Method, communication device and infrastructure equipment

Abstract

A method of operating a communication device is provided. The method includes receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of the wireless communication network, the control signal configured with one or more bits to indicate resource allocation, the resource allocation is used to transmit uplink transmissions to or receive downlink transmissions from the infrastructure equipment within a set of contiguous resource units of the radio interface. The continuous resource unit set comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprises a plurality of uplink resource units, and each downlink frequency set comprises a plurality of downlink resource units. The resource allocation includes at least one of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission. The control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or to indicate a resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets. The method includes determining a resource allocation for an uplink transmission or a downlink transmission based on the one or more bits. The method includes transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communication devices, infrastructure equipment, and methods of operating the communication devices and infrastructure equipment in a wireless communication network.

[0002] This application claims the Paris Convention priority of European Patent Application No. 22187206.2, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Background Art

[0003] The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present disclosure. The work performed by the presently designated inventors described in this background section, and aspects that may not qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are not admitted, either explicitly or implicitly, to be prior art to the present disclosure.

[0004] Previous generation mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architectures defined by 3GPP, are able to support a wider range of services than the simple voice and messaging services provided by previous generation mobile telecommunication systems. For example, using the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, users are able to enjoy high data rate applications, such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing, which were previously only available via fixed line data connections. Therefore, there is a strong demand to deploy such networks, and it is expected that the coverage areas of these networks (i.e., the geographic locations where the networks can be accessed) will continue to increase rapidly.

[0005] It is expected that current and future wireless communication networks will routinely and efficiently support communications for an ever-increasing range of devices that are associated with and are optimized to support a wider range of data service profiles and types than existing systems. For example, it is expected that future wireless communication networks will efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high-resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended reality (XR), etc. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, such as low-complexity devices used to support the "Internet of Things", and may generally be associated with the transmission of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high delay tolerance. Other types of devices (e.g., supporting high-definition video streaming) may be associated with the transmission of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low delay tolerance. Other types of devices, such as for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterized by data that should be transmitted over the network with low latency and high reliability. Depending on the application being run, a single device type may also be associated with different service profiles / characteristics. For example, different considerations may apply to effectively support data exchange with a smartphone when the smartphone is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) compared to when the smartphone is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or when it is used for voice communications by emergency responders in an emergency situation (data subject to strict reliability and latency requirements).

[0006] In view of this, there is a desire for current wireless communication networks (e.g., those which may be referred to as 5G or New Radio (NR) systems / new radio access technology (RAT) systems or indeed future 6G wireless communications) as well as future iterations / releases of existing systems to effectively support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data service profiles and requirements.

[0007] An example of a new service is referred to as an ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service, which, as the name implies, requires the transmission of data units or packets with high reliability and low communication latency. Another example of a new service is an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service, which is characterized by the requirement to support high capacity of up to 20 Gb / s. Therefore, URLLC and eMBB type services represent challenging examples for both LTE type communication systems and 5G / NR communication systems.

[0008] 5G NR has continued to evolve and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-Advanced, where some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use cases / scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communication systems that need to be addressed. Summary of the invention

[0009] The present disclosure may help solve or alleviate at least some of the above-mentioned problems.

[0010] Embodiments of the present technology may provide a method for operating a communication device. The method includes: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation, the resource allocation being used to transmit an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receive a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of consecutive resource units of a radio interface. The set of consecutive resource units includes one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set including a plurality of uplink resource units, and each downlink frequency set including a plurality of downlink resource units. The resource allocation includes at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission. The control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or to indicate a resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets. The method includes: determining a resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission based on the one or more bits. The method includes transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device according to the resource allocation.

[0011] Embodiments of the present technology may provide another method of operating a communication device. The method includes: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation, the resource allocation being used to transmit an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receive a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of consecutive resource units of a radio interface. The resource allocation includes multiple resource units in the set of consecutive resource units for uplink transmission or downlink transmission. The method includes: applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the multiple resource units in the resource allocation. The frequency domain mask disables a subset of the multiple resource units in the resource allocation for transmitting uplink transmissions or receiving downlink transmissions. The method includes: transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device in other resource units in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied.

[0012] In addition to methods of operating communication devices, embodiments of the present technology relate to methods of operating infrastructure equipment, communication devices and infrastructure equipment, circuits for communication devices and infrastructure equipment, computer programs, and computer-readable storage media, which can allow communication devices operating in a wireless communication network to use radio resources more efficiently.

[0013] Various aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the following claims.

[0014] It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary rather than restrictive of the present technology. The described embodiments and other advantages will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] A more complete appreciation of the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages will be readily obtained as the present disclosure becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0016] Figure 1 schematically illustrates some aspects of an LTE-type wireless communication system that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless communication system that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of exemplary infrastructure equipment and communication devices that may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 4 An example of inter-cell cross-link interference is schematically shown;

[0020] Figure 5 An example approach for explaining inter-cell cross-link interference is shown;

[0021] Figure 6 An example of intra-cell cross-link interference is schematically shown;

[0022] Figure 7 An example of partitioning the system bandwidth into dedicated uplink and downlink subbands is shown;

[0023] Figure 8 An example of transmission power leakage is shown;

[0024] Fig. 9 An example of receiver power selectivity is shown;

[0025] Fig.10 An example of inter-subband interference is shown;

[0026] Fig.11 An example of intra-subband interference is shown;

[0027] Fig.12 An example of staggered physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) allocation for 30kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) is shown;

[0028] Fig.13 An example of a first sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) configuration is shown;

[0029] Fig.14 An example of a second SBFD configuration is shown;

[0030] Fig.15 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0031] Fig.16 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0032] Fig.17 schematically illustrates an arrangement of resource blocks in a SBFD configuration according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0033] Fig.18 schematically illustrates indexes for BWP, DL subbands and UL subbands according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0034] Fig.19 schematically illustrates allocation of PDSCH in indexes for DL ​​subbands according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0035] Fig. 20 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0036] Fig.21 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0037] Fig. 22 schematically illustrates a frequency domain mask according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0038] Fig.23 A plurality of frequency domain masks according to an exemplary embodiment are schematically illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Advanced Long Term Evolution Radio Access Technology (4G)

[0040] Figure 1A schematic diagram is provided showing some basic functions of a mobile telecommunication network / system 6 that typically operates according to LTE principles, but which may also support other radio access technologies, and which may be suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure as described herein. Figure 1 Certain aspects of the various elements and their corresponding modes of operation are well known and defined in relevant standards managed by the 3GPP (RTM) body and are also described in a number of books on the subject, for example, Holma H. ​​and Toskala A [1]. It should be understood that operational aspects of the telecommunications network discussed herein that are not specifically described (e.g., relating to specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example, in accordance with relevant standards and known proposed amendments and supplements to relevant standards.

[0041] The network 6 comprises a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (ie a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from a communication device 4. Figure 1 Each base station 1 is shown as a single entity, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that some functions of a base station may be performed by different interconnected elements such as antennas (or antennae), remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

[0042] Data is transmitted from the base station 1 to the communication device 4 within its corresponding coverage area 3 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from the communication device 4 to the base station 1 via a radio uplink. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communication device 4 via the corresponding base station 1, and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging, etc. The terminal device may also be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communication device, etc. The services provided by the core network 2 may include connection to the Internet or to an external telephone service. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communication device 4 so that it can effectively contact (i.e., page) the communication device 4 for transmitting downlink data to the communication device 4.

[0043] Base stations, as examples of network infrastructure equipment, may also be referred to as transceiver stations, Node Bs, e-Node Bs, eNBs, g-Node Bs, gNBs, etc. In this regard, different terms are often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunication systems for elements that provide broadly comparable functionality. However, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented equally in different generations of wireless telecommunication systems, and for simplicity, certain terms may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is, the use of particular terms associated with certain exemplary implementations is not intended to indicate that these implementations are limited to the particular generation of networks to which the particular terms may be most associated.

[0044] New Radio Access Technology (5G)

[0045] Systems incorporating NR technology are expected to support different services (or service types), which may be characterized by different requirements for latency, data rate, and / or reliability. For example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services are characterized by requirements to support high capacity up to 20 Gb / s. Requirements for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) services are for 1–10 Gb / s of data within 1 ms. -5 (99.999%) or higher (99.9999%) reliability for a single transmission of a 32-byte packet from the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU entry point to the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU exit point of the radio interface [2].

[0046] Massive machine type communication (mMTC) is another example of a service that can be supported by NR-based communication networks. In addition, the system can be expected to support further enhancements related to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to support services with new requirements for high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases high precision positioning.

[0047] exist Figure 2 An exemplary configuration of a wireless communication network is shown in FIG, which uses some of the terms proposed and used for NR and 5G. Figure 2In the figure, a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 via connection interfaces represented by lines 16. Each TRP 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals within a radio frequency bandwidth available for the wireless communication network via a wireless access interface. Therefore, within the range of radio communication via the wireless access interface, each TRP 10 forms a cell of the wireless communication network, as represented by circle 12. Therefore, a wireless communication device 14 within the radio communication range provided by the cell 12 can transmit signals to and receive signals from the TRP 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 is connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a control node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to a core network 20, which may contain all other functions required for transmitting data to and from wireless communication devices, and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 30.

[0048] Figure 2 The elements of the wireless access network shown in FIG. 1 may be arranged in a manner similar to that described with respect to FIG. Figure 1 The examples described above operate in a manner consistent with the respective elements of the LTE network. It should be appreciated that Figure 2 The operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in and the operational aspects of other networks discussed herein according to embodiments of the present disclosure (not specifically described (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements)) may be implemented according to any known technology, for example, according to currently used methods for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems (e.g., in accordance with relevant standards).

[0049] Figure 2 The TRP 10 may partially have functionality corresponding to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communication device 14 may have functionality corresponding to a UE device 4 known for operating with an LTE network. Therefore, it should be understood that operational aspects of the new RAT network (e.g., related to specific communication protocols and physical channels used for communication between different elements) may be different from those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunication standards. However, it should also be understood that each core network component, base station, and communication device of the new RAT network is similar in function to the core network component, base station, and communication device of the LTE wireless communication network, respectively.

[0050] In terms of a wide range of top-level features, it can be broadly considered to be connected to Figure 2 The core network 20 of the new RAT telecommunication system represented in Figure 1 The core network 2 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the core network 2 shown in FIG. 1 , and the corresponding central unit 40 and its associated distributed unit / TRP 10 can be broadly considered to provide corresponding Figure 1The term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to cover both these elements of the wireless communication system and the more conventional base station type elements. Depending on the application to be implemented, the responsibility for scheduling transmissions scheduled over the radio interface between the various distributed units and the communication devices may lie with the control node / central unit and / or the distributed units / TRP. Figure 2 1 shows a communication device 14 within the coverage area of ​​the first communication cell 12. Thus, the communication device 14 can exchange signaling with the first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units / TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

[0051] It should also be understood that Figure 2 It only represents one example of the proposed architecture for a new RAT-based telecommunication system, wherein the method according to the principles described herein may be employed and the functionalities disclosed herein may also be applied to wireless telecommunication systems having different architectures.

[0052] Therefore, according to various architectures (such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 ), certain embodiments of the present disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in a wireless telecommunications system / network. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be generally described in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and communication devices, wherein the specific characteristics of the network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and communication devices will depend on the network infrastructure to be implemented. For example, in some cases, the network infrastructure equipment / access nodes may include base stations, such as Figure 1 The LTE type base station 1 shown is suitable for providing functions according to the principles described herein, and in other examples, the network infrastructure equipment may include Figure 2 A control unit / control node 40 and / or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in FIG. 1 is adapted to provide functionality according to the principles described herein.

[0053] Figure 2 A more detailed diagram of some components of the network is shown in Figure 3 Provided. Figure 3 As a simplified representation, Figure 2 The TRP 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32, and a controller or control processor 34, which is operable to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within the cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. Figure 3As shown, an exemplary UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, a receiver 48, and a controller 44, which is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit a signal representing uplink data to the wireless communication network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data as a signal transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver 48 according to conventional operations.

[0054] Transmitters 30, 49 and receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers, and transceivers described with respect to the examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices to transmit and receive radio signals, for example, in accordance with the 5G / NR standard. Controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described with respect to the examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable medium (such as a non-volatile memory). The processing steps described herein may be performed, for example, by a microprocessor in combination with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. For ease of representation, the transmitters, receivers, and controllers are illustrated in FIG. Figure 3 Schematically shown as separate elements in the figure. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements may be provided in a variety of different ways, for example, using one or more appropriately programmed programmable computers, or one or more appropriately configured application specific integrated circuits / circuits / chips / chip sets. As will be appreciated, the infrastructure equipment / TRP / base station and the UE / communication device will typically include various other elements associated with their operational functionality.

[0055] like Figure 3 As shown, TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 that is connected to DU 42 via physical interface 16. Thus, network interface 50 provides a communication link for data and signaling traffic from TRP 10 to core network 20 via DU 42 and CU 40.

[0056] The interface 46 between DU42 and CU40 is called the F1 interface, which can be a physical or logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between CU and DU can be operated according to the 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473 specifications, and can be formed by optical fiber or other wired or wireless high-bandwidth connections. In one example, the connection 16 from TRP10 to DU42 is via optical fiber. The connection between TRP10 and the core network 20 can generally be referred to as backhaul, which includes the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of TRP10 to DU42 and the F1 interface 46 from DU42 to CU40.

[0057] Full-duplex time division duplex (FD-TDD)

[0058] NR / 5G networks may use time division duplex (TDD) operation, where an entire frequency band or carrier is switched to downlink or uplink transmission during a time period, and may be switched to the other of the downlink or uplink transmissions at a later time period. Currently, TDD operates in half-duplex mode (HD-TDD), where a gNB or UE may transmit or receive packets at a given time, but not simultaneously. As wireless networks transition from NR to advanced 5G networks, a new feature of such networks is proposed to enhance the duplex operation of time division duplex (TDD) by implementing full-duplex operation in TDD (FD-TDD) [3], [4].

[0059] In FD-TDD, the gNB can transmit and receive data to and from the UE simultaneously on the same frequency band. In addition, depending on the capabilities of the UE, the UE can operate in HD-TDD or FD-TDD mode. For example, when the UE is only capable of supporting HD-TDD, FD-TDD is implemented at the gNB (simultaneously) by scheduling DL transmissions to a first UE and scheduling UL transmissions from a second UE within the same orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. In contrast, when the UE is capable of supporting FD-TDD, FD-TDD is implemented at both the gNB and the UE, where the gNB can schedule the UE simultaneously with DL and UL transmissions within the same OFDM symbol by scheduling DL and UL transmissions at different frequencies (e.g., physical resource blocks (PRBs)) of the system broadband. A UE supporting FD-TDD requires more complex hardware than a UE supporting only HD-TDD. Current 5G network development focuses on implementing FD-TDD at the gNB for UEs operating in HD-TDD mode.

[0060] Motivations for enhancing TDD duplex operation include improvements in system capacity, reduced latency, and improved uplink coverage. For example, in current HD-TDD systems, OFDM symbols are allocated in a semi-static manner for only DL or UL directions. So, if one direction experiences less or no data, the spare resources cannot be used in the other direction, or at best are underutilized. However, if resources can be used for both DL and UL data (as in FD-TDD), resource utilization in the system can be improved. In addition, in current HD-TDD systems, UEs can receive DL data but cannot transmit UL data at the same time, which causes delays. If the gNB or UE is allowed to transmit and receive data simultaneously (as with FD-TDD), traffic latency will be improved. In addition, when close to the cell edge, UEs are usually limited in UL transmission. If more time domain resources are allocated to UL transmission (e.g., repeated), UE coverage at the cell edge can be improved. If more time resources are allocated to the UL direction, less time resources can be allocated to the DL direction, which can lead to system imbalance. Implementing FD-TDD will help allow UEs to be assigned more UL time resources when needed without sacrificing DL time resources.

[0061] Cross-link Interference (CLI)

[0062] In the NR system, the slot format (i.e., the allocation of DL and UL OFDM symbols in a slot) can be semi-statically or dynamically configured, where each OFDM symbol (OS) in a slot can be configured as downlink (DL), uplink (UL), or flexible (F). OFDM symbols semi-statically configured as flexible can be dynamically indicated as DL, UL, or remain flexible by a dynamic slot format indicator (SFI), which is transmitted in a group common (GC) DCI using DCI format 2_0, where the CRC of the GC-DCI is masked by the SFI-RNTI. Flexible OFDM Symbols that remain flexible after the indication from the SFI can be changed to DL symbols or UL symbols by DL grants or UL grants, respectively. That is, a DL grant for scheduling a PDSCH that overlaps with a flexible OFDM symbol will convert these flexible OFDM symbols to DL, and similarly, a UL grant for scheduling a PUSCH that overlaps with a flexible OFDM symbol will convert these flexible OFDM symbols to UL.

[0063] Because each gNB in ​​the network can independently change the configuration of each OFDM symbol, either semi-statically or dynamically, it is possible that in a particular OFDM symbol, one gNB is configured for UL and a neighboring gNB is configured for DL. This causes inter-cell cross-link interference (CLI) between the conflicting gNBs (due to UL / DL symbol collisions for one or more symbols). Inter-cell CLI occurs when a UE's UL transmission interferes with the DL reception of another UE in another cell, or when a gNB's DL transmission interferes with the UL reception of another gNB. That is, inter-cell CLI is caused by misaligned (colliding) slot formats between neighboring cells. Figure 4 An example is shown in FIG. 4 where gNB1 411 and gNB2 412 have synchronized timeslots. In a given timeslot, the timeslot format of gNB1 411 = {D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D,U,U,U,U} and the timeslot format of gNB2 412 = {D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D,U,U,U}, where ‘D’ indicates DL and ‘U’ indicates UL. The inter-cell CLI occurs during the 11th OFDM symbol of the timeslot where gNB1 411 is performing UL and gNB2 412 is performing DL. Specifically, the inter-cell CLI 441 occurs between gNB1 411 and gNB2 412 where the DL transmission 431 of gNB2 412 interferes with the UL reception 432 of gNB1 411. CLI 442 also occurs between UE1 421 and UE2 422 , where UL transmission 432 of UE1 421 interferes with DL reception 431 of UE2 422 .

[0064] Some traditional implementations attempt to reduce inter-cell CLI in TDD networks caused by flexible and dynamic timeslot format configurations. Two CLI measurement reports that manage and coordinate scheduling between neighboring gNBs include: Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and CLI Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). In SRS-RSRP, the linear average of the power contribution of the SRS transmitted by the UE is measured by the UE in neighboring cells. This is measured on the configured resource elements within the measurement frequency bandwidth considered, in the time resources in the configured measurement occasions. In CLI-RSSI, the linear average of the observed total received power is measured only at certain OFDM symbols of the measurement time resources, in the measurement bandwidth, on the configured resource units for measurement by the UE.

[0065] Both SRS-RSRP and CLI-RSSI are RRC measurements and are performed by the UE for mitigating UE-to-UE inter-cell CLI. For SRS-RSRP, an interferer UE (i.e., a UE whose UL transmission causes interference at another UE in a neighboring cell) will transmit SRS in the uplink and a victim UE (i.e., a UE experiencing interference caused by UL transmissions from UEs in neighboring cells) will be configured with a measurement configuration including the SRS parameters of the interferer UE to allow measurement of interference from the interferer UE. Figure 5 An example is shown in FIG, where, at a particular timeslot, the 11th OS (OFDM symbol) of gNB1 511 and gNB2 512 causes an inter-cell CLI. Here, gNB1 511 has configured UE1 521 (interferer UE) to transmit SRS 540, and gNB2 512 has configured UE2 522 (victim UE) to measure the SRS 540. The SRS configuration parameters of UE1 521, such as the RS sequence used, frequency resources, frequency transmission comb structure, and time resources, are provided to UE2 522 so that UE2 522 can measure SRS 540. Typically, a UE can be configured to monitor 32 different SRSs at a maximum rate of 8 SRSs per timeslot.

[0066] For CLI-RSSI measurements, the UE measures the total received power (i.e., signal and interference) after a configured period, start and end OFDM symbols of a time slot, and a set of frequency resource blocks (RBs). Since SRS-RSRP measures transmissions made by a specific UE, the network can target specific interferer UEs to reduce their transmission power and, in some cases, not schedule interferer UEs at the same time as victim UEs reporting high SRS-RSRP measurements. In contrast, CLI-RSSI cannot be used to identify the transmissions of a specific interferer UE, but CLI-RSSI does provide an overall estimate of the inter-cell CLI experienced by the victim UE.

[0067] Intra-cell cross-link interference (CLI) and sub-band full-duplex (SBFD)

[0068] In addition to inter-cell CLI and long-range interference, FD-TDD also suffers from intra-cell CLI at the gNB and UE. Figure 6An example is shown in FIG. 6 where a gNB 610 is FD-TDD capable and is simultaneously receiving an UL transmission 631 from UE1 621 and transmitting a DL transmission 642 to UE2 622. At the gNB 610, the intra-cell CLI is caused by the DL transmission 642 at the gNB's transmitter self-interference 641, which has its own receiver attempting to decode the UL signal 631. At UE2 622, the intra-cell CLI 632 is caused by, for example, an interferer UE (UE1 621) transmitting in the UL 631 while a victim UE (UE2 622) is receiving the DL signal 642.

[0069] Due to self-interference, intra-cell CLI at the gNB can be significant, as DL transmissions can in some cases be more than 100 dB stronger than UL reception. Therefore, complex RF hardware and interference cancellation are required to isolate this self-interference. To reduce self-interference at the gNB, one possibility considered in [3], [4] is sub-band full duplex (SBFD). In SBFD, the frequency resources of the TDD system bandwidth or bandwidth part (BWP) (i.e., at the UE / gNB) are divided into two or more non-overlapping subbands, where each subband can be either DL or UL [5]. Figure 7 An example is shown in which simultaneous DL and UL transmissions occur in different non-overlapping subbands 701 to 704, i.e., in different sets of frequency resource blocks (RBs): subband #1 701, subband #2 702, subband #3 703, and subband #4 704, such that subband #1 701 and subband #3 703 are used for DL ​​transmission, while subband #2 702 and subband #4 704 are used for UL transmission.

[0070] Although Figure 7 The system bandwidth is shown as being divided into four subbands, but essentially any number of subbands may be used. For example, the system bandwidth may be divided into three subbands, which may include two downlink subbands 701, 703 and one uplink subband 702 (although other subband arrangements are contemplated). To reduce leakage from one subband 701 to 704 to another, a guard subband 710 may be configured between the UL and DL subbands 701 to 704. The guard subband 710 is configured between UL subband #4 704 and DL subband #3 703, between DL subband #3 703 and UL subband #2 702, and between UL subband #2 702 and DL subband #1 701. Figure 7 The arrangement of sub-bands 701 to 704 shown in FIG. 1 is only one possible arrangement of sub-bands, other arrangements are possible, and guard bands may be used in essentially any arrangement of sub-bands.

[0071] Inter-subband interference

[0072] In addition to inter-cell cross-link interference, SBFD also suffers from inter- (and intra-)sub-band interference caused by transmission leakage and receiver selectivity. Although transmissions are usually scheduled within a specific frequency channel (or sub-band), i.e., a specific set of RBs, the transmission power will still leak into other channels. This occurs because the channel filter is not perfect, and therefore the roll-off of the filter will cause power to leak into channels adjacent to the intended specific frequency channel. Although the following discussion uses the term "channel", the term "sub-band" may be used instead, such as Figure 7 The subbands shown in .

[0073] Figure 8 An example of a transmission that produces adjacent channel leakage is shown in FIG. Here, the desired transmit (Tx) power is the transmit power in the selected frequency band (i.e., the assigned channel 810). Due to the roll-off of the transmit filter and nonlinearities in the components of the transmitter, some of the transmit power leaks into adjacent channels (including adjacent channel 820), such as Figure 8 The ratio of the power in the assigned frequency channel 810 to the power in the adjacent channel 820 is the adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR). The leakage power 850 will cause interference at the receiver that is receiving the signal in the adjacent channel 820.

[0074] Similarly, the receiver's filter is not perfect and will receive unwanted power from adjacent channels due to its own filter roll-off. Fig. 9 An example of filter roll-off at a receiver is shown. Here, the receiver is configured to receive transmissions in the assigned channel 910. However, the imperfect characteristics of the receiver filter mean that some transmission power 950 may be received in the adjacent channel 920. Therefore, if a signal 930 is transmitted on the adjacent channel 920, the receiver will, to some extent, inadvertently receive the adjacent signal 930 in the adjacent channel 920. The ratio of the received power in the assigned frequency channel 910 to the received power 950 in the adjacent channel 920 is the adjacent channel selectivity (ACS).

[0075] The combination of the ACL from the transmitter and the ACS at the receiver will result in adjacent channel interference (ACI) at the receiver, also known as inter-sub-band interference. Fig.10 An example is shown where an interferer transmits a signal 1010 in an adjacent channel at a lower frequency than a victim receive channel 1020. The interference 1050 caused by the interferer's transmission includes the ACL 1051 of the interferer's transmit filter and the ACS 1052 of the victim's receive filter. In other words, the receiver will experience Fig.10 Interference 1050 in the ACI frequency range is shown.

[0076] Therefore, due to adjacent channel interference (ACI), cross link interference (CLI) still occurs, although Figure 7 As shown in the example of , different subbands 701 to 704 are used for DL ​​and UL transmissions in the FD-TDD cell. The proposed SRS-RSRP and CLI-RSSI measurements specified for inter-cell CLI assume that the interferer and the victim transmit and receive in the same frequency channel. That is, the measurements of SRS-RSRP and CLI-RSSI at the victim UE are performed in the same frequency channel as the interferer's frequency channel. Therefore, these methods do not consider the use of ACI and subbands 701 to 704 to provide information to the scheduler to mitigate intra-cell CLI.

[0077] Intra-subband interference

[0078] Intra-subband interference can occur when the subband configurations between gNBs are not aligned in the frequency domain. Here, CLI can occur in the overlapping frequencies of inter-cell subbands. Fig.11 An example is shown in FIG, where the 1111 system bandwidth of gNB1 is divided into UL subband UL-SB#1 1152 occupying f0 to f2 and DL subband DL-SB#1 1151 occupying f2 to f3, while the 1112 system bandwidth of gNB2 is divided into UL subband UL-SB#2 1154 occupying f0 to f2 and DL subband DL-SB#2 1153 occupying f2 to f3. The misaligned subband configuration 1150 causes UL-SB#1 1152 to overlap with DL-SB#2 1153, thereby inducing intra-subband CLI within the overlapping frequencies f1 to f2. In this example, since DL transmission 1132 of gNB2 1112 within f1 to f2 in DL-SB#2 1153 interferes with UL reception 1131 of gNB1 1111 from UE1 1121 within f1 to f2 in UL-SB#1 1152, intra-subband CLI 1141 occurs at gNB1 1111. In addition, since UL transmission 1131 of UE11121 within f1 to f2 in UL-SB#1 1152 interferes with DL reception 1132 of UE2 1122 within f1 to f2 in DL-SB#2 1153, intra-subband CLI 1142 occurs at UE2 1122.

[0079] Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA)

[0080] PDSCH frequency resources are allocated in the DL grant or activation DCI for SPS. Similarly, PUSCH frequency resources are allocated in the UL grant or activation DCI for CG-PUSCH. Frequency resource allocation is indicated in the Frequency Domain Resource Assignment (FDRA) field of the DCI for PDSCH and PUSCH. There are three types of FDRA, of which Type 0 and Type 1 are used for PDSCH and PUSCH, and Type 2 is used only for PUSCH in Rel-17 (i.e., for NR Unlicensed (NR-U)).

[0081] In Type 0 FDRA, resource blocks (RBs) in a bandwidth part (BWP) are grouped into multiple resource block groups (RBGs). The total number of RBGs in a BWP is given by N RBG-BWP The total number of RBs in an RBG (also called the “granularity of an RBG”) is represented by N RB-RBG Indicates. RB-RBG is configurable and depends on the total number N of RBs in the BWP RB-BWP This is shown in the following Table 1 reproduced from [6], where, as included in Table 5.1.2.2.1-1, the FDRA field consists of a bitmap that includes a number of bits equal to N. RBG-BWP Multiple bits N bits Each bit is configured to indicate whether each RBG of the BWP has been allocated resources. This means that the gNB has the flexibility to indicate which RBG PDSCH or PUSCH occupies, i.e., PDSCH and PUSCH frequency resources can be non-contiguous.

[0082] Table 1: RGB sizes (reproduced from [6])

[0083]

[0084]

[0085] In Type 1 FDRA, PDSCH or PUSCH occupies a contiguous set of RBs. The FDRA indicates the starting RB of PDSCH or PUSCH and the length of the RBs occupied by PDSCH or PUSCH. As in Type 0 FDRA, the gNB has no flexibility in allocating non-contiguous RBs for PDSCH or PUSCH, but has a finer granularity of PDSCH / PUSCH size (i.e., granularity of one or more RBs instead of RBGs) compared to Type 0 FDRA. The number of bits used for Type 1 FDRA is Thus, while a Type 1 FDRA may generally be considered more efficient in the amount of resources allocated (due to lower granularity), it is less flexible than a Type 0 FDRA because the allocations cannot be non-contiguous.

[0086] The UE may be configured to dynamically switch between Type 0 and Type 1, where the most significant bit (MSB) (1 bit) of the FDRA is used to indicate whether Type 0 or Type 1 FDRA is being used. Therefore, the number of bits used to dynamically switch FDRA is

[0087] In unlicensed operation, the frequency resources of the BWP are divided into RB sets, where each RB set has a bandwidth of 20 MHz. The gNB can allocate one or more RB sets to the UE, for example, for PUSCH transmission. The provisions for unlicensed operation require that the RB set be fully occupied so that its energy can be detected by another device for LBT purposes.

[0088] Type 2 FDRA is introduced for unlicensed operation to meet the unlicensed operation requirements, where in Type 2 FDRA, RBs are allocated in an interleaved manner. M is defined for 15kHz and 30kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS), respectively. interlace = 10 or 5 interleaving patterns, where in each interleaving pattern, the allocated RBs start with a different RB offset, followed by M interlace RB steps. Fig.12 An example of 30kHz SCS interleaving allocation is shown in FIG. 1 , where in a 20MHz RB set, M interlace = 5 patterns, numbered {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. The gNB may allocate PUSCH to occupy one or more interleaving patterns. Fig.12 In , interleaving patterns numbered 1 and 3 are assigned to PUSCH. Once an interleaving pattern is assigned to an RB set, the gNB can further allocate multiple RB sets in a BWP, where RB sets are allocated by defining a starting RB set and the number of consecutive RB sets being allocated. Fig.12 In the example in , the gNB indicates RB set 1 and 3 RB sets, thereby allocating PUSCH to occupy RB set 1, RB set 2, and RB set 3, where interleaving patterns 1 and 3 are used in each RB set.

[0089] The bit size of the FDRA field of Type 2 is Among them, N RB_Set is the number of RB sets in the BWP, and X interlace =6 and 5 (for 15kHz and 30kHz SCS respectively), indicating the assigned interleaving pattern.

[0090] like Fig.13 and Fig.14 As shown respectively, the two frequency configurations considered for the subband are 2DL+1UL and 1DL+1UL. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that Fig.13 and Fig.14 Such configurations illustrated in are just two examples, and any possible configuration may be used, with one or more DL subbands and one or more UL subbands arranged in any conceivable pattern.

[0091] The 2DL+1UL configuration consists of two DL subbands 1301 and 1303, with the UL subband 1302 in the middle, i.e. Fig.13 As shown in , between two DL subbands. Fig.14 As shown, the 1DL+1UL configuration consists of one DL subband 1401 and one UL subband 1402. For the 1DL+1UL subband configuration, the UL subband 1402 may start at the lower end of the frequency bandwidth (e.g., at f0) and end at the middle of the bandwidth (i.e., f1). Fig.14 1401), or after the DL subband 1401, the UL subband 1402 may start in the middle of the bandwidth (i.e., at f2) and end at the higher edge of the frequency bandwidth (at f3) (as shown in the top configuration of FIG. 1402 ). Fig.14 ).

[0092] For Type 0 and Type 1 FDRA, the bit size of the FDRA field is proportional to the number of RBs N in the BWP. RB-BWP However, in SBFD operation, only a portion of the BWP is used for PDSCH or PUSCH, which means that some FDRA bits are redundant. Fig.13 For the 2DL+1UL subband configuration shown (or indeed any SBFD configuration with more than one DL and / or UL subband with non-contiguous positioning), if two DL subbands need to be allocated to the UE, a discontinuous PDSCH allocation such as type 0 is required. This is because a type 1 allocation will be limited to one DL subband, which is because a type 1 allocation cannot be discontinuous. It should be noted here that for configuration 1 of type 0 (refer to Table 1 above), which provides a finer RBG granularity, the FDRA of type 0 uses more bits than type 1, which makes it invalid. If a type 2 FDRA is considered, the same problem of using a large number of bits will be true, thus making it invalid as well. In addition, type 0 cannot be used for fallback DCI, i.e., DCI formats 0_0 and 1_0 for UL grants and DL grants, respectively, which are DCIs with a relatively small number of bits (which can be used for purposes such as initial access), and therefore a type 0 FDRA may be too coarse. Therefore, a new FDRA method suitable for SBFD operation is needed.

[0093] Therefore, embodiments of the present technology attempt to provide a solution to this problem to provide improved resource allocation. For example, a new FDRA method is proposed that is effective and suitable for SBFD operations.

[0094] FDRA based on subband size

[0095] Fig.15 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating a communication device, such as a UE, according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0096] The method starts in step S1.

[0097] The method comprises: step S2, receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation, the resource allocation being used to transmit an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or to receive a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of consecutive resource units of a radio interface. The set of consecutive resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units. The resource allocation comprises at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission.

[0098] The control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets. Alternatively, the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0099] If the resources are allocated for uplink transmission, the method proceeds to step 3A.

[0100] In step S3A, the method comprises determining a resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the one or more bits.

[0101] In step S4A, the method comprises transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

[0102] Alternatively, if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the method proceeds to step 3B.

[0103] In step S3B, the method comprises determining a resource allocation for downlink transmission based on the one or more bits.

[0104] In step S4B, the method comprises receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

[0105] The method ends at step S5.

[0106] Those skilled in the art should understand that Fig.15 The method shown can be adjusted according to the implementation of the present technology. For example, other intermediate steps can be included in the method, or these steps can be performed in any logical order.

[0107] Fig.16 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating infrastructure equipment (such as a gNB) of a wireless communication network according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0108] The method starts at step S10.

[0109] In step S20, the method comprises: determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of consecutive resource units of the radio interface. The set of consecutive resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units.

[0110] If the infrastructure equipment determines in step S20 that it is to receive an uplink transmission from the communication device, the method continues to step S30A.

[0111] In step S30A, the method includes: configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets. The control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets.

[0112] In step 40A, the method includes transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal including one or more bits configured to indicate a resource allocation for uplink transmission.

[0113] In step 50A, the method includes receiving an uplink transmission from a communication device according to a resource allocation.

[0114] Alternatively, if the infrastructure equipment determines in step S20 that it is to receive a downlink transmission from the communication device, the method continues to step S30B.

[0115] In step S30B, the method includes configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets. The control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets.

[0116] In step 40B, the method includes transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal including one or more bits configured to indicate a resource allocation for downlink transmission.

[0117] In step 50B, the method includes transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device in accordance with the resource allocation.

[0118] The method ends at step 60 .

[0119] Those skilled in the art should understand that Fig.16 The method shown can be adjusted according to the implementation of the present technology. For example, other intermediate steps can be included in the method, or these steps can be performed in any logical order.

[0120] As will be understood from the understanding of the exemplary embodiments explained below, reference Fig.15 and Fig.16 The described method can provide improved resource allocation. For example, by configuring a control signal with one or more bits based on the total number of uplink or downlink units in the uplink or downlink frequency set, respectively, a reduced number of bits are required to indicate resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission or an increased resource allocation granularity can be provided for the same number of bits. Thus, the exemplary embodiments can take into account the SBFD configuration when performing resource allocation.

[0121] In some embodiments, the control signal includes downlink control information (DCI), and one or more bits may belong to the FDRA field of the DCI. In such an embodiment, the FDRA may be referred to as "FDRA based on SBFD". In such an embodiment, the DCI may carry resource allocations for uplink transmissions (e.g., UL grants) or downlink transmissions (e.g., DL grants). Although for clarity, exemplary embodiments will be described below in terms of the FDRA field and bits in the DCI, it should be understood that any control signal configured with one or more bits to indicate resource allocations may be used, for example, an activation DCI for an SPS PDSCH or CG-PUSCH.

[0122] In some embodiments, the set of contiguous resource blocks may be a BWP. In such an embodiment, the uplink / downlink frequency resource sets may be uplink / frequency subbands, respectively. In such an embodiment, the uplink / downlink resource units may be uplink / downlink resource blocks or uplink / downlink resource elements. In addition, in such an embodiment, at least one uplink / downlink resource unit in the resource allocation may be one or more uplink / downlink resource blocks or one or more uplink / downlink resource block groups. Although for the purpose of clarity, the exemplary embodiments will be described below from the perspective of a radio interface configured with a BWP, UL / DL subbands, UL / DL resource blocks, and UL / DL resource block groups, those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments may be applied to any radio interface including a set of contiguous resource units, the set of contiguous resource units including one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set including a plurality of uplink resource units, and each downlink frequency set including a plurality of downlink resource units.

[0123] In some embodiments, the RNTI for the DCI includes an indication that one or more bits of the DCI have been configured to indicate that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on a total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets. For example, a DCI carrying a DL grant or UL grant using an SBFD-based FDRA may use a different RNTI than a DCI carrying a DL grant or UL grant for an FDRA for non-SBFD.

[0124] In some embodiments, one or more other bits in the DCI indicate that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets. For example, a 1-bit field (or a repurposed bit) is introduced into a DCI carrying a DL grant or UL grant using SBFD-based FDRA to distinguish it from a DCI carrying a DL grant or UL grant for FDRA for non-SBFD (i.e., legacy TDD).

[0125] In some embodiments, DCI is transmitted according to a search space and / or control resource set CORESET, and the search space and / or CORESET indicates that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets. For example, the search space and / or CORESET for transmitting DCI carrying DL grant or UL grant using FDRA based on SBFD is different from the search space and / or CORESET for transmitting DCI carrying DL grant or UL grant using FDRA based on non-SBFD (i.e., traditional TDD).

[0126] In some embodiments, the configuration of the control signal having one or more bits for indicating a resource allocation includes: if the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, determining the number of bits to be included in the control signal based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, determining the number of bits to be included in the control signal based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets. In some embodiments, the greater the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, the greater the number of bits included in the control signal for indicating the uplink resource allocation. In some embodiments, the greater the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets, the greater the number of bits included in the control signal for indicating the downlink resource allocation. In other words, the number of bits included in the control signal may be proportional to the total number of uplink or downlink resource units in one or more uplink or downlink frequency sets. For example, if the DCI is allocating DL transmission, the bit size of the FDRA field of the DCI is proportional to the total number of RBs in the DL subband of the BWP. Alternatively, if the DCI is allocating UL transmission, the bit size of the FDRA field of the DCI is proportional to the total number of RBs in the UL subband of the BWP. The subband configuration (i.e., the location and size of the UL / DL subbands) can be configured semi-statically. Therefore, the FDRA bit size can also be configured semi-statically in the DCI.

[0127] In some embodiments, the FDRA field in the DCI is a type 0 FDRA field. In some embodiments, the granularity of the RBGs for the UL and DL subbands is the same, but the number of RBGs in the UL and DL subbands depends on the size of the UL and DL subbands, respectively. As mentioned above, the granularity of the RBG can alternatively be referred to as the number of RBs in the RBG. For example:

[0128] - Determine the total number of RBs in the BWP (N RB-BWP),

[0129] -Use N RB-BWP For example, from Table 1, determine RBG(N RB-RBG ) granularity,

[0130] - Determine the total number of RBGs in the BWP (N) using the following formula RBG-BWP ): N RBG-BWP

[0131] =(N RB-BWP / N RB-RBG ) rounded toward positive infinity . .

[0132] - RBGs in BWP are divided proportionally into DL and UL based on their respective sizes

[0133] (N RBG-UL For example, the total number of RBs (N) on all DL subbands in the BWP is determined according to the following formula: RB-DL ), and determine the total number of RBGs for the DL subband (N RGB-DL L):

[0134] (N RGB-DL )=(N RB-DL / N RB-BWP )*(N RBG-BWP ). Similarly, BWP is determined according to the following formula

[0135] The total number of RBs on all UL subbands (N RB-UL ) and determine the sub-band for UL

[0136] The total number of RBGs (N RGB-UL ):(N RGB-UL )=(N RB-UL / N RB-BWP )*(N RBG-BWP ).

[0137] As previously described, in a type 0 FDRA, each bit in the FDRA field indicates one RBG. The conventional FDRA field includes a bitmap having a number of bits equal to the total number of RBGs in the BWP, and each bit indicates whether one of the RGBs in the BWP is allocated with resources. However, as described above, when resource allocation is performed for a BWP divided into UL and DL subbands, multiple bits become redundant. For example, when the FDRA field allocates UL transmission, only the RBGs in the UL subband will be allocated with resources. Nevertheless, the conventional FDRA field includes multiple bits to explicitly indicate that the RBGs in the DL subband are not allocated with resources. This is an efficient use of the bits in the FDRA field. In contrast, the above method divides the number of RBGs proportionally according to the respective sizes of the UL and DL subbands. Then, for uplink transmission, the DCI may be configured with N in the FDRA field. RGB-UL bits, where each bit indicates whether one of the RBGs in the UL subband has been allocated resources. Alternatively, for DL ​​transmission, the DCI may be configured with N bits in the FDRA field. RGB-DL bits, where each bit indicates whether one of the RBGs in the DL subband has been allocated resources. In both cases, since N RGB-UL and N RGB-DL Less than N RBG-BWP , so the number of bits required to allocate resources for uplink or downlink transmission is reduced.

[0138] exist Fig.17 An example is shown in FIG, where 2DL+1UL subbands are configured in a BWP with 120 RBs. RB-BWP = 120 RBs. Total DL subband size N RB-DL is 2×48=96 RBs, and the total UL subband size is N RB-UL There are 24 RBs. RB-BWP = 120 RBs, so according to Table 1 (using configuration 1), N RB-RBG =8 RBs. Therefore, according to N RBG-BWP＝ N RB-BWP / N RB-RBG =120 / 8=15, determine the total number of RBGs in the BWP. RGB-DL =(N RB-DL / N RB-BWP )*(N RBG-BWP )=(96 / 120)*(15)=12, determine the total number of RBGs in the DL subband (N RGB-DL ), and according to N RGB-UL =(N RB-UL / N RB-BWP )*(N RBG-BWP)=(24 / 120)*(15)=3, determine the total number of RBGs in the UL subband (N RGB-UL ). Therefore, the FDRA field indicating resource allocation for DL ​​transmission requires only 12 bits, while the resource allocation for UL transmission requires only 3 bits. The conventional FDRA field would require 15 bits to indicate resource allocation for UL or DL ​​transmission.

[0139] In some embodiments, for FDRA of type 0, the granularity of the RBGs in the UL subband (i.e., the number of RBs in the RBGs used for the UL subband) and the granularity of the DL subband (i.e., the number of RBs in the RBGs used for the DL subband) depend on the respective sizes of the UL and DL subbands. For example:

[0140] - Determine the total number of RBs (N) on all DL subbands in the BWP RB-DL ), and determine the total number of RBs on all UL subbands in the BWP (NRB-N RB-UL ),

[0141] -Use Table 1 and N RB-DL Instead of N RB-BWP , determine the granularity of RBGs used for the DL subband (N RB-RBG-DL ), and using Table 1 and N RB-UL Instead of N RB-BWP , determine the granularity of RBGs used for the UL subband (N RB-RBG-UL ).

[0142] -According to N RBG-DL =N RB-DL / N RB-RBG-DL Determine the total number of RBGs in the DL subband (N RBG-DL ), and according to N RBG-UL =N RB-UL / N RB-RBG-UL Determine the total number of RBGs in the UL subband (N RBG-UL ).

[0143] By using N in Table 1 RB-DL Instead of N RB-BWP and, using N RB-UL Instead of N RB-BWP , it is possible to determine a granularity that is different from that of the UL subband and DL subband. This provides a finer RBG granularity than the conventional FDRA field, which can increase gNB scheduling flexibility.

[0144] exist Fig.17 An example is shown in FIG, where 2DL+1UL subbands are configured in a BWP with 120 RBs. The total DL subband size N RB-DL is 2×48=96 RBs, and the total UL subband size is NRB-UL There are 24 RBs. Use N RB-DL And Table 1, the granularity N of RBG for DL ​​subband RB-RBG-DL =8 RBs (using configuration 1). Using N RB-UL And Table 1, the granularity N of RBG for UL subband RB-RBG-UL =2 RBs (using configuration 1). Therefore, the total number of RBGs in the DL subband is N RBG-DL =96 / 8=12 RBGs and the total number of RBGs in the UL subband N RB-RBG-UL = 24 / 2 = 12 RGBs. Although in this example the number of RBGs for the DL subband and for the UL subband is the same, they do not need to be the same. Thus, the number of bits used to indicate the resource allocation for downlink or uplink transmission is the same. However, the granularity of resource allocation for uplink transmission is higher, providing increased gNB scheduling flexibility.

[0145] In some embodiments, the subband RB index is used as a reference for the RBs of the FDRA instead of the legacy RB index used in the BWP.The subband RB index only includes the RBs in the group of DL or UL subbands. Fig.18 An example is shown in FIG. 1 , where the index of the BWP includes 24 entries, each entry identifying an RB in the BWP as {0, 1, 2, ..., 23}. In this example, the BWP is configured with a 2DL+1UL subband configuration, where each subband includes 8 RBs. Two groups of subbands are formed, where the first group includes 2 DL subbands and the second group includes 1 UL subband. For the first group, only 16 RBs in the 2 DL subbands are indexed. Fig.18 As shown in FIG. 1 , the DL sub-index for 2 DL sub-bands includes 16 entries, each entry identifying one of the RBs in the DL sub-band as {0, 1, 2, ..., 15}. Similarly, for the second group, only 8 RBs in the UL sub-band are indexed. Fig.18 As shown, the UL sub-index for the UL sub-band includes 8 entries, each entry identifying one of the RBs in the UL sub-band as {0, 1, 2, ..., 7}. By using the sub-band RB index, the legacy type 0 and type 1 FDRAs can be reused, but with a FDRA bit size according to the total number of RBs in the grouped sub-band. For example, for DL ​​grants, it is possible to utilize Type 1 FDRA is used. In this example, there are 2 DL subbands, each consisting of 8 RBs. Therefore, N RB-DL =2(8)=16 RBs. Therefore, The bit in the FDRA of type 1 can indicate the starting RB of 6 with a length of 8 RBs for PDSCH. Fig.19As shown, the bits in the FDRA of type 1 are configured to indicate the entries {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13} of the DL sub-index of the DL sub-band for transmitting PDSCH. In another example, for UL grant, it is possible to use Type 1 FDRA is used. In this example, there is 1 UL subband consisting of 8 RBs. Therefore, N RB-UL =8 RBs. Therefore, Position. Fig.19 As shown, the entries {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13} of the DL sub-index for the DL sub-bands occupy the equivalent BWP RB entries {6, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21}. Although the above example describes the formation of two groups, where one group includes all DL sub-bands of the BWP and the other group includes all UL sub-bands of the BWP, it should be understood that each group may correspond to a subset of DL sub-bands or UL sub-bands. For example, if the BWP includes 4 DL sub-bands, the sub-band group may be configured to consist of only 2 DL sub-bands.

[0146] In some embodiments, the subbands grouped for the subband RB index are semi-statically configured or fixed in the specification.

[0147] In some implementations, subbands grouped for subband RB index are dynamically enabled or disabled, for example, a 1-bit field included in the DCI.

[0148] Although the exemplary embodiments have been described above with reference to a 2DL+1UL subband configuration, it should be understood that the present disclosure is equally applicable to any SBFD configuration including one or more DL subbands and one or more UL subbands.

[0149] Subband Mask

[0150] Fig. 20 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating a communication device, such as a UE, according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0151] The method starts at step S100 .

[0152] In step S200, the method comprises: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of consecutive resource units of a radio interface. The resource allocation comprises a plurality of resource units in a consecutive set of resource units for uplink transmission or downlink transmission.

[0153] In step S300, the method comprises applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of a plurality of resource elements in a resource allocation. The frequency domain mask disables the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission or receiving a downlink transmission.

[0154] In step S400, the method comprises transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied.

[0155] At step S500, the method ends.

[0156] Those skilled in the art should understand that Fig. 20 The method shown can be adjusted according to the implementation of the present technology. For example, other intermediate steps can be included in the method, or these steps can be performed in any logical order.

[0157] Fig.21 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary communication process in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present technology is shown. Fig.21 The process shown is a method of operating infrastructure equipment (such as a gNB) of a wireless communication network.

[0158] The method starts at step S1000.

[0159] In step S2000, the method includes: transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of consecutive resource units of a radio interface. The resource allocation includes a plurality of resource units in the set of consecutive resource units for uplink transmission or downlink transmission.

[0160] In step S3000 , the method includes: transmitting a frequency domain mask to a communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of a plurality of resource units in a resource allocation for disabling uplink transmission or downlink transmission for the communication device.

[0161] In step 4000, the method includes receiving an uplink transmission from a communication device, or transmitting a downlink transmission to a communication device, in other resource elements in a resource allocation not indicated by a frequency domain mask.

[0162] At step S5000, the method ends.

[0163] Those skilled in the art should understand that Fig.21 The method shown can be adjusted according to the implementation of the present technology. For example, other intermediate steps can be included in the method, or these steps can be performed in any logical order.

[0164] As will be understood from the understanding of the exemplary embodiments explained below, reference Fig. 20 and Fig.21 The described method can provide improved resource allocation. For example, using a frequency domain mask to disable resource units for transmission or reception can enable discontinuous type 1 FDRA resource allocation. Thus, granularity of type 1 FDRA resource allocation can be achieved with improved scheduling flexibility.

[0165] In some embodiments, a frequency domain mask (FD mask) is applied to the BWP, where the scheduled transmissions are such as PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH. The scheduled transmissions may be rate matched around masked resource units or punctured. In embodiments where the resource units are resource elements (REs), the scheduled transmissions may be rate matched around masked REs or punctured. In embodiments where the resource units are resource blocks (RBs), the scheduled transmissions may be rate matched around masked RBs or punctured.

[0166] In rate matching, the transport channel processing adapts the number of REs after the masked REs are taken out, and the RE mapping will map the coded symbols to avoid the masked REs. In puncturing, the physical channel processing will avoid the masked REs by puncturing the modulated symbols mapped to the masked REs. For example, 100 information bits are scheduled to occupy 150 REs. The MCS used here is QPSK and 1 / 3 code rate, and if there is no masking, that is, all 150 REs are used, then the transport channel processing will produce 300 coded bits, which are then modulated to 150 QPSK symbols and mapped to 150 REs. If 50 REs are masked, that is, 100 REs out of 150 REs are available, then:

[0167] • In rate matching, the transport channel processing will produce 200 coded bits, which are then QPSK modulated into 100 symbols. These REs are then mapped to the 100 available REs.

[0168] • Upon puncturing, the transmission channel processing still produces 300 coded bits, which are modulated to 150 QPSK symbols and RE mapped to 150 REs. The masked REs are then punctured, i.e. removed, so that 100 REs are transmitted.

[0169] Although the above description of rate matching and puncturing is explained in terms of REs, it will be understood that the above description is more generally applicable to other resource units (such as RBs) because, as mentioned above, REs are only one example of resource units.

[0170] The FD mask may alternatively be referred to as a subband mask. Fig. 22 An example is shown in FIG. Fig. 22 As shown, the index for the BWP includes 24 entries, each of which identifies an RB in the BWP as {0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 23}. In addition, the FD mask has been applied to a subset of the RBs in the BWP, i.e., entries {8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15}. The entries to which the FD mask is applied may be referred to as having been "masked" or disabled / excluded for transmission or reception.

[0171] The DL grant for scheduling the PDSCH for the UE has a type 1 FDRA starting at RB=4 and having a length of 18 RBs. Therefore, the PDSCH is scheduled to occupy RBs {4, 5, 6, ..., 21}. According to an exemplary embodiment, the UE applies the FD mask and rate matching around the mask RBs so that the PDSCH occupies 10 RBs, i.e., {4, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21}. Therefore, the FD mask enables the type 1 FDRA to schedule non-contiguous RBs for PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH. The UE knows the size and location of the masked resources. Therefore, the mask can be used to shield subbands, such as guard subbands when performing DL reception, UL subbands, or DL ​​subbands when performing UL transmission. In such a case, inter-symbol interference (ISI) and / or cross-link interference (CLI) can be mitigated because simultaneous uplink / downlink transmissions on overlapping resources can be avoided.

[0172] In some embodiments, the FD mask may be semi-statically configured or fixed in the specification. Separate FD masks may be configured / defined for DL ​​transmission and UL transmission.

[0173] In some embodiments, the frequency domain mask can be dynamically enabled or activated. In other words, the FD mask can be semi-statically configured, but subsequent DCI is used to dynamically indicate to the UE whether to apply the configured FD mask. The activation can be in a semi-continuous manner. For example, once the configured FD mask is activated by DCI, the FD mask is applied until it is deactivated. In another example, the activation of the configured FD mask may be non-periodic. In other words, the configured FD mask is applied only once. For example, if a DL grant activates the configured FD mask, the configured FD mask can be applied only once to the PDSCH scheduled by the DL grant.

[0174] In some embodiments, the gNB may configure multiple FD masks for the UE. The gNB may semi-statically configure one set of FD masks for DL ​​transmissions and another set of FD masks for UL transmissions. The gNB may then dynamically indicate one of the configured FD masks to be used in DL or UL transmissions using a new FD mask field in the DCI. Different BWPs may have different FD mask configurations, and the number of FD masks in different BWPs may also be different since each BWP can have a different size. As will be appreciated, such an embodiment is particularly advantageous if the gNB desires to implement dynamic subbands, i.e., the subband configuration may change dynamically. Fig.23 An example is shown in FIG, where eight FD masks are configured for a UE in a specific BWP with a size of 24 RBs. A set of FD masks (denoted as DL FD Mask#1, DL FD Mask#2, DL FD Mask#3, and DL FD Mask#4) is configured for DL ​​transmission, and another set of FD masks (denoted as UL FD Mask#1, UL FD Mask#2, UL FD Mask#3, and UL FDMask#4) is configured for UL transmission. DL grant and UL grant DCI are configured with a 2-bit FD mask field to indicate one of the 4 FD masks to be used. In this example, the first FD mask for DL ​​and UL does not have any mask RBs, which can be used to indirectly disable the FD mask or indicate that there is no SBFD operation in the PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH allocation. Different FD masks can be used for dynamic subband configuration. For example, DL FD Mask#2 can be used for a 2DL+1UL subband configuration with each subband being 8RB wide, and FD Mask#4 can be used for a 1DL+1UL subband configuration. In some examples, the gNB may use DL FD Mask #2 and DL FD Mask #3 to schedule PDSCH to use non-contiguous RBs using legacy Type 1 FDRA. It should be understood that other FD mask configurations can be configured and that the same FD Mask #2 and DL FD Mask #3 can be used. Fig.23 Examples in different numbers of FD masks.

[0175] The following numbered paragraphs provide further exemplary aspects and features of the present technology:

[0176] Paragraph 1. A method of operating a communication device, the method comprising:

[0177] A control signal is received from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission, and wherein

[0178] The control signal is configured with one or more bits to:

[0179] indicating resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0180] Indicating resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets, and the method comprising:

[0181] determining a resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, and

[0182] Uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

[0183] Paragraph 2. A method according to paragraph 1, wherein, if the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the number of bits included in the control signal is based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the number of bits included in the control signal is based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0184] Paragraph 3. A method according to paragraph 2, wherein, if the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the number of bits included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the number of bits included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0185] Paragraph 4. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 3, wherein

[0186] dividing a plurality of uplink resource units in each of the one or more uplink frequency sets into one or more groups of contiguous uplink resource units based on a total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein at least one uplink resource unit in the resource allocation includes one or more of the groups and each bit is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation, or

[0187] dividing a plurality of downlink resource units in each of the one or more downlink frequency sets into one or more groups of contiguous downlink resource units based on a total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein at least one downlink resource unit in the resource allocation includes one or more of the groups and each bit is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation, and

[0188] Determining resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission based on one or more bits includes:

[0189] One or more groups in the resource allocation are determined based on the one or more bits.

[0190] Paragraph 5. A method according to paragraph 4, wherein the number of uplink or downlink resource units included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group is based on the total number of uplink or downlink resource units in the one or more uplink or downlink frequency sets.

[0191] Paragraph 6. The method according to paragraph 4, wherein:

[0192] The number of uplink or downlink resource units included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group is based on the total number of resource units in the consecutive resource unit set, and

[0193] The number of contiguous uplink or downlink resource unit groups included in each uplink or downlink frequency set is based on a ratio of a total number of uplink or downlink resource units in one or more uplink or downlink frequency sets to a total number of resource units in a contiguous resource unit set.

[0194] Paragraph 7. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 6, wherein determining a resource allocation for the uplink or downlink transmission based on the one or more bits comprises:

[0195] determining a first uplink or downlink resource unit in a resource allocation based on the one or more bits, and

[0196] Based on the one or more bits, a number of uplink or downlink resource elements in the resource allocation is determined.

[0197] Paragraph 8. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 4, wherein

[0198] The index for the set of contiguous resource units includes a plurality of entries, each entry identifying one of a plurality of uplink or downlink resource units,

[0199] An uplink sub-index for the one or more uplink frequency sets comprises an entry in the index that identifies an uplink resource unit in the one or more uplink frequency sets for the one or more uplink frequency sets,

[0200] The downlink sub-index for the one or more downlink frequency sets comprises an entry in the index that identifies a downlink resource unit in the one or more downlink frequency sets for the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein

[0201] If the resource is allocated for uplink transmission,

[0202] An uplink sub-index is received from an infrastructure device, and wherein determining the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the one or more bits comprises:

[0203] Based on the one or more bits, determining an entry of the uplink sub-index, the entry identifying one or more uplink resource units included in the resource allocation, or

[0204] If the resource is allocated for downlink transmission,

[0205] A downlink sub-index is received from an infrastructure device, and wherein determining the resource allocation for downlink transmission based on one or more bits comprises:

[0206] Based on the one or more bits, an entry of the downlink sub-index is determined, the entry identifying one or more downlink resource units included in the resource allocation.

[0207] Paragraph 9. The method according to paragraph 8, comprising:

[0208] An activation indication is received from the infrastructure device to activate the uplink or downlink sub-index.

[0209] Paragraph 10. A method according to paragraph 9, wherein the activation indication is received in downlink control information DCI.

[0210] Paragraph 11. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 10, wherein the set of consecutive resource units of the radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

[0211] Paragraph 12. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 11, wherein the control signal includes downlink control information DCI, and the one or more bits are one or more bits of the DCI.

[0212] Paragraph 13. The method of paragraph 12, wherein the one or more bits are one or more bits of a frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) field of the DCI.

[0213] Paragraph 14. A method as described in paragraph 12 or paragraph 13, wherein determining a resource allocation for downlink transmission based on one or more bits comprises:

[0214] determining a radio network terminal identifier RNTI for the DCI based on the DCI, and

[0215] Based on the determined RNTI, resource allocation for uplink transmission is determined based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or resource allocation for downlink transmission is determined based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0216] Paragraph 15. The method according to any one of paragraphs 12 to 13, comprising:

[0217] Based on one or more other bits of the DCI, determining resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or determining resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0218] Paragraph 16. The method according to any one of paragraphs 12 to 13, comprising:

[0219] receiving DCI according to the search space and / or the control resource set CORESET, and

[0220] Based on the search space and / or CORSET, resource allocation for uplink transmission is determined based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or resource allocation for downlink transmission is determined based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0221] Paragraph 17. A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0222] determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of the radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units,

[0223] A control signal having one or more bits is configured as:

[0224] indicating a resource allocation for uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0225] indicating a resource allocation for downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and the method comprising:

[0226] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal comprising one or more bits configured to indicate resource allocation for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, and

[0227] An uplink transmission is received from the communication device or a downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

[0228] Paragraph 18. The method of paragraph 17, wherein configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0229] If the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the number of bits to be included in the control signal to indicate the resource allocation is determined based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the number of bits to be included in the control signal to indicate the resource allocation is determined based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0230] Paragraph 19. A method according to paragraph 18, wherein, if the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the number of bits determined to be included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the number of bits determined to be included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0231] Paragraph 20. A method according to any of paragraphs 17 to 19, wherein configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0232] Grouping a plurality of uplink resource units in each of the one or more uplink frequency sets into one or more groups of consecutive uplink resource units, the grouping being based on a total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, the grouping comprising:

[0233] determining the number of uplink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive uplink resource units, each of said groups comprising the same number of uplink resource units, and

[0234] determining a number of groups to include in each uplink frequency set, wherein at least one uplink resource element in a resource allocation includes one or more of the groups and each of the one or more bits is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation, or

[0235] grouping a plurality of downlink resource units in each of the one or more downlink frequency sets into one or more groups of consecutive downlink resource units, the grouping being based on a total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, the grouping comprising:

[0236] determining the number of downlink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive downlink resource units, each of said groups comprising the same number of downlink resource units, and

[0237] A number of groups to be included in each downlink frequency set is determined, wherein at least one downlink resource element in the resource allocation includes one or more of the groups and each of the one or more bits is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation.

[0238] Paragraph 21. A method according to paragraph 20, wherein determining the number of uplink or downlink resource elements to be included in each consecutive uplink resource element group or each consecutive downlink resource element group comprises:

[0239] The number of uplink or downlink resource units to be included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group is determined based on the total number of uplink or downlink resource units in one or more uplink or downlink frequency sets.

[0240] Paragraph 22. A method according to paragraph 20, wherein determining the number of uplink or downlink resource elements to be included in each consecutive uplink resource element group or each consecutive downlink resource element group comprises:

[0241] Determining a number of uplink or downlink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive uplink or downlink resource units based on a total number of resource units in the set of consecutive resource units, wherein determining the number of groups to be included in each uplink or downlink frequency set comprises:

[0242] determining a ratio of a total number of uplink or downlink resource units in one or more uplink or downlink frequency sets to a total number of resource units in a set of contiguous resource units, and

[0243] According to the determined ratio, the number of groups to be included in each uplink or downlink frequency set is determined.

[0244] Paragraph 23. A method according to any of paragraphs 17 to 22, wherein configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0245] Configure one or more bits to indicate:

[0246] a first uplink or downlink resource unit in a resource allocation, and

[0247] The number of uplink or downlink resource elements in a resource allocation.

[0248] Paragraph 24. A method according to any of paragraphs 17 to 23, wherein configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0249] determining an index for the set of consecutive resource units, the index for the set of consecutive resource units comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying one of a plurality of uplink or downlink resource units, and

[0250] determining an uplink sub-index for one or more uplink frequency sets, the uplink sub-index comprising an entry in the index identifying an uplink resource unit in the one or more uplink frequency sets for which the uplink sub-index is determined,

[0251] determining a downlink sub-index for one or more downlink frequency sets, the downlink sub-index comprising an entry in the index identifying a downlink resource unit in the one or more downlink frequency sets for which the downlink sub-index is determined,

[0252] If the resource is allocated for uplink transmission,

[0253] configuring one or more bits to indicate an entry of a sub-index identifying one or more uplink resource elements included in the resource allocation, and

[0254] transmitting an uplink sub-index to the communication device, or

[0255] If the resource is allocated for downlink transmission,

[0256] configuring the one or more bits to indicate an entry of a sub-index identifying one or more downlink resource elements included in the resource allocation, and

[0257] A downlink sub-index is transmitted to the communication device.

[0258] Paragraph 25. The method according to paragraph 24, comprising:

[0259] An activation indication is transmitted to the communication device to activate the uplink or downlink sub-index.

[0260] Paragraph 26. A method according to paragraph 25, wherein the activation indication is transmitted in downlink control information DCI.

[0261] Paragraph 27. A method according to any one of paragraphs 17 to 26, wherein the set of consecutive resource units of the radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

[0262] Paragraph 28. A method according to any of paragraphs 17 to 27, wherein configuring a control signal having one or more bits to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0263] One or more bits of the downlink control information DCI are configured to indicate resource allocation.

[0264] Paragraph 29. The method of paragraph 28, wherein configuring one or more bits of the DCI to indicate resource allocation comprises:

[0265] One or more bits of the frequency domain resource allocation FDRA field of the DCI are configured to indicate the resource allocation.

[0266] Paragraph 30. A method as described in paragraph 28 or paragraph 29, wherein configuring one or more bits of the DCI to indicate the resource allocation includes:

[0267] A radio network terminal identifier RNTI for the DCI is determined, the RNTI comprising an indication that one or more bits of the DCI have been configured to indicate that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on a total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0268] Paragraph 31. The method according to any one of paragraphs 28 to 29, comprising:

[0269] One or more other bits in the DCI are configured to indicate that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0270] Paragraph 32. A method according to any one of paragraphs 28 to 29, wherein the control signal includes a DCI, which is transmitted according to a search space and / or a control resource set CORESET, and the search space and / or CORSET indicates that resource allocation for uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in one or more uplink frequency sets, or that resource allocation for downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets.

[0271] Paragraph 33. A method of operating a communication device, the method comprising:

[0272] receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of the wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0273] applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission or receiving a downlink transmission, and

[0274] In other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied, uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure device.

[0275] Paragraph 34. A method according to paragraph 33, wherein the control signal indicates a first resource unit among a plurality of resource units in a resource allocation and a number of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation.

[0276] Paragraph 35. A method as described in paragraph 33 or paragraph 34, wherein, in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied, transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device comprises:

[0277] The uplink transmission or the downlink transmission is rate matched around a subset of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied.

[0278] Paragraph 36. A method as described in paragraph 33 or paragraph 34, wherein, in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied, transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device comprises:

[0279] Resource elements in a subset of the plurality of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied are punctured.

[0280] Paragraph 37. A method according to any of paragraphs 33 to 36, wherein the plurality of resources included in the resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission comprises:

[0281] one or more uplink and one or more downlink resource units, and wherein,

[0282] If the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied comprises one or more downlink resource elements, or

[0283] If the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied includes one or more uplink resource elements.

[0284] Paragraph 38. A method according to any of paragraphs 33 to 37, wherein the plurality of resources in the resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission comprises one or more protection resource units, and wherein,

[0285] A subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied includes one or more guard resource elements.

[0286] Paragraph 39. The method according to any one of paragraphs 33 to 38, comprising:

[0287] Receiving one or more frequency domain masks from an infrastructure device, each frequency domain mask comprising an indication of a different subset of a plurality of resource elements in a resource allocation to which the corresponding frequency domain mask is applied, wherein applying the frequency domain mask comprises:

[0288] One of the received frequency domain masks is selected for application.

[0289] Paragraph 40. A method according to paragraph 39, wherein one or more frequency domain masks are received in downlink control information DCI.

[0290] Paragraph 41. A method according to paragraph 39 or 40, wherein selecting to apply one of the received frequency domain masks comprises:

[0291] receiving an activation indication for one of the received frequency domain masks, and

[0292] The frequency domain mask for which the received activation indication is applied.

[0293] Paragraph 42. A method according to any one of paragraphs 39 to 41, wherein at least one of the received frequency domain masks is for uplink transmission and at least one of the received frequency domain masks is for downlink transmission, and wherein selecting to apply one of the received frequency domain masks comprises:

[0294] If the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, selecting to apply the at least one frequency domain mask to the uplink transmission, or

[0295] If the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the at least one frequency domain mask is selected to be applied to the downlink transmission.

[0296] Paragraph 43. A method according to any of paragraphs 33 to 42, wherein the set of consecutive resource units of the radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

[0297] Paragraph 44. A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0298] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0299] transmitting a frequency domain mask to a communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of a plurality of resource elements in a resource allocation for disabling uplink transmission or downlink transmission for the communication device, and

[0300] Uplink transmissions are received from the communication device, or downlink transmissions are transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

[0301] Paragraph 45. A method according to paragraph 44, wherein the control signal indicates a first resource unit of a plurality of resource units in a resource allocation and a number of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation.

[0302] Paragraph 46. A method according to paragraph 44 or paragraph 45, wherein receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises:

[0303] The uplink transmission or the downlink transmission is rate matched around a subset of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied.

[0304] Paragraph 47. A method according to paragraph 44 or paragraph 45, wherein receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises:

[0305] Resource elements in a subset of the plurality of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied are punctured.

[0306] Paragraph 48. A method according to any of paragraphs 44 to 47, wherein the plurality of resource units included in the resource allocation for uplink transmission or downlink transmission comprises:

[0307] one or more uplink and one or more downlink resource units, and wherein,

[0308] If the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask includes one or more downlink resource elements, or

[0309] If the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask includes one or more uplink resource elements.

[0310] Paragraph 49. A method according to any of paragraphs 44 to 48, wherein the plurality of resource units in a resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission includes one or more protection resource units, and wherein,

[0311] A subset of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask includes the one or more protection resource units.

[0312] Paragraph 50. A method according to any one of paragraphs 44 to 49, wherein transmitting the frequency domain mask to the communication device comprises:

[0313] A plurality of frequency domain masks are transmitted to the communication device, each frequency domain mask comprising an indication of a different subset of a plurality of resource elements in a resource allocation to which the respective frequency domain mask is applied.

[0314] Paragraph 51. A method according to paragraph 50, wherein one or more frequency domain masks are transmitted in downlink control information DCI.

[0315] Paragraph 52. The method according to paragraph 50 or 51, comprising:

[0316] An activation indication for one of the transmitted frequency domain masks is transmitted.

[0317] Paragraph 53. A method according to any one of paragraphs 50 to 52, wherein at least one of the multiple frequency domain masks is used for uplink transmission and at least one of the multiple frequency domain masks is used for downlink transmission.

[0318] Paragraph 54. A method according to any one of paragraphs 44 to 53, wherein the set of consecutive resource units of the radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

[0319] Paragraph 55. A communication device, the communication device comprising:

[0320] A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal,

[0321] a receiver configured to receive a signal, and

[0322] A controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, is configured to:

[0323] A control signal is received from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission, and wherein

[0324] The control signal is configured with one or more bits to:

[0325] indicating resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0326] indicating a resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the controller in combination with the transmitter and the receiver is configured to:

[0327] determining a resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, and

[0328] Uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

[0329] Paragraph 56. An infrastructure device for a wireless communication network, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0330] A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal,

[0331] a receiver configured to receive a signal, and

[0332] A controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, is configured to:

[0333] determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of the radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units,

[0334] A control signal having one or more bits is configured as:

[0335] indicating a resource allocation for uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0336] indicating a resource allocation for a downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller in combination with the transmitter and the receiver is configured to:

[0337] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal comprising one or more bits configured to indicate resource allocation for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, and

[0338] An uplink transmission is received from the communication device or a downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

[0339] Paragraph 57. A communication device, the communication device comprising:

[0340] A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal,

[0341] a receiver configured to receive a signal, and

[0342] A controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, is configured to:

[0343] receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of the wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0344] applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission or receiving a downlink transmission, and

[0345] In other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied, uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure device.

[0346] Paragraph 58. An infrastructure device for a wireless communication network, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0347] A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal,

[0348] a receiver configured to receive a signal, and

[0349] A controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, is configured to:

[0350] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0351] transmitting a frequency domain mask to a communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of a plurality of resource units in a resource allocation for disabling uplink transmission or downlink transmission by the communication device, and

[0352] Uplink transmissions are received from the communication device, or downlink transmissions are transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation that are not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

[0353] Paragraph 59. A circuit for a communication device, the circuit comprising:

[0354] A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal,

[0355] a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and

[0356] A controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, is configured to:

[0357] A control signal is received from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for downlink transmission, and wherein

[0358] The control signal is configured with one or more bits to:

[0359] indicating resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0360] indicating a resource allocation for downlink transmission based on a total number of downlink resource units in one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the controller circuitry in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry is configured to:

[0361] determining a resource allocation for uplink or downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, and

[0362] Uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure equipment according to the resource allocation.

[0363] Paragraph 60. A circuit for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the circuit comprising:

[0364] A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal,

[0365] a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and

[0366] A controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, is configured to:

[0367] determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of the radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units,

[0368] A control signal having one or more bits is configured as:

[0369] indicating a resource allocation for uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for uplink transmission based on a total number of uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or

[0370] indicating a resource allocation for a downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller circuitry in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry is configured to:

[0371] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal comprising one or more bits configured to indicate resource allocation for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, and

[0372] An uplink transmission is received from the communication device or a downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

[0373] Paragraph 61. A circuit for a communication device, the circuit comprising:

[0374] A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal,

[0375] a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and

[0376] A controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, is configured to:

[0377] receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of the wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0378] applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission or receiving a downlink transmission, and

[0379] In other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied, uplink transmissions are transmitted to or downlink transmissions are received from the infrastructure device.

[0380] Paragraph 62. A circuit for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the circuit comprising:

[0381] A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal,

[0382] a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and

[0383] A controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, is configured to:

[0384] transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission,

[0385] transmitting a frequency domain mask to a communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of a plurality of resource units in a resource allocation for disabling uplink transmission or downlink transmission by the communication device, and

[0386] Uplink transmissions are received from the communication device, or downlink transmissions are transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation that are not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

[0387] Paragraph 63. A wireless communication system comprising a communication device according to paragraph 55 and an infrastructure device according to paragraph 56.

[0388] Paragraph 64. A wireless communication system comprising a communication device according to paragraph 57 and an infrastructure device according to paragraph 58.

[0389] Paragraph 65. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 54.

[0390] Paragraph 66. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to Paragraph 65.

[0391] It should be understood that for clarity, the above description has described the embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuits and / or processors. However, it is apparent that any suitable distribution of functions between different functional units, circuits and / or processors may be used without departing from the embodiments.

[0392] The described embodiments can be implemented in any suitable form, including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The described embodiments can be optionally implemented at least in part as computer software running on one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment can be implemented physically, functionally and logically in any suitable manner. In fact, the function can be implemented in a single unit, in multiple units or as a part of other functional units. In this way, the disclosed embodiments can be implemented in a single unit, or can be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuits and / or processors.

[0393] Although the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with some embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific forms set forth herein. In addition, although features appear to be described in conjunction with specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the different features of the described embodiments can be combined in any manner suitable for implementing the technology.

[0394] References

[0395] [1]Holma H. ​​and Toskala A, "LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radioaccess", John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

[0396] [2]TR 38.913,“Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next GenerationAccess Technologies(Release 14)”,3rd Generation Partnership Project,v14.3.0,August 2017.

[0397] [3]RP-213591,“New SI:Study on evolution of NR duplex operation,”CMCC,RAN#94e,December 2021.

[0398] [4]RP-220633,“Revised SID:Study on evolution of NR duplex operation,”CMCC,RAN#95e,March 2022.

[0399] [5]European Patent No.3545716.

[0400] [6]TS 38.214,“Physical layer procedures for data(Release-17),”3rdGeneration Partnership Project,v17.1.0,April 2022.

Claims

1. A method of operating a communication device, the method comprising: Receiving a control signal from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each of the uplink frequency sets comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each of the downlink frequency sets comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for the uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for the downlink transmission, and wherein The control signal is configured with the one or more bits to: Indicating the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on the total number of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on the total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and the method comprising: determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, and The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in accordance with the resource allocation.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The number of bits included in the control signal is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, or the number of bits included in the control signal is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The number of bits included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of uplink resource units in one or more of the uplink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, or the number of bits included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of downlink resource units in one or more of the downlink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: dividing the plurality of uplink resource units in each of the one or more uplink frequency sets into one or more groups of contiguous uplink resource units based on the total number of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein at least one of the uplink resource units in the resource allocation comprises one or more of the groups and each bit is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation, or dividing the plurality of downlink resource units in each of the one or more downlink frequency sets into one or more groups of consecutive downlink resource units based on the total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein at least one of the downlink resource units in the resource allocation comprises one or more of the groups and each bit is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation, and Determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits includes: One or more of the groups in the resource allocation are determined based on the one or more bits.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The number of the uplink resource units or the downlink resource units included in each of the consecutive uplink resource unit groups or each of the downlink resource unit groups is based on the total number of the uplink resource units or the downlink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets or the one or more downlink frequency sets.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The number of the uplink resource units or the downlink resource units included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group is based on the total number of the resource units in the consecutive resource unit set, and The number of consecutive uplink resource unit groups or consecutive downlink resource unit groups included in each uplink frequency set or each downlink frequency set is based on the ratio of the total number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets or the one or more downlink frequency sets to the total number of resource units in the consecutive resource unit sets.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits includes: determining a first uplink resource unit or a first downlink resource unit in the resource allocation based on the one or more bits, and Based on the one or more bits, a number of uplink resource elements or downlink resource elements in the resource allocation is determined.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: an index for the set of consecutive resource units comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying one of the plurality of uplink resource units or the plurality of downlink resource units, an uplink sub-index for the one or more uplink frequency sets comprising the entry in the index, the entry identifying the uplink resource unit in the one or more uplink frequency sets for the one or more uplink frequency sets, The downlink sub-index for the one or more downlink frequency sets comprises the entry in the index, the entry identifying the downlink resource unit in the one or more downlink frequency sets for the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein: If the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, Receiving an uplink sub-index from the infrastructure device, and wherein determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on the one or more bits comprises: determining, based on the one or more bits, the entry of the uplink sub-index, the entry identifying the one or more uplink resource units included in the resource allocation, or If the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission, receiving a downlink sub-index from the infrastructure device, and wherein determining the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits comprises: Based on the one or more bits, the entry of the downlink sub-index is determined, the entry identifying the one or more downlink resource units included in the resource allocation.

9. The method according to claim 8, comprising: An activation indication is received from the infrastructure device to activate the uplink sub-index or the downlink sub-index.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The activation indication is received in downlink control information DCI.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A set of consecutive resource units of a radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The control signal includes downlink control information DCI, and the one or more bits are one or more bits of the DCI.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The one or more bits are one or more bits of a frequency domain resource assignment FDRA field of the DCI.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Determining the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits comprises: determining a radio network terminal identifier RNTI for the DCI based on the DCI, and Based on the determined RNTI, determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is based on the total number of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or determining the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is based on the total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

15. The method according to claim 12, comprising: Based on one or more other bits of the DCI, determine that the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or determine that the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

16. The method according to claim 12, comprising: Receive the DCI according to the search space and / or the control resource set CORESET, Based on the search space and / or CORSET, the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is determined based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is determined based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

17. A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from a communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, A control signal having one or more bits is configured as: indicating a resource allocation for the uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on a total number of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating a resource allocation for the downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource elements in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource elements in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and the method comprising: transmitting the control signal to the communication device, the control signal comprising the one or more bits, the one or more bits being configured to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Configuring the control signal having the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation comprises: If the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, the number of bits to be included in the control signal to indicate the resource allocation is determined based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or if the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission, the number of bits to be included in the control signal to indicate the resource allocation is determined based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The number of bits determined to be included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, or the number of bits determined to be included in the control signal is proportional to the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets if the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Configuring the control signal having the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation comprises: Grouping the plurality of uplink resource units in each of the one or more uplink frequency sets into one or more groups of consecutive uplink resource units, the grouping being based on a total number of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, the grouping comprising: determining a number of uplink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive uplink resource units, each of said groups comprising the same number of uplink resource units, and determining a number of said groups to be included in each uplink frequency set, wherein at least one of said uplink resource units in said resource allocation comprises one or more of said groups and each of said one or more bits is configured to indicate one of said groups in said resource allocation, or dividing the plurality of downlink resource units in each of the one or more downlink frequency sets into one or more groups of consecutive downlink resource units, the grouping being based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, the grouping comprising: determining the number of downlink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive downlink resource units, each group including the same number of downlink resource units, and Determining a number of the groups to be included in each downlink frequency set, wherein at least one of the downlink resource elements in the resource allocation includes one or more of the groups and each of the one or more bits is configured to indicate one of the groups in the resource allocation.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: Determining the number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units to be included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group comprises: Based on the total number of the uplink resource units or the downlink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets or the one or more downlink frequency sets, the number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units to be included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group is determined.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein: Determining the number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units to be included in each consecutive uplink resource unit group or each consecutive downlink resource unit group comprises: Determining the number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units to be included in each group of consecutive uplink resource units or each group of consecutive downlink resource units based on the total number of resource units in the set of consecutive resource units, wherein determining the number of the groups to be included in each uplink frequency set or each downlink frequency set comprises: determining a ratio of a total number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets or the one or more downlink frequency sets to a total number of the resource units in the contiguous resource unit set, Based on the determined ratio, the number of groups to be included in each uplink frequency set or each downlink frequency set is determined.

23. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Configuring the control signal having the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation comprises: The one or more bits are configured to indicate: a first uplink resource unit or a first downlink resource unit in the resource allocation, and The number of uplink resource units or downlink resource units in the resource allocation.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein: Configuring the control signal having the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation comprises: determining an index for the set of consecutive resource units, the index for the set of consecutive resource units comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying one of the plurality of uplink resource units or the plurality of downlink resource units, and determining an uplink sub-index for the one or more uplink frequency sets, the uplink sub-index comprising the entry in the index identifying the uplink resource unit in the one or more uplink frequency sets, the uplink sub-index being determined for the one or more uplink frequency sets, determining a downlink sub-index for the one or more downlink frequency sets, the downlink sub-index comprising the entry in the index identifying the downlink resource unit in the one or more downlink frequency sets, the downlink sub-index being determined for the one or more downlink frequency sets, If the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, configuring the one or more bits to indicate the entry of the sub-index identifying one or more uplink resource elements included in the resource allocation, and transmitting the uplink sub-index to the communication device, or If the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission, configuring the one or more bits to indicate the entry of the sub-index identifying one or more downlink resource elements included in the resource allocation, and The downlink sub-index is transmitted to the communication device.

25. The method according to claim 24, comprising: An activation indication is transmitted to the communication device to activate the uplink sub-index or the downlink sub-index.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein: The activation indication is transmitted in downlink control information DCI.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein: A set of consecutive resource units of a radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

28. The method of claim 17, wherein: Configuring the control signal having one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation comprises: One or more bits of downlink control information DCI are configured to indicate the resource allocation.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein: Configuring the one or more bits of the DCI to indicate the resource allocation comprises: One or more bits of a frequency domain resource allocation FDRA field of the DCI are configured to indicate the resource allocation.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein: Configuring the one or more bits of the DCI to indicate the resource allocation comprises: Determine a radio network terminal identifier RNTI for the DCI, the RNTI including the one or more bits of the DCI being configured to indicate that the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets or that the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

31. The method of claim 28, comprising: One or more other bits in the DCI are configured to indicate that the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or that the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein: The control signal includes the DCI, which is transmitted according to a search space and / or a control resource set CORESET, and the search space and / or CORSET indicates that the resource allocation for the uplink transmission is based on the total number of uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or that the resource allocation for the downlink transmission is based on the total number of downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets.

33. A method of operating a communication device, the method comprising: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure equipment within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting the uplink transmission or receiving the downlink transmission, The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein: The control signal indicates a first resource unit of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation and a quantity of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein: Transmitting the uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving the downlink transmission from the infrastructure device in the other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises: The uplink transmission or the downlink transmission is rate matched around a subset of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein: Transmitting the uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving the downlink transmission from the infrastructure device in the other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises: The resource elements in the subset of the plurality of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied are punctured.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein: The plurality of resources included in the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission include: one or more uplink resource units and one or more downlink resource units, and wherein, If the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied comprises the one or more downlink resource elements, or If the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied comprises the one or more uplink resource elements.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein: The plurality of resources in the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission comprises one or more protection resource units, and wherein, The subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is applied includes the one or more protection resource elements.

39. The method of claim 33, comprising: Receiving one or more frequency domain masks from the infrastructure device, each frequency domain mask comprising an indication of a different subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which a corresponding frequency domain mask is applied, wherein applying the frequency domain mask comprises: One of the received frequency domain masks is selected for application.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein: The one or more frequency domain masks are received in downlink control information (DCI).

41. The method of claim 39, wherein: Selecting to apply one of the received frequency domain masks includes: receiving an activation indication for one of the received frequency domain masks, and The frequency domain mask for which the received activation indication is applied.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein: At least one of the received frequency domain masks is used for the uplink transmission, and at least one of the received frequency domain masks is used for the downlink transmission, and wherein selecting to apply one of the received frequency domain masks comprises: If the resource allocation is for uplink transmission, selecting to apply at least one of the frequency domain masks to the uplink transmission, or If the resource allocation is for downlink transmission, at least one of the frequency domain masks is selected to be applied to the downlink transmission.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein: A set of consecutive resource units of a radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

44. A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, transmitting a frequency domain mask to the communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for the communication device to disable the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device, or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein: The control signal indicates a first resource unit of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation and a quantity of the plurality of resource units in the resource allocation.

46. ​​The method of claim 44, wherein: Receiving the uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting the downlink transmission to the communication device in the other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises: The uplink transmission or the downlink transmission is rate matched around a subset of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein: Receiving the uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting the downlink transmission to the communication device in the other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied comprises: The resource elements in the subset of the plurality of resource elements to which the frequency domain mask is applied are punctured.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein: The plurality of resource units included in the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission include: one or more uplink resource units and one or more downlink resource units, and wherein, If the resource allocation is for the uplink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask comprises the one or more downlink resource elements, or If the resource allocation is for the downlink transmission, the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask includes the one or more uplink resource elements.

49. The method of claim 44, wherein: The plurality of resource units in the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission comprises one or more protection resource units, and wherein, The subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation indicated by the frequency domain mask includes the one or more protection resource elements.

50. The method of claim 44, wherein: Transmitting the frequency domain mask to the communication device includes: A plurality of frequency domain masks are transmitted to the communication device, each frequency domain mask comprising an indication of a different subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation to which the respective frequency domain mask is applied.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein: One or more frequency domain masks are transmitted in downlink control information DCI.

52. The method of claim 50, comprising: An activation indication for one of the transmitted frequency domain masks is transmitted.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein: At least one of the plurality of frequency domain masks is used for the uplink transmission, and at least one of the plurality of frequency domain masks is used for the downlink transmission.

54. The method of claim 44, wherein: A set of consecutive resource units of a radio access interface is a bandwidth part BWP of the radio access interface.

55. A communication device, comprising: A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal, a receiver configured to receive a signal, and a controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, configured to: A control signal is received from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for the uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for the downlink transmission, and wherein The control signal is configured with the one or more bits to: indicating the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on a total number of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller in combination with the transmitter and the receiver is configured to: determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in accordance with the resource allocation.

56. Infrastructure equipment for a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment comprising: A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal, a receiver configured to receive a signal, and a controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, configured to: determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from a communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, A control signal having one or more bits is configured as: indicating a resource allocation for the uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on a total number of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating a resource allocation for the downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller in combination with the transmitter and the receiver is configured to: transmitting the control signal to the communication device, the control signal comprising the one or more bits, the one or more bits being configured to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

57. A communication device, the communication device comprising: A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal, a receiver configured to receive a signal, and a controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, configured to: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure equipment within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting the uplink transmission or receiving the downlink transmission, The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied.

58. Infrastructure equipment for a wireless communication network, the infrastructure equipment comprising: A transmitter, configured to transmit a signal, a receiver configured to receive a signal, and a controller, in combination with the transmitter and the receiver, configured to: transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, transmitting a frequency domain mask to the communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for the communication device to disable the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device, or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

59. A circuit for a communication device, the circuit comprising: A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal, a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and a controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, configured to: A control signal is received from an infrastructure device of a wireless communication network, the control signal being configured with one or more bits to indicate a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure device or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units, each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource units in the one or more uplink frequency sets for the uplink transmission or at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets for the downlink transmission, and wherein The control signal is configured with the one or more bits to: indicating the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on a total number of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource elements in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller circuitry in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry is configured to: determining the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission based on the one or more bits, The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in accordance with the resource allocation.

60. A circuit for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the circuit comprising: A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal, a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and a controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, configured to: determining that the infrastructure equipment receives an uplink transmission from a communication device or transmits a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, wherein the set of contiguous resource units comprises one or more uplink frequency sets and one or more downlink frequency sets, each uplink frequency set comprising a plurality of uplink resource units and each downlink frequency set comprising a plurality of downlink resource units, A control signal having one or more bits is configured as: indicating a resource allocation for the uplink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission based on a total number of the uplink resource elements in the one or more uplink frequency sets, or indicating a resource allocation for the downlink transmission, the resource allocation comprising at least one of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, wherein the control signal is configured with the one or more bits to indicate the resource allocation for the downlink transmission based on a total number of the downlink resource units in the one or more downlink frequency sets, and wherein the controller circuitry in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry is configured to: transmitting the control signal to the communication device, the control signal comprising the one or more bits, the one or more bits being configured to indicate the resource allocation for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device according to the resource allocation.

61. A circuit for a communication device, the circuit comprising: A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal, a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and a controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, configured to: receiving a control signal from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for transmitting an uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment or receiving a downlink transmission from the infrastructure equipment within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, applying a frequency domain mask to a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation, the frequency domain mask disabling the subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for transmitting the uplink transmission or receiving the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is transmitted to or received from the infrastructure equipment in other resource elements in the resource allocation to which the frequency domain mask is not applied.

62. A circuit for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication network, the circuit comprising: A transmitter circuit is configured to transmit a signal, a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal, and a controller circuit, in combination with the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit, configured to: transmitting a control signal to a communication device, the control signal indicating a resource allocation for receiving an uplink transmission from the communication device or transmitting a downlink transmission to the communication device within a set of contiguous resource units of a radio interface, the resource allocation comprising a plurality of resource units in the set of contiguous resource units for the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, transmitting a frequency domain mask to the communication device, the frequency domain mask indicating a subset of the plurality of resource elements in the resource allocation for the communication device to disable the uplink transmission or the downlink transmission, and The uplink transmission is received from the communication device, or the downlink transmission is transmitted to the communication device, in other resource elements in the resource allocation not indicated by the frequency domain mask.

63. A wireless communication system comprising the communication apparatus according to claim 55 and the infrastructure equipment according to claim 56.

64. A wireless communication system comprising the communication apparatus according to claim 57 and the infrastructure equipment according to claim 58.

65. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 1, or claim 17, or claim 33 or claim 44.

66. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 65.

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