DRX group is not configured, all service cells are included in only one DRX group (e.g., the default DRX group). On the other hand, when two DRX groups are configured, each service cell is uniquely assigned to one of the two DRX groups. Therefore, the secondary DRX group may be optionally configured, and when the secondary DRX group is not configured and only one DRX group is configured, the NES DRX group may be added to the corresponding DRX group, or the parameters for the NES may be configured to apply the above method.

[0313] For ES, in addition to the above C-DRX configuration and DRX parameters, the BS can also configure a DRX configuration for NES. Different from the parameters included in the existing UE-specific DRX configuration, the DRX configuration for NES can be a group common DRX parameter to increase the ES of the BS.

[0314] As described above, this may mean adjusting the inactivity time of the UE within the cell to suit the ES purpose of the BS by changing the ondurationtimer or inacitivitytimer of the UE. There may be one or more DRX configurations (e.g., multiple DRX configurations) for NES, and a DRX group for NES may be introduced in addition to the existing primary DRX group and secondary DRX group.

[0315] When P / SP-CSI-RS is configured for a UE configured with C-DRX, the UE may perform measurements on the configured CSI-RS resources regardless of the active time. When the active time or csi-Mask is configured, the UE may perform CSI reporting only during the onDuration. However, the BS has the opportunity to switch to NES mode during the inactive time of the UE for energy saving. However, since the BS may not operate in sleep mode to send P / SP-CSI-RS, from the perspective of energy saving of the BS, for NES, the BS may not send CSI-RS during the inactive time of the UE. Therefore, even when a UE operating in C-DRX is operating during an inactive time period or in a DRX configuration / group for NES, measurements and reports may not be performed without expecting CSI-RS reception. Alternatively, when the UE receives an NES mode switching indication from the BS, the UE may not perform measurements and reports without expecting CSI-RS reception.

[0316] In addition, since it may happen that the UE does not receive or fails to receive the NES mode switching indication sent through the group common DCI or MAC CE of the BS, the BS may repeatedly send the NES mode switching indication through the group common DCI or MAC CE. In fact, it may be difficult for the BS to receive HARQ-ACK feedback for the NES mode switching indication from each UE individually. Therefore, for the case where the UE fails to detect the group common DCI or MAC-CE sent by the BS or misses the group common DCI or MAC-CE sent by the BS, the default UE operation can be pre-agreed / pre-configured.

[0317] The default UE operation can be configured to minimize the impact on the system / UE when the NES mode switching indication is missed. For example, when there is no NES plan when CSI-RS transmission is turned off during inactive time and the default operation of the BS is configured as CSI-RS off (i.e., the UE skips CSI-RS reception), the BS can indicate CSI-RS on through DCI. In other words, even if the BS indicates CSI-RS on and sends CSI-RS through DCI, when the UE misses the group common DCI or MAC-CE sent by the BS, the UE may not receive CSI-RS according to the default operation (i.e., CSI-RS off).

[0318] In another example, in the case where the BS turns off CSI-RS transmission by instructing switching from non-NES mode to NES mode, when the BS switches to non-NES mode in a state where the BS has configured the default operation as CSI-RS off (i.e., the UE does not expect CSI-RS reception), the BS may indicate CSI-RS on. In other words, even if the BS indicates CSI-RS on through DCI and transmits CSI-RS, when the UE misses the group common DCI or MAC-CE sent by the BS, the UE may not receive CSI-RS according to the default operation (i.e., CSI-RS off).

[0319] Even if the UE receives a NES mode switching indication, the time at which the NES mode switching indication is applicable may be different for each UE. Therefore, the NES mode switching indication indicated by a group-common DCI or MAC CE may also indicate the application time so that it may start at the same specific time. For example, considering the time taken for the BS to resend the MAC CE when the UE reports a NACK for the indication when the NES mode switching indication is indicated by a group-common MAC-CE, or the time taken for multiple repeated transmissions when the NES mode switching indication is indicated by a GC-DCI, relative or absolute time offset information about how quickly the NES mode switching will be started / operated from the MAC CE or DCI indication time may be indicated together with the NES mode switching indication, or may be preconfigured / defined in the standard.

[0320] The relative time offset may indicate the time (e.g., the number of time slots / symbols) at which the NES mode switching is applied starting from the NES mode switching indication received in the GC-DCI or GC-MAC CE. For example, the absolute time offset may mean starting / applying the NES mode switching after a specific number of time slots (e.g., 10 time slots) from a specific SFN (e.g., SFN=0). When the BS indicates through a group common DCI or MAC-CE that it has switched from the NES mode to the non-NES mode, all timers (e.g., inactivity timers) currently running in the UE may be restarted.

[0321] In the above method, the DRX configuration or cell-specific DRX configuration for NES may mean a (cell-specific) DTX / DRX mode or an active / inactive mode, wherein the duration during which the BS performs only minimum transmission and reception or completely shuts down transmission and reception and the duration during which the BS performs normal operations are periodically repeated within a pre-agreed / pre-configured (e.g., in the standard) duration to achieve energy saving of the BS.

[0322] For example, as an example of DRX configuration for NES, even during the active time within one DRX cycle, the UE may not perform PDCCH monitoring, and may skip reception of common signals / channels (such as SSB / SIB1), or may receive common signals / channels only with a very large period outside the active time. In addition, even when signals such as PDCCH / PDSCH / CSI-RS / PRS / PUCCH / PUSCH / SRS are configured to be repeatedly transmitted and received outside the active time, these signals / channels may not be transmitted and received in the resources of the signals / channels.

[0323] In addition, when cell-specific DTX / DRX is configured or applied, the NES mode / state may be defined, and it may be preconfigured that when the NES mode / state is configured / indicated, energy saving is achieved by turning off the transmission and reception of some or all DL / UL signals, reducing the amount of frequency resources to be transmitted and received, reducing the number of antenna ports used for transmission, or reducing the transmission power during a specific duration in the NES mode. In addition, the BWP for NES may refer to a specific BWP that is switched when NES mode = on is indicated. The BWP for NES may refer to a BWP that includes only RBs with a very small BW as the amount of frequency resources among the BWPs configured for the UE.

[0324] When the BS operates in non-NES mode (i.e., when NES mode = OFF is indicated / configured to / for UEs in the cell), the transmission and reception of DL / UL signals can be expected to be as in normal BS operation. In addition, the DRX configuration for NES can be the same as C-DRX / I-DRX for legacy UEs.

[0325] Furthermore, this may mean dynamically indicating the time domain on / off patterns for multiple pre-agreed DL / UL signals / channels through L1 (eg, group common DCI) / L2 (eg, MAC-CE) signaling.

[0326] According to [Method #6], by specifying a CSS in which the NES operation mode switching can be received or defining a time to apply the NES operation mode switching and UE operation within a DRX cycle, the NES operation mode switching can be effectively indicated and performed without being inconsistent with the indication of the BS.

[0327] [Method #7] A method in which a serving cell notifies a neighboring cell of information about whether the serving cell is operating under NES or a serving cell notifies a UE of whether a neighboring cell is operating under NES

[0328] When the BS operates in NES mode according to the various energy saving methods proposed in the present disclosure, a specific DL / UL signal (e.g., SSB) may not be sent during a specific duration or may be sent with a very long period compared to when the BS operates in non-NES mode. When the BS operates in NES mode, this may imply indicating the shut down of a specific DL / UL signal / channel through a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE or dynamically adjusting the period of a periodic DL / UL signal / channel. Alternatively, this may imply preconfiguring multiple on / off modes and dynamically indicating a specific mode through a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE, or performing operating mode switching (e.g., switching between non-NES mode and NES mode) through a (group common) DCI or MAC-CE.

[0329] For example, when the SSB of a particular cell is not transmitted during a certain duration, this may affect neighbor cell measurements for neighbor cells and RRM of the UE. In this case, when existing criteria (e.g., RSRP thresholds) are still applied, processes such as cell (re)selection or handover (HO) may be triggered unnecessarily.

[0330] Therefore, when the serving cell operates in NES mode by applying the proposed method of the present disclosure, the serving cell can notify neighboring cells located near the serving cell of information about whether NES is running, such as information about the shutdown duration of a specific DL / UL signal / channel, information related to the periodic change of a specific DL / UL signal / channel, or information about the on / off mode. When the serving cell notifies the neighboring cell of information about whether NES is running, unnecessary processes can be prevented, the neighboring cell can compensate for problems that may occur when the serving cell operates in NES mode, or the NES gain can be increased through collaboration between cells. For example, the neighboring cell's compensation for problems that may occur due to NES mode operation may be to send SSB / SIB1 information instead of the serving cell.

[0331] The serving cell may inform the currently camped UE whether one or more neighboring cells located near the serving cell are operating under NES. As described above, when the BS (e.g., serving cell) operates in NES mode, even common signals / channels such as SSB / SSB1 may be turned off and thus not transmitted. Therefore, the neighboring cell may notify the UE within the serving cell of information related to the NES mode operation of the serving cell or the neighboring cell through signals such as system information (SI), cell-specific or UE-specific RRC signals, or group-common DCI / MAC-CE.

[0332] The information related to the NES mode operation may include the on / off mode of a specific DL / UL signal / channel, the off / on of a common signal / channel (such as SSB / SIB1), or the dynamic NES mode on / off of a neighbor cell. During the SSB off duration of the neighbor cell based on this information, the UE may not perform RRM or the UE may perform RRM, discard / ignore the measurement result, regard it as invalid, and not report the measurement result to the serving cell.

[0333] According to [Method #7], information about the NES mode of not only the serving cell but also the neighboring cell may be transmitted to the UE to compensate for problems that may occur due to the NES mode of the serving cell, or a duration during which it is not expected to transmit and receive DL / UL signals / channels to and from the neighboring cell may be determined. Therefore, it is expected that the power saving effect of the UE, the neighboring cell, and the serving cell can be enhanced.

[0334] The various descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operational flowcharts of the present disclosure described herein may be applied to, but not limited to, various fields requiring wireless communication / connection between devices (e.g., 5G).

[0335] In the following, more specific examples will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings / descriptions, similar reference numerals may represent the same or corresponding hardware blocks, software blocks or functional blocks unless otherwise specified.

[0336] Fig.10 A communication system 1 applied to the present disclosure is shown.

[0337] Reference Fig.10 , the communication system 1 applied to the present disclosure includes a wireless device, a BS, and a network. The wireless device is a device that performs communication using a radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G NR (or new RAT) or LTE), also referred to as a communication / radio / 5G device. The wireless device may include (but is not limited to) a robot 100a, a vehicle 100b-1 and 100b-2, an extended reality (XR) device 100c, a handheld device 100d, a home appliance 100e, an IoT device 100f, and an artificial intelligence (AI) device / server 400. For example, a vehicle may include a vehicle with a wireless communication function, an autonomous driving vehicle, and a vehicle capable of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Herein, a vehicle may include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device may include an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) / mixed reality (MR) device, and may be implemented in the form of a head-mounted device (HMD), a head-up display (HUD) installed in a vehicle, a television (TV), a smart phone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, and the like. Handheld devices may include smart phones, smart boards, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches or smart glasses), and computers (e.g., laptop computers). Home appliances may include TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. IoT devices may include sensors, smart meters, etc. For example, a BS and a network may be implemented as wireless devices, and a specific wireless device 200a may operate as a BS / network node for other wireless devices.

[0338] The wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the network 300 via the BS 200. AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices 100a to 100f, and the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the AI ​​server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, or a 5G (e.g., NR) network. Although the wireless devices 100a to 100f may communicate with each other via the BS 200 / network 300, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may perform direct communication (e.g., side link communication) with each other without the intervention of the BS / network. For example, the vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2 may perform direct communication (e.g., V2V / vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). An IoT device (e.g., a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g., a sensor) or other wireless devices 100a to 100f.

[0339] Wireless communication / connection 150a, 150b and 150c may be established between wireless devices 100a to 100f / BS200 and between BS200. Herein, wireless communication / connection may be established through various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as UL / DL communication 150a, side link communication 150b (or D2D communication) or inter-BS communication (e.g., relay or integrated access backhaul (IAB)). Wireless signals may be sent and received between wireless devices, between wireless devices and BSs, and between BSs through wireless communication / connection 150a, 150b and 150c. For example, signals may be sent and received via various physical channels through wireless communication / connection 150a, 150b and 150c. To this end, at least a portion of various configuration information for configuring processes for sending / receiving wireless signals, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel coding / decoding, modulation / demodulation and resource mapping / demapping) and resource allocation processes may be performed based on various proposals of the present disclosure.

[0340] Fig.11 A wireless device suitable for use with the present disclosure is shown.

[0341] Reference Fig.11 , the first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200 may transmit wireless signals via various RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). {The first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspond to Fig.10 {wireless device 100x and BS 200} and / or {wireless device 100x and wireless device 100x}.

[0342] The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and also include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processor 102 may control the memory 104 and / or the transceiver 106, and may be configured to implement the description, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processor 102 may process the information in the memory 104 to generate first information / signals, and then transmit a wireless signal including the first information / signals through the transceiver 106. The processor 102 may receive a wireless signal including second information / signals through the transceiver 106, and then store information obtained by processing the second information / signals in the memory 104. The memory 104 may be connected to the processor 102, and may store various information related to the operation of the processor 102. For example, the memory 104 may store software codes including instructions for executing all or part of the processing controlled by the processor 102 or for executing the description, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. The processor 102 and the memory 104 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement a RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 106 may be connected to the processor 102 and transmit and / or receive wireless signals through one or more antennas 108. Each transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 106 may be used interchangeably with a radio frequency (RF) unit. In the present disclosure, the wireless device may be a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0343] Specifically, instructions and / or operations controlled by the processor 102 of the first wireless device 100 and stored in the memory 104 of the first wireless device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described.

[0344] Although the following operations will be described based on the control operations of the processor 102 in terms of the processor 102, software codes for performing such operations may be stored in the memory 104. For example, in the present disclosure, at least one memory 104 may be a computer-readable storage medium and may store instructions or programs. The instructions or programs, when executed, may cause at least one processor operatively connected to at least one memory to perform operations related to the following operations according to an embodiment or implementation of the present disclosure.

[0345] For example, the processor 102 may receive information related to the NES operation of the BS through the transceiver 106. For example, the information related to the NES operation may be information related to the on / off of one or more durations or information related to whether the BS operates in the NES mode. Alternatively, it may be information related to the cycle of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the NES mode. For example, the processor 102 may receive information related to the NES operation through the transceiver 106 based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0346] The processor 102 may transmit and receive DL / UL channels during one or more durations through the transceiver 106 based on the information related to the NES operation. For example, the processor 102 may transmit and receive DL / UL channels through the transceiver 106 based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0347] The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204, and also include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processor 202 may control the memory 204 and / or the transceiver 206, and may be configured to implement the description, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processor 202 may process the information in the memory 204 to generate third information / signals, and then transmit a wireless signal including the third information / signals through the transceiver 206. The processor 202 may receive a wireless signal including fourth information / signals through the transceiver 106, and then store information obtained by processing the fourth information / signals in the memory 204. The memory 204 may be connected to the processor 202 and store various information related to the operation of the processor 202. For example, the memory 204 may store software codes including instructions for executing all or part of the processing controlled by the processor 202 or for executing the description, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. The processor 202 and the memory 204 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement a RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 206 may be connected to the processor 202 and transmit and / or receive wireless signals through one or more antennas 208. Each transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 206 may be used interchangeably with an RF unit. In the present disclosure, the wireless device may be a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0348] Specifically, now, instructions and / or operations controlled by the processor 202 of the second wireless device 200 and stored in the memory 204 of the second wireless device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0349] Although the following operations will be described based on the control operations of the processor 202 in terms of the processor 202, software codes for performing such operations may be stored in the memory 204. For example, in the present disclosure, at least one memory 204 may be a computer-readable storage medium and may store instructions or programs. The instructions or programs, when executed, may cause at least one processor operatively connected to at least one memory to perform operations related to the following operations according to an embodiment or implementation of the present disclosure.

[0350] For example, the processor 202 may transmit information related to the NES operation of the BS through the transceiver 206. For example, the information related to the NES operation may be information related to on / off of one or more durations or information related to whether the processor 202 operates in the NES mode. Alternatively, it may be information related to the cycle of the DL / UL signal / channel according to the NES mode. For example, the processor 202 may transmit information related to the NES operation through the transceiver 206 based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0351] The processor 202 may transmit and receive DL / UL channels during one or more durations through the transceiver 206 based on the information related to the NES operation. For example, the processor 202 may transmit and receive DL / UL channels through the transceiver 206 based on at least one of [Method #1] to [Method #7].

[0352] Now, the hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 will be described in more detail. One or more protocol layers may be implemented by (but not limited to) one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as physical (PHY), medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), RRC, and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP)). One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more protocol data units (PDUs) and / or one or more service data units (SDUs) according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document, and provide these messages, control information, data, or information to one or more transceivers 106 and 206. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate a signal (e.g., a baseband signal) including a PDU, SDU, message, control information, data, or information according to the description, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document, and provide the generated signal to one or more transceivers 106 and 206. One or more processors 102 and 202 may receive a signal (e.g., a baseband signal) from one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and obtain the PDU, SDU, message, control information, data, or information according to the description, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document.

[0353] One or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors or microcomputers. One or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs) or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operational flow charts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be configured to include modules, processes or functions. Firmware or software configured to execute the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operational flow charts disclosed in this document may be included in one or more processors 102 and 202 or may be stored in one or more memories 104 and 204 and driven by one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operational flow charts disclosed in this document may be implemented in the form of codes, instructions and / or instruction sets using firmware or software.

[0354] One or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals, messages, information, programs, codes, instructions and / or commands. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured to include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard drive, registers, cache memory, computer-readable storage media and / or combinations thereof. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be located inside and / or outside of one or more processors 102 and 202. One or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 via various technologies such as wired or wireless connections.

[0355] One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may send user data, control information and / or wireless signals / channels mentioned in the method and / or operation flow chart of this document to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information and / or wireless signals / channels mentioned in the description, function, process, proposal, method and / or operation flow chart disclosed in this document from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to one or more processors 102 and 202 and send and receive wireless signals. For example, one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may send user data, control information or wireless signals to one or more other devices. One or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information or wireless signals from one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to one or more antennas 108 and 208, and one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be configured to send and receive user data, control information and / or radio signals / channels mentioned in the description, functions, processes, proposals, methods and / or operation flow charts disclosed in this document through one or more antennas 108 and 208. In this document, one or more antennas may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the received wireless signals / channels from RF band signals to baseband signals so as to process the received user data, control information and wireless signals / channels using one or more processors 102 and 202. One or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data, control information and wireless signals / channels processed using one or more processors 102 and 202 from baseband signals to RF band signals. To this end, one or more of the transceivers 106 and 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters.

[0356] Fig.12 A vehicle or an autonomous vehicle applied to the present disclosure is shown. The vehicle or the autonomous vehicle may be implemented as a mobile robot, a car, a train, a manned / unmanned aerial vehicle (AV), a ship, etc.

[0357] Reference Fig.12 The vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle 100 may include an antenna unit 108, a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a driving unit 140a, a power supply unit 140b, a sensor unit 140c, and an autonomous driving unit 140d. The antenna unit 108 may be configured as a part of the communication unit 110.

[0358] The communication unit 110 may send and receive signals (e.g., data and control signals) to and from external devices such as other vehicles, BSs (e.g., gNBs and roadside units), and servers. The control unit 120 may perform various operations by controlling elements of the vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle 100. The control unit 120 may include an ECU. The drive unit 140a may enable the vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle 100 to travel on a road. The drive unit 140a may include an engine, a motor, a power system, wheels, brakes, a steering device, etc. The power supply unit 140b may supply power to the vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle 100, and include a wired / wireless charging circuit, a battery, etc. The sensor unit 140c may obtain information about the vehicle status, surrounding environment information, user information, etc. The sensor unit 140c may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor, a collision sensor, a wheel sensor, a speed sensor, a slope sensor, a weight sensor, a heading sensor, a position module, a vehicle forward / reverse sensor, a battery sensor, a fuel sensor, a tire sensor, a steering sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a lighting sensor, a pedal position sensor, etc. The autonomous driving unit 140d may implement a technology for maintaining a lane in which the vehicle is traveling, a technology for automatically adjusting a speed (e.g., adaptive cruise control), a technology for autonomously traveling along a determined path, a technology for traveling by automatically setting a route if a destination is set, and the like.

[0359] For example, the communication unit 110 may receive map data, traffic information data, etc. from an external server. The autonomous driving unit 140d may generate an autonomous driving route and a driving plan from the obtained data. The control unit 120 may control the drive unit 140a so that the vehicle or the autonomous driving vehicle 100 may move along the autonomous driving route according to the driving plan (e.g., speed / direction control). During autonomous driving, the communication unit 110 may aperiodically / periodically obtain the latest traffic information data from the external server and obtain surrounding traffic information data from neighboring vehicles. During autonomous driving, the sensor unit 140c may obtain information about the vehicle state and / or surrounding environment information. The autonomous driving unit 140d may update the autonomous driving route and driving plan based on the newly obtained data / information. The communication unit 110 may transmit information about the vehicle position, autonomous driving route, and / or driving plan to an external server. The external server may predict traffic information data using AI technology based on information collected from the vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle, and provide the predicted traffic information data to the vehicle or autonomous driving vehicle.

[0360] The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are combinations of elements and features of the present disclosure in a prescribed form. Unless otherwise specified, elements or features may be considered as selective. Each element or feature may be implemented without being combined with other elements or features. In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be constructed by combining parts of elements and / or features. The order of operations described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be rearranged. Some constructions of any one embodiment may be included in another embodiment or replaced by the corresponding construction of another embodiment. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the claims that are not clearly referenced to each other in the attached claims may be presented as embodiments of the present disclosure in combination, or may be included as new claims by subsequent amendments after submitting an application.

[0361] In the present disclosure, in some cases, a specific operation described as being performed by a BS may be performed by an upper node of the BS. That is, it is apparent that in a network including a plurality of network nodes including a BS, various operations performed for communicating with an MS may be performed by the BS or a network node other than the BS. The term "BS" may be replaced with the term "fixed station", "Node B", "enhanced Node B (eNode B or eNB)", "access point", etc.

[0362] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be implemented in other specific ways than those described herein without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the present disclosure. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be interpreted in all respects as being illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents (rather than the above description), and all changes falling within the meaning and equivalent scope of the appended claims are intended to be included therein.

[0363] Industrial Applicability

[0364] Although the above-mentioned method of transmitting and receiving uplink channels and downlink channels and an apparatus for the method have been described based on an example applied to a 5G NR system, the method and apparatus are applicable to various wireless communication systems in addition to the 5G NR system.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting an uplink UL signal or receiving a downlink DL signal by a user equipment UE in a wireless communication system, the method comprising the following steps: receiving information related to at least one first duration of unavailability; as well as transmitting the UL signal or receiving the DL signal during at least one second duration other than the at least one first duration, wherein the UL signal is not transmitted and the DL signal is not received during the at least one first duration, and The information related to the at least one first duration is received via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one first duration is one of a plurality of unavailable first durations indicated by the information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one first time duration is at least one symbol indicated by the slot format indicator SFI as being unavailable.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one second duration is at least one symbol after expiration of a timer corresponding to the at least one first duration.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The receiving of the DL signal and the sending of the UL signal are performed during the at least one first duration based on that the DL signal is a synchronization signal block SSB or a channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS or the UL signal is a physical random access channel PRACH.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Based on monitoring a physical downlink control channel PDCCH during the at least one first duration, a period of the search space SS set for the at least one first duration is greater than a period of the SS set for the at least one second duration.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The information related to the at least one first duration is used to indicate a pattern including the at least one first duration and the at least one second duration, and The information about the duration of applying the mode is also received through the DCI or the MAC-CE.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: UL transmission or DL ​​reception is performed in a time resource after an end time of the duration.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: After an end time of the duration, UL transmission or DL ​​reception is performed based on a mode different from the mode and a duration corresponding to the different mode.

10. A user equipment UE for sending an uplink UL signal or receiving a downlink DL signal in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; as well as at least one memory operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, The operations include: receiving, by the at least one transceiver, information regarding at least one first duration of unavailability; and transmitting the UL signal or receiving the DL signal by the at least one transceiver during at least one second duration other than the at least one first duration, wherein the UL signal is not transmitted and the DL signal is not received during the at least one first duration, and The information related to the at least one first duration is received via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

11. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one first duration is one of a plurality of unavailable first durations indicated by the information.

12. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one first time duration is at least one symbol indicated by the slot format indicator SFI as being unavailable.

13. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one second duration is at least one symbol after expiration of a timer corresponding to the at least one first duration.

14. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The receiving of the DL signal and the sending of the UL signal are performed during the at least one first duration based on that the DL signal is a synchronization signal block SSB or a channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS or the UL signal is a physical random access channel PRACH.

15. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: Based on monitoring a physical downlink control channel PDCCH during the at least one first duration, a period of the search space SS set for the at least one first duration is greater than a period of the SS set for the at least one second duration.

16. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The information related to the at least one first duration is used to indicate a pattern including the at least one first duration and the at least one second duration, and The information about the duration of applying the mode is also received through the DCI or the MAC-CE.

17. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: UL transmission or DL ​​reception is performed in a time resource after an end time of the duration.

18. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: After an end time of the duration, UL transmission or DL ​​reception is performed based on a mode different from the mode and a duration corresponding to the different mode.

19. A method for receiving an uplink UL signal or sending a downlink DL signal by a base station BS in a wireless communication system, the method comprising the following steps: sending information regarding at least one duration of unavailability; as well as receiving the UL signal or sending the DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration, wherein the reception of the UL signal and the transmission of the DL signal are not performed during the at least one duration, and The information related to the at least one duration is sent via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

20. A base station BS for receiving an uplink UL signal or sending a downlink DL signal in a wireless communication system, the BS comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; as well as at least one memory operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, The operations include: transmitting, by the at least one transceiver, information relating to at least one duration of unavailability; and receiving the UL signal or transmitting the DL signal by the at least one transceiver during a duration other than the at least one duration, wherein the reception of the UL signal and the transmission of the DL signal are not performed during the at least one duration, and The information related to the at least one duration is sent via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

21. A computer-readable storage medium comprising at least one computer program for causing at least one processor to perform operations, in, The operations include: receiving information regarding at least one duration of unavailability; and transmitting a UL signal or receiving a DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration, wherein the UL signal is not transmitted and the DL signal is not received during the at least one duration, and The information related to the at least one duration is received via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

22. A device for sending an uplink (UL) signal or receiving a downlink (DL) signal in a wireless communication system, the device comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, The operations include: receiving information regarding at least one duration of unavailability; and transmitting the UL signal or receiving the DL signal during a duration other than the at least one duration, wherein the UL signal is not transmitted and the DL signal is not received during the at least one duration, and The information related to the at least one duration is received via downlink control information DCI or medium access control-control element MAC-CE.

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