Transceiver device and scheduling device, and methods and

Abstract

The invention provides a transceiver device, a scheduling device, a method thereof, and an integrated circuit. In one embodiment, a transceiver device includes a transceiver that receives, over a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH): a sub-band occupancy indicator indicating a sub-band determined to be available for transmission; and a resource allocation indicator indicating a resource included in an available sub-band and assigned to the transceiver device for transmission; and circuitry to determine allocated resources according to the resource allocation indicator and the sub-band occupancy indicator, where the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to the transceiver device based on the available sub-band indicated by the sub-band occupancy indicator; and if a resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of guard band resource blocks at an edge of one or more consecutive available sub-bands, the circuitry ignores the resource block.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese invention patent application with the application date of January 24, 2020, application number 202080008422.7, and invention name “Transceiver Device and Scheduling Device”. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the transmission and reception of signals in a communication system. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception. Background Art

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for the next generation of cellular technology, also known as fifth generation (5G) including "new radio" (NR) radio access technology (RAT), which operates in the sub-1 GHz to millimeter wave frequency bands. NR is a follower of technologies represented by Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A).

[0004] For systems like LTE, LTE-A and NR, further modifications and options may facilitate efficient operation of the communication system and specific equipment related to the system. Summary of the invention

[0005] One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment facilitates providing flexible resource allocation in an unlicensed carrier.

[0006] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by a transceiver device, comprising: a transceiver, which receives through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH): a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; and a circuit, which determines the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, the circuit ignores the resource block.

[0007] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by a scheduling device, comprising: a circuit that determines a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and a transceiver that sends the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

[0008] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by a method comprising: receiving via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH): a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and determining the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, then the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

[0009] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by a method comprising: determining a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; determining a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to a transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, then the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

[0010] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a transceiver device, the processing comprising: receiving via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH): a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; and determining the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, then the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

[0011] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a scheduling device, the processing comprising: determining a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; determining a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in an available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource allocated to a transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; and if the resource block allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available subbands, then the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

[0012] In an embodiment, the technology disclosed herein is characterized by a transceiver device, including a transceiver, which receives, through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission. The transceiver device includes a circuit that determines the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator.

[0013] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

[0014] Additional benefits and advantages of the embodiments disclosed in the specification and drawings will become apparent. Benefits and / or advantages can be obtained by various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings alone, and in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages, the various embodiments and features do not need to be provided in full. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture for a 3GPP NR system including exemplary user and control plane architectures for LTE eNBs, gNBs, and UEs is shown;

[0017] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating clear channel assessment in an unlicensed broadband carrier;

[0018] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing channel occupancy;

[0019] Figure 4 shows an example diagram of Type 0 resource allocation directly applicable to NR-U wideband operation;

[0020] Figure 5 An example diagram showing type 1 resource allocation directly applicable to NR-U wideband operation is shown;

[0021] Figure 6 is an illustration of the situation of broadband operation in unlicensed spectrum, where only a portion of the active BWPs are determined to be available;

[0022] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating functional components of a scheduling device and a transceiver device according to an embodiment;

[0023] Figure 8 is an illustration of steps of a method for scheduling a device according to an embodiment;

[0024] Fig. 9 is an illustration of steps of a method for a transceiver device according to an embodiment;

[0025] Fig.10 is a schematic diagram showing resource allocation according to type 0 according to an embodiment, wherein resource block group allocation is performed on a union of available subbands excluding guard bands;

[0026] Fig.11 is an illustration of a method for a transceiver device according to an embodiment;

[0027] Fig.12 is a schematic diagram illustrating resource allocation according to type 0 according to an embodiment, wherein resource block group allocation is performed on a union of available subbands including a guard band;

[0028] Fig.13 is an illustration of a method for a transceiver device according to an embodiment;

[0029] Fig.14is a schematic diagram showing resource allocation according to type 1 according to an embodiment, wherein resource block group allocation is performed on a union of available subbands including a guard band;

[0030] Fig.15 is an illustration of a method of a transceiver device according to an embodiment in a case where RA type 1 is applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Figure 1 An exemplary example of a communication system including a base station and a terminal and a core network is shown. Such a communication system may be a 3GPP system, such as NR and / or LTE and / or UMTS. For example, Figure 1 As shown, the base station (BS) can be a gNB (gNodeB, such as an NR base station) or an eNB (eNodeB, such as an LTE base station). However, the present disclosure is not limited to these 3GPP systems or any other system. Although some terms of the 3GPP system are used to describe the embodiments and exemplary implementations, the present disclosure is also applicable to any other communication system, and in particular any cellular, wireless and / or mobile system.

[0032] The NR program promotes the provision of a single technology framework to address multiple usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios defined by, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), massive machine type communications (mMTC), etc. For example, eMBB deployment scenarios may include indoor hotspots, dense urban, rural, urban macro, and high-speed; URLLC deployment scenarios may include industrial control systems, mobile health (remote monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment), vehicle real-time control, wide-area monitoring systems for smart grids; mMTC may include scenarios with a large number of devices (such as smart wearable devices and sensor networks) with non-time-critical data transmission. The similarity between services eMBB and URLLC is that they both require very wide bandwidth, while the difference is that URLLC services require ultra-low latency. In NR, the physical layer is based on time-frequency resources (such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM similar to LTE) and can support multi-antenna operation.

[0033] The terminal is called user equipment (UE) in LTE and NR. This can be a mobile device such as a wireless phone, a smart phone, a tablet, or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick that has the functionality of a user device. However, the term mobile device is not limited to this, and generally, a relay can also have the functionality of such a mobile device, and a mobile device can also work as a relay.

[0034] A base station is a network node, for example forming a part of a network providing services to terminals. A base station is a network node, which provides wireless access to terminals.

[0035] In 3GPP, NR-based operation in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) is studied (see, for example, 3GPP TR 38.889, Study on NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, v1.0.0). NR-U can operate in 5 GHz or 6 GHz in the sub-7 GHz band. However, the present disclosure is not limited to a specific frequency band and can also be applied to, for example, millimeter wave bands, such as 52 GHz.

[0036] Wideband operation in unlicensed spectrum is one of the building blocks for NR-U. For example, NR-U can support the possibility of configuring a serving cell with a bandwidth greater than 20 MHz (within an unlicensed wideband carrier) (see Figure 2 In addition, if it cannot be guaranteed that there is no transmission of other radio access technologies (RATs) such as Wi-Fi in the frequency band in which NR-U operates, the NR-U operating bandwidth may be selected to be a multiple of 20 MHz, such as Figure 2 In addition, at least for frequency bands where the absence of Wi-Fi or other competing systems cannot be guaranteed due to regulations, for example, clear channel assessment (e.g., LBT (Listen Before Talk)) can be performed in units or frequency ranges of 20 MHz, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 shown.

[0037] The LBT process is defined as a mechanism by which a device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check before using a channel. CCA utilizes at least energy detection to determine the presence or absence of other signals on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle, respectively.

[0038] If the detected energy level exceeds the configured CCA threshold (e.g., -73dBm / MHz for Europe, see ETSI 301 893, section 4.8.3), the channel is considered occupied, whereas if the detected power level is below the configured CCA threshold, the channel is considered idle. If the channel is classified as idle, the device is allowed to transmit immediately. The maximum transmission duration is limited in order to promote fair resource sharing with other devices operating on the same band.

[0039] from Figure 2As can be seen in Figure 2, as a result of the LBT clear channel assessment for each 20MHz frequency range, it may happen that some parts of the wideband carrier are blocked by Wi-Fi or other competing systems, but NR can still use the free parts not used by the competing RAT. It may also happen that the blocking of some parts of the wideband carrier comes from the scheduling decision of the NR gNB itself (regardless of whether LBT is performed, or if LBT is performed regardless of the LBT result), for example to reserve some frequency resources.

[0040] In unlicensed band operation, after acquiring a channel, the initiating device (e.g., a scheduling device such as an NR gNB) can occupy the channel up to the maximum channel occupancy time (COT). Figure 3 Shown in.

[0041] The initiating device (e.g., gNB) may share the acquired time-frequency resources with the responding devices (e.g., one or more transceiver devices such as UEs). Sharing the acquired time-frequency resources may facilitate allowing flexible use of resources between uplink (UL), downlink (DL), or sidelink (SL), see Figure 3 For example, UL, DL, and SL resources can be reallocated based on the traffic needs in each direction.

[0042] In addition, sharing of the acquired resources can facilitate allowing UL or SL transmissions without performing LBT in the acquired COT of the gNB. Specifically, if the gap between UL and DL or SL transmissions is small enough (e.g., less than 16μs), the UE does not need to perform LBT for the UL or SL transmission directly following the DL burst, and thus the LBT overhead can be reduced.

[0043] In addition, by sharing the acquired time-frequency resources, semi-statically configured or periodic reference signals, signaling or data transmission can be achieved. For example, if the semi-statically configured UL transmission configured by the higher layer is within the COT of the gNB, but the gNB does not share the UL resources, then the UL transmission needs to be discarded.

[0044] exist Figure 3 In the example, the COT extending over 2 time slots is shown for illustration only. For example, it can be assumed that the maximum COT is 8 ms or 9 ms. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, a COT of 8 ms corresponds to 8 time slots, while for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, it corresponds to 16 time slots. In addition, Figure 3 In the example shown, the clear channel assessment is performed at the end of the time slot (#j-1), and the COT is performed starting from the first symbol of the time slot before the time slot in which the clear channel assessment is performed. However, different opportunities or time instances in which the initiating device can acquire the channel can be considered. For example, the opportunity can be every second symbol or twice per time slot.

[0045] In Release 15 of NR, two types of frequency domain resource allocation schemes (Type 0 and Type 1) are used, both of which signal the allocation across the active bandwidth part (BWP).

[0046] Type 0 is a bitmap-based allocation scheme. The most flexible way to indicate the set of allocated resource blocks is to include a bitmap in the BWP whose size is equal to the number of resource blocks. A resource block corresponds to the smallest allocatable unit for data transmission and is defined by the number of subcarriers in frequency. (Note that the NR definition of resource blocks is different from the LTE definition. NR resource blocks are one-dimensional quantities spanning only the frequency domain, while LTE uses two-dimensional resource blocks of 12 subcarriers in frequency and one slot in time.) This would allow any combination of resource blocks to be scheduled for transmission, but unfortunately would also result in very large bitmaps for larger bandwidths. Therefore, the bitmap in the Type 0 resource allocation scheme is not used to point to individual resource blocks, but to groups of contiguous resource blocks, called RBGs. The size of the RBG depends on the size of the active BWP. For example, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.4.0 and summarized in Table 1, for each size of the BWP, two different configurations are possible.

[0047] Bandwidth portion size Configuration 1 Configuration 2 1–36 2 4 37–72 4 8 73–144 8 16 145–275 16 16

[0048] Table 1

[0049] As can be seen from Table 1, for example, when configuration 1 is applied, an RBG having a bandwidth size of a BWP corresponding to the number of RBs from 1 to 36 allocated according to type 0 includes two RBs. Accordingly, for example, when configuration 2 is applied, an RBG having a BWP size corresponding to the number of RBs from 73 to 144 allocated according to type 0 includes 16 RBs. That is, the number of RBs within an RBG depends on the bandwidth of the active BWP.

[0050] The Type 1 resource allocation scheme does not rely on a bitmap. Instead, it uses a resource indication value (RIV) that encodes the resource allocation as the starting position and length of the allocation in terms of the number of resource blocks. Therefore, it does not support arbitrary allocation of resource blocks, but only frequency-contiguous allocations, thereby reducing the number of bits required to signal resource block allocations.

[0051] Both resource allocation types refer to virtual resource blocks. For type 0, non-interleaved mapping from virtual resource blocks to physical resource blocks is used, which means that virtual resource blocks are directly mapped to corresponding physical resource blocks. On the other hand, for type 1 resource allocation scheme, non-interleaved mapping is supported for UL. For DL, both interleaved and non-interleaved mapping are supported for type 1 resource allocation scheme, where the interleaving size is the bandwidth of the active BWP. The VRB to PRB mapping bit (if present, downlink only) indicates whether the allocation signaling uses interleaved or non-interleaved mapping.

[0052] Figure 4 An example diagram of a Type 0 resource allocation (RA) directly applicable to NR-U wideband operation is shown. Figure 4 As shown, the active BWP includes four sub-bands, each with a frequency range of 20 MHz. For example, during the idle channel assessment of LBT, three of the sub-bands shown are determined to be unavailable for transmission. The unavailable sub-bands are Figure 4 Indicated by an asterisk.

[0053] Because the size of the RBG (i.e., the number of virtual RBs in one RBG) depends on the active BWP, if only a portion of the active BWP is determined to be available, the RBG granularity for the bandwidth of the available subband may become too coarse. In the example shown in the figure, the active BWP may have a total of 220 virtual RBs (with 30kHz subcarrier spacing), which results in an RBG size of 16 RBs according to Table 1. However, since only a single 20MHz subband is available, the RBG granularity becomes too coarse, which limits the flexibility of resource allocation.

[0054] Figure 5 Shown in Figure 4 The example diagram of directly applying Type 1 RA to NR-U broadband operation in a similar situation as shown in FIG. 1 , where only a portion of the active BWP is determined to be available. In this case, when Type 1 RA is applied, many RIV entries are not available. Specifically, Figure 5 In the example shown, the RIV entry indicating the starting position from RB#55 having any length cannot be used.

[0055] Figure 6A case of wideband operation in unlicensed spectrum for NR-U is shown, where only a portion of the active BWPs are determined to be available. In order to compensate for RF leakage from and into sub-bands determined to be unavailable, guard band resources located between available and unavailable sub-bands (i.e., at the edges of consecutive sub-bands) may be used. This applies to RAs according to both Type 0 and Type 1. In embodiments where guard bands are applied, whether guard band resources are inserted between accessible (available) and inaccessible (unavailable) sub-bands depends on the availability of the sub-bands, which may be determined, for example, as a result of a clear channel assessment (e.g., by LBT).

[0056] Preferred RA granularity and prevention of useless RIV entries can be achieved by changing the active BWP depending on the availability of subbands, for example as a result of clear channel assessment. However, switching the active BWP is associated with delays that do not allow UEs to be scheduled during the transition time. The present disclosure provides techniques for dynamically adapting RA granularity and preventing useless RIV entries based on the availability of subbands without changing the active BWP.

[0057] Furthermore, in prior art mobile communication standards, such as LTE Release 15 and NR Release 15, guard bands are semi-statically configured to appear at the edge of a carrier. There is a lack of dynamically generating guard bands within a carrier with flexible frequency locations and sizes, such as Figure 6 A mechanism is shown for enabling guard band resources depending on the availability of sub-bands.

[0058] The present disclosure provides techniques that can facilitate the use of available subbands in a flexible and efficient manner in NR-U wideband operations. Specifically, the present disclosure also provides techniques for preventing RF leakage from and into unavailable subbands.

[0059] In order to enhance broadband operation, in the embodiments of the communication method and the communication device described below, an initiating device (scheduling device) indicates a subband occupancy indicator (SBOI) (which indicates a subband determined to be available for transmission) and a resource allocation indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission to the transceiver device via the PDCCH, and the transceiver device determines the allocated resources by interpreting the resource allocation indicator according to the SBOI.

[0060] The present disclosure provides Figure 7The transceiver device and scheduling device shown in . The transceiver device 560 includes a transceiver 570 (a transmitter and / or a receiver, including hardware components such as one or more antennas and a control circuit that controls the operation of the hardware components), which receives a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission through a PDCCH, and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources in the available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission. In addition, the transceiver device 560 includes a circuit 580 (or a processing circuit) that determines the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator (SBOI).

[0061] For example, the transceiver device 560 is a UE of NR. Accordingly, the transceiver 570 and the circuit 580 are also referred to as "UE transceiver" and "UE circuit" in the present disclosure. However, these terms are only used to distinguish the circuit 580 and the transceiver 570 from the circuits and transceivers included in other devices such as base stations. The transceiver device 560 can be a terminal device, a relay device, or a communication device of a similar communication system. The UE circuit 580 can be considered as or include an "allocated resource determination circuit".

[0062] Also provided Figure 7 The scheduling device 510 (or scheduling node) shown in the figure includes a circuit 530, which determines a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, and a resource allocation indicator indicating a resource included in the available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission. The scheduling device also includes a transceiver 520, which sends the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator through the PDCCH.

[0063] For example, the scheduling device is a network node (base station) in an NR system (gNB) or a similar wireless communication system. Circuit 530 is also referred to as "SBOI and RA determination circuit", or, in order to distinguish it from other circuits such as UE circuit 580, it is referred to as "network node circuit".

[0064] A method for scheduling a device (or scheduling a node) is also provided. Figure 8 As shown, the method comprises the following steps: determining S110 an SBOI indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, determining S120 a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission, and transmitting S130, S140 the SBOI and the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH.

[0065] A method for a transceiver device is also provided. Fig. 9As shown, the method comprises the following steps: receiving S210 an SBOI indicating a subband available for transmission via a PDCCH, and receiving S220 a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission, and determining S230 the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator.

[0066] In the further description, unless explicitly stated or the context indicates otherwise, the details and embodiments apply to each of the transceiver device 560, the scheduling node (or scheduling device) 510, and the corresponding methods for the transceiver device and the scheduling node.

[0067] The scheduling node 510 sends an SBOI and a resource allocation indicator to the transceiver device 560. The subband indicated by the SBOI is an available frequency range included in the carrier and available for transmission to be performed between the transceiver device and the scheduling device. The carrier may be an unlicensed carrier (or an unlicensed broadband carrier). These available subbands are frequency ranges ((sub) intervals, subbands, or partitions) within the unlicensed carrier that are not used by competing RAT systems (e.g., WiFI) during the duration of a timeslot or a COT comprising multiple timeslots. The subbands may have equal widths, respectively. For example, if the bandwidth within the carrier in which NR-U operates is a multiple of 20 MHz, then as mentioned above, the width of the subband may be 20 MHz.

[0068] The available subband is a frequency range available for transmission between the transceiver device 560 and the scheduling node 510. The transmission may be an uplink transmission from the transceiver device 560 to the scheduling node 510 (the transceiver device 560 transmits and the scheduling node 510 receives) or a downlink transmission from the scheduling node 510 to the transceiver device 560 (the scheduling node 510 transmits and the transceiver device 560 receives) or a sidelink transmission between the transceiver device 560 and a second transceiver device different from the transceiver device (the transceiver device 560 transmits and the second transceiver device receives, or vice versa). The transceiver device 560 and the scheduling node 510 communicate with each other via a wireless channel (specifically, a channel in an unlicensed band / carrier).

[0069] The subband occupancy indicator indicates a subband that is available for transmission, for example, according to a result of a clear channel assessment (eg, LBT).For example, a bit field in a group common PDCCH or a UE-specific PDCCH may be defined for SBOI.

[0070] The availability of subbands for transmission is not limited to being determined based on the result of clear channel assessment, but may be a decision of the scheduler, such as intentionally reserving some resources.

[0071] The scheduling node 510 allocates resources to the transceiver device for transmission. Specifically, the scheduling node 510 generates a resource allocation indicator and sends the indicator to the transceiver device 560, and the transceiver device 560 receives the resource allocation indicator.

[0072] As mentioned above, the carrier including the subband may be an unlicensed carrier. For example, the carrier may be shared by a first communication system such as NR or NR-U including the scheduling device 510 and the transceiver device 560 and a second communication system such as a WiFi system using the same or part of the unlicensed broadband carrier. The scheduling device 510 may also perform an idle channel assessment to determine the available subbands that are not currently used by the second communication system, and thereby obtain one or more available subbands for transmission within the COT. For example, the multiple frequency ranges are multiple 20MHz ranges. By obtaining the available subbands, the scheduling device 510 may be considered to initiate communication in the unlicensed broadband carrier and may be considered to be an initiating device. The scheduling device then determines the SBOI in step S110, for example based on the result of the idle channel assessment. Specifically, the scheduling device selects one or more subbands from the available subbands as available subbands, and determines and generates the SBOI to be transmitted via the PDCCH.

[0073] For example, the PDCCH indicating the available subbands is a group common (GC) PDCCH sent by the scheduling device 510 to the transceiver device group including the transceiver device 560. Accordingly, the indicated available subbands are used by the transceiver device group. The transceiver devices in the group may be configured (e.g., via RRC) with a group common RNTI (radio network temporary identifier), which the scheduling device 510 uses to scramble the DCI (i.e., the CRC bits of the DCI) carried by the GC PDCCH. The transceiver device descrambles the DCI carried by the GC PDCCH using the group common RNTI.

[0074] SBOI and resource allocation transfer

[0075] In some embodiments, the SBOI is sent by the scheduling device 510 via a group-common PDCCH and received by the transceiver device 560 , and the resource allocation indicator is sent by the scheduling device 510 via a transceiver device-specific PDCCH and received by the transceiver device 560 .

[0076] In some embodiments, both the SBOI and the resource allocation indicator are sent by the scheduling device 510 via a transceiver device-specific PDCCH and received by the transceiver device 560 .

[0077] In some embodiments, the available subbands are explicitly indicated. For example, the PDCCH includes a bit field indicating the available subbands. Accordingly, the PDCCH carries an explicit indicator of one (or more) ranges within the (unlicensed) wideband carrier that are not currently being used for communication. For example, the bit field may be one of the following options:

[0078] • First option: the available subbands are explicitly indicated by a bitmap, where one bit in the bitmap indicates the applicable range (eg, a range of 20 MHz).

[0079] • Second option: The available sub-band (the applicable portion of the unlicensed wideband carrier as long as it is contiguous) is represented by the starting position and length of the applicable portion, where the length has a specified granularity, such as 20 MHz.

[0080] Generally, a mixture of both or another signaling is also applicable. According to the first option, in some embodiments, the bit field (i.e., SBOI) is a bitmap including a plurality of bits, which respectively correspond to a plurality of subbands (such as a 20 MHz range) included in the carrier. The bitmap indicates whether (each) range in the plurality of ranges is available for transmission. Specifically, a bit in the bitmap (or each bit in the bitmap) indicates whether the corresponding subband is available for transmission to be performed.

[0081] exist Figure 2 In the example shown, the unlicensed broadband carrier with a width of 80MHz is subdivided into four 20MHz sub-bands. The gNB (or similar scheduling device 510) can perform a clear channel assessment (LBT) to determine the availability of the 20MHz ranges respectively. For example, the scheduling device 510 succeeds on frequency ranges (20MHz (sub) bands) #1, #2, and #3 (determining that ranges #1-#3 are available), but fails for frequency range #4 (i.e., determining that the frequency is blocked / used by another system / RAT and therefore determining that it is unavailable).

[0082] The scheduling device 510 generates a bitmap indicating the applicable frequency range, for example, "0111". Among them, the frequency range #1 corresponds to the least significant bit. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the bitmap may also be, for example, "1110".

[0083] The scheduling device 510 may then send a PDCCH including a bitmap indicator (SBOI) of available subbands to the transceiver device or group of transceiver devices (if sending via a GC PDCCH) that will communicate with the scheduling device.

[0084] In the case where SBOI is sent via GC PDCCH, the UE (or other transceiver device 560UE) monitors the GC PDCCH according to the search space configuration provided by the RRC. The configuration of the search space for monitoring the GC PDCCH includes both time domain and frequency domain configurations. In the time domain, it configures a monitoring period such as once per time slot or multiple times per time slot, and a monitoring offset indicating which symbol or symbols the UE should monitor. In the frequency domain, the configuration indicates to the UE the frequency domain resources for monitoring the (GC) PDCCH. Such frequency domain resources can be located in one 20MHz subband or multiple 20MHz subbands. It can be determined by the scheduling device 510 based on statistics about the blocking of each subband. Accordingly, the search space can be configured in a subband where blocking of other systems is less or least likely to occur, so as to facilitate the UE to reliably receive the GC PDCCH. If such statistical information is not available, and / or in order for the scheduling device 510 to maximize the success rate of transmitting the (GC)PDCCH containing the SBOI, the transceiver device 560 (UE) may be configured to monitor the (GC)PDCCH on all 20 MHz subbands.

[0085] In case the SBOI is transmitted via the transceiver device-specific PDCCH, the transceiver device obtains the SBOI, for example, from a scheduling DCI within the transceiver device-specific PDCCH.

[0086] In the above example, the available subbands are indicated by the SBOI as a bitmap comprising bits corresponding to the subbands according to the above option 1. However, according to the second option, the availability or suitability of the subbands may also be signaled (by the gNB) and determined by an indicator of the starting position and length of the applicable part of the unlicensed carrier.

[0087] Accordingly, in some embodiments, the available subbands are included in a continuous set of available subbands, and the bit field indicates the starting position of the continuous set of subbands and the length of the continuous set of applicable frequency ranges. For example, for a case where an 80MHz broadband carrier is subdivided into a 20MHz frequency range, two bits may indicate the starting position (or starting frequency range) of the applicable frequency range set, and another two bits may indicate the length in units of available (20MHz) subbands. Figure 2In the example shown, the starting position is frequency range 1 (represented by two bits as, for example, "00"), and the length of the applicable range set is 3 (represented by "10"). Such a continuous set of applicable frequency ranges can be signaled by the bit field "0010". The situation where there are no available subbands (the entire carrier is blocked) can be indicated by an "impossible" combination, such as "1111" (a set of applicable ranges of length 4 starting from frequency range position #4). In another example, the starting position and length can be jointly encoded instead of having two separate bit fields. For the case mentioned above where the 80 MHz broadband carrier is subdivided into 4 20 MHz subbands, the following coding table can be used.

[0088] Code Point Starting subband Length (number of subbands) 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 3 1 4 0 2 5 1 2 6 2 2 7 0 3 8 1 3 9 0 4 10-15 reserve reserve

[0089] Table 2

[0090] Compared to having two separate bit fields, the joint coding method illustrated in Table 2 can save signaling overhead when the number of subbands increases.

[0091] As described above, if a certain (20 MHz) subband included in the unlicensed carrier is indicated as available (by the SBOI according to the first or second selection), the UE follows the resource allocation determination rule obtained from the resource allocation indicator of another channel (for example, if the transmission is dynamically scheduled, in the scheduling DCI) to determine the resource allocation to the UE. If a certain subband is indicated as unavailable, the UE will not receive or transmit on the unavailable subband even if the resource allocation indicator indicates that resources within the subband are allocated to the UE.

[0092] In some embodiments, based on the available subbands indicated by the SBOI, the resource allocation indicator indicates the virtual RBs as resources allocated to the transceiver device 560. The virtual RBs are then mapped to the physical RBs in an interleaved or non-interleaved manner.

[0093] Type 0RA

[0094] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates RBs assigned to the transceiver device 560 within available subbands excluding guard bands at the edges of one or more contiguous available subbands.

[0095] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed by the scheduling device according to type 0, the protection amount can be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, but the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The protection amount can correspond to the minimum protection requirement to prevent RF leakage from and into the unusable subband. The scheduling device (e.g., a gNB in ​​NR-U) determines the SBOI indicating the available subbands, for example as a result of LBT, and obtains the RBG size based on the number of RBs within a single RBG considering only the bandwidth of the available subband excluding the guard band located between the available subband and the unusable subband, wherein the bandwidth of the guard band can be defined based on the RBs within the guard band, as Fig.10 As shown. The number of RBs in each RBG can be determined, for example, according to Table 1, where the bandwidth portion size is replaced by the bandwidth of the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band. The RBG is formed on the available RBs after excluding the guard band. Subsequently, the scheduling device indicates the available subbands to the transceiver device UE via the PDCCH.

[0096] like Fig.11 As shown, the transceiver device receives S310 a guard band requirement, such as two guard band RBs, such as via RRC. In addition, the transceiver device (UE) receives S320 SBOI, such as via GC PDCCH, and receives S320 a resource allocation indicator, such as via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, and obtains S330 RBG size, such as according to Table 1 after excluding the guard band RB, wherein the bandwidth portion size is replaced by the bandwidth of the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band. Based on this, the receiver obtains S340 the number of bits of the resource allocation indicator. Subsequently, the transceiver device decodes S350 the resource allocation indicator to obtain the RBG assignment.

[0097] Since the RBG size is determined based on the union of available subbands indicated by the SBOI and excludes the guard band RBs, the granularity of RA is improved in cases where only a portion of the active BWP is available.

[0098] If the SBOI is sent via the GC PDCCH, the transceiver device (UE) may use information about the available subbands to determine the bitmap size of the resource allocation indicator, or simply assume a fixed size. If the SBOI is sent via a UE-specific PDCCH, a fixed bitmap size, such as 18 bits, may be used.

[0099] As an alternative to determining the RBG size based on the union of available subbands, as exemplified above, in the case where RA is performed by the scheduling device according to type 0 and the protection amount is semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, the RBG size can be configured to be equal to the configured guard band size (based on the number of RBs). A particular advantage of this approach is that the guard band resources can be generated by one RBG.

[0100] In either case, additional guard band resources may be generated by avoiding allocating RBGs to the UE in a resource allocation indicator (eg, when scheduling a DCI).

[0101] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed by the scheduling device according to type 0, a protection amount may be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which protection amount may correspond to the worst-case protection requirement for preventing RF leakage from and into the unusable subband. However, the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The scheduling device (e.g., the gNB in ​​NR-U) determines the SBOI indicating the available subbands, for example, as a result of LBT, and obtains the RBG size based on the number of RBs within a single RBG that only considers the bandwidth of the available subband including the guard band located between the available subband and the unusable subband, such as Fig.12 As shown. The number of RBs per RBG can be determined, for example, according to Table 1, where the bandwidth portion size is replaced by the bandwidth of the union of available subbands excluding the guard band. Thus, the RBG is formed on the available RBs without excluding the guard band. Subsequently, the scheduling device indicates the available subbands to the transceiver device UE via the SBOI. In addition, the guard band at the edge of each block of consecutive available subbands is enabled with a size equal to the value configured semi-statically, which means that the RBs within the guard band are not used for transmission in order to prevent RF leakage into or from the unavailable subbands.

[0102] like Fig.13 As shown, the transceiver device receives S410 a guard band requirement, such as three guard band RBs, such as through RRC. In addition, the transceiver device (UE) receives S420 SBOI, such as via GC PDCCH, and receives a resource allocation indicator, such as via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, and obtains S430 RBG size that does not exclude guard band RBs, such as according to Table 1, wherein the bandwidth portion size is replaced by the bandwidth of the available subband union without considering the existence of any guard band. Based on this, the receiver obtains S440 the number of bits of the resource allocation indicator. Subsequently, the transceiver device decodes S450 the resource allocation indicator to obtain the RBG allocation. In addition, during data transmission, due to the SBOI, the UE can identify that the edge of the continuous available subband needs guard band resources. Therefore, even if the guard band RB is allocated to the transceiver device according to the resources allocated according to the resource allocation indicator, the resource blocks within the guard band at the edge of the continuous available subband are ignored S460. As a result, there is no ambiguity as to whether the guard band resources should be adopted by the UE.

[0103] Compared with the previously described embodiments (see Fig.10 and 11 ) compared to the above Fig.12 and 13Important features of such a design described include: RBG size determination is decoupled from the guard band specification. Therefore, the resource allocation indicator design can be performed without considering the guard band. Fig.10 and Fig.11 Similar to the description in , since the RBG size is determined based on the union of available subbands indicated by the SBOI, the granularity of RA is improved when only a portion of the active BWP is available.

[0104] If the SBOI is sent via the GC PDCCH, the transceiver device (UE) may use information about the available subbands to determine the bitmap size of the resource allocation indicator, or simply assume a fixed size. If the SBOI is sent via a UE-specific PDCCH, a fixed bitmap size, such as 18 bits, may be used.

[0105] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed by the scheduling device according to type 0, a protection amount can be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which corresponds to the worst-case protection requirement. However, the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The scheduling device (e.g., gNB in ​​NR-U) determines the SBOI, for example as a result of LBT, which indicates the available subbands. However, even if more than one subband is available, only the bandwidth of a single available subband is considered to determine the RBG size based on the number of RBs within a single RBG. Therefore, the RBG allocation is indicated for a single subband in a resource allocation indicator sent to the transceiver device.

[0106] In case more than one subband is available, the RBG allocation within said single subband is then applied by the scheduling device and the transceiver device to all available subbands. That is, for equivalent RBs within different subbands, the RBG allocation is determined to be equal.

[0107] One advantage of such a resource allocation scheme is that the bitmap size of the resource allocation indicator can be significantly reduced because it only involves RBG allocation within a single subband. Thus, a constant bitmap size can be achieved regardless of the number of available subbands or the bandwidth of the active BWP. For example, consider an 80MHz broadband carrier operation with a 30KHz subcarrier spacing. The RBG size can be determined by considering only one 20MHz (55 RBs in this example). According to Table 1 illustrated above, the RBG size can be determined to include 4 RBs (see Configuration 1). As a result, the bitmap size is ceil(55 / 4)=14 bits. Regardless of whether the available subband is 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz or 80MHz, this 14-bit bitmap indication is used.

[0108] Regarding guard band generation, the same approach as that used in the past can be used. Fig.12 and13 More specifically, the guard bands at the edge of each block of contiguous available subbands are enabled with a size equal to the semi-statically configured amount, which means that the RBs within the guard bands are not used for transmission to prevent RF leakage into or from the unavailable subbands.

[0109] In addition, on the transceiver device (e.g., UE) side, after receiving the SBOI, the UE is informed of the available and unavailable subbands. Using this information, the UE is able to recognize that guard band resources are required at the edge of the continuous available subbands, and therefore, even if the guard band RB is allocated to the transceiver device according to the resources allocated according to the resource allocation indicator, the resource blocks within the guard band at the edge of the continuous available subband are ignored. As a result, there is no ambiguity as to whether the guard band resources should be adopted by the UE.

[0110] Type 1RA

[0111] In some embodiments, when RA is performed by the scheduling device according to Type 1, a protection amount may be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which may correspond to the worst-case protection requirement. However, the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The scheduling device (e.g., gNB in ​​NR-U) determines the SBOI as a result of the LBT, and indicates the available subbands to the transceiver device by the SBOI. The RIV has an RB granularity, and the RIV is indicated for the union of available subbands that do not exclude any guard band, such as Fig.14 As shown. If interleaving is applied to mapping to physical RBs, the interleaving size is the entire union of available subbands in order to maximize diversity. Subsequently, the scheduling device indicates the available subbands to the transceiver device UE through the SBOI. In addition, the guard band at the edge of each block of consecutive available subbands is enabled with a size equal to the value configured semi-statically, which means that the RBs within the guard band are not used for transmission to prevent RF leakage into or from unavailable subbands.

[0112] like Fig.15As shown, the transceiver device receives S510 a guard band requirement, such as three guard band RBs, such as via RRC. In addition, the transceiver device (UE) receives S520 SBOI, such as via GC PDCCH, and receives a resource allocation indicator, such as via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, and obtains S530 RIV coding range without considering any guard band RBs. In addition, the transceiver device obtains S540 the number of bits used for the RIV assignment indication, and decodes S550 the resource allocation indicator to obtain the RB assignment. In addition, due to the SBOI, the transceiver device is able to identify the position of the guard band, which is located at the edge of each block of consecutive available subbands. Therefore, even if the RBs are assigned to the receiver device according to the resource allocation indicator, the RBs within the guard band are ignored (assuming that these RBs do not carry data) to prevent RF leakage into or from unavailable subbands.

[0113] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed by a scheduling device according to type 1, a protection amount may be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which protection amount may correspond to the minimum protection requirement. However, the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The scheduling device (e.g., gNB in ​​NR-U) determines the SBOI (and therefore the location of the guard band), for example, as a result of LBT, and indicates the available subbands to the transceiver device. The RIV has an RB granularity and the RIV is indicated for the union of available subbands excluding the (minimum) guard band at the edge. In the case of non-interleaved mapping between virtual RBs and physical RBs, since the RIV has an RB granularity, the guard band can be generated by the RA itself. In the case of applying interleaved mapping, the interleaved size is the entire union of available subbands excluding the guard band at the edge of the continuous available subbands. In either case, due to the one RB granularity of the RIV, if more guard band resources are needed than the semi-statically configured minimum number, the amount of the guard band (i.e., the size of the guard band, which can be expressed as the number of RBs within the guard band) can be generated without wasting resources.

[0114] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed according to Type 1, a protection amount can be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which protection amount can correspond to the worst protection requirement. However, the location of the protection band is to be determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The SBOI is determined, for example, as a result of the LBT (and therefore determines the location of the protection band) and sent to the transceiver device. The granularity of the RIV can depend on the number of available subbands, which can be determined from the results of the LBT. For example, the granularity in the case of one available subband can be one RB, the granularity in the case of two available subbands can be two RBs, the granularity in the case of three available subbands can be three RBs, and so on. Below, RIV encodings of 1-RB and 2-RB granularities are provided as examples in Tables 3 and 4:

[0115]

[0116] Table 3: A RB granularity

[0117]

[0118] Table 4: Two RB granularities

[0119] However, the embodiments are not limited to this particular dependency of the granularity of the RIV on the number of available subbands, and the granularity may reflect any dependency on the available subbands. The RIV is indicated for the union of the available subbands not excluding any guard bands, and if interleaving is applied, the interleaving size is the entire union of the available subbands. Using this approach, diversity may be maximized. Guard bands, whose amount is semi-statically configured but whose position is dynamically determined at the edge of each block of consecutive subbands, are not used for data transmission, and therefore any RBs within the guard band are ignored by the transceiver device even if said RBs are assigned to the transceiver device according to the RA within the resource allocation indicator.

[0120] One advantage of this approach is that the RIV overhead is fixed regardless of the number of available subbands. Consider the example of 80MHz wideband operation with 30KHz subcarrier spacing, where one subband has a 20MHz bandwidth. So, one subband has 55 RBs. If the granularity of the RIV increases in proportion to the increase in the number of available subbands, the number of coded bits used for RIV becomes a fixed value, such as ceil(log2(55x56 / 2))=11 bits. As a result, it is possible to decode the scheduling DCI without knowing the number of available subbands.

[0121] If the SBOI is sent via the GC PDCCH, the transceiver device may determine the size of the RIV before receiving the scheduling DCI, or simply assume a fixed size, such as 11 bits. However, if the SBOI is sent via a transceiver device-specific PDCCH, the transceiver device may assume a fixed size.

[0122] In some embodiments, in the case where RA is performed according to Type 1, the protection amount can be semi-statically configured to the transceiver device, which can correspond to the worst-case requirement. However, the location of the guard band is determined (dynamically, for example, based on the LBT result). The available subbands are determined (and therefore the location of the guard band) and the transceiver device is notified by the SBOI. The granularity of the RIV is set to one RB, and even if multiple subbands are available, the RIV is indicated for a single available subband (for example, one of the single available 20MHz subbands). If interleaving is applied when mapping from virtual RBs to physical RBs, the interleaving size is set to the size of one available subband (for example, 20MHz), regardless of the number of available subbands. The guard bands at the edges of consecutive available subbands are not used for transmission, and the transceiver device ignores the RBs within the guard band even if the RBs are assigned to the transceiver device according to the RA in the resource allocation indicator.

[0123] When determining the resources to be allocated to the transceiver device, the transceiver device determines the resource allocation according to a single available subband from the resource allocation indicator. In the case where more than one subband is available, the determined RB allocation is then applied by the transceiver device to all available subbands. That is, for equivalent RBs within different subbands, the RB allocation is determined to be equal. Accordingly, the bits used for the RIV indication of the resource allocation indicator can be significantly reduced because it only involves the allocation of RBs within a single subband.

[0124] Specifically, if the SBOI is transmitted via the GC PDCCH, the transceiver device may determine the RIV size based on the available subbands according to the received SBOI, or simply assume a fixed size, such as 11 bits. If the SBOI is sent via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, the transceiver device may apply a fixed size.

[0125] The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware or software with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each of the above embodiments can be partially or entirely implemented by LSI (large scale integration) such as integrated circuit (IC), and each process described in each embodiment can be partially or entirely controlled by the same LSI or a combination of multiple LSIs. LSI can be formed as a chip alone, or a chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. LSI can include data input and output coupled to itself. Depending on the difference in integration, the LSI here can be referred to as IC, system LSI, super LSI or super LSI. However, the technology for implementing integrated circuits is not limited to LSI, and can be implemented by using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. In addition, an FPGA (field programmable gate array) that can be programmed after manufacturing LSI or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of the circuit unit inside the LSI can be used. The present disclosure can be implemented as digital processing or analog processing. If future integrated circuit technology replaces LSI due to the advancement of semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, future integrated circuit technology can be used to integrate functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0126] The present disclosure may be implemented by any type of device, apparatus or system having a communication function, which is referred to as a communication device.

[0127] Some non-limiting examples of such communication devices include phones (e.g., cellular (cell) phones, smart phones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, netbooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine (remote health and medical) devices, and vehicles that provide communication capabilities (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and various combinations thereof.

[0128] Communication devices are not limited to portable or mobile, but may also include any type of non-portable or fixed device, equipment, or system, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lighting, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "things" in an "Internet of Things (IoT)" network.

[0129] Communications may include exchanging data through, for example, cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., and various combinations thereof.

[0130] The communication device may include a device such as a controller or a sensor that is coupled to a communication device that performs the communication functions described in the present disclosure. For example, the communication device may include a controller or a sensor that generates a control signal or a data signal that is used by the communication device that performs the communication functions of the communication device.

[0131] The communication device may also include infrastructure such as base stations, access points, and any other device, equipment, or system that communicates with or controls devices such as those in the non-limiting examples above.

[0132] As described above, an apparatus and method are provided that can achieve efficient and flexible resource allocation in NR-U (or a similar wireless communication system operating in an unlicensed carrier).

[0133] A transceiver device is provided, comprising: a transceiver, the transceiver receiving, through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; and a circuit, the circuit determining the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator.

[0134] In some embodiments, the transceiver receives the subband occupancy indicator via a group common PDCCH and receives the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, or receives both the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device.

[0135] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator indicates a subband that will be determined to be available for transmission based on the results of the clear channel assessment.

[0136] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks as resources allocated to the transceiver device based on the available subbands indicated by the subband occupancy indicator.

[0137] For example, the resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device within the available sub-bands excluding a guard band at an edge of one or more consecutive available sub-bands.

[0138] In some embodiments, the circuitry ignores a plurality of resource blocks at edges of one or more consecutive available subbands as guard band resource blocks even if the guard band resource blocks are allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator.

[0139] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band.

[0140] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the circuit determines that the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is equal to the number of guard band resource blocks within each of the guard bands.

[0141] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the available subband; and the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within each resource block group based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands.

[0142] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by indicating a bitmap of resource block groups within a single available subband from the available subbands, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the single available subband; the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups based on the total number of resource blocks within the single available subband; and determines that the resource block group allocation of other available subbands is equal to the resource block group allocation of the single available subband.

[0143] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutively allocated resource blocks.

[0144] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of resource blocks continuously allocated within the available subbands with increments having a length depending on the number of the available subbands.

[0145] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of consecutively allocated resource blocks within a single available subband in the available subbands; and the circuit determines that the resource block allocation of the other available subbands is equal to the resource block allocation of the single available subband.

[0146] A scheduling device is also provided, comprising: a circuit that determines a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and a transceiver that sends the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0147] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator indicates a subband that will be determined to be available for transmission based on the results of the clear channel assessment.

[0148] In some embodiments, the transceiver receives the subband occupancy indicator via a group common PDCCH and receives the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, or receives both the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device.

[0149] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as the resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator.

[0150] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device within the available sub-bands excluding a guard band at an edge of one or more contiguous available sub-bands.

[0151] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band.

[0152] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the circuit determines that the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is equal to the number of guard band resource blocks within each of the guard bands.

[0153] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the available subband; and the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within each resource block group based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands.

[0154] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by indicating a bitmap of resource block groups within a single available subband from the available subbands, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the single available subband; and the circuit determines the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups based on the total number of resource blocks within the single available subband.

[0155] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutively allocated resource blocks.

[0156] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of resource blocks continuously allocated within the available subbands with increments having a length depending on the number of the available subbands.

[0157] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutive allocated resource blocks within a single available sub-band from among the available sub-bands.

[0158] A method is also provided, comprising receiving, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission, and a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and determining the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator.

[0159] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator indicates a subband that will be determined to be available for transmission based on the results of the clear channel assessment.

[0160] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator is received via a group common PDCCH and the resource allocation indicator is received via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, or both the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator are received via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device.

[0161] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as the resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator.

[0162] For example, the resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device within the available sub-bands excluding a guard band at an edge of one or more consecutive available sub-bands.

[0163] In some embodiments, the method further comprises ignoring a plurality of resource blocks that are guard band resource blocks at edges of one or more contiguous available subbands even if the guard band resource blocks are allocated to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator.

[0164] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band.

[0165] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined to be equal to the number of guard band resource blocks within each of the guard bands.

[0166] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by means of a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the available subband; the number of resource blocks within each resource block group is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands.

[0167] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a bitmap of resource block groups within a single available subband from the available subbands, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the single available subband; the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the single available subband; and the resource block group allocations of the other available subbands are determined to be equal to the resource block group allocations of the single available subband.

[0168] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutive allocated resource blocks.

[0169] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of consecutive allocated resource blocks within the available subbands with increments having a length depending on the number of the available subbands.

[0170] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of consecutive allocated resource blocks within a single available subband from the available subbands; and the resource block allocation of the other available subbands is determined to be equal to the resource block allocation of the single available subband.

[0171] A method is also provided, comprising determining a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; determining a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subband and allocated to a transceiver device for transmission; and sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0172] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator indicates a subband that will be determined to be available for transmission based on the results of the clear channel assessment.

[0173] In some embodiments, the subband occupancy indicator is sent via a group common PDCCH and the resource allocation indicator is sent via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device, or both the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator are sent via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device.

[0174] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as the resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator.

[0175] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device within available sub-bands excluding a guard band at an edge of one or more consecutive available sub-bands.

[0176] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands excluding the guard band.

[0177] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within an available subband excluding the guard band; and the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined to be equal to the number of guard band resource blocks within each of the guard bands.

[0178] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by means of a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the available subband; and the number of resource blocks within each resource block group is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands.

[0179] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by indicating a bitmap of resource block groups within a single available subband from the available subbands, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the single available subband; and the number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups is determined based on the total number of resource blocks within the single available subband.

[0180] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutive allocated resource blocks.

[0181] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length of consecutive allocated resource blocks within the available subbands with increments having a length depending on the number of the available subbands.

[0182] In some embodiments, the resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutive allocated resource blocks within a single available sub-band from among the available sub-bands.

Claims

1. A transceiver device, comprising: A transceiver, the transceiver receiving via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH: a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; as well as a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; and circuitry, the circuitry determining the allocated resources based on the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If a resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of guard band resource blocks at an edge of one or more contiguous available subbands, the circuitry ignores the resource block.

2. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The transceiver receives: said subband occupancy indicator via a group common PDCCH, and said resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to said transceiver device, or Both the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a PDCCH specific to the transceiver device.

3. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the available subband; and The circuit determines a number of resource blocks within each resource block group based on a total number of resource blocks within the union of the available subbands.

4. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The resource allocation indicator indicates resource blocks assigned to the transceiver device by a bitmap indicating resource block groups within a single available subband from the available subbands, each resource block group including at least one resource block within the single available subband; The circuit: determining a number of resource blocks within one of the resource block groups based on the total number of the resource blocks within the single available subband; and The resource block group allocations of other available subbands are determined to be equal to the resource block group allocation of the single available subband.

5. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutively allocated resource blocks.

6. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device through a resource indication value indicating a starting resource block and a length with respect to resource blocks continuously allocated within the available subbands with increments having a length depending on the number of the available subbands.

7. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein The resource allocation indicator indicates the resource blocks allocated to the transceiver device by indicating a resource indication value of a starting resource block and a length with respect to consecutively allocated resource blocks within a single available subband among the available subbands; and The circuit determines resource block allocations for other available subbands to be equal to the resource block allocation for the single available subband.

8. A scheduling device, comprising: Circuit, OK a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; as well as a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; and a transceiver, sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to a transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If the resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more consecutive available sub-bands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

9. A method comprising: Reception via the Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCCH: a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; as well as a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; as well as determining the allocated resources according to the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If the resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more contiguous available subbands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

10. A method comprising: determining a subband occupancy indicator indicative of a subband determined to be available for transmission; determining a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; as well as sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to a transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If the resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more contiguous available subbands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

11. An integrated circuit for controlling a process of a transceiver device, the process comprising: Reception via the Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCCH: a subband occupancy indicator indicating a subband determined to be available for transmission; as well as a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; as well as determining the allocated resources according to the resource allocation indicator and the subband occupancy indicator, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to the transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If the resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more contiguous available subbands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

12. An integrated circuit for controlling a process of a scheduling device, the process comprising: determining a subband occupancy indicator indicative of a subband determined to be available for transmission; determining a resource allocation indicator indicating resources included in the available subbands and allocated to the transceiver device for transmission; as well as sending the subband occupancy indicator and the resource allocation indicator via a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, wherein the resource allocation indicator indicates a resource block as a resource assigned to a transceiver device based on the available subband indicated by the subband occupancy indicator; as well as If the resource block assigned to the transceiver device according to the resource allocation indicator is one of the guard band resource blocks at the edge of one or more contiguous available subbands, the resource block is ignored by the transceiver device.

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