Method and apparatus for DCI sizing for multi-cell scheduling

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. The invention relates to downlink control information (DCI) size determination for multi-cell scheduling. A method includes receiving first information about a set of cells, identifying a first combination of cells in the set of cells, and determining a first maximum size among first sizes of a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a first cell combination of the first cell combinations, and the first size corresponds to the first cell combination. The method also includes receiving a first DCI format based on the first maximum size.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to downlink control information (DCI) size for multi-cell scheduling in wireless communication systems. Background Art

[0002] 5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band, making high transmission rates and new services possible, and can be implemented not only in "below 6 GHz" frequency bands such as 3.5 GHz, but also in "above 6 GHz" frequency bands called mmWave (millimeter wave) including 28 GHz and 39 GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technology (called super 5G system) in terahertz frequency bands (e.g., 95 GHz to 3 THz frequency bands) in order to achieve a transmission rate fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technology and an ultra-low latency one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technology.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technology, in order to support services and meet performance requirements related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine-type communication (mMTC), standardization is underway on the following items: beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio wave path loss and increasing radio wave transmission distance in mmWave, parameter sets supporting dynamic operations for efficient utilization of mmWave resources and time slot formats (e.g., operating multiple subcarrier spacings), initial access technology for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadband, definition and operation of BWP (bandwidth part), new channel coding methods (such as LDPC (low-density parity check) codes for large-scale data transmission and polar codes for highly reliable transmission of control information), L2 preprocessing, and network slicing for providing dedicated networks dedicated to specific services.

[0004] Currently, in view of the services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technology, discussions are ongoing on improvements and performance enhancements of initial 5G mobile communication technology, and there is already physical layer standardization on technologies such as: V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), for assisting driving determination of autonomous vehicles based on information about the location and status of the vehicle sent by the vehicle and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed), for system operation designed to comply with various regulatory-related requirements in unlicensed bands; NR UE power saving; Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), which is UE satellite direct communication for providing coverage in areas where communication with terrestrial networks is not available; and positioning.

[0005] In addition, in the air interface architecture / protocol, there is already ongoing standardization on technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing nodes for network service area expansion by supporting wireless backhaul links and access links in an integrated manner, mobility enhancements including conditional switching and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) switching, and two-step random access (two-step RACH for NR) for simplifying the random access procedure. There is also ongoing standardization on a 5G baseline architecture (e.g., a service-based architecture or service-based interface) for combining network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined network (SDN) technologies, and a system architecture / service for mobile edge computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE location.

[0006] With the commercialization of 5G mobile communication systems, the already exponentially growing number of connected devices will be connected to the communication network, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performance of the 5G mobile communication system and integrated operations of the connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research related to extended reality (XR) is arranged to effectively support AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality), etc., to improve 5G performance and reduce complexity by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), AI service support, meta-service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a foundation for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in the terahertz band for 6G mobile communication technology, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and massive antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technology using OAM (orbital angular momentum), and RIS (reconfigurable smart surface), but also full-duplex technology for improving the frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technology and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for achieving system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (artificial intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for achieving services at a complexity level that exceeds the limits of UE operating capabilities by utilizing ultra-high performance communication and computing resources. Summary of the invention

[0008] Technical issues

[0009] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system.

[0010] Technical Solution

[0011] In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving first information of a cell set; identifying a first cell combination in the cell set; and determining a first maximum size among first sizes of a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and the first size corresponds to the first cell combination. The method also includes receiving the first DCI format based on the first maximum size.

[0012] In another embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE includes a transceiver configured to receive first information of a cell set and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to identify a first cell combination in the cell set, identify a second cell combination in the cell set, and determine a first maximum size among the first sizes of a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules PDSCH reception on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and the first size corresponds to the first cell combination. The transceiver is also configured to receive the first DCI format based on the first maximum size.

[0013] In yet another embodiment, a base station is provided. The BS includes a transceiver configured to send first information of a cell set and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to identify a first cell combination in the cell set, identify a second cell combination in the cell set, and determine a first maximum size among the first sizes of a first DCI format. The first DCI format schedules PDSCH transmission on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and the first size corresponds to the first cell combination. The transceiver is also configured to send the first DCI format based on the first maximum size.

[0014] Other technical features may be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

[0015] Before the following detailed description, it may be advantageous to set forth the definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term "coupling" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not these elements are in physical contact with each other. The terms "send", "receive" and "communication" and their derivatives cover both direct and indirect communication. The terms "include" and "comprise" and their derivatives mean including but not limited to. The term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase "associated with ... " and its derivatives mean including, included in ..., interconnected with ..., including, included in ..., connected to or connected with ..., coupled to or coupled with ..., can communicate with ..., collaborate with ..., interlace, juxtapose, be close to, be bound to or bound with ..., have, have the nature of ..., have to or with ... relationship, etc. The term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The function associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed, whether local or remote. When used with a list of items, the phrase "at least one of" means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items can be used, and only one of the items in the list may be required. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

[0016] In addition, the various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed by a computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" indicate one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data or a portion thereof suitable for being implemented in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code and executable code. The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disc (DVD) or any other type of memory. "Non-transitory" computer-readable media excludes wired, wireless, optical or other communication links that transmit temporary electrical signals or other signals. Non-transitory computer-readable media include media that can permanently store data and media that can store data and rewrite it later, such as rewritable optical disks or erasable memory devices.

[0017] Definitions for certain other words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0018] Advantageous Effects of the Invention

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to efficiently perform determination of a DCI size for multi-scheduling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0021] Figure 1 An example of a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 2 An example of a gNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 3 An example of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 4 illustrates examples of wireless transmit and receive paths according to the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 5 illustrates examples of wireless transmit and receive paths according to the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating a process for distinguishing a multi-cell scheduling DCI format from a single-cell scheduling DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 7 A flowchart showing a process for interpreting a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format into a single-cell scheduling DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a process for interpreting an MC-DCI format as one SC-DCI format from multiple SC-DCI formats based on an indication in the MC-DCI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] Fig. 9 A flowchart illustrating a process for determining the size of an MC-DCI format based on a search space set in which a UE monitors MC-DCI formats according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] Fig.10A flow chart illustrating a process for determining a size of an MC-DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the MC-DCI format is common across different sets of co-scheduled co-scheduled cells associated with a scheduling cell;

[0031] Fig.11 A flow chart illustrating a process for determining a size of a cell-specific field in an MC-DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the MC-DCI format has an adjustable granularity based on the number of co-scheduled cells;

[0032] Fig.12 A flow chart illustrating a process for accounting for a DCI size in an MC-DCI format for a reference cell in a DCI size budget according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] Fig.13 A flow chart illustrating a process for DCI size alignment for a cell for which the size of the MC-DCI format is accounted for in the DCI size budget according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] Fig.14 A flowchart showing a process for determining an order between cells having an MC-DCI format configuration to which additional DCI size alignment is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0035] Fig.15 A flow chart showing a process for DCI size determination in the presence of MC-DCI format based on rules for a “3+1” DCI size budget per slot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) mobile communications are gathering increasing momentum recently with all the global technical activities from industry and academia regarding various candidate technologies. Candidate enabling factors for 5G / NR mobile communications include massive antenna technology from traditional cellular bands up to high frequencies to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveforms (e.g., new radio access technologies (RATs)) to flexibly accommodate various services / applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connectivity, etc.

[0037] Discussed below Figures 1 to 15 The various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are for illustration only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0038] The following documents are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP TS 38.211 v17.1.0, “NR; Physical channels and modulation”; 3GPP TS 38.212 v17.1.0, “NR; Multiplexing and Channel coding”; 3GPP TS 38.213 v17.1.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Control”; 3GPP TS 38.214 v17.1.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Data”; 3GPP TS 38.321 v17.0.0, “NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification”, 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.0.0, “NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification”; and 3GPP TS 38.300Rel-17v17.0.0, "NR; NR and NG-RAN OverallDescription; Stage 2"; and 3GPP TR 38.822Rel-16v16.3.0, "NR; User Equipment (UE) feature list".

[0039] In order to meet the increased demand for wireless data traffic since the deployment of 4G communication systems and to realize various vertical applications, 5G / NR communication systems have been developed and are currently being deployed. 5G / NR communication systems are considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands (e.g., 28 GHz or 60 GHz bands) to achieve higher data rates, or in lower frequency bands (such as 6 GHz) to achieve robust coverage and mobility support. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance, beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology are discussed in 5G / NR communication systems.

[0040] In addition, in the 5G / NR communication system, system network improvements are being developed based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, collaborative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), receiving-end interference cancellation, etc.

[0041] The discussion of 5G systems and frequency bands associated therewith is for reference because certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in 5G systems. However, the present disclosure is not limited to 5G systems or frequency bands associated therewith, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in conjunction with any frequency band. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to 5G communication systems, 6G, or even later deployments that may use terahertz (THz) frequency bands.

[0042] The following Figure 1-Figure 3 Various embodiments are described that are implemented in a wireless communication system and using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques. Figure 1-Figure 3 The description is not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system.

[0043] Figure 1 An example wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 The embodiment of the wireless network shown is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0044] like Figure 1 As shown, the wireless network includes gNB 101 (e.g., base station, BS), gNB 102, and gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130 (such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network).

[0045] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a first plurality of user equipment (UE) within coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes UE 111, which may be located in a small business; UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise; UE 113, which may be a WiFi hotspot; UE 114, which may be located in a first residence; UE 115, which may be located in a second residence; and UE 116, which may be a mobile device such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, etc. gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G / NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication technologies.

[0046] Depending on the network type, the term "base station" or "BS" can indicate any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as a transmission point (TP), a transmission-reception point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G / NR base station (gNB), a macro cell, a femto cell, a WiFi access point (AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. The base station can provide wireless access according to one or more wireless communication protocols (e.g., 5G / NR Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc.). For convenience, the terms "BS" and "TRP" are used interchangeably in this patent document to indicate a network infrastructure component that provides wireless access to a remote terminal. In addition, depending on the network type, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can indicate any component such as a "mobile station", "subscriber station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal", "reception point", or "user equipment". For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to a remote wireless device that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or smartphone) or is generally considered a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0047] The dashed lines illustrate the approximate extents of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that coverage areas associated with a gNB, such as coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstacles.

[0048] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116 include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for determining or utilizing a DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system. In certain embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for supporting determination of a DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system.

[0049] although Figure 1 An example of a wireless network is shown, but Figure 1Various changes may be made. For example, the wireless network can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. In addition, gNB 101 can communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can communicate directly with network 130 and provide the UEs with direct wireless broadband access to network 130. In addition, gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as an external telephone network or other type of data network.

[0050] Figure 2 An example gNB 102 is shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The embodiment of the gNB 102 shown in FIG. is for illustration only, and Figure 1 gNBs 101 and 103 can have the same or similar configurations. However, gNBs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 2 The scope of this disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of gNB.

[0051] like Figure 2 As shown, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205a-205n, multiple transceivers 210a-210n, a controller / processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul or network interface 235.

[0052] The transceivers 210a-210n receive incoming RF signals from the antennas 205a-205n, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100. The transceivers 210a-210n downconvert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are processed by receive (RX) processing circuits in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225, which generate processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The controller / processor 225 may further process the baseband signals.

[0053] Transmit (TX) processing circuitry in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or the controller / processor 225 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 225. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The transceivers 210a-210n up-convert the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 205a-205n.

[0054] The controller / processor 225 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 225 can control the reception of UL channel signals and the transmission of DL channel signals by the transceivers 210a-210n in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 225 can also support additional functionality, such as more advanced wireless communication functionality. For example, the controller / processor 225 can support beamforming or directional routing operations, in which outgoing / incoming signals from / to multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a variety of other functions can be supported in the gNB 102 by the controller / processor 225.

[0055] The controller / processor 225 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 230, such as processes for supporting determination of DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system as discussed in embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller / processor 225 is capable of moving data into or out of the memory 230 as required by the executing process.

[0056] The controller / processor 225 is also coupled to a backhaul or network interface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems via a backhaul connection or via a network. The interface 235 is capable of supporting communication via any suitable wired or wireless connection (or multiple). For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 is capable of allowing the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 235 is capable of allowing the gNB 102 to communicate via a wired or wireless local area network or via a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes any suitable structure that supports communication via a wired or wireless connection, such as Ethernet or a transceiver.

[0057] Memory 230 is coupled to controller / processor 225. A portion of memory 230 can include RAM, and another portion of memory 230 can include flash or other ROM.

[0058] although Figure 2 An example of gNB 102 is shown, but the Figure 2 For example, gNB 102 can include any number of Figure 2 Each component shown in . In addition, Figure 2 The various components in can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific needs.

[0059] Figure 3 An example UE 116 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3 The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only, and Figure 1 UEs 111-115 can have the same or similar configurations. However, UEs have a variety of configurations, and Figure 3 The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to any particular implementation of a UE.

[0060] like Figure 3 As shown, UE 116 includes antenna (or multiple) 305, transceiver (or multiple) 310 and microphone 320. UE 116 also includes speaker 330, processor 340, input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 345, input 350, display 355 and memory 360. Memory 360 includes operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.

[0061] Transceiver(s) 310 receives incoming RF signals from antenna 305 transmitted by a gNB of network 100. Transceiver(s) 310 downconverts the incoming RF signals to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is processed by RX processing circuitry in transceiver(s) 310 and / or processor 340, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or is processed by processor 340 (such as for web browsing data).

[0062] The TX processing circuitry in the transceiver(s) 310 and / or processor 340 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 320, or receives other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The transceiver(s) 310 up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna(s) 305.

[0063] The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 340 can control the reception of DL channel signals and the transmission of UL channel signals by the transceiver (or multiple) 310 according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0064] The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs residing in the memory 360 , such as a process for determining or utilizing a DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] The processor 340 is capable of moving data into or out of the memory 360 as needed for the execution process. In some embodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute the application 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to a signal received from the gNB or operator. The processor 340 is also coupled to the I / O interface 345, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptops and handheld computers. The I / O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 340.

[0066] Processor 340 is also coupled to input 350 and display 355, which may include, for example, a touch screen, a keyboard, etc. An operator of UE 116 can enter data into UE 116 using input 350. Display 355 may be a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from a website.

[0067] Memory 360 is coupled to processor 340. A portion of memory 360 can include random access memory (RAM), and another portion of memory 360 can include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0068] although Figure 3 An example of UE 116 is shown, but the Figure 3 Make various changes. For example, Figure 3 The various components in can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components can be added as required. As a specific example, processor 340 can be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). In another example, transceiver(s) 310 can include any number of transceivers and signal processing chains, and can be connected to any number of antennas. In addition, although Figure 3 The UE 116 is shown configured as a mobile phone or smart phone, but the UE can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0069] Figure 4 and Figure 5Example wireless transmit and receive paths according to the present disclosure are shown. In the following description, transmit path 400 may be described as being implemented in a gNB (such as gNB 102) and receive path 500 may be described as being implemented in a UE (such as UE 116). However, it is understood that receive path 500 can be implemented in a gNB and transmit path 400 can be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, receive path 500 is configured to support use or determination of a DCI size for multi-cell scheduling in a wireless communication system.

[0070] like Figure 4 The transmit path 400 shown in FIG. 4 includes a channel coding and modulation block 405, a serial to parallel (S to P) block 410, an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block of size N 415, a parallel to serial (P to S) block 420, an add cyclic prefix block 425, and an upconverter (UC) 430. Figure 5 The receive path 500 shown in the figure includes a down converter (DC) 555, a remove cyclic prefix block 560, a serial to parallel (S to P) block 565, a size N fast Fourier transform (FFT) block 570, a parallel to serial (P to S) block 575, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 580.

[0071] like Figure 4 As shown, the channel coding and modulation block 405 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as low-density parity check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as using orthogonal phase shift keying (QPSK) or orthogonal amplitude modulation (QAM)) to generate a frequency-domain modulation symbol sequence.

[0072] The serial to parallel block 410 converts (such as demultiplexes) the serial modulation symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is the IFFT / FFT size used in the gNB 102 and the UE 116. The size N IFFT block 415 performs an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time domain output signal. The parallel to serial block 420 converts (such as multiplexes) the parallel time domain output symbols from the size N IFFT block 415 to generate a serial time domain signal. The add cyclic prefix block 425 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time domain signal. The up converter 430 modulates (such as upconverts) the output of the add cyclic prefix block 425 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal may also be filtered at baseband before conversion to RF frequency.

[0073] The RF signal transmitted from gNB 102 reaches UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and operations opposite to those at gNB 102 are performed at UE 116.

[0074] like Figure 5As shown in , the down converter 555 down-converts the received signal to the baseband frequency, and the remove cyclic prefix block 560 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time domain baseband signal. The serial to parallel block 565 converts the time domain baseband signal to a parallel time domain signal. The size N FFT block 570 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency domain signals. The parallel to serial block 575 converts the parallel frequency domain signals into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 580 demodulates and decodes the modulation symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0075] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement Figure 4 The transmission path 400 shown is similar to the transmission to UE 111-116 in the downlink, and can be implemented as follows: Figure 5 Receive path 500 is shown, which is similar to receiving from UE 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of UE 111-116 can implement transmit path 400 for transmitting to gNB 101-103 in the uplink and can implement receive path 500 for receiving from gNB 101-103 in the downlink.

[0076] Figure 4 and Figure 5 Each component in can be implemented using hardware only or a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, Figure 4 and Figure 5 At least some components in can be implemented with software, while other components can be implemented by configurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. For example, FFT block 570 and IFFT block 415 can be implemented as configurable software algorithms, wherein the value of size N can be modified according to the implementation.

[0077] In addition, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is by way of illustration only and may not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms can be used, such as discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) functions. It will be appreciated that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer that is a power of two (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

[0078] although Figure 4 and Figure 5 An example of a wireless transmit and receive path is shown, but the Figure 4 and Figure 5 Make various changes. For example, Figure 4 and Figure 5The various components in can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific needs. Figure 4 and Figure 5 It is intended to illustrate examples of the types of transmit and receive paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communications in a wireless network.

[0079] The present disclosure relates to a quasi-fifth generation (5G) or 5G or beyond 5G communication system to be provided to support one or more of the following items: higher data rates, lower latency, higher reliability, improved coverage and large-scale connectivity, etc. Various embodiments apply to UEs operating with other RATs and / or standards, such as different versions / generations of 3GPP standards (including beyond 5G, 5G Advanced, 6G, etc.), IEEE standards (such as 802.16 WiMAX and 802.11 Wi-Fi, etc.), etc.

[0080] The present disclosure considers PDCCH monitoring aspects for cross-carrier scheduling operations in a carrier aggregation (CA) framework supporting joint scheduling of multiple cells.

[0081] In a conventional 5G NR system, downlink or uplink data transmission can be scheduled only on a single serving cell. The DCI format provides scheduling information parameters for PDSCH or PUSCH on a single serving cell. If the serving cell is a scheduled cell, the UE receives in the PDCCH the DCI format for PDSCH / PUSCH that the UE receives on the corresponding scheduling cell. In the case of cross-carrier scheduling, based on the carrier indication field (CIF) in the DCI format, the UE can determine the serving cell on which the UE can receive PDSCH or send PUSCH.

[0082] Legacy NR systems do not support co-scheduling of multiple PDSCHs or multiple PUSCHs on multiple cells using a single / common control signaling (such as by using a single DCI format). For this operation, the UE receives multiple DCI formats, each of which is capable of scheduling one of multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs. This operation achieves the desired results, but introduces signaling overhead proportional to the number of scheduled PDSCHs or PUSCHs. In various scenarios, it is possible that several scheduling parameters or corresponding UE operations are shared / common between multiple PDSCHs or PUSCHs on a "co-scheduled" cell.

[0083] For example, a UE may use the same PUCCH resource to send a PUCCH providing HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to multiple PDSCHs. Therefore, the indication of the same PUCCH resource (and the corresponding operation for PUCCH transmission) in the DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception on multiple cells simultaneously may be repeated multiple times unnecessarily. In addition, in some scenarios such as intra-band CA, physical channel conditions may be relevant, so various scheduling parameters such as for link adaptation, MIMO / beamforming operations, and possibly even resource allocation can be common and repeated between co-scheduled cells. This unnecessary overhead in control signaling may be significant, particularly when the number of co-scheduled cells is large, such as 4-8 cells. In addition, the CRC bits need to be repeated in each of the DCI formats that schedule PDSCH or PUSCH on multiple cells, which causes significant signaling overhead, particularly for a large number of scheduled cells / DCI formats.

[0084] Similarly, the PDCCH monitoring aspect in the legacy 5GNR system is based on a single-cell scheduling mechanism, with either a self-carrier scheduling process or a cross-carrier scheduling process. In order to detect a single-cell scheduled DCI format, the UE needs to monitor the PDCCH according to a search space set associated with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) to receive and decode DCI formats for several PDCCH candidates. There are predetermined limits on the number of PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) that the UE can monitor in a time slot, where the latter refers to the channel estimate of the resources associated with the PDCCH candidates in the time slot. In addition, the specification supports a search space set overbooking process, where the UE is able to discard certain US-specific search space sets (USS sets) on the primary cell (with the lowest priority, i.e., with the largest index) when a predetermined limit on the number of PDCCH candidates or the number of non-overlapping CCEs is exceeded.

[0085] The UE can be configured to monitor the PDCCH on the scheduling cell for detecting a DCI format that performs multi-cell scheduling (MC-DCI) for PDSCH or PUSCH on several sets of co-scheduled cells. Similar to the DCI format for single-cell scheduling (SC-DCI), this MC-DCI format may be subject to the UE budget for the maximum number of DCI format sizes that the UE can decode. When the UE is not configured to monitor the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI format, the UE determines this DCI size budget per scheduled cell (e.g., per the "3+1" rule for DCI size budget as described in TS 38.213), and the UE performs a DCI size alignment procedure when necessary to ensure that the DCI size budget is met for each scheduled cell, as described in TS 38.212.

[0086] A procedure is needed to identify how the UE determines the size of the MC-DCI format. For example, whether the size of the MC-DCI format or the bit width of one or more fields in the MC-DCI format depends on the number of co-scheduled cells, or whether such size / bit width is the same regardless of the number of co-scheduled cells.

[0087] It is also necessary to determine whether / how the size of the MC-DCI format contributes to the DCI size budget. For example, it is necessary to determine whether the MC-DCI format is accounted for in the DCI size budget for all co-scheduled cells, or only for some co-scheduled cells (such as only one cell), or not for any co-scheduled cells.

[0088] It is also necessary to describe how the UE applies DCI size alignment for cells where the UE counts the size of the MC-DCI format into the DCI size budget. When the UE is configured to monitor the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI format, it is necessary to determine how the existing DCI size alignment procedure can be modified or whether a new procedure should be defined to meet the DCI size budget.

[0089] The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for DCI size determination and alignment with reduced signaling overhead in the context of multi-cell scheduled operation, such as when a set of serving cells are jointly scheduled (referred to as "co-scheduled" cells).

[0090] The size of the MC-DCI format can be determined based on the maximum size among different co-scheduled cell sets, for example, corresponding to the co-scheduled cell set with the largest number of cells, or corresponding to the maximum bit width of a field in the MC-DCI format. When the MC-DCI format schedules a co-scheduled cell set with fewer cells than the maximum number of cells, some field values ​​can be reserved (e.g., corresponding to non-scheduled cells), or such reserved bits can be used to indicate values ​​for a smaller number of scheduled cells with greater granularity (e.g., 2 FDRA values, each with 10 bits in the case of 2 scheduled cells, instead of 4 FDRA values, each with 5 bits in the case of a maximum of 4 scheduled cells).

[0091] The UE can be configured, or the UE can be (pre-)determined, to include the size of the MC-DCI format in the DCI size budget only for a reference cell from a co-scheduled cell set or for all cells in the co-scheduled cell set. For cells where the MC-DCI format contributes to the DCI size budget, the UE first performs DCI size alignment only for the SC-DCI format, and when the DCI size budget is exceeded, the UE can perform additional DCI size alignment relative to the MC-DCI format. For example, the UE can size match the downlink MC-DCI format for PDSCH with the uplink MC-DCI format for PUSCH, or the UE can size match the maximum SC-DCI format for a scheduled cell with an MC-DCI format that is closer in size to the maximum SC-DCI format.

[0092] Different MC-DCI formats can have different reference cells for DCI size alignment. For example, an MC-DCI format for scheduling PDSCH reception on a subset of cells in a first co-scheduled cell set can use a first cell in the first cell set as a reference cell for DCI size alignment, and an MC-DCI format for scheduling PUSCH transmission on a subset of cells in a second co-scheduled cell set can use a second cell in the second cell set as a reference cell for DCI size alignment. The first cell set and the second cell set can be the same or different. The first cell and the second cell can be indicated by high-layer signaling, or can be determined based on rules defined in the specification of system operation, such as the cell with the lowest index in the first or second cell set, where the "3+1" DCI size budget is established without any DCI size alignment, or based on the UE implementation of the conditions expected by the UE, for each MC-DCI format, the "3+1" DCI format size budget is valid for at least one cell from the corresponding cell set without the need for alignment of the DCI format size.

[0093] In an alternative, the UE can apply a DCI size budget on a per-time slot basis, and when the DCI size budget is exceeded for a cell in a time slot, the UE can discard some DCI formats based on configured or predetermined rules (such as predetermined priority rules for DCI formats or corresponding search space sets). For example, the UE can prioritize PDCCH monitoring according to the CSS set for detecting a first DCI format, and continue to perform PDCCH monitoring according to the USS set (with MC-DCI format configuration) in ascending order of the USS set index to detect a second DCI format until the UE reaches a USS set index where PDCCH monitoring for detecting a DCI format in the second DCI format may exceed the DCI size budget of the cell. Therefore, the UE can discard PDCCH monitoring associated with the second DCI format, typically any DCI format with an additional / new DCI size that may result in an increase in the DCI size budget to decode the DCI format.

[0094] One motivation for multi-cell scheduling using a single DCI format is for enhanced cross-carrier scheduling operation of a larger number of cells (such as 4-8 cells) operating in an intra-band CA framework in frequency bands below 6 GHz or above 6 GHz (referred to as FR1 or FR2), respectively. In general, embodiments are applicable to any deployment, vertical or scenario, including inter-band CA, with eMBB, URLLC and IIoT and XR, mMTC and IoT, with sidelink / V2X communications, with multiple TRPs / beams / panels, in unlicensed / shared spectrum (NR-U), for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), for aerial systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as drones, for private or non-public networks (NPN), for UEs operating with reduced capabilities (RedCap), etc.

[0095] Embodiments of the present disclosure for supporting PDCCH monitoring enhancements with reduced signaling overhead in case of multi-cell scheduling are summarized below and are further fully described below.

[0096] In one embodiment, the UE can be provided with several co-scheduled cell sets by the higher layers. The term co-scheduled cell set is used to indicate a set of serving cells, wherein the UE can be co-scheduled for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on two or more cells in the co-scheduled cell set through a single DCI format or by using supplementary embodiments (such as those described in the embodiments mentioned in the present disclosure). For ease of presentation, this DCI format may be referred to as a multi-cell scheduled DCI (MC-DCI) format. The MC-DCI format can be a new DCI format, such as DCI format 0_3 for co-scheduling PUSCH or DCI format 1_3 for co-scheduling PDSCH.

[0097] In addition, a subset of a co-scheduled cell set can be indicated to the UE via a DCI format (such as an MC-DCI format) in the PDCCH or via a MAC CE in the PDSCH, wherein the cells of the subset can change across different PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MOs). For example, a first MC-DCI format in a first MO can indicate a first co-scheduled cell set / subset, and a second DCI format in a second MO can indicate a second co-scheduled cell set / subset.

[0098] For a UE configured with a co-scheduled cell set, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can provide all or part of the information about the values ​​of the cell common field and the cell specific field for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on corresponding two or more cells from the co-scheduled cell set. When the DCI format provides partial information, the UE can determine the remaining information from RRC signaling or by using other supplementary embodiments.

[0099] When the UE is configured with a set of co-scheduled cells including a first cell, the UE is capable of receiving a PDCCH with a DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission only on the first cell (single-cell scheduled DCI format). The UE is capable of distinguishing a single-cell scheduled DCI (SC-DCI) format from a multi-cell scheduled DCI (MC-DCI) format via various embodiments (such as DCI format size, or RNTI used to scramble the CRC of the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, or explicit or implicit indication by a field in the DCI format, or by a dedicated CORESET and associated search space set).

[0100] In one embodiment, when an MC-DCI format such as 0_3 or 1_3 is used to schedule only a single cell, two different embodiments can be considered. In one embodiment, the MC-DCI format used to schedule a single cell has the same structure / fields as the MC-DCI format used to schedule multiple cells, including any missing or disabled or restricted fields (or fields). In one embodiment, the structure / fields of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule a single cell can be different from the structure / fields of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule multiple cells.

[0101] For a UE configured with one or more sets of co-scheduled cells, the size of the multi-cell scheduling DCI format can be set-specific (where the set refers to the set of co-scheduled cells), or set-size-specific (where the set size refers to the size of the set of co-scheduled cells), or search space set-specific, or scheduling cell-specific, or common across different scheduling cells. In addition, for each field of the MC-DCI format, the UE can be configured with the same bit width regardless of the set / number of co-scheduled cells, or with different bit widths depending on the set / number of co-scheduled cells. For a cell-specific field in the MC-DCI format having up to N values ​​corresponding to a maximum of N co-scheduled cells, the UE can be configured with the same bit width for each of the N values ​​(including any unused / reserved values ​​for non-scheduled cells), or can be configured / determined with different bit widths based on the number of co-scheduled cells. The latter can be beneficial, for example, to provide an increased level of granularity for the cell-specific fields when the MC-DCI co-schedules fewer cells.

[0102] In one embodiment, the UE can have a constraint / budget on the number of DCI format sizes that the UE can monitor for PDCCH per serving cell, per timeslot, or across all timeslots, wherein the size of the DCI format used for multi-cell scheduling can be counted into the UE constraint / budget based on a fractional count or a full count, or as part of a separate UE constraint / budget for the size of the DCI format, wherein counting is performed for each / all co-scheduled cells or one / some co-scheduled cells, or not counted at all.

[0103] In one embodiment, when the UE: (1) is configured to monitor the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI format; (2) is (pre-)determined or configured to count the size of the MC-DCI format into the UE budget of the maximum number of DCI sizes of the corresponding PDCCH of the cell that the UE can monitor (such as the "3+1" rule); and (3) determines that the counted number of DCI sizes of the cell exceeds the UE budget of the maximum number of DCI sizes for the cell.

[0104] The UE performs DCI size alignment for the cell based on predetermined or configured rules so that the number of DCI sizes for the cell does not exceed the UE budget for the DCI format size after alignment. Such rules can include zero padding or truncation or discarding one or more of the DCI formats used for scheduling on the cell. The UE applies the DCI size alignment to a predetermined or configured reference cell, or to any cell from a set of co-scheduled cells associated with the same scheduling cell. DCI size alignment can include size matching for downlink MC-DCI (for co-scheduling PDSCH) and uplink MC-DCI (for co-scheduling PUSCH), or size matching of the SC-DCI format with the largest size (such as DCI format 1_1) with the MC-DCI format of the closest size, and vice versa.

[0105] Throughout this disclosure, the term "configuration" or "higher layer configuration" and variations thereof (such as "configured", etc.) are used to indicate one or more of the following: system information signaling such as through a MIB or SIB (such as SIB1), common or cell-specific higher layer / RRC signaling, or dedicated or UE-specific or BWP-specific higher layer / RRC signaling.

[0106] Throughout this disclosure, the term signal quality is used to indicate, for example, RSRP or RSRQ or RSSI or SNR or SINR of a channel or signal such as a reference signal (RS) including SSB, CSI-RS or SRS with or without filtering such as L1 or L3 filtering.

[0107] In carrier aggregation (CA), two or more component carriers (CCs) are aggregated. A UE can simultaneously receive or transmit on one or more CCs depending on its capabilities: (1) A UE with single timing advance capability for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells sharing the same timing advance (multiple serving cells grouped in one TAG); (2) A UE with multiple timing advance capability for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells with different timing advances (multiple serving cells grouped in multiple TAGs). NG-RAN ensures that each TAG contains at least one serving cell; and (3) A UE without CA capability can receive on a single CC and transmit on a single CC corresponding to only one serving cell (one serving cell in one TAG).

[0108] CA is supported for both contiguous CCs and non-contiguous CCs in frequency. When CA is deployed, frame timing and SFN are aligned across cells that can be aggregated, or an offset of a multiple of the timeslot between PCell / PSCell and SCell is configured to the UE. The maximum number of configured CCs for a UE is 16 for DL ​​and 16 for UL.

[0109] When CA is configured, the UE has only one RRC connection with the network. One serving cell provides NAS mobility information upon RRC connection establishment / reestablishment / handover, and one serving cell provides security input upon RRC connection reestablishment / handover. This cell is called the primary cell (PCell). Depending on the UE capabilities, a secondary cell (SCell) can be configured to form a serving cell set together with the PCell. Therefore, the configured serving cell set for the UE includes one PCell and one or more SCells.

[0110] Reconfiguration, addition and removal of SCells can be performed by RRC. The network can also add, remove, keep or reconfigure SCells for use with the target PCell at intra-NR handover and during connection recovery from RRC_INACTIVE. When adding a new SCell, dedicated RRC signaling is used to send all required system information for the SCell, i.e., the UE does not need to obtain broadcast system information directly from the SCell while in connected mode.

[0111] In order to achieve reduced UE battery consumption when CA is configured, an activation / deactivation mechanism for cells is supported. When a SCell is deactivated, the UE does not need to receive the corresponding PDCCH or PDSCH, cannot transmit in the corresponding uplink, and does not need to perform CQI measurements. In contrast, when the SCell is active, the UE can receive PDSCH and PDCCH (if the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH from that SCell) and is expected to be able to perform CQI measurements. NG-RAN ensures that when a PUCCH SCell (a secondary cell configured with PUCCH) is deactivated, the SCells of the secondary PUCCH group (a group of SCells whose PUCCH signaling is associated with the PUCCH on the PUCCH SCell) may not be activated. NG-RAN ensures that the SCell mapped to the PUCCH SCell is deactivated before the PUCCH SCell is changed or removed.

[0112] When a serving cell set is reconfigured: (1) SCells added to the set are initially activated or deactivated; and (2) SCells remaining in the set (unchanged or reconfigured) do not change their activation state (activated or deactivated).

[0113] When switching from RRC_INACTIVE or resuming connection: (1) SCell is activated or deactivated.

[0114] To enable reduced UE battery consumption and reduced UE complexity when CA is configured, only one UL BWP and one DL BWP or only one DL / UL BWP pair for each uplink carrier can be activated at one time in an active serving cell, and all other BWPs configured by the UE are deactivated. On a deactivated BWP, the UE does not monitor PDCCH, does not transmit on PUCCH, PRACH and UL-SCH.

[0115] To enable fast SCell activation when CA is configured, a dormant BWP can be configured for the SCell. If the active BWP that activates the SCell is the dormant BWP, the UE stops monitoring PDCCH and sending SRS / PUSCH / PUCCH on the SCell, but continues to perform CSI measurements, AGC and beam management (if configured). DCI is used to control the dormant BWP entering / leaving one or more SCells (or multiples) or one or more SCell groups (or multiples).

[0116] The dormant BWP is one of the dedicated BWPs of the UE configured by the network via dedicated RRC signaling. SpCell and PUCCH SCell cannot be configured with a dormant BWP.

[0117] Cross-carrier scheduling using the carrier indicator field (CIF) allows a DCI format provided by a PDCCH on a serving / scheduling cell to schedule resources on another serving / scheduling cell with the following restrictions: (1) When cross-carrier scheduling from SCell to PCell is not configured for the UE, the UE can only be scheduled for transmission or reception on the PCell by receiving a DCI format provided by the PDCCH on the PCell; (2) When cross-carrier scheduling from SCell to PCell is configured for the UE: (i) the PDCCH on the SCell can provide a DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission from the UE on the PCell; (ii) the PDCCH on the PCell can provide a DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission from the UE on the PCell; DCI format for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission of the UE; and (iii) only one SCell can be configured to the UE for cross-carrier scheduling on the PCell; (3) when the SCell is configured to the UE as a scheduling cell, PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission from the UE is scheduled by the DCI format provided by PDCCH reception on the SCell; (4) when the SCell is not configured to the UE as a scheduling cell, PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission from the UE is scheduled by the DCI format provided by PDCCH reception on another serving cell; and (5) PDCCH reception on the scheduling cell can have the same or different parameter set as the associated PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the scheduled cell.

[0118] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can be used to schedule DL transmission on the PDSCH and UL transmission on the PUSCH, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH includes: (1) downlink assignment, including at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to the DL-SCH; and (2) uplink scheduling grant, including at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to the UL-SCH.

[0119] In addition to scheduling, the PDCCH can be used for: (1) activation and deactivation of configured PUSCH transmissions with configured grants; (2) activation and deactivation of PDSCH semi-persistent transmissions; (3) notification of the slot format to one or more UEs; (4) notification of PRB(s) and OFDM symbol(s) to one or more UEs that the UE may assume that no transmission is intended for the UE; (5) transmission of TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; (6) transmission of one or more TPC commands for SRS transmission by one or more UEs; and (7) switching the active bandwidth of a UE. part; (8) initiate a random access procedure; (8) instruct the UE (or multiple) to monitor the PDCCH during the next occurrence of the DRX on duration; (9) in the IAB context, indicate the availability of soft symbols for the IAB-DU; (10) trigger a one-time HARQ-ACK codebook feedback; and (11) for operations with shared spectrum channel access: (i) trigger search space set group switching; (ii) indicate the available RB set and channel occupancy duration to one or more UEs; and (iii) indicate downlink feedback information for the configured granted PUSCH (CG-DFI).

[0120] The UE monitors the PDCCH candidate set in the configured monitoring occasions in one or more configured control resource sets (CORESETs) according to the corresponding search space set configuration.

[0121] A CORESET includes a set of PRBs with a duration of 1 to 3 OFDM symbols. Resource unit resource element groups (REGs) and control channel elements (CCEs) are defined within a CORESET, and each CCE includes a set of REGs. A control channel is formed by the aggregation of CCEs. Different code rates for the control channel are achieved by aggregating different numbers of CCEs. Interleaved and non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping is supported in a CORESET.

[0122] Polarization coding is used for DCI formats in PDCCH. Each resource element group carrying PDCCH carries its own DM-RS. QPSK modulation is used for the coded symbols of DCI formats in PDCCH.

[0123] The UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs on an active DLBWP on each active serving cell configured with PDCCH monitoring according to a corresponding search space set, where monitoring means receiving each PDCCH candidate and decoding the received information after demodulation according to the DCI format used for monitoring of the PDCCH candidates.

[0124] If the UE is provided with a monitoringCapabilityConfig for a serving cell, the UE obtains an indication of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs to monitor PDCCH on the serving cell: (1) per timeslot if monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability, or (2) per span if monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability.

[0125] If the UE is not provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig, the UE monitors the PDCCH on the serving cell up to the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs per slot.

[0126] The UE is able to indicate the ability to monitor PDCCH according to one or more of the combinations (X, Y) = (2, 2), (4, 3) and (7, 3) according to the SCS configuration for μ = 0 and μ = 1. The span is the number of consecutive symbols in the time slot in which the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH. Each PDCCH monitoring opportunity is within a span. If the UE monitors PDCCH on the cell according to the combination (X, Y), the UE supports PDCCH monitoring opportunities in any symbol of the time slot, and the time slot has a minimum time interval of X symbols between the first symbols of two consecutive spans (including across time slots). The span starts at the first symbol where the PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts and ends at the last symbol where the PDCCH monitoring opportunity ends, where the number of symbols of the span is up to Y.

[0127] If the UE can support: (1) a first set of serving cells, wherein the UE is not provided with a coresetPoolIndex, or is provided with a coresetPoolIndex having a single value for CORESET on all DL BWPs for each scheduling cell in the first set of serving cells, and (2) A second set of serving cells, wherein the UE is not provided with a coresetPoolIndex, or is provided with a coresetPoolIndex having a value of 0 for the first CORESET and a value of 1 for the second CORESET for any DL BWP for each scheduling cell in the second set of serving cells.

[0128] The UE determines the number of serving cells for the purpose of reporting pdcch-BlindDetectionCA as Where R is the value reported by the UE.

[0129] If the UE indicates a carrier aggregation capability of more than 4 serving cells in UE-NR-Capability and the UE is not provided with a monitoringCapabilityConfig for any downlink cell, or if the UE is provided with a monitoringCapabilityConfig = r15monitoringcapability for all downlink cells in which the UE monitors PDCCH, the UE includes in the UE-NR-Capability an indication of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs that the UE can monitor per timeslot when the UE is configured for carrier aggregation operation on more than 4 cells.

[0130] When the UE is not configured for NR-DC operation, the UE determines to monitor the The maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot of a downlink cell, where: (1) yes If the UE does not provide pdcch-BlindDetectionCA, where: is the number of configured downlink serving cells; and (2) otherwise, It is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA.

[0131] When the UE is configured for NR-DC operation, the UE determines to monitor the corresponding The maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot of the downlink cell (where, Provided by pdcch-BlindDetection for MCG) and determines that monitoring corresponds to The maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot of the downlink cell (where, When the UE is configured for carrier aggregation operation on more than 4 cells, or when the UE is configured for NR-DC operation, for a cell group, the UE is not expected to monitor more than 4 cells per timeslot as shown from The corresponding value of derives the maximum number of PDCCH candidates or multiple non-overlapping CCEs.

[0132] If the UE indicates a carrier aggregation capability of more than two downlink cells in UE-NR-Capability-r16, the UE includes in UE-NR-Capability-r16 an indication of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs that the UE can monitor per span when the UE is configured for carrier aggregation operation on more than two downlink cells with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability. When the UE is not configured for NR-DC operation and the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for all downlink cells in which the UE monitors PDCCH, the UE determines to monitor the PDCCH corresponding to The maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per span of the downlink cell, where: (1) is the number of configured downlink cells if the UE does not provide pdcch-Monitoring CA; and (2) otherwise, It is the value of pdcch-MonitoringCA.

[0133] When the UE is configured for carrier aggregation operation on more than 2 cells, or when the UE is configured for NR-DC operation for a cell group, the UE is not expected to monitor more than 100 cells per span from The maximum number of PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs derived from the corresponding value of

[0134] If the UE indicates in UE-NR-Capability a carrier aggregation capability greater than one downlink cell with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability or greater than one downlink cell with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability, the UE includes in UE-NR-Capability-r16 an indication of the maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs that the UE can monitor for a downlink cell with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability and for a downlink cell with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability when the UE is configured for more than two downlink cells (wherein at least one downlink cell has monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability and at least one downlink cell has monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability).

[0135] When the UE is not configured for NR-DC operation, the UE determines to monitor the downlink cell or corresponding to The maximum number of PDCCH candidates and the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or span for each downlink cell, where: If the UE does not provide pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, is the number of configured downlink cells, otherwise, (1) if the UE reports only one combination of (pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2), then is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, otherwise, is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1 from the combination of (pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2) provided by pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-CombIndicator, and if the UE does not provide PDCCH-BlinddDetectionCA2, is the number of configured downlink cells, otherwise, (1) if the UE reports only one combination of (pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2), then is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2; (2) Otherwise, It is the value of pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2 which is the combination of (pdcch-BlindDetectionCA1, pdcch-BlindDetectionCA2) provided by pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-CombIndicator.

[0136] The set of PDCCH candidates monitored by the UE is defined according to a PDCCH search space set. A search space set can be a CSS set or a USS set. The UE monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following search space sets.

[0137] In one example, the Type0-PDCCH CSS set is configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of MCG.

[0138] In another example, the Type0A-PDCCH CSS set is configured by searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG.

[0139] In yet another example, the Type1-PDCCH CSS set is configured by ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI or TC-RNTI on the primary cell.

[0140] In yet another example, the Type2-PDCCH CSS set is configured by pagingSearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI format with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG.

[0141] In another example, the Type3-PDCCH CSS set is configured by the SearchSpace in the PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common, for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI or CI-RNTI and (for the primary cell only) C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI (or multiple) or PS-RNTI, and the USS set is configured by the SearchSpace in the PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=ue-Specific, for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, CS-RNTI (or multiple), SL-RNTI, SL-CS-RNTI or SL semi-persistent scheduling V-RNTI.

[0142] If the UE is provided with: (1) one or more search space sets provided by corresponding one or more of searchSpaceZero, searchSpaceSIB1, searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation, pagingSearchSpace, ra-SearchSpace, or a CSS set provided by PDCCH-Config, and (2) SI-RNTI, P-RNTI, RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, INT-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI or TPC-SRS-RNTI, then for an RNTI from any of these RNTIs, the UE is not expected to process information from more than one DCI format with CRC scrambled with the RNTI per slot.

[0143] For each DL BWP configured for a UE in a serving cell, the UE can be provided by higher layer signaling: (1) P≤3 CORESETs if coresetPoolIndex is not provided, or if the value of coresetPoolIndex is the same for all CORESETs when coresetPoolIndex is provided; and (2) P≤5 CORESETs if coresetPoolIndex is not provided for the first CORESET, or is provided for the first CORESET and has a value of 0, and is provided for the second CORESET and has a value of 1.

[0144] For each CORESET, the UE is provided with the following via ControlResourceSet, as shown in Table 1:

[0145] Table 1

[0146]

[0147]

[0148] When preCoderGranulity = allContiguousRB, the UE does not expect: (1) a set of resource blocks configured with CORESET that includes more than four resource block subsets that are not contiguous in frequency; and (2) any RE of the CORESET to overlap with any RE determined from lte-CRS-ToMatchAround or from LTE-CRS-PatternList, or to overlap with any RE of the SS / PBCH block.

[0149] For each CORESET in the DL BWP of the serving cell, the corresponding frequencyDomainResources provides a bitmap: (1) If the CORESET is not associated with any search space set configured with freqMonitorLocations, the bitmap is as follows: of The bits of the bitmap have a one-to-one mapping with non-overlapping groups of 6 consecutive PRBs in ascending order of PRB indices in the DL BWP bandwidth of 6 PRBs, where if rb-Offset is not provided, the first common RB of the first group of 6 PRBs has a common RB index 6·BWPstart / 6, or the first common RB of the first group of 6 PRBs has a common RB index in, Provided by rb-Offset; and (2) if CORESET is associated with at least one search space set configured with freqMonitorLocations, then of The first PRB in the bitmap is in ascending order of the PRB index in each RB set k in the DL BWP bandwidth of PRBs. bits have a one-to-one mapping with non-overlapping groups of 6 consecutive PRBs, see REF 4, where the first common RB of the first group of 6 PRBs has a common RB index And k is indicated by freqMonitorLocations (if provided for the search space set); otherwise, k=0. is the number of available PRBs in RB set 0 for DLB WP, and provided by rb-Offset, or if rb-Offset is not provided, then If the UE is provided with an RB set in a DL BWP, the UE expects the RBs of the CORESET to be within the union of the PRBs in the RB set of the DL BWP.

[0150] For a CORESET other than the CORESET with index 0: (1) if the UE has not been provided with a configuration of a TCI state(s) by the tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList for the CORESET, or has been provided with an initial configuration of more than one TCI state for the CORESET by the tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList but has not received a MAC CE activation command for one of the TCI states, as described in REF 5, then the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna ports associated with PDCCH reception are quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH blocks identified by the UE during the initial access procedure; and (2) if the UE has been provided with a configuration of more than one TCI state by the tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList for the CORESET as part of a reconfiguration with a synchronization procedure, as described in REF 6, but has not received a MAC CE activation command for one of the TCI states, as described in REF 5, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna port associated with PDCCH reception is quasi-co-located with the SS / PBCH block or CSI-RS resource identified by the UE during the random access procedure initiated by the reconfiguration with synchronization procedure as described in the 3GPP standard specification.

[0151] For a CORESET with index 0, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna ports used for PDCCH reception in the CORESET are quasi-co-located with: (1) one or more DLRS configured by the TCI state indicated by the MAC CE Activation command for the CORESET (if any), or (2) an SS / PBCH block identified by the UE during the most recent random access procedure not initiated by a PDCCH command triggering a contention-free random access procedure, if a MAC CE Activation command indicating the TCI state for the CORESET was not received after the most recent random access procedure.

[0152] For a CORESET other than the CORESET with index 0, if the UE is provided with a single TCI state for the CORESET, or if the UE receives a MAC CE activation command for one of the provided TCI states for the CORESET, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna ports associated with PDCCH reception in the CORESET are quasi-co-located with one or more DLRS configured by the TCI state. For the CORESET with index 0, the UE expects that the CSI-RS configured with qcl-Type set to "typeD" in the TCI state indicated by the MAC CE activation command for the CORESET is provided by the SS / PBCH block: (1) If the UE receives a MAC CE activation command for one of the TCI states, the UE assumes that the DM-RS antenna ports associated with PDCCH reception in the CORESET are quasi-co-located with one or more DLRS configured by the TCI state. The activation command is applied in the first time slot after k, where k is the time slot in which the UE can send a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH providing the activation command, and μ is the SCS configuration of the PUCCH. The active BWP is defined as the active BWP in the time slot when the activation command is applied.

[0153] IE SearchSpace defines how / where to search for PDCCH candidates. Each search space is associated with one ControlResourceSet. For scheduled cells in case of cross-carrier scheduling, all optional fields except nrofCandidates are missing (regardless of their existence conditions). Table 2 shows the information elements.

[0154] Table 2. Search space information elements

[0155]

[0156]

[0157]

[0158]

[0159]

[0160]

[0161] For each DL BWP configured to a UE in a serving cell, the UE is provided by a higher layer with S≤10 search space sets, where for each search space set from the S search space sets, the UE is provided by SearchSpace with the following items as shown in Table 3.

[0162] Table 3. Search space

[0163]

[0164]

[0165] If monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot indicates to the UE to monitor PDCCH in the same subset of up to three consecutive symbols in each slot, the UE monitors PDCCH for all search space sets, then if the subset includes at least one symbol after the third symbol, the UE is not expected to be configured with a PDCCH SCS other than 15 kHz.

[0166] The UE does not expect to be provided with the first symbol and several consecutive symbols of the CORESET that result in the PDCCH candidates being mapped to symbols of different slots.

[0167] The UE does not expect any two PDCCH monitoring opportunities on the active DL BWP to be separated by a non-zero number of symbols less than the CORESET duration, for the same search space set or different search space sets in the same CORESET.

[0168] The UE determines the PDCCH monitoring opportunity on the active DLBWP from the PDCCH monitoring periodicity, PDCCH monitoring offset and PDCCH monitoring pattern within the time slot. For the search space set s, the UE determines that the PDCCH monitoring opportunity (or multiple) exists in the search space set with number n. f The frames in the In the time slot (if ). UE in the slave time slot Starting T s Monitor the PDCCH candidates in search space set s in consecutive time slots, and s -T s The PDCCH candidates of search space set s are not monitored in consecutive time slots.

[0169] The USSs at CCE aggregation level L∈{1,2,4,8,16} are defined by the PDCCH candidate set of CCE aggregation level L.

[0170] If the UE is configured with CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig for the serving cell, the CarrierIndicator field value corresponds to the value indicated by CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig.

[0171] For the active DL BWP of the serving cell on which the UE monitors PDCCH candidates in the USS, if the UE is not configured with the carrier indicator field, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates without the carrier indicator field. For the active DL BWP of the serving cell on which the UE monitors PDCCH candidates in the USS, if the UE is configured with the carrier indicator field, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates with the carrier indicator field.

[0172] If the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates with a carrier indicator field corresponding to a secondary cell in another serving cell, the UE is not expected to monitor PDCCH candidates on the active DL BWP of the secondary cell.For the active DL BWP of a serving cell on which the UE monitors PDCCH candidates, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates for at least the same serving cell.

[0173] For the search space set s associated with CORESETp, for the carrier indicator field value n CI The active DL BWP of the serving cell for the time slot PDCCH candidates in the search space set The corresponding CCE index of aggregation level L is given by Given, where, for any CSS, For USS, Y p,-1 =n RNTI ≠0, for pmod3=0, A p =39827, for pmod3 = 1, A p =39829, for pmod3 = 2, A p =39839, and D = 65537; i = 0, ..., L-1; N CCE,p It is from 0 to N in CORESETp CCE,p -1 The number of CCEs numbered, if any, for each RB set; if the UE is configured with a carrier indicator field via the CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig for the serving cell on which the PDCCH is monitored, then n CI is the Carrier Indicator field value; otherwise, including for any CSS, n CI =0; in, The UE is configured for CI The number of PDCCH candidates monitored by the aggregation level L of the search space set s of the corresponding serving cell; for any CSS, For USS, is the total number of configuration values ​​n of the CCE aggregation level L in the search space set s CI on Maximum value; for n RNTI The RNTI value is C-RNTI.

[0174] The UE is expected to monitor PDCCH candidates of up to 4 sizes of DCI formats (including up to 3 sizes of DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI) per serving cell (this rule is sometimes referred to as a "3+1" DCI format size budget). The UE counts the number of sizes of DCI formats per serving cell based on the number of configured PDCCH candidates in the corresponding search space set for the corresponding active DL BWP.

[0175] If for the search space set s i j There is an index PDCCH candidate, or if serving cell n uses the same CCE set CI In the CORESETp on the active DL BWP, there exists a PDCCH candidates and The PDCCH candidates have the same scrambling and the corresponding DCI formats for the PDCCH candidates have the same size, then for serving cell n CI The search space set s of the CCE set used in CORESETp on the active DL BWP j with index The PDCCH candidate with index The PDCCH candidates are counted for monitoring.

[0176] The UE is not expected to be configured with a CSS set that causes the corresponding total number of monitored PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs per slot or per span or the number per scheduled cell to exceed the corresponding maximum number per slot or per span, respectively.

[0177] For same cell scheduling or for cross-carrier scheduling, the UE does not expect the number of PDCCH candidates per timeslot or per span and the number of corresponding non-overlapping CCEs on the secondary cell to be greater than the corresponding number per timeslot or per span that the UE can monitor on the secondary cell, respectively. If the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for the primary cell, then except for the first span of each timeslot, the UE does not expect the number of PDCCH candidates per span and the number of corresponding non-overlapping CCEs on the primary cell to be greater than the corresponding number that the UE can monitor on the primary cell per span. ​

[0178] For cross-carrier scheduling, the number of PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs for monitoring per span or per slot are counted individually for each scheduled cell.

[0179] Table 4 provides the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per slot for a UE in DL BWP For operation with a single serving cell there is an SCS configuration μ.

[0180] Table 4. Maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per slot for DL ​​BWP with SCS configuration μ∈{0,1,2,3} for a single serving cell

[0181]

[0182] Table 5 provides the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per span for a UE in a DL BWP. For operation with a single serving cell there is an SCS configuration μ.

[0183] Table 5. Maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates in the span of combination (X,Y) for DL ​​BWP with SCS configuration μ∈{0,1} for a single serving cell

[0184]

[0185] Table 6 provides the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs for a DL BWP with SCS configuration μ that a UE is expected to monitor for a corresponding PDCCH candidate per slot For operation with a single serving cell. CCEs for PDCCH candidates are non-overlapping if they correspond to: (1) different CORESET indices, or (2) different first symbols for receiving corresponding PDCCH candidates.

[0186] Table 6. Maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per slot for DL ​​BWP with SCS configuration μ∈{0,1,2,3} for a single serving cell

[0187]

[0188] Table 7 provides the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs for a DL BWP with SCS configuration μ that a UE is expected to monitor for a corresponding PDCCH candidate per span. For operation with a single serving cell.

[0189] Table 7. Maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in the span of combination (X,Y) for DL ​​BWP with SCS configuration μ∈{0,1} for a single serving cell

[0190]

[0191] If the UE: (1) does not report pdcch-BlindDetectionCA or is not provided with BDFactorR, γ=R; and (2) reports pdcch-BlindDetectionCA, the UE can be indicated by BDFactorR, γ=1 or γ=r.

[0192] If the UE is configured with a monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16 for which the UE is not provided or monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r15monitoringcapability is provided but CORESETPoolIndex is not provided downlink cells with associated PDCCH candidates monitored on the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell using SCS configuration μ, where The UE does not need to monitor the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell: (1) When the scheduling cell comes from When there are more than 100 downlink cells, for each scheduled cell, more than 100 timeslots are available. PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs, (2) when the scheduling cell comes from When there are more than 100 downlink cells, for each scheduled cell, more than 100 timeslots are available. PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs; or (3) when the scheduling cell comes from When there are multiple downlink cells, for each scheduled cell, for a CORESET with the same coresetPoolIndex value, more than PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs.

[0193] If the UE is configured with a downlink cell for which the UE is provided with both monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r15monitoringcapability and monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r16monitoringcapability, then quilt replace.

[0194] If the UE: (1) is configured with a monitoringCapabilityConfig for which the UE is not provided or is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r15monitoringcapability but not provided with coresetPoolIndex downlink cell; (2) having an associated PDCCH candidate monitored in an active DL BWP of the scheduling cell(s) using SCS configuration μ, where: and (3) the DL BWP of the activated cell is the active DL BWP of the activated cell, and the DL BWP of the deactivated cell is the DL BWP with an index provided by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id for the deactivated cell.

[0195] UE does not need to The active DLBWP(s) of the scheduling cell(s) in the downlink cell(s) monitors more than PDCCH candidates or more

[0196] non-overlapping CCEs. If the UE is configured with a downlink cell for which the UE is provided with both monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r15monitoringcapability and monitoringCapabilityConfig-r16=r16monitoringcapability, then quilt replace.

[0197] For those from For each scheduled cell of the downlink cell, the UE does not need to monitor more than 100 timeslots per time slot on the active DL BWP with SCS configuration μ of the scheduling cell. PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs.

[0198] for For each scheduled cell in the downlink cells, the UE does not need to monitor on the active DL BWP with SCS configuration μ of the scheduling cell: (1) more than PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs; and (2) for CORESETs with the same coresetPoolIndex value, more than PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs.

[0199] If the UE is configured with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for which the UE is provided downlink cell with associated PDCCH candidates monitored on the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell using SCS configuration μ, and having In the downlink, the combination (X,Y) is used for PDCCH monitoring. Among them, Then when the scheduling cell comes from When there are multiple downlink cells, the UE does not need to monitor more than one downlink cell per span for each scheduled cell on the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell. PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs. If the UE is configured with a downlink cell for which the UE is provided with both monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability and monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability, then quilt replace.

[0200] If the UE is only configured with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for which the UE is provided downlink cell with associated PDCCH candidates monitored in the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell using SCS configuration μ and having In the downlink, the combination (X,Y) is used for PDCCH monitoring. Among them, The DL BWP of the activated cell is the active DL BWP of the activated cell, and the DL BWP of the deactivated cell is the DL BWP of the deactivated cell with the index provided by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id, then the UE does not need to monitor more than PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs: (1) If from The union of the PDCCH monitoring opportunities on all scheduled cells of the downlink cells results in PDCCH monitoring according to the combination (X,Y), and any pair in the set spans within Y symbols, then within every X symbols from a set of active DLBWPs (or multiple) for all scheduled cells (or multiples) of downlink cells, wherein the first X symbols start at the first symbol with a PDCCH monitoring opportunity and the next X symbols start at the first symbol with a PDCCH monitoring opportunity that is not included in the first X symbols, and (2) the spans from The set of active DL BWPs per span of all scheduled cells for downlink cells, where for each span set, there is at most one span per scheduled cell, otherwise,

[0201] in, is the number of configured cells with associated PDCCH candidates monitored in the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell using SCS configuration j. If the UE is configured with downlink cells for which the UE is provided with both monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability and monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability, then quilt replace.

[0202] For those from For each scheduled cell using the downlink cell combination (X,Y), the UE does not need to monitor more than 100 ms per span on the active DL BWP with SCS configuration μ of the scheduling cell. PDCCH candidates or more non-overlapping CCEs.

[0203] The UE is not expected to be configured with a CSS set that causes the corresponding total number of monitored PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs per slot or per span or the number per scheduled cell to exceed the corresponding maximum number per slot or per span, respectively.

[0204] For same cell scheduling or for cross-carrier scheduling, the UE does not expect the number of PDCCH candidates and the corresponding number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or per span on the secondary cell to be greater than the corresponding number per time slot or per span that the UE can monitor on the secondary cell, respectively. If the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for the primary cell, then except for the first span of each time slot, the UE does not expect the number of PDCCH candidates and the corresponding number of non-overlapping CCEs per span on the primary cell to be greater than the corresponding number per span that the UE can monitor on the primary cell.

[0205] For cross-carrier scheduling, the number of PDCCH candidates for monitoring and the number of non-overlapping CCEs per span or per slot are counted individually for each scheduled cell.

[0206] For all search space sets within time slot n or within a span in time slot n, S css Indicates the cardinality is I css A collection of CSS sets, and by S uss Indicates the cardinality is J uss A collection of USS sets. j (0≤j <J uss ) in S uss The positions in are in ascending order according to the search space set index.

[0207] Depend on Indicates the use for CSS set S css (i) The number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored, 0≤i css , and by Indicates that it is used for USS set S uss (j) The number of PDCCH candidates monitored, 0≤j <J uss .

[0208] For a CSS set, the UE needs to monitor a total of Non-overlapping CCEs PDCCH candidates.

[0209] ​According to the following pseudo code, if the UE is not provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig for the primary cell or if the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r15monitoringcapability for the primary cell, or, in the first span of each time slot, if the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for the primary cell, the UE allocates PDCCH candidates for monitoring in the time slot to the USS set for the primary cell having an active DL BWP with SCS configuration μ. If, for the USS set for scheduling on the primary cell, the UE is not provided with coresetPoolIndex for the first CORESET, or is provided with coresetPoolIndex with a value of 0 for the first CORESET and is provided with coresetPoolIndex with a value of 1 for the second CORESET, and if or Then the following pseudo code applies only to the USS set associated with the first CORESET. The UE is not expected to monitor PDCCH in the USS set without an assigned PDCCH candidate for monitoring. In the following pseudo code, if the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for the primary cell, then and Respectively and Instead, and and Respectively and replace.

[0210] By V CCE (S uss (j)) represents the search space set S uss (j) is a set of non-overlapping CCEs, and is represented by C(V CCE (S uss (j))) indicates V CCE (S uss (j)) where the allocated PDCCH candidates for monitoring the CSS set and the allocated PDCCH candidates for monitoring all search space sets S are considered. uss (k), 0≤k≤j, the allocated PDCCH candidates are determined for the search space set S uss (j) non-overlapping CCE, as shown in Table 8.

[0211] Table 8. Search space set

[0212]

[0213]

[0214] For the scheduled cell and at any time, the UE is expected to have received up to 16 PDCCHs in DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI for 16 PDSCHs received by the scheduled UE for which it has not received any corresponding PDSCH symbols, and up to 16 PDCCHs in DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI for 16 PUSCHs sent by the scheduled UE for which it has not sent any corresponding PUSCH symbols.

[0215] If the UE is not provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for any serving cell, and (1) is not configured for NR-DC operation and is indicated for downlink cell monitoring PDCCH candidates, and the UE is configured with Downlink cell or uplink cells, or (2) configured with NR-DC operation and for Downlink cells or A cell group of uplink cells.

[0216] The UE is expected to have received at most PDCCH is used to: (1) schedule UEs for which it has not yet completed all Any corresponding PDSCH symbol is received on the downlink cell (2) scheduling UEs for which they have not yet received all PDSCHs and a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI; The uplink cell sends any corresponding PUSCH symbol The DCI format sent on the PUSCH has a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI.

[0217] If the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for all serving cells, and (1) is not configured for NR-DC operation and is indicated for downlink cell monitoring PDCCH candidates, and the UE is configured with Downlink cells or uplink cells, or (2) configured with NR-DC operation and for Downlink cells or A cell group of uplink cells.

[0218] The UE is expected to have received at most PDCCH is used to: (1) schedule UEs for which it has not yet completed all Any corresponding PDSCH symbol is received on the downlink cell received DCI formats with a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI; and (2) scheduling UEs for which they have not yet received all The uplink cell sends any corresponding PUSCH symbol The DCI format sent for each PUSCH has a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI.

[0219] If the UE is provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for at least one serving cell and is not provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability for at least one serving cell, and: (1) is not configured for NR-DC operation and indicates that downlink cells and downlink cell monitoring PDCCH candidates, and the UE is configured with Downlink cell or uplink cells, or (2) configured with NR-DC operation and for Downlink cell or A cell group of uplink cells.

[0220] Then, the UE is expected to have received: (1) at most PDCCHs are used to schedule UEs for which they have not yet received any corresponding PDSCH symbols on all serving cells that are not provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI received for PDSCH; (2) up to PDCCHs for scheduling UEs for which they have not yet sent any corresponding PUSCH symbols on all serving cells for which monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability is not provided DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI transmitted on PUSCH; (3) up to PDCCHs are used to schedule UEs for which they have not yet received any corresponding PDSCH symbols on all serving cells provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI received for PDSCH; or (4) at most PDCCHs for scheduling UEs for which they have not yet sent any corresponding PUSCH symbols on all serving cells provided with monitoringCapabilityConfig=r16monitoringcapability The DCI format sent for each PUSCH has a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or CS-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI.

[0221] If the UE: (1) is configured to monitor a first PDCCH candidate of DCI format 0_0 and DCI format 1_0 from the CSS set and a second PDCCH candidate of DCI format 0_0 and DCI format 1_0 from the USS set in CORESET with index zero on an active DL BWP, (2) the DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 associated with the first PDCCH candidate and the DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 associated with the second PDCCH candidate have the same size, and (3) the UE receives the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate on the same CCE set, and (4) the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have the same scrambling, and (5) the DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 for the first PDCCH candidate and the DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 for the second PDCCH candidate have CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI or CS-RNTI.

[0222] The UE only decodes DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 associated with the first PDCCH candidate.

[0223] If the UE detects a DCI format with inconsistent information, the UE discards all information in the DCI format.

[0224] A UE configured with a bandwidth part indicator in a DCI format determines, in case the active DL BWP or active UL BWP changes, that the information in the DCI format is applicable to the new active DL BWP or UL BWP, respectively.

[0225] For unpaired spectrum operation, if the UE is not configured for serving cell c 2 If the PDCCH is in time with the serving cell c, 2 SRS transmission overlaps on the serving cell (including any interruption due to uplink or downlink RF retuning time [10, TS38.133]) and if the UE cannot 1 and serving cell c 2 UE does not intend to monitor the serving cell c 1 PDCCH on.

[0226] If the UE is provided with resourceBlocks and symbolsInResourceBlock in RateMatchPattern, or if the UE is additionally provided with periodicityAndPattern in RateMatchPattern, the UE is able to determine the set of RBs in the symbols of the slot that are not available for PDSCH reception, as described in [6, TS 38.214]. If a PDCCH candidate in the slot is mapped to one or more REs that overlap with REs of any RB in the RB set in the symbols of the slot, the UE is not expected to monitor the PDCCH candidate.

[0227] The UE is not expected to be configured with dci-FormatsSL and dci-FormatsExt in the same USS.

[0228] The UE can apply DCI size alignment as described later.

[0229] If necessary, padding or truncation may be applied to the DCI format according to the following steps performed in the following order as shown in Table 9.

[0230] Table 9. Steps

[0231]

[0232]

[0233]

[0234]

[0235] The UE does not expect that after applying the above steps, the processing results in the following configuration: (1) for a cell, the total number of different DCI sizes configured to be monitored is more than 4; (2) for a cell, the total number of different DCI sizes with C-RNTI configured to be monitored is more than 3; (3) the size of DCI format 0_0 in a UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 0_1 ​​in another UE-specific search space; (4) the size of DCI format 1_0 in a UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 1_1 in another UE-specific search space; (5) when at least one pair of corresponding PDCCH candidates of DCI formats 0_0 and 0_2 are mapped to the same resource, the size of DCI format 0_0 in the UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 1_1 in another UE-specific search space. Formula 0_2; (6) when at least one pair of corresponding PDCCH candidates of DCI formats 1_0 and 1_2 are mapped to the same resource, the size of DCI format 1_0 in the UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 1_2 in another UE-specific search space; (7) when at least one pair of corresponding PDCCH candidates of DCI formats 0_1 and 0_2 are mapped to the same resource, the size of DCI format 0_1 ​​in the UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 0_2 in the same or another UE-specific search space; (8) or when at least one pair of corresponding PDCCH candidates of DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2 are mapped to the same resource, the size of DCI format 1_1 in the UE-specific search space is equal to DCI format 1_2 in the same or another UE-specific search space.

[0236] If DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1 is monitored on the cell, after performing the DCI size alignment as described in the 3GPP standard specification, DCI size alignment for DCI format 3_0 and DCI format 3_1 is performed as described in the 3GPP standard specification. The size (or sizes) of the DCI formats configured for cell monitoring in the 3GPP standard specification refer to the sizes after performing the DCI size alignment described in the 3GPP standard specification.

[0237] If DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1 is monitored on a cell and the total number of DCI sizes for the DCI formats and DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1 that the cell is configured to monitor is greater than 4, zeros may be appended to DCI format 3_0 (if configured) and DCI format 3_1 (if configured) until the payload size of DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1 is equal to the payload size of the smallest DCI format that the cell is configured to monitor that is larger than DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1.

[0238] The UE does not expect to process configurations that result in: (1) the total number of different DCI sizes and DCI formats 3_0 or DCI formats 3_1 that the cell is configured to monitor is greater than 4; and (2) the payload size of DCI format 3_0 or DCI format 3_1 is greater than the payload size of all other DCI formats that the cell is configured to monitor.

[0239] Throughout this disclosure, embodiments are described in terms of multiple PDSCHs or multiple PUSCHs jointly scheduled on multiple serving cells, such as a subset / set of cells among one or more co-scheduled sets / subsets of cells.

[0240] Embodiments are general and applicable to various other scenarios, such as when a UE is jointly scheduled to receive / transmit multiple PDSCH / PUSCHs: (1) for example, in distributed MIMO operation, from / to multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs) or other communication entities, such as multiple distributed units (DUs) or multiple remote radio heads (RRHs), where the TRPs / DUs / RRHs can be associated with one or more cells; (2) in multiple time units, such as multiple time slots or multiple transmission time intervals (TTIs); (3) on multiple BWPs associated with one or more cells / carriers / TRPs, including multiple BWPs for a single serving cell / carrier for UEs with the ability to receive / transmit on multiple active BWPs; (4) on one or more TRPs / cells, where the UE can receive / transmit more than one PDSCH / PUSCH on each co-scheduled TRP / cell; (5) for multiple transport blocks (TBs), or for multiple codewords (CWs) corresponding to a single TB or multiple TBs; or (6) for multiple semi-persistently scheduled PDSCHs (SPSs). PDSCH) or multiple configured granted PUSCHs (CG PUSCH) for joint activation on one or more TRPs / cells.

[0241] Therefore, any reference to "co-scheduled cell" can be replaced by / with "co-scheduled TRP / DU / RRH", or "co-scheduled time slot / TTI", or "co-scheduled BWP", or "co-scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH", or "co-scheduled TB / CW", or "co-scheduled SPS-PDSCH / CG-PUSCH", etc. Similarly, for other related terms, such as "multi-cell scheduling", etc.

[0242] Various embodiments contemplate receiving multiple PDSCHs or sending multiple PUSCHs on a corresponding cell, including carriers of the same cell, such as on an UL carrier (also referred to as a normal UL (NUL) carrier) or a supplementary UL (SUL) carrier. Embodiments are also applicable to situations where scheduling is mixed for PDSCH and PUSCH. For example, a UE can receive a first PDSCH on a corresponding first cell and can send a second PUSCH on a corresponding second cell, wherein the first PDSCH and the second PUSCH are jointly scheduled.

[0243] The UE can be provided with several co-scheduled cell sets by the upper layer. The term co-scheduled cell set is used to indicate a set of serving cells, wherein the UE can be scheduled for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on two or more cells in the co-scheduled cell set jointly through a single DCI format or by using supplementary embodiments (such as those described in the embodiments of the present disclosure). For ease of presentation, this DCI format may be referred to as a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format. The MC-DCI format can be a new DCI format, such as DCI format 0_3 for co-scheduling PUSCH or 1_3 for co-scheduling PDSCH. In addition, a subset of the UE co-scheduled cell set can be indicated via a DCI format in the PDCCH (such as an MC-DCI format) or via a MAC CE in the PDSCH, wherein the cells of the subset can change across different PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MOs). For example, the first MC-DCI format in the first MO can indicate a first co-scheduled cell set / subset, and the second DCI format in the second MO can indicate a second co-scheduled cell set / subset.

[0244] In one example, multi-cell scheduling can also include operations related to DL / UL transmission, such as reporting HARQ-ACK information, beam / CSI measurement or reporting, sending or receiving UL / DL reference signals, etc.

[0245] In one example, the UE can be configured by a higher layer (such as through a UE-specific RRC configuration) with several sets of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE can be configured with a first set of cells, such as {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7} and a second set of cells, such as {cell #2, cell #3, cell #5, cell #6}. Multiple sets of co-scheduled cells can be scheduled from the same scheduling cell or from different scheduling cells.

[0246] In one example, the co-scheduled cell set can include a primary cell (PCell / PSCell) and one or more SCells. In another example, the co-scheduled cell set can include only SCells. In one example, the scheduling cell can belong to the co-scheduled cell set. In another example, the scheduling cell may not belong to the co-scheduled cell set. In another example, the UE does not expect the scheduling cell to belong to the co-scheduled cell set.

[0247] In one example, according to the specification of system operation, the co-scheduled cell set is defined as a set of all scheduled cells having the same scheduling cell, and no additional high-level configuration is required to indicate the co-scheduled cell set. Therefore, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling or other supplementary embodiments can jointly schedule any number of scheduled cells having the same scheduling cell. For example, the MC-DCI format can include a bitmap to indicate which scheduled cells are jointly scheduled.

[0248] In another example, the co-scheduled cell set can have two or more scheduling cells. For example, the UE can receive a first MC-DCI format in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity on a first scheduling cell for scheduling a co-scheduled cell set, and can receive a second MC-DCI format in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity on a second scheduling cell for scheduling a co-scheduled cell set. The DCI format can be associated with any search space set type (CSS or USS), or can be limited to being associated only with a USS set. For example, the DCI format can be associated with multicast scheduling and have a CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI and a PDCCH candidate monitored according to a CSS set, or can be associated with unicast scheduling and have a CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI and a PDCCH candidate monitored according to a USS set. This PDCCH monitoring from two scheduling cells can be simultaneous, such as in the same span of a symbol or in the same time slot, or can be non-overlapping, such as in different time slots (per high-level configuration, or per indication in a PDCCH or via a MAC CE).

[0249] The UE may or may not expect that both the first scheduling cell and the second scheduling cell can schedule PUSCH transmission or PDSCH reception on the same cell through the DCI format in the PDCCH reception in the same time interval, such as a span or time slot. For example, for a given scheduled cell, the UE can be configured to monitor the PDCCH that provides the MC-DCI corresponding to the set of co-scheduling cells including the given scheduled cell only on the first scheduling cell, or only on the second scheduling cell, or on both the first and second scheduling cells. The UE can also monitor the PDCCH on only one cell in the set of co-scheduling cells to detect the DCI format that provides scheduling (single-cell scheduling DCI format). For example, the UE can be configured to monitor the PDCCH on the first scheduling cell for single-cell scheduling on the serving cell, and monitor the PDCCH on the second scheduling cell for multi-cell scheduling on the set of co-scheduling cells including the serving cell.

[0250] The UE can report one or more of the following to the gNB as capabilities: the maximum number of co-scheduled cell sets, or the maximum number of cells within a co-scheduled cell set, or the maximum total number of co-scheduled cells across different sets, or the maximum number of co-scheduled cells per PDCCH monitoring occasion. In one example, the capability can depend on the operating band or frequency range such as above or below 6 GHz. Thus, the UE can be configured with a co-scheduled cell set / subset, where the number of sets / subsets or the number of cells within a set / subset is within the corresponding limit reported as UE capabilities.

[0251] Multi-cell scheduling can be an optional UE feature with capability signaling that can additionally be separate for PDSCH reception and PUSCH transmission. For example, the UE can report a capability of a maximum number of {2,4,8,16} co-scheduled cells for DL ​​and a maximum number of {2,4} co-scheduled cells for UL. The UE can be configured with a set / subset of several co-scheduled cells such that the size of the set / subset does not exceed the corresponding value reported by the UE capability. For example, the UE can be configured with a separate set of co-scheduled cells for PDSCH reception compared to the set of co-scheduled cells for PUSCH transmission.

[0252] The UE can also be configured with several cells that do not belong to any of the co-scheduled cell sets. For example, the UE can be configured with cell #8 that does not belong to the first co-scheduled cell set or the second co-scheduled cell set in the previous example.

[0253] In one example, restrictions can be applied to co-scheduled cells, and the UE can expect the co-scheduled cells in the corresponding set to: (1) have the same set of parameters (SCS configuration and CP); (2) have the same set of parameters for the corresponding active DL / UL BWP; (3) have the same duplex configuration, for example, all cells have FDD configuration or all cells have TDD configuration, and in the case of TDD configuration, also have the same UL-DL configuration; (4) are within the same frequency band (intra-band CA) or within the same frequency range (such as FR1 or FR2 or FR2-1 or FR2-2); or (5) have the same license type, for example, all cells are licensed or all cells are unlicensed.

[0254] In one example, if the scheduling cell belongs to a co-scheduled cell set, the above restrictions may not apply to the scheduling cell. For example, the scheduling cell can have a different SCS configuration than (other) cells in the co-scheduled cell set. For example, the scheduling cell can be in FR1 and FDD bands, and jointly schedule the co-scheduled cell set in FR2 and TDD bands.

[0255] The serving cell can belong to only a single co-scheduled cell set, such that the co-scheduled cell set does not include any common cells, or can belong to multiple co-scheduled cell sets to achieve greater scheduling flexibility for the serving gNB. For example, the serving cell can belong to a first co-scheduled cell set and a second co-scheduled cell set, such as when the cells in the first and second co-scheduled cell sets have common characteristics (such as a common parameter set, duplex configuration, operating frequency band / range, etc.). In addition, when the serving cell has a first common characteristic with a cell in the first co-scheduled cell set and a second common characteristic with a cell in the second co-scheduled cell set, the serving cell can belong to both the first co-scheduled cell set and the second co-scheduled cell set, wherein the first common characteristic can be different from the second common characteristic.

[0256] When a first cell using paired spectrum operation (FDD) and a second cell using unpaired spectrum operation (TDD) are in the same co-scheduled cell set, and a DCI format schedules a first PDSCH reception on the first cell and a second PDSCH reception on the second cell, and the second PDSCH reception includes symbols that are UL symbols on the second cell (e.g., as determined based on a TDD UL-DL configuration provided by a SIB or by UE-specific RRC signaling), the UE does not receive the second PDSCH on the UL symbols, or does not receive the second PDSCH on any symbols on the second cell. Alternatively, the UE can apply rate matching to the second PDSCH around the UL symbols on the second cell, so that the UE receives the second PDSCH at an adjusted rate in other remaining symbols. Similar UE behavior can be applied when the first and second scheduled cells use unpaired spectrum operation with different UL-DL configurations (such as on different frequency bands).

[0257] In one example, the UE is expected to be provided with multi-cell scheduling for all cells in a co-scheduled cell set. For example, for a first co-scheduled cell set including cells {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7}, the DCI format schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on all four cells in the first co-scheduled cell set {cell #0, cell #1, cell #4, cell #7}. When the UE is configured with a first and a second co-scheduled cell set, in one example, the UE expects that there is no service / scheduled cell configured in both the first set and the second set (i.e., there is no overlap between the first set and the second set). In another example, the first set and the second set can have a common cell, i.e., both the first set and the second set can include a first service / scheduled cell. For example, when both the first set and the second set correspond to the same scheduling cell, the latter can be applicable. For example, the first cell can be a scheduling cell. In one example, the MC-DCI format needs to indicate a co-scheduled cell set in multiple co-scheduled cell sets. For example, the first MC-DCI can indicate a first co-scheduling cell set to jointly schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH of all cells in the first co-scheduling cell set, and the second MC-DCI can indicate a second co-scheduling cell set to jointly schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH of all cells in the second co-scheduling cell set.

[0258] In one example, the UE can be provided with multi-cell scheduling for a subset of the co-scheduled cell set.For example, the DCI format can schedule PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on only two cells (such as {cell #0, cell #4}) in the first cell set.

[0259] In one example, the cell subset can be indicated by a MAC CE. Such a MAC CE command can include one or more of the following: an indication of activating or deactivating / releasing a cell subset, an indication of the number of co-scheduled cell sets, or an indication of the number of co-scheduled cell subsets from a corresponding number of co-scheduled cell sets. When the co-scheduled cell set includes deactivated cells or cells in which the UE operates in a dormant BWP, the MC-DCI format can be resized to include fields only for activated cells or cells with an active BWP that is not a dormant BWP, or the fields of the MC-DCI format can be determined based on the RRC configuration of the co-scheduled cell set and remain the same when a cell from the co-scheduled cell set is deactivated or has a corresponding active BWP that is a dormant BWP.

[0260] For example, a MAC CE activates a first subset of a co-scheduled cell set, and a subsequent DCI format for multi-cell scheduling is applied to the first subset of cells activated by the MAC CE. The UE can receive another MAC CE command that deactivates the first subset of co-scheduled cells, or activates a second subset of co-scheduled cells, where the second subset can be a subset of the co-scheduled cell set or a subset of a different set of co-scheduled cells. If the UE receives a MAC CE that deactivates the first subset of co-scheduled cells but does not activate the second subset of co-scheduled cells, in one alternative, the UE does not expect to receive a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, and the UE may not monitor the PDCCH according to the corresponding search space set until the UE receives a new MAC CE that activates the second subset of co-scheduled cells. In another alternative, the UE can receive a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling even before receiving a new MAC CE that activates the second subset of co-scheduled cells, but the UE expects to be provided with an indication of the co-scheduled cell subset for multi-cell scheduling through a DCI format or by using a supplementary embodiment (such as those described in the embodiments of the present disclosure).

[0261] In one example, a subset of a co-scheduled cell set can be provided by a DCI format in a PDCCH / PDSCH. The subset of cells changes between PDCCH monitoring opportunities (MOs) for PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling, as indicated by the corresponding DCI format. For example, a first MC-DCI format in a first PDCCH MO indicates PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling on a first subset of cells, while a second MC-DCI format in a second PDCCH MO indicates PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling on a second subset of cells. In this way, the size of the MC-DCI format can be determined according to a subset of cells from a co-scheduled cell set (such as a first subset or a second subset), and the MC-DCI format can schedule more cells than the first subset or the second subset through different PDCCHs, including all cells in the co-scheduled cell set.

[0262] In one example, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides an index of a subset of co-scheduled cells, such as a CIF value corresponding to one or more subsets of cells from a co-scheduled cell set. For example, UE-specific RRC signaling can indicate a first / second / third / fourth index and a corresponding first / second / third / fourth subset, the first / second / third / fourth subset including one or more cells from a co-scheduled cell set, wherein the subset can also include all cells from a co-scheduled cell set. Then, a 2-bit CIF field in the DCI format can provide a value indicating a subset of scheduled cells. Such a CIF typically indicates a co-scheduled cell set, rather than a single scheduled cell, and can therefore be referred to as a "set-level" CIF (compared to the latter's "cell-level" CIF). The UE can be provided with a separate configuration of a first number of sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells for PDSCH reception, compared to a second number of sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells for PUSCH transmission. Therefore, the UE can be provided with a first set of indices for a set-level CIF for PDSCH reception, which is different from a second set of indices for a set-level CIF for PUSCH transmission. For example, a UE can be provided with 4 bits of an "aggregation level" CIF for PDSCH reception, and 3 bits of an "aggregation level" CIF for PUSCH transmission.

[0263] In one example, when a two-stage embodiment is used to jointly schedule a co-scheduled cell set / subset, as described in the embodiment, when the first-stage DCI is on the first PDCCH on the first cell, and the second-stage DCI is on the first PDSCH on the second cell, and the first PDSCH schedules the second PDSCH / PUSCH, in one option, the UE considers the scheduling cell for the second PDSCH / PUSCH to be the first cell, and defines the corresponding CIF association relative to the first cell and its configuration. In another option, the UE considers the scheduling cell for the second PDSCH / PUSCH to be the second cell, and defines the corresponding CIF association relative to the second cell and its configuration.

[0264] In one example, the DCI format can include a 1-bit flag field to indicate whether the DCI format is for single-cell scheduling or for multi-cell scheduling, so that the UE interprets the fields of the DCI format accordingly, which may also include a CIF field. Then, for single-cell scheduling, the CIF field can be interpreted as in the case of single-cell cross-carrier scheduling, while for multi-cell scheduling, the CIF field can be interpreted as indicating a subset from a set of co-scheduled cells. In one example, instead of an explicit 1-bit flag for indicating single-cell scheduling or multi-cell scheduling, the UE can be configured with several sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells, some of which include only one scheduled cell, while others include more than one scheduled cell. Therefore, the CIF value for single-cell scheduling can be separated from the CIF value for multi-cell scheduling. For example, CIF values ​​0, 1, 2, 3 correspond to scheduling individual cells, CIF values ​​4, 5, 6, 7 correspond to sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells, and the function of the 1-bit flag can be absorbed in the CIF. Therefore, the UE can determine whether the DCI format is for single-cell scheduling or for multi-cell scheduling based on the CIF value.

[0265] In one example, a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides several co-scheduled cells, and the indexes of the co-scheduled cells are provided by an additional embodiment, such as by an additional DCI format or by higher layer signaling as described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0266] In one example, the CIF field in the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can be a bitmap mapped to each cell or cell subset in the co-scheduled cell set. For example, when the UE is configured with a maximum number of N scheduled cells (such as N=8 cells) associated with the scheduling cell, the UE can be configured with a bitmap with N bits, wherein the value of the bit in the bitmap "1" indicates scheduling on the corresponding cell, and the value of the bit in the bitmap "0" indicates no scheduling on the corresponding cell. For example, the bitmap can be in ascending or descending order of the cell index or (cell level) CIF value or cell index of the scheduled cell. For example, the leftmost bit (respectively, the rightmost bit) can correspond to the scheduled cell with the smallest cell index or cell level CIF, and the second left bit (respectively, the second right bit) can correspond to the scheduled cell with the second small cell index or cell level CIF, and so on. For example, if the UE is configured with a number of M scheduled cells (such as M=4 cells), which is less than the maximum supported number of N scheduled cells (such as N=8 cells), then in one option, the bitmap can include 8 bits, and the remaining rightmost (correspondingly, the remaining leftmost) MN bits (such as 8-4=4 bits) can be all zero or all one. In another option, the bitmap can include only M=4 bits.

[0267] In one example, the UE is able to implicitly determine the index of the co-scheduled cell without explicit gNB indication. For example, the UE is able to determine the index of the co-scheduled cell based on a PDCCH monitoring parameter, such as: (1) CORESET index; (2) search space set index, or a carrier indicator parameter n_CI corresponding to the search space set index; or (3) a CCE set in a search space set or the first / last CCE in a search space set, wherein the UE receives a PDCCH providing a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling.

[0268] According to a third option, the UE can be configured with a mapping between a value of a PDCCH monitoring parameter (such as a search space set) and the number of co-scheduled cells or an index of a co-scheduled cell. In one example, a first value and a second value of a parameter n_CI in the search space set indicate a first and a second co-scheduled cell subset, respectively. According to this example, the parameter n_CI can correspond to a single cell or can correspond to a group of cells, such as a subset / set of co-scheduled cells.

[0269] In one example, the UE is able to determine a set of co-scheduled cells based on other fields in the MC-DCI format without using the CIF field. For example, when the UE is provided with a joint TDRA or FDRA table for multi-cell scheduling, the index of the joint TDRA or FDRA table can indicate a set / subset of co-scheduled cells. For example, an entry / row in a joint TDRA or FDRA table configured by RRC includes first TDRA or FDRA information for a first cell and second TDRA or FDRA information for a second cell, etc., while the entry may not include information for a third cell. Therefore, when the MC-DCI format includes an indication of an entry / row of a joint TDRA or FDRA table, it implies that the first and second cells are jointly scheduled by the MC-DCI format, and the third cell is not scheduled. In one example, in addition to TDRA or FDRA, other DCI fields with joint indications, such as the FDRA field, may be used.

[0270] In another example, the UE expects the MC-DCI format to include a number N of cell-specific fields corresponding to the maximum number N of supported / configured scheduled cells for scheduling cells, such as TDRA or FDRA fields, wherein specific values ​​of the cell-specific fields, such as all zeros or all ones, are reserved to indicate that there is no scheduling on the corresponding cell. Therefore, when the UE receives an MC-DCI format including M cell-specific fields (out of the N maximum number of fields) with reserved values, the UE determines that the MC-DCI format does not schedule the corresponding M cells and only jointly schedules the corresponding NM cells. In one example, in addition to the TDRA field, other DCI fields with separate indications, such as the FDRA field, can be used.

[0271] In another example, when a HARQ process number (HPN) field or a redundancy version (RV) field or a new data indicator (NDI) field is provided separately for each scheduled cell (of the maximum number of N supported / configured scheduled cells) in the MC-DCI format, and a combination of those fields (such as all those fields) has the same predetermined value for the co-scheduled cell subset, (such as HPN is all 1, such as 15 (when counting from 0 to 15 for the 4-bit HPN field), RV1 and NDI1), for each cell in the cell subset, it can be assumed that the co-scheduled cell set is not scheduled by the MC-DCI format. The MC-DCI format only jointly schedules the remaining cells from the co-scheduled cell set.

[0272] In another example, when an MCS field is provided separately for each scheduled cell (of the maximum number of N supported / configured scheduled cells) in the MC-DCI format and the MCS field has a predetermined value (such as 0) for the co-scheduled cell subset, the co-scheduled cell subset can be assumed to be not scheduled by the MC-DCI format. The MC-DCI format only jointly schedules the remaining scheduled cells.

[0273] Reception or transmission on a corresponding subset of cells co-scheduled by a single DCI format or by using supplementary embodiments such as those described in the embodiments of the present disclosure can indicate PDSCH or PUSCH that may or may not overlap in time. For example, the UE can be instructed to receive PDSCH or transmit PUSCH on the corresponding co-scheduled cell, where all reception / transmission are in the same time slot, or at least one reception / transmission is in a time slot different from the remaining time slots.

[0274] A UE configured for multi-cell scheduling can be provided with a first set of cell common parameters and a second set of cell specific parameters, wherein the values ​​of the cell common parameters apply to scheduling on all co-scheduling cells, and the values ​​of the cell specific parameters apply to scheduling on each corresponding co-scheduling cell. The UE can determine the cell common scheduling information parameters and the cell specific scheduling information parameters based on the specification of system operation or based on high-level configuration. For some cell-specific scheduling information parameters, the UE can be provided with a difference compared to a reference value, wherein the reference value can correspond to, for example, the first scheduled cell from a set of scheduled cells. For example, the reference value can correspond to a scheduled cell with a minimum cell index or a minimum (cell level) CIF value.

[0275] For a UE configured with several sets of co-scheduled cells, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can provide complete or partial information for cell-common scheduling parameters or cell-specific scheduling parameters for multiple PDSCH receptions or multiple PUSCH transmissions on the corresponding multiple co-scheduled cells. When the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling provides partial information for scheduling parameters, the UE can determine the remaining information from UE-specific RRC signaling or through other supplementary embodiments.

[0276] PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on any cell in the co-scheduled cell set can be scheduled by a DCI format that does not schedule any other PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on any other cell in the co-scheduled cell set, such as, as an example, by a DCI format that does not have multi-cell scheduling capability, or when there is no traffic associated with other cells. For example, for a UE configured for cross-carrier scheduling of a co-scheduled cell set by a scheduling cell, the UE can receive a first PDCCH and a second PDCCH on the scheduling cell, the first PDCCH including a first DCI format for scheduling a single cell from several co-scheduled cells, and the second PDCCH including a second DCI format for scheduling all cells in the co-scheduled cell set.

[0277] Herein, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can indicate, for example, one or more or a combination of the following: (1) a cascaded DCI format for multi-cell scheduling; (2) a DCI format based on multi-cell mapping; (3) a first DCI format in a first PDCCH or a second DCI format or an M-DCI format or a set of M-DCI formats included in a first PDSCH scheduled by a first DCI / PDCCH; or (4) a first DCI format in a first PDCCH or a second DCI format in a second PDCCH, wherein the first DCI / PDCCH and the second DCI / PDCCH are linked in a two-stage DCI operation, wherein the aforementioned terms and processes are described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0278] For a UE configured with a co-scheduled cell set, the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can provide all or part of the information of the values ​​of the cell common field and the cell specific field for scheduling PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on the corresponding two or more cells from the co-scheduled cell set. When the DCI format provides part of the information, the UE can determine the remaining information from the RRC signaling or by using other supplementary embodiments.

[0279] In one example, referred to as a concatenated DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, a single DCI format can include information of all scheduling parameters for all co-scheduled PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions, except for some information that may be provided by higher layers or predetermined by specifications for system operation or determined by the UE. For example, the MC-DCI format can provide separate field values ​​for PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on each of multiple co-scheduled cells. The first value corresponds to the first cell, the second value corresponds to the second cell, and so on. Thus, the DCI format fields for multiple cells are concatenated, thereby referring to such a DCI format as a concatenated DCI format for multi-cell scheduling. This example can be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling cells with different channel characteristics or configurations, such as for inter-band CA operation, or for co-scheduling PDSCH reception and PUSCH transmission.

[0280] Some DCI fields can be common to cells and provided only once in the concatenated DCI format. In one example, the functionality of a field in a first DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on a single cell and provides information for multiple cells (such as the SCell sleep indicator field described in TS 38.213) can remain the same in a second DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on multiple cells, and the field can remain as in the first DCI format. Alternatively, such a field can be omitted from the second DCI format.

[0281] In one example, referred to as multi-cell scheduling via multi-cell mapping, multi-cell mapping can be used to provide information for multi-cell scheduling of multiple PDSCH / PDCCH on multiple corresponding cells to the UE, wherein a field in the DCI format can be interpreted to provide multiple values ​​of corresponding scheduling parameters for multiple co-scheduled cells. This interpretation can be based on a configured one-to-many mapping / table or based on multiple configuration offset values ​​for the corresponding cells applied to a reference value indicated by the DCI format. For example, the field can be an MCS field, wherein the value indicated in the DCI format can be used for PDSCH reception on a first cell, and the value for PDSCH reception on a second cell can be determined from the first value and the configuration offset value. The same MCS value can also be applicable to all PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions. This example can be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling cells having several similar physical channel characteristics or configurations, such as for intra-band CA operations.

[0282] In one example, referred to as a single-cell DCI pointing to a PDSCH with multi-cell scheduling, information for multi-cell scheduling can be provided to a UE using a single-cell scheduling DCI format (i.e., a DCI format that schedules a first PDSCH on a first cell), wherein the first PDSCH includes scheduling information for receiving a second PDSCH (or multiple) or sending a second PUSCH (or multiple) on a subset of one or more sets of co-scheduled cells. This example can be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling several (such as 4-8) cells with different channel characteristics or configurations, such as for inter-band CA operation.

[0283] In one example, the first PDSCH includes a MAC CE that provides scheduling information for several PDSCHs (or multiple) or PUSCHs (or multiple). Therefore, the MAC CE can include several modified DCIs (M-DCIs), where each M-DCI includes all or part of the scheduling information of the PDSCH / PUSCH from several PDSCHs (or multiple) / PUSCHs (or multiple).

[0284] In one example, multi-cell scheduling information is multiplexed as M-DCI in the PDSCH. The UE receives a first PDSCH scheduled by a single-cell scheduling DCI format, and the UE receives additional scheduling information for one or more PDSCH(s) / PUSCH(s) on one or more corresponding co-scheduled cells(s). In addition to the reserved resources corresponding to the reference signal or other cell-level broadcast transmission, the UE allocates the coded modulation symbols for the M-DCI to the time / frequency resources within the first PDSCH, for example, in a frequency-first, time-second manner. The UE can start receiving the M-DCI in the first symbol of the first PDSCH, or in the first symbol after the first symbol with the DM-RSRE in the first PDSCH. The M-DCI can be jointly encoded and include a single CRC.

[0285] In one example, referred to as multi-stage PDCCH / DCI for multi-cell scheduling, a multi-stage DCI embodiment can be used to provide a UE with information for multi-cell scheduling of multiple PDSCH / PUSCH on multiple corresponding cells, such as a 2-stage DCI, wherein, for example, the first-stage DCI format includes a set of cell common fields and the second-stage DCI format includes a cell-specific field. The UE receives the first-stage DCI format in the first PDCCH and receives the second-stage DCI format in the second PDCCH. The first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are linked. In one example, the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are in the same search space set. This example can be beneficial, for example, for co-scheduling several cells having several common physical characteristics, such as time domain resource allocation or frequency domain resource allocation using the first-stage DCI format, and when receiving the second PDCCH in the same time slot as the first PDCCH, it will not incur a delay or have (if the first-stage and second-stage DCI formats are combined into a single DCI format, this will result in) too large a DCI format size for receiving cell-specific parameters.

[0286] The first stage DCI format can also indicate the time / frequency resources used to provide the PDCCH of the second stage DCI format, such as the index of the PDCCH candidate for the corresponding CCE aggregation level, so that the UE can interpret the content of the second stage DCI format or reduce the number of PDCCH receptions. The UE can determine the association between several linked multi-stage PDCCHs / DCIs (such as two PDCCHs / DCIs) providing multi-cell scheduling information based on the parameters of the linked DCI format (such as the size (or multiple) of the DCI format (or multiple) or the RNTI (or multiple) associated with the DCI format (or multiple)) or through explicit indications in some fields (or multiple) in the DCI format (or multiple) or based on PDCCH monitoring parameters (such as CORESET, search space, CCE or the monitoring opportunity in which the UE receives the first and second linked PDCCHs).

[0287] When the UE is configured with a set of co-scheduled cells including a first cell, the UE is capable of receiving a PDCCH with a DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission only on the first cell (single-cell scheduled DCI format). The UE is capable of distinguishing a single-cell scheduled DCI (SC-DCI) format from a multi-cell scheduled DCI (MC-DCI) format via various embodiments (such as DCI format size, or RNTI used to scramble the CRC of the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling), or by an indication by a field in the DCI format, or by a dedicated CORESET and associated search space set.

[0288] In one example, the first DCI format size for multi-cell scheduling can be different from the second DCI format size for single-cell scheduling. The first DCI format size can be such that it can include a field identifying a set of co-scheduled cells (such as a set-level CIF) and possibly several fields, such as cell-common scheduling parameters, so that the UE can decode the remaining scheduling information, or provide a PDCCH candidate for the second-stage DCI format.

[0289] For example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling from single-cell scheduling based on one or more dedicated DCI formats or DCI format sizes for multi-cell scheduling that are not used for single-cell scheduling. For example, the UE can be configured with DCI format 0_3 for sending multiple PUSCHs or DCI format 1_3 for receiving multiple PDSCHs on a co-scheduled cell set. In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format can be the same regardless of how many cells are jointly scheduled by MC-DCI. In another example, the size of the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling can also depend on the number of co-scheduled cells or a set of cell-common or cell-specific scheduling parameters for multi-cell scheduling. On a co-scheduled cell set, the DCI format size for scheduling the transmission of multiple PUSCHs can be different from the DCI format size for scheduling the reception of multiple PDSCHs.

[0290] In another example, the UE is not configured by higher layers with the size of the MC-DCI format, and determines the size of the MC-DCI format based on the bit width configuration of the fields in the MC-DCI format (possibly together with any applicable zero padding in the DCI size alignment process). The specifications for system operation ensure that the size of the MC-DCI format is different from the size of the SC-DCI format in the same scheduled cell. If necessary, zero padding can be used to ensure different DCI sizes. These aspects are described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0291] In order to avoid the UE requiring a larger number of DCI format sizes to support multi-cell scheduling and to avoid segmentation of several PDCCH candidates that the UE can monitor over an increased number of DCI format sizes, it is beneficial to provide additional means for distinguishing multi-cell scheduling from single-cell scheduling by means other than the DCI format size. Thus, the MC-DCI format can have the same size as the SC-DCI format. Therefore, other examples can be considered to identify whether the DCI format performs single-cell scheduling or multi-cell scheduling, as described below.

[0292] In one example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling based on a new / dedicated RNTI (such as M-RNTI) used to scramble the CRC of the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling. For example, such RNTI can be configured by UE-specific RRC signaling.

[0293] In one example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling based on a field or indication in the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling. For example, the DCI format can include a 1-bit flag, where the value "1" corresponds to multi-cell scheduling and the value "0" corresponds to single-cell scheduling. Such a field needs to exist in both the MC-DCI format and the SC-DCI format. In one example, there can be a restriction on the size of the MC-DCI format. For example, the UE does not expect the MC-DCI format to have the same size as DCI format 0_0 or 1_0. Therefore, the 1-bit flag for indicating single-cell compared to multi-cell scheduling only exists in certain SC-DCI formats, such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1 or DCI format 0_2 or 1_2.

[0294] In one example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling based on the value of CIF or other fields in the DCI format. For example, the UE can be configured for individual values ​​of the cell-level CIF corresponding to each scheduled cell, and a set-level CIF value corresponding to a co-scheduled cell set / subset. For example, the UE can be configured with CIF values ​​0, 1, 2, 3 corresponding to cells #0, #1, #2, and #3, respectively, and CIF values ​​4, 5, 6, and 7 corresponding to four different co-scheduled cell sets / subsets. The UE can then determine whether the DCI format is used to schedule one or more cells (that is, interpret the DCI format as SC-DCI or MC-DCI) based on the CIF value. The role of the 1-bit flag described above can be absorbed into the CIF value. In another example, the value of other fields (such as TDRA or FDRA) or the verification process on one or more fields in the DCI format (such as a combination of HPN, RV, or NDI) can be used to determine the cells scheduled by the DCI format, which, as described above, can determine whether the DCI format is scheduled for one (SC-DCI) or multiple (MC-DCI) cells.

[0295] In yet another example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling based on a verification process for an MC-DCI format (respectively, an SC-DCI format). For example, when the value of one or more DCI fields in the MC-DCI format (respectively, the SC-DCI format) is set to a default / predetermined value, the UE determines that the DCI format is used for multi-cell scheduling. In an example, for the case of multi-cell scheduling, one or more DCI fields corresponding to cell-specific scheduling parameters (such as HPN, RV, NDI, SRI, TCI state, antenna port (Ap), TDRA, FDRA, or MCS) can be set to all zero or all one values.

[0296] In one example, the UE can distinguish multi-cell scheduling based on a CORESET associated with a search space set, wherein the search space set is configured to receive a PDCCH providing a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling. For example, the UE can be configured with a dedicated CORESET for multi-cell scheduling such that the search space set for multi-cell scheduling does not overlap with a search space set not used for multi-cell scheduling.

[0297] In one example, a combination of the above options can be used. For example, for multi-cell scheduling based on the first-stage DCI format and the second-stage DCI format, the UE determines the DCI format (in the first PDCCH) that is scrambled by a new / dedicated RNTI (such as M-RNTI) and also satisfies the aforementioned verification process as the first-stage DCI format, and the second-stage DCI format can be included in the PDSCH scheduled by the first-stage DCI format or in another PDCCH, as described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0298] Figure 6 6 is a flow chart showing a process 600 for distinguishing a multi-cell scheduling DCI format from a single-cell scheduling DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 600 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Figure 6 The embodiment of process 600 shown in FIG. 6 is for illustration only. Figure 6 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0299] At 610, the UE is configured with a first DCI format or a first RNTI for single-cell scheduling, and a second DCI format or a second RNTI for multi-cell scheduling. 620, the UE receives a PDCCH providing a DCI format. 630, the UE decodes the DCI format based on the first size or the second size, or based on the first RNTI or the second RNTI used to scramble the CRC. 640, the UE determines whether the decoded DCI format has the first size or the second size, or has a CRC scrambled by the first RNTI or the second RNTI. 650, when the DCI format has the first size or has a CRC scrambled by the first RNTI, the UE determines that the DCI format performs single-cell scheduling. 660, when the DCI format has the second size or has a CRC scrambled by the second RNTI, the UE determines that the DCI format performs multi-cell scheduling.

[0300] In one example, the UE does not need to distinguish the DCI format for single-cell scheduling from the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling because the UE uses only one DCI format type, such as only MC-DCI format 0_3 or 1_3, for both scheduling one cell and scheduling multiple cells. For example, the UE does not expect to be configured with an MC-DCI format (such as 0_3 or 1_3) for a co-scheduled cell set and an SC-DCI format (such as 0_1 or 1_1) for a given scheduled cell or for all scheduled cells in a co-scheduled cell set. For example, the UE is able to receive a first MC-DCI format scheduled on only one scheduled cell (i.e., a subset of cells including one cell), and a second MC-DCI format scheduled on more than one scheduled cell. Such indication can be based on, for example, (i) a CIF value corresponding to a single cell, or (ii) a field value, such as a TDRA field or a FDRA field value, which includes only one value for one cell and reserved values ​​for other cells, or (iii) a field value, such as a TDRA field or a FDRA field value, which indicates a row from a joint multi-cell table (such as a joint multi-cell TDRA or FDRA table), where the row corresponds to only a single cell, or (iv) a verification process, where one or more fields (such as a combination of HPN, RV and NDI in the MC-DCI format) are set to predetermined values ​​as described above.

[0301] For example, when a cell-specific field (e.g., such as a TDRA or FDRA field) including four entries for a corresponding set of four scheduled cells has all-zero values ​​for two of the four entries in the DCI format, the UE can determine that the DCI format is not scheduled on the corresponding two cells having all-zero values ​​for the cell-specific field. Similarly, predetermined values ​​of other fields in the DCI format or their combinations can be used to indicate that there is no scheduling on a subset of cells in the scheduled cell set associated with the DCI format.

[0302] In another example, the UE does not need to distinguish the DCI format for single-cell scheduling from the DCI format for multi-cell scheduling, because the existing single-cell scheduling DCI format (such as one of those DCI formats supported in TS38.212) can be reused for multi-cell scheduling, for example, by reinterpreting existing fields or considering new / increased / configurable bit widths of existing fields or by adding new fields (or multiple). In this article, the UE determines the presence (or absence) of the reinterpreted / modified / new DCI field based on the CIF value indicating a single scheduled cell or a co-scheduled cell set / subset or other embodiments described above. Therefore, the reinterpreted / modified / new DCI field follows the multi-cell scheduling configuration provided for the co-scheduled cell set, where the co-scheduled cell set is indicated by the CIF field (set level value) or determined based on the field in the DCI format.

[0303] In one embodiment, when an MC-DCI format (such as 0_3 or 1_3) is used to schedule only a single cell, various embodiments can be considered to enable such scheduling. In one embodiment, the MC-DCI format used to schedule a single cell has the same structure / field as the MC-DCI format used to schedule multiple cells, including any missing or disabled or restricted fields (or multiple). In one embodiment, the structure / field of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule a single cell can be different from the structure / field of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule multiple cells.

[0304] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the MC-DCI format for scheduling on a single cell has the same structure / field as the MC-DCI format for scheduling on multiple cells. For example, when the fields in the MC-DCI format are (pre) determined or configured to be cell-specific (including N values ​​corresponding to up to N cells), the MC-DCI format will only include one non-reserved value for a single cell, together with (N-1) reserved values. For example, when the UE is predetermined or configured to exclude a specific field in the MC-DCI format (which exists in the SC-DCI format), when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule a single cell, the specific DCI field is also excluded / missing. For example, if the BWP indicator field does not exist in the MC-DCI format, the BWP indicator field does not exist even when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule a single cell. For example, the BWP indicator field only exists in the SC-DCI format, such as 0_1 or 1_1. Similar to other fields, such as one or more of the SUL indicator, or CBG-related fields for HARQ-ACK reporting, or SCell dormancy indication, or PDCCH monitoring adaptation indication, etc.

[0305] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the structure / field of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule a single cell can be different from the structure / field of the MC-DCI format when used to schedule multiple cells. For example, when the UE determines that the MC-DCI format corresponds to a single cell, for example, based on the CIF value or possibly based on the cell-common TDRA or FDRA value or cell-common FDRA field with a joint multi-cell TDRA or FDRA table, the MC-DCI format can exclude some fields that exist when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule multiple cells, or can include some fields that are missing when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule multiple cells. For example, the MC-DCI format for scheduling a single cell can exclude some / all cell-specific DCI fields. For example, the MC-DCI format can exclude N-1 reserved values ​​corresponding to non-existent cells for cell-specific fields, such as MCS or HPN or RV or NDI, and only include one value corresponding to a single cell scheduled by the MC-DCI format.

[0306] In another example, although the MC-DCI format when scheduling multiple cells can be (pre)determined or configured to exclude certain DCI fields, such as a BWP indicator or a SUL indicator or a CBG-related field or an SCell sleep indication or a PDCCH monitoring adaptation indication, the MC-DCI format when scheduling a single cell can include one or more of such fields. For example, when MC-DCI is used to schedule multiple cells, the corresponding function of such a field may not be supported by the MC-DCI format, or the UE may determine the value for such a field based on a high-level configuration or based on a default value or based on a predetermined rule. On the contrary, when MC-DCI is used to schedule a single cell, the UE can determine the value for such a field based on the indication in the MC-DCI format by interpreting the MC-DCI as an SC-DCI. For example, the MC-DCI format when used to schedule multiple cells can be (pre)determined or configured to use a restricted set of values ​​for the DCI field, such as only 2 bits of the HPN field to indicate one of the 4 HARQ processes.

[0307] However, the MC-DCI format when used to schedule a single cell can be (pre)determined or configured to use an unrestricted set of values ​​(such as 4 or 5 bits for HPN) to indicate one of 16 or 32 HARQ processes, as used in conventional single-cell DCI formats (such as DCI formats 0_1 or 1_1). For example, when the MC-DCI format is scheduled on a subset of cells from a co-scheduled cell set (including on one cell), the MC-DCI format can have the same size as for scheduling on all cells from the co-scheduled cell set, and some fields that are not applicable when scheduled on a cell can be reinterpreted to provide other functions, such as for a BWP indicator field, or an A-CSI report trigger field, or for an SCell sleep indication, etc. For example, based on the value of the TDRA or FDRA field for the scheduled cells, the UE is able to determine that the MC-DCI performs scheduling for a subset of cells, and is able to reinterpret other fields corresponding to non-scheduled cells, such as the FDRA or MCS fields, to provide other functions, such as the functions mentioned above, and typically the UE is configured for the functions provided by the SC-DCI format.

[0308] One embodiment provides different interpretations of the MC-DCI field based on the UE's determination of whether the MC-DCI format is used to schedule a subset of cells (including a single cell or multiple cells), such as based on the CIF value corresponding to the single cell or multiple cells.

[0309] Utilizing an embodiment of the present disclosure, the MC-DCI formats can have the same size, such as a DCI size determined based on the maximum number of supported / configured co-scheduled cells (for the corresponding scheduling cell), or a DCI size corresponding to a search space set in which the UE monitors the MC-DCI format. Therefore, when necessary, zeros can be padded to the MC-DCI format when used to schedule a single cell so that the size of the MC-DCI format is the same, regardless of whether the DCI format is used to schedule a single cell or multiple cells, and regardless of the above examples. Alternatively, without considering the CRC bits that can be at the end of the DCI format, when the size of the SC-DCI includes M bits and the size of the MC-DCI includes N bits, where N>M, when the MC-DCI schedules PDSCH reception or PUSCH transmission on a single cell, the UE can ignore the last NM bits.

[0310] In one example, the structure / field in the MC-DCI format when scheduling a single cell can be the same as the structure / field in a specific DCI format (such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1) used for single-cell scheduling, which is predetermined in the specification or configured by higher layers.

[0311] In another embodiment, the structure / field in the MC-DCI format when scheduling is performed on a subset of cells (including on a single cell) can be the same as the structure / field in the DCI format for single-cell scheduling indicated by the MC-DCI itself. For example, a "cell subset DCI format identifier" field can be included in the MC-DCI format for scheduling on a subset of cells from a co-scheduled cell set. For example, when the CIF in the MC-DCI format (or any other indication having a similar effect) does not indicate all cells in the co-scheduled cell set or does not indicate the maximum number of supported / configured co-scheduled cells (associated with the scheduling cell), the remaining bits can be used to enhance the MC-DCI for the scheduled cell subset (including a single cell), for example, by including additional scheduling information.

[0312] For example, each scheduled cell can have a BWP indicator, or there can be a dormant indicator field (for SC-DCI), etc. The determination of the field and the corresponding bit width and any associated conditions (e.g., for a number of scheduled or non-scheduled cells) can be predetermined in the specification for system operation, or can be configured by higher layers. For example, there can be a list of options for such a determination, and the "cell subset DCI format identifier" can include an ID for an option from the list of options. The UE can reinterpret the remaining bits of the MC-DCI based on such a determination.

[0313] In one example, the cell subset can be a single cell, so the field can be called a "single cell DCI format identifier", where the value of this field can indicate one of the existing SC-DCI formats, such as 0_0 / 1_0 or 0_1 / 1_1 or 0_2 / 1_2.

[0314] In one example, when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule multiple cells as determined based on, for example, a CIF value or a TDRA or FDRA field value, the MC-DCI format can exclude the "cell subset DCI format identifier" field. In another example, the MC-DCI format can include the "cell subset DCI format identifier" field regardless of whether the MC-DCI format is used to schedule a subset of cells or all cells in a co-scheduled cell set. For example, when the MC-DCI format is used to schedule all cells in a subset of co-scheduled cells, the "cell-subset DCI format identifier" field can have a reserved value, such as "11" in the above example, to indicate the interpretation of the fields of the MC-DCI format.

[0315] Figure 71 is a flow chart showing a process 700 for interpreting a multi-cell scheduling DCI (MC-DCI) format as a single-cell scheduling DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 700 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Figure 7 The embodiment of process 700 shown in FIG. 7 is for illustration only. Figure 7 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0316] 710. A UE is configured with a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling. 720. A UE receives a PDCCH providing an MC-DCI format. 730. A UE determines whether the MC-DCI is used to schedule one cell or multiple cells (e.g., based on a CIF value). 740. When the UE determines that the MC-DCI format is used to schedule multiple cells, the UE interprets fields in the MC-DCI format based on the second DCI format and the corresponding multi-cell scheduling configuration. 750. When the UE determines that the MC-DCI format is used to schedule one cell, the UE interprets fields in the MC-DCI format based on the first DCI format and the corresponding single-cell scheduling configuration.

[0317] Figure 8 800 is a flowchart showing a process 800 for interpreting an MC-DCI format as one of a plurality of SC-DCI formats based on an indication in the MC-DCI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 800 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Figure 8 The embodiment of process 800 shown in FIG. 8 is for illustration only. Figure 8 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0318] 810. The UE is configured with a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling. 820. The UE is configured with a mapping between a value of a "SC-DCI format identifier" field and a first DCI format. 830. The UE receives a PDCCH providing an MC-DCI format. 840. The UE determines whether the MC-DCI is used to schedule one cell or multiple cells (e.g., based on a CIF value). 850. When the UE determines that the MC-DCI format is used to schedule multiple cells, the UE interprets a field in the MC-DCI format based on the second DCI format and a corresponding multi-cell scheduling configuration. 860. When the UE determines that the MC-DCI format is used to schedule a single cell, the UE determines a value of a "SC-DCI format identifier" field in the MC-DCI. 870. The UE determines the SC-DCI format from the first DCI format based on the value and mapping of the "SC-DCI format identifier" field. 880. The UE interprets the MC-DCI format based on the SC-DCI format and the corresponding single-cell scheduling configuration.

[0319] In another example, the UE can interpret the MC-DCI format as performing scheduling on a subset of cells or all cells from a set of co-scheduled cells based on a predetermined value of a field in the MC-DCI format. For example, when the DCI format includes N>1 MCS fields and the values ​​of all other MCS fields except the value of the first number of MCS fields are 0, the UE can interpret the MC-DCI format as performing scheduling on the first number of cells (subset of cells). The interpretation of the MC-DCI format can be used for SC-DCI formats predetermined in the specification of system operation or configured by a higher layer, such as DCI format 1_1. Instead of the MCS field, any other predetermined field or combination of fields can be used, such as the previously described HPN field, RV field, NDI field, etc.

[0320] When the MC-DCI format is used for scheduling on a subset of cells instead of all cells in a co-scheduled cell set, bits of several fields in the MC-DCI format can become available for other purposes. For example, when a predetermined value of the MCS field is used to indicate that the MC-DCI format is used for scheduling on a subset of cells and the MC-DCI format includes separate HPN, RV, NDI, etc. fields for each scheduled cell, bits of the HPN / RV / NDI / ... fields of non-scheduled cells can be interpreted as providing another function, such as BWP indicator, SRS triggering, SCell sleep indication, etc., or in general, the UE is configured to provide any function when the MC-DCI format performs scheduling on a single cell, such as DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2, and any function not provided when the MC-DCI format performs scheduling on more than one cell.

[0321] For a UE configured with one or more sets of co-scheduled cells, the size of the multi-cell scheduling DCI format can be set-specific (where the set indicates the set of co-scheduled cells), or set-size-specific (where the set size indicates the size of the set of co-scheduled cells), or search space set-specific, or scheduling cell-specific, or common across different scheduling cells. In addition, for each field of the MC-DCI format, the UE can be configured with the same bit width regardless of the set / number of co-scheduled cells, or with different bit widths depending on the set / number of co-scheduled cells. For a cell-specific field in the MC-DCI format having up to N values ​​corresponding to a maximum of N co-scheduled cells, the UE can be configured with the same bit width for each of the N values ​​(including any unused / reserved values ​​for non-scheduled cells), or can be configured with different bit widths based on the number of co-scheduled cells. The latter can be beneficial, for example, to provide an increased level of granularity for the cell-specific fields when the MC-DCI co-schedules fewer cells.

[0322] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be set-specific, i.e., can depend only on the set of co-scheduled cells having an associated set-level CIF provided by higher layers. For example, a first MC-DCI format corresponding to a first co-scheduled cell set (having a first number of cells) can have a first size, and a second MC-DCI format corresponding to a second co-scheduled cell set (having a second number of cells) can have a second size. For example, the first and second sizes can depend on the configuration (such as presence, absence, or bit width) of the DCI field provided for the first and second co-scheduled cell sets, respectively. The UE determines the size of the MC-DCI format based on the number of bits configured / determined for the co-scheduled cell set in the search space set including monitoring the PDCCH to detect the first MC-DCI format. CI The associated aggregate level CIF is determined based on the value of the carrier indicator field in the MC-DCI format, or based on the aggregate level CIF value indicated in the carrier indicator field value of the MC-DCI format. For example, when the UE decodes the PDCCH candidates in the search space set to detect the MC-DCI format, and the search space set is associated with a co-scheduled cell set with a carrier set indicator value of n_CI, the UE determines the size of the MC-DCI format based on the configuration corresponding to the co-scheduled cell set (e.g., for the field bit width).

[0323] In one example, the UE determines the size of a first MC-DCI format associated with a first co-scheduling cell set regardless of whether the UE is configured with a second MC-DCI format within the same (or different) search space set, or whether the first MC-DCI format is configured within the same (or different) search space set and associated with a second co-scheduling cell set.

[0324] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be set-size specific, i.e., can be based on the size of the co-scheduled cell set (the number of cells). For example, when the first and second co-scheduled cell sets have the same size (i.e., the same number of cells), the UE expects the multi-cell scheduled DCI formats of the first and second co-scheduled cell sets to have the same size. In one example, when the UE monitors the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI formats corresponding to the first and second co-scheduled cell sets in the same search space set, the same DCI format size applies. In another example, the same MC-DCI format size applies regardless of whether the UE monitors the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI formats corresponding to the first and second co-scheduled cell sets in the same search space set. For example, the MC-DCI format size is aligned to apply across different search space sets (configured on the corresponding DL BWPs of the corresponding co-scheduled cell sets). For example, when the first co-scheduling cell set includes N=2 cells, the corresponding MC-DCI format can include 2 values ​​for cell-specific fields (such as MCS), while for the second co-scheduling cell set having N=4 cells, the corresponding MC-DCI format can include 4 values ​​for each cell-specific field.

[0325] In one example, the same size is achieved before any zero padding for size alignment. In another example, the UE expects to zero pad a first DCI format having a smaller size so that the first DCI format has the same size as a second DCI format having an initially larger size. In one example, the DCI fields are individually size aligned. In another example, zeros are appended to the end of the DCI format having a smaller size.

[0326] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be search space set specific, i.e., can be based on the search space set in which the UE monitors the DCI format. For example, the UE can determine a first size of an MC-DCI format monitored in a first search space set, and a second size of an MC-DCI format monitored in a second search space set. For example, the DCI format size can depend not only on the high-level configuration of the DCI field of the corresponding co-scheduled cell set, but also on the high-level configuration of the DCI field of other co-scheduled cell sets for which the MC-DCI format is monitored in the same search space set, or on a number of cells in the co-scheduled cell set. For example, when the UE determines that the search space set is associated with multiple co-scheduled cell sets, the UE determines the same size for the MC-DCI formats corresponding to the multiple co-scheduled cell sets, wherein MC-DCI size alignment can be achieved, for example, by zero padding.

[0327] For example, the MC-DCI field can be of a size that is individually aligned, or zeros can be appended to the end of the MC-DCI format (or formats) having a smaller size (or formats) so that their size becomes equal to the maximum size. For example, the MC-DCI format size can be based on the largest set of co-scheduled cells from among the sets of co-scheduled cells associated with the search space set, i.e., the set with the largest number of cells in the set. For example, the MC-DCI format size can be based on the set of co-scheduled cells from among the sets of co-scheduled cells associated with the search space set that require the largest MC-DCI format size, e.g., a multi-cell configuration based on the set (because the first set may require more bits for the MC-DCI format field than the second set, such as a larger TDRA or FDRA table).

[0328] In one example, the UE determines the same size for the MC-DCI format monitored in the search space set, regardless of whether the UE applies (the same or) different carrier set indicator field (set level n_CI) values ​​for different sets of co-scheduled cells associated with the search space set. For example, the UE is able to monitor the PDCCH for a search space set with a first carrier set indicator field (set level n_CI) value corresponding to a first co-scheduled cell set having N=2 cells, and the UE determines the MC-DCI size to be the same as the MC-DCI size when the UE monitors the PDCCH for a search space set with a second carrier set indicator field (set level n_CI) value corresponding to a second co-scheduled cell set having N=4 cells.

[0329] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be specific to the scheduling cell, that is, it can be based on the corresponding scheduling cell receiving the PDCCH for the MC-DCI format. For example, the UE determines the same size for the MC-DCI format corresponding to multiple co-scheduling cell sets associated with the same scheduling cell. For example, regardless of the same or different sizes of multiple co-scheduling cell sets, or regardless of the same or different search space sets in which the UE monitors the PDCCH to detect the MC-DCI format for multiple co-scheduling cell sets, the same size applies. For example, MC-DCI format size alignment can be achieved by zero padding. For example, the MC-DCI format fields can be size-aligned individually, or zeros can be attached to the end of the MC-DCI format with a smaller size so that their size becomes equal to the maximum size. For example, the MC-DCI format has a size determined based on the field for scheduling on all cells from the co-scheduling cell set, regardless of the number of co-scheduling cells being less than the number of co-scheduling cells for all cells in the co-scheduling cell set.

[0330] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be BWP specific, ie, can be based on the DL BWP of the corresponding scheduling cell that receives the PDCCH for the MC-DCI format.

[0331] In one implementation, the size of the MC-DCI format can be the same across different scheduling cells. For example, the UE determines the same size for MC-DCI formats corresponding to multiple co-scheduling cells associated with the same or different scheduling cells. For example, MC-DCI size alignment can be achieved by zero padding. For example, the MC-DCI format fields can be size aligned individually, or zeros can be attached to the end of MC-DCI formats with smaller sizes so that their sizes become equal to the maximum size.

[0332] In one example, the first, or second, or third, or fourth, or fifth implementation described above can be applied to structures / fields in the MC-DCI format itself in addition to / instead of the size of the MC-DCI format alone. For example, for cell-specific MC-DCI format fields that need to be indicated separately for each co-scheduled cell, the UE can determine the number of values ​​expected to be present in the MC-DCI format based on the embodiments described above. For example, when the aggregate level CIF value indicates that the MC-DCI format jointly schedules 2 cells, the UE expects the MC-DCI format to include at least 2 (non-reserved) values ​​for the cell-specific DCI fields. Based on the embodiments and implementations described above, the MC-DCI format may additionally include zero or one or more reserved values ​​for each cell-specific MC-DCI format field.

[0333] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format is fixed to a predetermined / configured value regardless of the number of cells included in the co-scheduled cell set / subset. For example, the predetermined / configured value of the size of the MC-DCI format can be based on the maximum possible / allowed number of co-scheduled cells, such as 8 cells. For example, when the size of the MC-DCI format is less than the predetermined / configured value, zeros are appended at the end of the MC-DCI format or zeros are appended individually for each MC-DCI format field so that the size of the DCI format after zero padding is equal to the predetermined / configured value.

[0334] In another example, the UE can be provided with a set size threshold and two values ​​for the size of the MC-DCI format. Then, when the first MC-DCI format is in a first co-scheduled cell set (with a first set level n of the corresponding search space set) having a first size less than or equal to the set size threshold, CI When scheduling multiple PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions on a second co-scheduled cell set (associated with a second set level n of the corresponding search space set) with a second size greater than a set size threshold, the first DCI format can have a size equal to a first value of two values. CI When scheduling multiple PDSCH receptions or PUSCH transmissions on a co-scheduled cell set (associated with a parameter), the first MC-DCI format can have a size equal to the second value of the two values. For example, the set size threshold can be 4 cells, and the two values ​​of the MC-DCI format size can be 96 bits and 124 bits (excluding CRC bits). For a co-scheduled cell set of no more than 4 cells, the MC-DCI format size can be 96 bits, and for a co-scheduled cell set of 5-8 cells, the MC-DCI format size can be 124 bits (excluding CRC bits). For example, this embodiment can be extended to N values ​​of the size of the MC-DCI format and N-1 set size thresholds, such as N=4. For example, the size of the MC-DCI format and the value of the set size threshold can be predetermined in the specification for system operation, or can be provided by a high-level configuration.

[0335] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format can be fixed in the specification for system operation.In another example, the specification for system operation can include a lower and / or upper limit on the size of the MC-DCI format, such as not less than 20 bits or not more than 140 bits.

[0336] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format can be configured by higher layers, such as RRC configuration.The DCI size provided by higher layers can be subject to an upper or lower limit provided by the specification for system operation.

[0337] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format is determined based on the maximum number of supported / configured co-scheduled cells or the maximum necessary size of the MC-DCI format field to support multi-cell scheduling of the configured co-scheduled cell set / subset in the corresponding (active) BWP of the corresponding cell. That is, the MC-DCI format size (before any size matching) is determined based on the total number of cells in the co-scheduled cell set as the sum of the sizes of the fields included in the MC-DCI format, which includes fields that are separate for each scheduled cell (such as the HARQ process number field) and fields that are common among the scheduled cells (such as the HARQ-ACK timing indicator field or the TPC command field).

[0338] In one implementation, based on the configuration of the cells in the corresponding set / subset, MC-DCI formats are constructed separately for different sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells (corresponding to the same scheduling cells), including using multiple values ​​equal to the number of actual co-scheduled cells, and then zeros are attached to MC-DCI formats with smaller sizes until their sizes are equal to the MC-DCI format with the maximum size.

[0339] In another implementation, across different sets of co-scheduled cells, the MC-DCI formats are constructed to have the same number of values ​​per MC-DCI format field and the same bit width for all values / fields.

[0340] Fig. 9 900 is a flow chart showing a process 900 for determining the size of an MC-DCI format based on a search space set in which the UE monitors the MC-DCI format according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 900 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig. 9 The embodiment of process 900 shown in FIG. 9 is for illustration only. Fig. 9 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0341] 910. The UE is configured with several co-scheduled cell sets associated with the scheduling cell. 920. The UE is configured with a first USS set and a second USS set, the first USS set being associated with a first co-scheduled cell set among the several co-scheduled cell sets, and the second USS set being associated with a second co-scheduled cell set among the several co-scheduled cell sets. 930. The UE is configured to monitor a DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling in the first USS set and the second USS set. 940. The UE determines a first size of the MC-DCI format in the first USS set based on a maximum corresponding size across the first co-scheduled cell set, and determines a second size of the MC-DCI format in the second USS set based on a maximum corresponding size across the second co-scheduled cell set.

[0342] Fig.10 1 is a flow chart showing a process 1000 for determining the size of an MC-DCI format that is common across different sets of co-scheduled co-scheduled cells associated with a scheduling cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Process 1000 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig.10 The embodiment of process 1000 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Fig.10 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0343] 1010. The UE is configured with a plurality of co-scheduled cell sets associated with a scheduling cell. 1020. The UE is configured with a first USS set and a second USS set, the first USS set being associated with a first co-scheduled cell set in the plurality of co-scheduled cell sets, and the second USS set being associated with a second co-scheduled cell set in the plurality of co-scheduled cell sets. 1030. The UE is configured to monitor a DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling in the first USS set and the second USS set. 1040. The UE determines a size of the MC-DCI format based on a maximum corresponding size across the plurality of co-scheduled cell sets in both the first USS set and the second USS set.

[0344] In another example, the size / bit width (including presence or absence) of one or more DCI fields for multi-cell scheduling can be configured based on a higher layer configuration for the corresponding co-scheduled cell set or for any co-scheduled cell set / subset associated with the same scheduling cell.

[0345] Various embodiments can be used to determine the size / bit width of the MC-DCI format field in the MC-DCI format. In one embodiment, the size / bit width of the MC-DCI format field is based on the multi-cell scheduling configuration of the corresponding co-scheduled cell set / subset indicated by the MC-DCI format. For example, the size of the MC-DCI format field can be a first number of bits for a first co-scheduled cell set / subset, and can be a second number of bits for a second co-scheduled cell set / subset. For example, when TDRA or FDRA is (pre) determined or configured as a cell-common MC field for the MC-DCI format (e.g., based on a joint multi-cell TDRA or FDRA table), the MC-DCI can include 8 bits of TDRA or FDRA for the first co-scheduled cell set and 12 bits of TDRA or FDRA for the second co-scheduled cell set (because the first TDRA or FDRA table corresponding to the first set includes a smaller number of rows / entries, and the second TDRA or FDRA table corresponding to the second set includes a larger number of rows / entries). In this case, if necessary, MC-DCI format size alignment across different co-scheduling cell sets / subsets can be applied after the sizes of all MC-DCI format fields are determined (i.e., while size alignment of the entire MC-DCI format is performed across different co-scheduling cell sets / subsets, size alignment of individual MC-DCI format fields is not performed). For example, zeros can be appended so that MC-DCI formats corresponding to different co-scheduling cell sets / subsets can have the same size.

[0346] In one embodiment, the size / bit width of the MC-DCI format field is based on the multi-cell scheduling configuration across different configured sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells in the corresponding active DLBWP or across all configured BWPs corresponding to the same scheduled cell. For example, the size / bit width of the field in the MC-DCI format is equal to the maximum size / bit width determined for different sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE is configured with four different sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells corresponding to the scheduled cells, and the TDRA or FDRA field may require four different sizes for the four sets / subsets, such as 8 bits, 9 bits, 10 bits, and 12 bits, then the MC-DCI format can include 12 bits for TDRA or FDRA, regardless of which set / subset of co-scheduled cells is indicated by the MC-DCI format. For example, the UE uses bits from the LSB (or MSB) of the TDRA or FDRA field and discards the remaining bits. For example, the UE uses 8 LSBs (respectively, 8 MSBs) for the first set of co-scheduled cells and discards the remaining 4 MSBs (respectively, 4 LSBs). In this case, size alignment is applied for each individual MC-DCI format field among different co-scheduled cell sets / subsets.

[0347] In another example, the UE expects the configured bit width of each field of the MC-DCI format to be the same across different sets of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE expects the UE to be configured with the same bit width for the TDRA or FDRA field across different sets of co-scheduled cells corresponding to the same scheduled cell. For example, the UE can be configured with reserved values ​​for fields in the MC-DCI format for some sets of co-scheduled cells. For example, the UE can be configured with some reserved rows in the TDRA or FDRA table corresponding to some sets of co-scheduled cells, so that the number of rows in the TDRA or FDRA table is the same across different sets of co-scheduled cells.

[0348] In one example, for (at least) a cell-specific DCI field in an MC-DCI format including multiple values ​​for corresponding multiple co-scheduled cells, in one option, the MC-DCI format includes N values ​​corresponding to the N cells co-scheduled by the MC-DCI format. For example, when the MC-DCI format indicates a co-scheduled cell set having 2 cells, the MC-DCI format includes 2 values ​​for the field, and when the MC-DCI format indicates a co-scheduled cell set having 4 cells, the MC-DCI format includes 4 values ​​for the DCI field.

[0349] In another option, the MC-DCI format includes M≥N values, where M represents the maximum size among the sets / subsets of co-scheduled cells across different configurations, i.e., the maximum number of cells configured for joint scheduling using the MC-DCI format (corresponding to the same scheduled cell). For example, when the UE is configured with three different sets of co-scheduled cells, the first set includes 2 cells, the second set includes 4 cells, and the third set includes 8 cells, the MC-DCI format includes 8 values of cell-specific DCI fields (such as HPN or NDI), regardless of whether the MC-DCI format indicates co-scheduling for the first co-scheduled cell set or the second co-scheduled cell set or the third co-scheduled cell set. For example, when the MC-DCI format indicates the first set (and, in turn, the second set), the MC-DCI format will include 8 - 4 = 4 reserved values (and, in turn, 8 - 2 = 6 reserved values) for each cell-specific field. For example, the reserved values can all be zero (or all be one) or have a predetermined value. For example, the reserved values can be used to provide another function, such as SCell sleep or active BWP indication, etc., which can be provided by the SC-DCI format and is not provided by the MC-DCI format when the MC-DCI format performs scheduling for all cells from the co-scheduled cell set.

[0350] In yet another option, when the size of the cell-specific field in the MC-DCI format is (pre-)determined or configured based on M values (where M is defined as above), and when the MC-DCI format indicates N co-scheduled cell sets (where N < M), instead of including N values for N actual co-scheduled cells and M - N reserved values of the cell-specific DCI field, the MC-DCI format can exclude the M - N reserved values and only include N values for N actual co-scheduled cells with an increased / scaled bit width. This option can facilitate an increase in the granularity of the cell-specific DCI field. For example, the bit width of the cell-specific DCI field can be increased based on the ratio of the number of actual co-scheduled cells to the maximum supported / configured number of co-scheduled cells (e.g., according to the scaling factor M / N). When the application of the scaling factor does not result in an integer, a floor function can be applied.

[0351] For example, when the UE is configured to co-schedule a maximum of 4 cells in a set of cells and the MC-DCI format co-schedules 2 cells, the MC-DCI format can allocate 4 / 2 = 2 times the bit width for one or more cell-specific DCI fields for each of the 2 actually co-scheduled cells (e.g., 10 bits for the FDRA of each cell instead of the baseline 5 bits for each cell, such as when co-scheduling 4 cells). In one example, the scaling factor or increased size of one or more cell-specific DCI fields can be predetermined by the specification for system operation or can be configured by the higher layer. For example, one or more DCI fields for which the bit width is scaled / increased can be indicated by higher layer configuration or can be predetermined in the specification for system operation (such as MCS or FDRA). For example, when providing cell-specific values of differential MCS for co-scheduled cells, the granularity of such differential MCS can be increased (e.g., 3 or 4 bits instead of the baseline 2 bits).

[0352] For example, the FDRA indication can be based on a unit of 2 or 4 RBs instead of the baseline of 6 or 12 RBs, or based on a higher SCS configuration such as 30 or 60 kHz instead of the baseline SCS configuration of 15 kHz. In the case where all cells in the set of co-scheduled cells are scheduled, when the maximum size of the field is reached with a scaling factor of M / N that is less than the configured size, the remaining bits can be set to a predetermined value such as zero.

[0353] Fig.11 A flowchart showing a process 1100 for determining the size of cell-specific fields in an MC-DCI format having an adjustable granularity based on the number of co-scheduled cells according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 1100 can be performed by a UE (e.g., as shown in 111-116). Figure 1 as shown. Fig.11 The embodiments of the process 1100 shown are for illustrative purposes only. Fig.11 One or more of the components shown can be implemented in a dedicated circuit configured to perform the functions, or one or more of the components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions.

[0354] 1110, the UE is configured for a DCI format for multi-cell scheduling (MC-DCI). 1120, the UE is configured with cell-specific fields in the DCI format, having N values corresponding to a first set of N co-scheduled cells, and each value having B bits. 1130, the UE receives an MC-DCI format for a second set of M co-scheduled cells (M < N), the cell-specific fields having M values, and each value having floor((B * N / M)) bits.

[0355] In any of the options described above, the UE is able to determine the bit width of each value from the N values, similar to the embodiments of the present disclosure, namely: (1) based on the corresponding configuration of the cell, a separate bit width determination is performed for each of the N values ​​corresponding to each cell; (2) based on the corresponding configuration of the co-scheduling cell set / subset, the same bit width is determined for all N values ​​corresponding to the maximum necessary bit width between the N cells in the same co-scheduling cell set / subset; or (3) based on the corresponding configuration of the co-scheduling cell set / subset, the same bit width is determined for all N values ​​corresponding to the maximum necessary bit width between the cells in different co-scheduling cell sets / subsets (corresponding to the same scheduling cell).

[0356] For example, when FDRA is a cell-specific field in the MC-DCI format, and when the UE requires 4 bits of FDRA for the first cell and 6 bits of FDRA for the second cell, the UE determines the bit width of FDRA based on 4+6=10 bits. In another example, the UE allocates the maximum necessary size (i.e., 6 bits) to both the first cell and the second cell, and thus determines the bit width of FDRA to be 6+6=12 bits.

[0357] In one example, when the co-scheduling cell set corresponds to more than one scheduling cell, the UE performs size alignment of the MC-DCI format and / or the field within the MC-DCI format across the two scheduling cells. For example, the same co-scheduling cell set corresponds to the same MC-DCI size, regardless of which scheduling cell from the two / multiple scheduling cells receives the MC-DCI format.

[0358] For example, the size of a cell common field (also referred to as a type 1A field) or a field configured as cell common / Type-1A in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (also referred to as DCI 0_X / 1_X) can be equal to the maximum size of the field across different cells in a set of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling. The UE then reads a number of LSBs (including 0 bits if no / single value is configured) from the field value based on the corresponding configuration in each cell, and ignores the remaining MSBs (if any).

[0359] For example, the UE is able to determine the cell to which the cell common / type 1A field applies. For example, when DCI format 0_X / 1_X schedules PUSCH or PDSCH on a cell combination that is a strict subset of the cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling (such as only 2 cells out of 4 cells configured for multi-cell scheduling), in one option, the corresponding action is applied only to the co-scheduled cell combination indicated by DCI format 0_X / 1_X. In another option, the corresponding action is applied to all cells in the cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling, including non-scheduled cells.

[0360] For example, when the cell common / Type-1A field is a BWP indicator field, the UE applies BWP switching only for the scheduled cell combination indicated by DCI format 0_X / 1_X, if applicable. For example, BWP switching is not applied to non-scheduled cells in the cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling. In another example, BWP switching is applied to any cell configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0361] In one example, for a DCI field (referred to as a Type-1B field) provided by a joint multi-cell mapping (such as a joint multi-cell table), the UE can determine a number of entries in each row of the corresponding joint multi-cell table. For example, an indicator of a co-scheduled cell in DCI format 0_X / 1_X indicates a cell combination that is a strict subset of a cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling and has fewer cells than the cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling. For example, the set can include 4 cells, while the DCI format 0_X / 1_X includes only 2 cells. For the value indicated by the Type-1B field, several options can be considered. In one option, the UE expects the number of entries in the row to be the same as the number of cells in the cell combination (e.g., the value is expected to include 2 entries).

[0362] Another option is to allow a row in the value indication table, the table including more entries than the number of cells in the cell combination. In this case, in one embodiment, the UE reads a first number of entries in the row based on the number of cells in the cell combination, and discards the remaining entries in the row (if any) (e.g., only reads the first 2 entries). In another embodiment, the UE reads a number of entries equal to the number of cells from the corresponding positions / indexes of the cells in the cell set (e.g., if the cell set is {1,2,3,4} and the cell combination is {1,3}, the UE reads the 1st and 3rd entries and discards the 2nd and 4th entries). For example, the UE expects that the row includes the same number of entries as the number of cells in the cell set, and the UE reads the entries with positions / indexes corresponding to the cells in the cell combination.

[0363] For example, for the bit width of a cell-specific field (also referred to as a Type-2 field) or for a field configured as Type-2, which provides multiple values ​​for multiple co-scheduled cells, the UE can determine the corresponding bit widths of the multiple values. One option is to support different bit widths for different values ​​corresponding to different co-scheduled cells based on the corresponding configuration of each cell. Another option is to have the same bit width for different values ​​corresponding to different co-scheduled cells based on the maximum bit width across different cells in the cell set. For example, the cell-specific / Type-2 field can be one or more of HPN, RV, and FDRA.

[0364] For example, the UE can determine the number or bit width of values ​​provided for the cell-specific / Type-2 field. For example, the maximum number of cells across different cell combinations is less than the size of the cell set configured for multi-cell scheduling. For example, the UE can be configured for a set of 4 cells for multi-cell scheduling, and a cell combination with 2 or 3 cells is configured for coordinated scheduling via DCI format 0_X / 1_X (and a cell combination with 4 cells is not configured). In one example, the cell-specific / Type-2 field in DCI format 0_X / 1_X can include 3 values. In another example, the cell-specific / Type-2 field in DCI format 0_X / 1_X can include 4 values ​​(including some reserved values). For example, several options can be considered: (i) only 3 values ​​have the maximum total bit width across different cell combinations, (ii) only 3 values ​​have the maximum individual bit width for each value, i.e., aligned bit widths for the 3 values, (iii) each of the 4 values ​​has its own bit width based on the corresponding configuration on the respective cell, or (iv) the 4 values ​​have the same maximum bit width, i.e., aligned bit widths for the 4 values ​​based on the maximum bit widths across different cells in a set of cells configured for multi-cell scheduling.

[0365] For example, the bit width of the cell-specific / type 2 field can be the maximum total bit width across different cell combinations configured for DCI 0_X / 1_X. For example, the UE reads a number of bits for each cell indicated by DCI format 0_X / 1_X based on the corresponding configuration on the corresponding cell and discards the remaining bits (if any).

[0366] In one embodiment, the UE can have a constraint / budget on the number of DCI format sizes that the UE can monitor per serving cell, per timeslot, or across all timeslots, wherein the size of the DCI format used for multi-cell scheduling can be counted into the UE constraint / budget based on a fractional count or a full count, or as part of a separate UE constraint / budget for the size of the DCI format, wherein counting is performed for each / all co-scheduled cells or one / some co-scheduled cells, or not counted at all.

[0367] In 5G NR according to TS 38.213, the UE is expected to monitor PDCCH candidates for up to 4 sizes of DCI formats, including up to 3 sizes of DCI formats with CRC scrambled by the C-RNTI of each serving cell. For brevity, this rule is referred to as the "3+1" rule for the DCI format size budget for the UE. The UE counts the number of sizes of DCI formats for each serving cell based on the number of configured PDCCH candidates in the corresponding search space set for the corresponding active DL BWP.

[0368] When the UE is configured with one or more co-scheduled cell sets or the UE is configured to monitor the MC-DCI format, there can be various options for modification of the "3+1" rule.Herein, the size of the MC-DCI format can be determined based on any of the options described above.

[0369] In one option, the UE does not count the size of the MC-DCI format into the UE's "3+1" DCI size budget.

[0370] In one option, the UE counts the size of the MC-DCI format into the "3+1" DCI size budget of the UE for each cell in the co-scheduled cell set based on fractional counting or inverse scaling. For example, the size of the MC-DCI format corresponding to a co-scheduled cell set having M cells can be counted as a fractional count, such as 1 / M, into the "3+1" DCI size budget of the UE for each of the M cells. For example, the fractional counting or inverse scaling can be based on a scaling factor predetermined in the specification for system operation, or can be provided by a high-level configuration.

[0371] When the first MC-DCI format corresponds to a first co-scheduling cell set S1 having M1 cells and the size of the first MC-DCI format is aligned with the size of a second MC-DCI format corresponding to a second co-scheduling cell set S2 having M2 cells, for example, by zero padding, in one option, the UE counts the (aligned) sizes of the first / second DCI formats as: (1) 1 / M1, counted in the “3+1” DCI size budget of the UE with respect to each of the M1 (or M2) cells; (2) 1 / M2, counted in the “3+1” DCI size budget of the UE with respect to each of the M1 (or M2) cells; (3) 1 / min(M1, M2), counted in the “3+1” DCI size budget of the UE with respect to each of the M1 (or M2) cells; (4) 1 / max(M1, M2), counted in the “3+1” DCI size budget of the UE with respect to each of the M1 (or M2) cells; (5) 1 / M * , included in the M * The "3+1" DCI size budget for each UE in the cell, where M * The cells include the union of M1 cells and M2 cells, that is, M * =|S 1 ∪S 2 |, or Included in Cells (or M * The "3+1" DCI size budget for each UE in each of the cells) is: The cells include the intersection of M1 cells and M2 cells, that is,

[0372] In one option, the UE takes the size of the MC-DCI format as a full count (ie, one size) into the UE's "3+1" DCI size budget for each of the co-scheduled cell set without any scaling.

[0373] In one option, the UE takes the size of the MC-DCI format as a full count (i.e., one size) in the "3+1" DCI size budget of the UE with respect to a reference cell in the co-scheduled cell set without any scaling. For example, the reference cell can indicate any of the examples described in the embodiments of the present disclosure. In one example, the UE takes the size of the MC-DCI format as a full count (i.e., one size) in the "3+1" DCI size budget of the UE with respect to a first cell in the co-scheduled cell set without any scaling, and the UE does not expect to be configured with more than 3+1 DCI sizes for the first cell. In another example, if the "3+1" restriction on the DCI format size is not met for the reference cell after considering the MC-DCI format, the UE performs additional size matching.

[0374] For example, the additional size matching can be between DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1, or, when the size matching between DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 has been performed, the additional size matching can be the size matching of DCI format 0_1 / 1_1 with the MC-DCI format. If there are multiple MC-DCI formats, such as for PDSCH scheduling and for PUSCH scheduling, the size matching can also include multiple MC-DCI formats. For example, for a reference cell for size matching the size of the MC-DCI format, after performing the process in TS38.212, the UE performs size matching on the DCI format for single-cell scheduling, and then performs size matching on the MC-DCI format with the (already size matched) DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1. If there are multiple MC-DCI formats, the size matching process continues to include multiple MC-DCI formats. To alleviate the required size matching, a first reference cell (such as a first cell in a co-scheduled cell set) can be used for a first MC-DCI format (such as an MC-DCI format that performs scheduling of PDSCH reception), and a second reference cell (such as a second cell in a co-scheduled cell set) can be used for a second MC-DCI format (such as an MC-DCI format that performs scheduling of PUSCH transmission). The reference cell can also be notified to the UE through UE-specific RRC signaling.

[0375] In another example, the UE determines the reference cell based on a predetermined rule in the specification. For example, two reference cells can correspond to two co-scheduled cells with the largest size (or the largest size and the second largest size) SC-DCI format among different sets of co-scheduled cells (associated with the same scheduling cell). When there are multiple cells with the SC-DCI format of the largest size, the UE determines the two reference cells as the reference cells with the smallest cell index and the second small cell index. In one example, the reference cell is a PCell. In another example, the reference cell can be a scheduling cell corresponding to a co-scheduled cell set. In another example, the reference cell can be a scheduled cell corresponding to a co-scheduled cell set that is not a scheduling cell.

[0376] In one example, the UE can report capabilities corresponding to one or more of the options described above.

[0377] Fig.12 1 is a flow chart showing a process 1200 for accounting for the DCI size of the MC-DCI format into the DCI size budget of the reference cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 1200 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig.12 The embodiment of process 1200 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Fig.12 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0378] 1210. The UE is configured with a set of several co-scheduled cells (associated with the scheduling cell). 1220. The UE is configured to monitor a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling on the set of several co-scheduled cells. 1230. The UE is configured with (or determines) a reference cell in the set of several co-scheduled cells. 1240. The UE counts the size of the MC-DCI format into the "3+1" DCI size budget of the reference cell.

[0379] There can also be various alternatives regarding modifications to the "3+1" rule itself when the UE is configured with one or more co-scheduled cell sets (or sets) or when the UE is configured to monitor DCI format (or sets) for multi-cell scheduling.

[0380] In an alternative scenario, the “3+1” rule is not modified.

[0381] In one alternative, the “3+1” rule can be modified to “3+1+1” or “3+1+2”, where the additional “1” or “2” corresponds to 1 or 2 sized UE budgets for monitoring a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (or formats) separate from the existing DCI formats in TS 38.212.

[0382] In one alternative, the “3+1” rule can be modified to “N+1”, where N>3 reflects the combined budget of UEs for the size of multi-cell scheduling DCI formats or DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI per serving cell.

[0383] For example, when a UE is pre-determined or configured with a dedicated DCI format or DCI format size for multi-cell scheduling, the UE is expected to support a larger number of DCI format sizes than when the UE operates with only single-cell scheduling. For example, a UE supporting multi-cell scheduling (through a single DCI format) can be expected to support one or two additional DCI format sizes, or can indicate one or two additional DCI format sizes as a capability, compared to a UE that does not support multi-cell scheduling through a single DCI format. For example, one or two additional DCI format sizes can correspond to the size of a downlink MC-DCI for scheduling PDSCH on multiple cells or the size of an uplink MC-DCI for scheduling PUSCH on multiple cells. The UE counts the number of sizes of DCI formats used for each serving cell based on the number of configured PDCCH candidates in the corresponding search space set for the corresponding active DL BWP.

[0384] In one alternative, the “3+1” rule can be modified to “3+M”, where M>1 reflects the combined budget of UEs for the size of multi-cell scheduling DCI formats or DCI formats with CRC not scrambled by C-RNTI per serving cell.

[0385] In an alternative, the "3+1" rule (or any modified rule described in the above alternative) can be applied per time slot, rather than across all time slots. For example, a time slot can be a time slot of a scheduled cell for which the number of DCI format sizes is being counted. For example, a time slot can be a time slot of the minimum SCS or maximum SCS among the SCS configurations of a co-scheduled cell set or among the SCS configurations of different co-scheduled cell sets associated with the scheduling cell, or a time slot of a scheduling cell, or a reference time slot such as 15kHz in FR1 and 60kHz in FR2, or a time slot of a primary cell, or a time slot of a reference cell configured by a high layer or predetermined in a specification for system operation, or a time slot of a cell with a minimum CIF / cell index, or a time slot of a cell with a maximum CIF / cell index, etc.

[0386] In an alternative, the specification for system operation can exclude constraints / restrictions such as the "3+1" rule on the DCI size budget of the UE. For example, the UE is not subject to / limited to only the "3+1" DCI format as described in TS 38.213.

[0387] In one example, the UE can report the capability of the modified UE's DCI size budget rule corresponding to one or more of the alternatives described above. In one example, the UE can be provided by a higher layer with information about which alternative to use as the modified "3+1" rule, where the "mode" parameter can indicate, for example, the previous five alternatives and any additional higher layer parameters (when applicable).

[0388] In one embodiment, when the UE: (1) is configured to monitor PDCCH for a MC-DCI format; (2) is (pre-)determined or configured to count the size of the MC-DCI format into the UE budget for the maximum number of DCI sizes that the UE can monitor PDCCH on a cell to detect the DCI format (such as a "3+1" rule); and (3) determines that the counted number of DCI sizes for the cell exceeds the UE budget for the maximum number of DCI sizes for the cell.

[0389] The UE performs DCI size alignment for the cell based on predetermined or configured rules so that the number of (modified) DCI sizes for the cell does not exceed the UE DCI format size budget. Such rules can include zero padding or truncation or discarding one or more of the DCI formats monitored on the cell. The UE applies the DCI size alignment to a predetermined or configured reference cell, or to any cell from a set of co-scheduled cells associated with the same scheduling cell. DCI size alignment can include size matching for downlink MC-DCI formats (for co-scheduling PDSCH) and uplink MC-DCI formats (for co-scheduling PUSCH), or size matching of MC-DCI formats with the closest sized SC-DCI format, or vice versa.

[0390] In the following, various embodiments and examples are described with respect to the "3+1" rule. The same embodiments or variations thereof can be applied when other rules for DCI size budget are applied, such as the alternatives described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0391] In the presence of MC-DCI formats, there are several possible embodiments for the DCI format size alignment process.

[0392] In one example, at least if the "3+1" DCI format size budget may be exceeded, the UE is not expected to be configured with both the SC-DCI format and the MC-DCI format for the scheduled cell. Therefore, modification of the DCI format size alignment may not be necessary, and the UE may have met the "3+1" DCI size budget.

[0393] In one example, when the UE is configured for an MC-DCI format for a set of co-scheduled cells including cells other than a primary cell, the UE does not expect to be configured for DCI format 0_0 or 1_0 for the cell. In this case, an MC-DCI format such as 0_3 or 1_3 can be added in the existing procedure TS 38.212 for DCI size alignment. In order to meet the "3+1" rule, in one option, the sizes of uplink DCI format 0_3 and downlink DCI format 1_3 can be size aligned. In another option, DCI formats 0_3 and 1_3 can have different sizes and can be associated with different cells, for example, as indicated by RRC signaling, for the purpose of DCI format size alignment. In another example, the association of MC-DCI formats 0_3 and 1_3 with the first cell and the second cell can be determined by the UE, for example, by selecting two cells with the smallest number of DCI sizes (before performing size alignment for the MC-DCI format).

[0394] In one example, when the size of the MC-DCI format is accounted for in the DCI size budget of the primary cell, and the UE is configured to also monitor the PDCCH for DCI format 0_0 or 1_0, the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH for the MC-DCI format having a different DCI size than the size of the DCI format 0_0 or 1_0. In addition, the UE is not expected to drop monitoring the PDCCH for detecting DCI format 0_0 or 1_0.

[0395] In one example, when the SC-DCI formats are size aligned based on the existing DCI size alignment procedure TS 38.212, the UE does not expect a configuration including one or more MC-DCI formats and one or more SC-DCI formats, and without any size alignment for the MC-DCI formats, alignment of uplink MC-DCI format 0_3 and downlink MC-DCI format 1_3 may be expected.

[0396] In another example, when the UE is configured for an MC-DCI format that includes a set of co-scheduled cells of a cell, and the UE is also configured to monitor one or more of SC-DCI formats 0_0, 1_0, 0_1, 1_1, 0_2 and 1_2, the UE process for DCI size alignment can be modified so that the UE meets the "3+1" DCI size budget.

[0397] In one embodiment, the UE performs the DCI size alignment procedure specified in TS38.212 to align the size of the SC-DCI format used for the cell, and then: (1) if the MC-DCI format has the largest size among the DCI formats configured to monitor the cell, zeros are appended to the SC-DCI format (or multiple) having the second largest DCI size (such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1) until these SC-DCI formats have the same size as the MC-DCI format; and (2) if the MC-DCI format does not have the largest size among the DCI formats configured to monitor the cell, zeros are appended to the MC-DCI format (or multiple) (such as DCI format 0_3 or 1_3) until the MC-DCI format (or multiple) has the same size as the SC-DCI format with the smallest size that is larger than the MC-DCI format.

[0398] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format is only accounted for a single scheduling cell, such as a (pre-)determined or configured reference cell. Therefore, DCI size alignment for the MC-DCI format (such as the above-described process) is only applied to such a reference cell.

[0399] In one example, the size of the MC-DCI format is accounted for multiple scheduled cells, such as cells in a co-scheduled cell set or cells in different co-scheduled cell sets (associated with the same scheduling cell). In this case, the UE can perform DCI size alignment (such as the above process) on the scheduled cells in an arbitrary order of the cells, such as for the cells whose MC-DCI format size is accounted for in the UE DCI size budget. In another example, the UE can perform DCI size alignment (such as the above process) on the scheduled cells in a predetermined or configured order of such cells. For example, the UE can perform DCI size alignment from such cells starting from the cells in descending order of the SC-DCI format (or multiple) of the longest size. For example, the UE first applies DCI size alignment to the first cell whose longest SC-DCI format is the longest among different scheduled cells (associated with the same scheduling cell), then applies DCI size alignment to the second cell whose longest SC-DCI format is the second longest among different scheduled cells, then applies DCI size alignment to the third cell whose longest SC-DCI format is the third longest among different scheduled cells, and so on. In one example, the UE can apply this ordering of cells for DCI size alignment only to the first cell whose longest size SC-DCI format is the second longest among different scheduled cells, and can perform DCI size alignment on other scheduled cells in any order.

[0400] If the UE determines different sizes for MC-DCI formats, such as different sizes for downlink MC-DCI format 1_3 and uplink MC-DCI format 0_3, in one option, the UE first aligns the size of MC-DCI formats 0_3 and 1_3, and then applies the process described above. In another option, all DCI formats (SC-DCI or MC-DCI) configured to monitor the cell are sorted in ascending or descending order of DCI size, and then the largest SC-DCI format such as 1_1 is aligned with the largest MC-DCI format such as 1_3 (or vice versa), and the second largest SC-DCI format such as 0_1 or 1_2 is aligned with the second largest MC-DCI format such as 0_3 (or vice versa), and so on, until each SC-DCI format is aligned with the MC-DCI format (or vice versa). The additional DCI size alignment can be applied before or after the DCI size alignment is applied to the SC-DCI format in accordance with TS38.212.

[0401] In one scenario, when the UE receives a high-level configuration for the size of an MC-DCI format, or for fields of an MC-DCI format for all cells in a co-scheduled cell set, and the size of the MC-DCI format is greater than the total / combined size of the DCI field sizes of the MC-DCI format, such as when the number of actual co-scheduled cells is less than the number of cells in the co-scheduled cell set, then: (1) in a first option, zeros can be appended to the MC-DCI format until the size of the MC-DCI format is equal to the configured DCI size; and (2) in a second option, the size of one or more fields can be scaled / increased so that the size of the MC-DCI format with the scaled size for the one or more DCI fields is equal to the configured DCI size. In this document, the bit width of one or more DCI fields can be scaled or increased as described above.

[0402] In one example, the UE does not expect a configuration that results in the MC-DCI format being the largest DCI size among the DCI formats configured to the UE. In one example, the UE does not expect a configuration that results in DCI format 0_2 or 1_2 or 0_1 or 1_1 having a DCI size (before or after any zero padding, if applicable) that is larger than the size determined or configured for the MC-DCI format.

[0403] In one example, when the UE: (1) receives a high-level configuration of the size of the MC-DCI format; (2) includes the size of the MC-DCI format in the DCI size budget for cells in a co-scheduled cell set (such as the "3+1" rule); and (3) determines that after applying the steps for DCI size alignment of the DCI format for single-cell scheduling in accordance with TS 38.212, the total number of different DCI sizes configured to be monitored is more than 4 for the cell, or the total number of different DCI sizes with C-RNTI configured to be monitored is more than 3 for the cell, then the two cases shown below can be considered.

[0404] In one example of a situation, when the UE determines that the size of the configured MC-DCI is the maximum DCI size among the DCI formats configured to monitor a cell, the second largest size DCI format (such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1) configured to monitor PDCCH for the cell is size-aligned based on the size of the configured MC-DCI format, that is, zeros are attached to the second largest size DCI format (such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1) until their size is equal to the size of the configured MC-DCI format.

[0405] In one example of a situation, when the UE determines that the size of the configured MC-DCI format is not the maximum DCI size among the configured DCI formats to be monitored for a cell, then the DCI formats configured to monitor cells having a maximum size smaller than the size of the configured MC-DCI format (such as DCI format 0_2 or 1_2 or 0_0 or 1_0) are size-aligned based on the size of the configured MC-DCI format, that is, zeros are attached to such DCI formats until their size is equal to the size of the configured MC-DCI format.

[0406] In one example, the size alignment described above is applied to both the DL DCI format and the UL DCI format identified above, eg, for both DCI formats 0_1 or 1_1 in case 1 described above, and for both DCI formats 0_2 and 1_2 in case 2 described above.

[0407] In another example, one or more of the above options can be applied to the SC-DCI format before applying the existing DCI size alignment per TS 38.212, for example, by removing any zero padding applied based on the existing DCI size alignment per TS 38.212.

[0408] In one example, the UE performs DCI size alignment for MC-DCI formats, for example in descending order of the longest size SC-DCI format (as described above), where the MC-DCI format has a configured DCI size (such as the above process) only for a reference cell, or for a cell in a co-scheduled cell set or a different co-scheduled cell set (associated with the same scheduling cell).

[0409] In one example, a first DCI format size (such as DCI format 1_3) of a first MC-DCI format configured for jointly scheduling PDSCH on multiple cells can be different from a second DCI size (such as DCI format 0_3) of a second MC-DCI format configured for jointly scheduling PUSCH on multiple cells.

[0410] In one example, when a UE is configured with two different sizes of MC-DCI formats (such as a first configured size of DCI format 0_3 for co-scheduling multiple PDSCHs on multiple cells and a second configured size of DCI format 1_3 for co-scheduling multiple PUSCHs on multiple cells), a maximum SC-DCI format such as 0_1 or 1_1 is size-aligned with the first configured MC-DCI format, and a second maximum SC-DCI format such as 0_2 or 1_2 is size-aligned with the second configured MC-DCI format. For example, such size alignment can be performed before or after applying DCI size alignment for SC-DCI formats according to TS 38.212.

[0411] Fig.13 1300 for aligning the DCI size of a cell for which the size of the MC-DCI format is accounted for in the DCI size budget of the cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig.13 The embodiment of process 1300 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Fig.13 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0412] 1310. The UE is configured with a plurality of sets of co-scheduled cells including a first cell. 1320. The UE is configured with a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling on the cell and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling on the plurality of sets of co-scheduled cells. 1330. The UE is configured (or determined) to include the MC-DCI format in a DCI format size budget for the first cell (such as a "3+1" rule for DCI size budget). 1340. The UE applies the DCI format size alignment procedure specified in TS 38.212 only to the SC-DCI format of the first cell. 1350. The UE determines whether a set of the SC-DCI format (with a modified DCI size) and the MC-DCI format satisfies a DCI format size budget for the first cell (such as a "3+1" rule for DCI size budget). 1360. When the UE determines that such a set of DCI formats satisfies the "3+1" DCI format size budget for the first cell, the UE is able to use the SC-DCI format and the MC-DCI format with the determined size, and no additional DCI format size alignment is required for the first cell. 1370. When the UE determines that such a set of DCI formats does not satisfy the "3+1" DCI format size budget for the first cell, the UE performs size matching on the MC-DCI format, or performs size matching on the largest SC-DCI format with an MC-DCI format that is closer in size, so that the DCI format size budget (such as the "3+1" rule for the DCI format size budget) rule is met for the first cell.

[0413] Fig.14 1400 is a flowchart showing a process 1400 for determining an order between cells having MC-DCI format configurations to which additional DCI size alignment is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Process 1400 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig.14 The embodiment of process 1400 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Fig.14 One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0414] 1410. The UE is configured with a set of several co-scheduled cells (associated with the same scheduling cell). 1420. The UE is configured with a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling. 1430. The UE is configured with (or determines) a plurality of cells in a set of several co-scheduled cells for which the UE includes the size of the MC-DCI format in the "3+1" DCI size budget. 1440. The UE determines a first cell from among the plurality of cells for which additional DCI size alignment with respect to the MC-DCI format is required (in addition to the DCI size alignment process with respect to the SC-DCI format as specified in TS 38.212). The UE determines, from among the first cells, a first cell having the SC-DCI format of the longest size among the first cells. 1460. The UE first performs additional DCI size alignment on the first cell and then performs additional DCI size alignment on the other cells in the first cell.

[0415] In one example, when the UE is configured to monitor the MC-DCI format corresponding to a set of co-scheduled cells in the (original / linked) search space set corresponding to a single cell in the set of co-scheduled cells, the UE counts the MC-DCI format size only for the single cell and applies the BD / CCE budget for monitoring the MC-DCI format only to the single cell.

[0416] In one example, when the UE: (1) is configured to monitor MC-DCI formats for a set of co-scheduled cells including a cell; and (2) applies a "3+1" DCI size budget for a cell per slot instead of across all slots, the UE can determine DCI formats with up to three different sizes for each slot and discard / ignore the remaining DCI formats in the slot or corresponding search space set. There can be several options for making this determination / selection, such as the following options.

[0417] In one example of an option, DCI formats with up to three maximum sizes (MC-DCI or SC-DCI) are retained and DCI formats with smaller sizes are discarded.

[0418] In one example of an option, DCI formats with up to three smallest sizes (MC-DCI or SC-DCI) are retained and DCI formats with larger sizes are discarded.

[0419] In one example of an option, a DCI format size threshold is predetermined in the specification of system operation or provided by a higher layer, and DCI formats (MC-DCI or SC-DCI) having a size greater than (respectively, less than) the DCI size threshold are retained, and DCI formats having a size less than (respectively, greater than) the DCI size threshold are discarded.

[0420] In one example of an option, a priority level is applied, so DCI formats with higher priority levels (i.e., more "important") DCI formats are retained, and DCI formats with lower priority levels (i.e., less "important") DCI formats are discarded. In this document, the priority levels can be configured by higher layers, or can be predetermined in the specification of the system operation based on some discarding rules, such as one or more of the following examples.

[0421] In one example, the MC-DCI format has a higher (or lower) priority level than the SC-DCI format.

[0422] In one example, the "fallback" DCI format 0_0 / 1_0 has a higher (or lower) priority level than DCI formats 0_1 / 1_1 / 0_2 / 1_2.

[0423] In one example, a DCI format configured in a CSS set has a higher priority level than a DCI format configured in a USS set.

[0424] In one example, a DCI format centrally configured in a USS including the MC-DCI format has a higher priority level than a DCI format centrally configured in a USS excluding the MC-DCI format.

[0425] In one example, a DCI format in a USS set with a smaller search space set index has a higher priority level than a DCI format configured in a USS set with a higher search space set index.

[0426] In one example, when search space sets are configured with associated priority levels, DCI formats in a higher priority USS set have a higher priority level than DCI formats configured in a lower priority USS set.

[0427] For example, after assigning the DCI format size to the CSS set, the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH according to the USS sets in ascending order of the USS set index until the UE reaches a USS set in which the UE size budget for the cell in the time slot is reached. For PDCCH monitoring of the cell in that time slot, from the search space set onwards, the UE monitors the USS set only according to the identified DCI format and any other DCI format with the same size as the identified DCI format, and does not monitor any DCI format with a new / additional size for the cell in that time slot.

[0428] For example, after assigning the DCI format size to the CSS set, the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH for the USS sets with the MC-DCI format configuration in ascending order of the USS set index, and then monitors the PDCCH for the USS sets without the MC-DCI format configuration in ascending order of the USS sets until the UE reaches a USS set in which the UE size budget for the cell in the time slot is reached. For PDCCH monitoring of the cell in the time slot, from the search space set onwards, the UE monitors the USS sets only according to the identified DCI format and any other DCI format with the same size as the identified DCI format, and does not monitor any DCI format with a new / additional DCI size for the cell in the time slot.

[0429] The UE is able to make a determination / selection based on one or more of the above options before or after applying the existing DCI size alignment for the SC-DCI format in accordance with TS 38.212. In one example, the UE is able to make such a determination after aligning the size of the MC-DCI format 1_3 used for co-scheduling multiple PDSCHs on multiple cells with the MC-DCI format 0_3 used for co-scheduling multiple PUSCHs on multiple cells. In one example, the UE is able to make such a determination after performing size alignment on the MC-DCI format 1_3 with a first SC-DCI format such as the largest SC-DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) or on the MC-DCI format 0_3 with a second SC-DCI format such as the second largest SC-DCI format (e.g., DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_2).

[0430] In one example, when a UE is configured for an MC-DCI format for a co-scheduled set of cells, the UE capability of the number of DCI formats that the UE can receive / decode per time slot (per scheduled cell or per scheduling cell) can be increased. For example, the UE can report an additional capability to receive / process / decode the MC-DCI format without additional size alignment (i.e., in addition to the UE capability to receive / process / decode the SC-DCI format in accordance with TR 38.822).

[0431] Fig.15 1 is a flow chart showing a process 1500 for DCI size determination in the presence of an MC-DCI format based on rules for a “3+1” DCI size budget per time slot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Process 1500 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 111-116) as shown. Fig.15 The embodiment of process 1500 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Fig.15One or more of the components shown in the can be implemented in dedicated circuits configured to perform the functions described, or one or more components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0432] 1510. The UE is configured with several sets of co-scheduled cells including a first cell. 1520. The UE is configured with a first DCI format (SC-DCI) for single-cell scheduling on the scheduled cell and a second DCI format (MC-DCI) for multi-cell scheduling on several sets of co-scheduled cells. 1530. The UE is configured (or determines) to include the MC-DCI format in the DCI size budget for the first cell (such as the "3+1" rule for the DCI size budget). 1540. The UE applies the DCI size alignment procedure specified in TS 38.212 only to the SC-DCI format for the first cell. 1550. The UE determines whether the set of SC-DCI format (with modified DCI size) and MC-DCI format satisfies the DCI format size budget of the first cell in the time slot (such as the "3+1" rule for the DCI format size budget). 1560. When the UE determines that such a DCI set satisfies the "3+1" DCI size budget of the first cell in the time slot, the UE is able to use the SC-DCI format and the MC-DCI format with the determined size. 1570. When the UE determines that such a DCI set does not satisfy the "3+1" DCI size budget of the first cell in the time slot, the UE discards some low priority DCI formats according to a predetermined or configured priority rule until the "3+1" DCI size budget is met for the first cell in the time slot.

[0433] The present disclosure can be applicable to NR specifications Rel-17 / 18 and higher to provide PDCCH monitoring embodiments for supporting multi-cell scheduling operations through a single DCI format or through other low-overhead signaling mechanisms. Such embodiments can achieve flexible and enhanced cross-carrier scheduling operations in a multi-carrier setting.

[0434] The present disclosure achieves improved operation of 3GPP 5G NR systems by enhancing carrier aggregation (CA) operation. The embodiments are general and can also be applied to various frequency bands in different frequency ranges (FRs), such as FR1, FR2, FR3, and FR4, for example, low frequency bands such as below 1 GHz, medium frequency bands such as 1-7 GHz, and high / millimeter frequency bands such as 24-100 GHz and above. In addition, the embodiments are general and can also be applied to various use cases and settings, such as single-plane UE and multi-plane UE, eMBB, URLLC and IIoT, mMTC and IoT, sidelink / V2X, operation with multiple TRPs / beams / panels, operation in unlicensed / shared spectrum (NR-U), non-terrestrial networks (NTN), aerial systems such as drones, operation with reduced capabilities (RedCap) UE, private or non-public networks (NPN), etc.

[0435] The present disclosure relates to a quasi-fifth generation (5G) or 5G or beyond 5G communication system to be provided to support one or more of the following items: higher data rates, lower latency, higher reliability, improved coverage and large-scale connectivity, etc. Various embodiments are applicable to UEs operating with other RATs and / or standards, such as different versions / generations of 3GPP standards (including beyond 5G, 5G Advanced, 6G, etc.), IEEE standards (such as 802.16 WiMAX and 802.11 Wi-Fi, etc.), etc.

[0436] The above flow charts illustrate example methods that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various changes can be made to the methods shown in the flow charts herein. For example, although shown as a series of steps, the various steps in each figure can overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In another example, steps can be omitted or replaced by other steps.

[0437] Although the present disclosure has been described using exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to cover these changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims. None of the descriptions in this application should be interpreted as implying that any particular element, step or function is an essential element that must be included within the scope of the claims. The scope of the patent subject matter is defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: receiving first information about a set of cells; Identifying a first cell combination in the set of cells; Determining a first maximum size among a first size of a first downlink control information (DCI) format, wherein: The first DCI format schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and The first size corresponds to a first cell combination; and A first DCI format is received based on a first maximum size.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: identifying a second cell combination in the set of cells; Determining a second maximum size among the second sizes of the second DCI format, where: The second DCI format schedules a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission on a second cell combination in the second cell combination, and The second size corresponds to a second cell combination; and receiving a second DCI format based on a second maximum size, wherein the first maximum size is different from the second maximum size, Sure: a third size of a third DCI format for scheduling PDSCH reception on a reference cell in the set of cells, a fourth size of a fourth DCI format for scheduling PUSCH transmissions on a reference cell, the number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, the third size, and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, and A first number of padding bits is used to: a third DCI format when the third size is smaller than the fourth size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the fourth size and the third size, or a fourth DCI format when the fourth size is smaller than the third size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to a difference between the third size and the fourth size; take over: When the third size is less than the fourth size, a third DCI format including the first number of padding bits, or When the fourth size is less than the third size, a fourth DCI format including the first number of padding bits, and Sure: a number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, and the larger of the third size and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, A second number of padding bits is used to: a first DCI format when the first maximum size is less than the second maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the second maximum size and the first maximum size, or a second DCI format when the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the second maximum size, When the first maximum size is smaller than the second maximum size, the first maximum size is obtained by adding the second number of padding bits to the first maximum size, and When the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, the second maximum size is obtained by adding a second number of padding bits to the second maximum size.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine a number of padding bits for a first DCI format, where: The first DCI format has a first size, The first size is less than the first maximum size, and the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the first size, receiving second information of a field of a first DCI format, wherein the field provides a value common to all cells in a first cell combination; and Sure: a maximum bit width of M bits among the bit widths of the fields corresponding to all cells in the cell set, A bit width of N bits of the field corresponding to the first cell in the first cell combination, where N ≤ M, and N least significant bits (LSBs) of a value for the first cell, wherein a PDSCH reception on the first cell in the PDSCH reception is based on the N LSBs of the value.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the first DCI format includes values ​​for all cells in the cell set, a first value among said values ​​of the FDRA field in the first DCI format is valid, The remaining ones of the values ​​of the FDRA field in the first DCI format are invalid, and The first value has a one-to-one association with PDSCH reception on the first cell combination.

5. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A transceiver configured to receive first information about a set of cells; as well as A processor, operatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor being configured to: identifying a first cell combination in the set of cells; and Determining a first maximum size among a first size of a first downlink control information (DCI) format, wherein: The first DCI format schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and The first size corresponds to the first cell combination, The transceiver is further configured to receive a first DCI format based on a first maximum size.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The processor is also configured to: identifying a second combination of cells in the set of cells; and Determining a second maximum size among the second sizes of the second DCI format, where: The second DCI format schedules a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission on a second cell combination in the second cell combination, The second size corresponds to a second cell combination, The transceiver is further configured to receive a second DCI format based on a second maximum size, and The first maximum size is different from the second maximum size.

7. The UE according to claim 6, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine: a third size of a third DCI format for scheduling PDSCH reception on a reference cell in the set of cells, a fourth size of a fourth DCI format for scheduling PUSCH transmissions on a reference cell, The number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, the third size, and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, and A first number of padding bits is used to: a third DCI format when the third size is smaller than the fourth size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the fourth size and the third size, or a fourth DCI format when the fourth size is smaller than the third size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to a difference between the third size and the fourth size; and The transceiver is also configured to receive: When the third size is less than the fourth size, a third DCI format including the first number of padding bits, or When the fourth size is smaller than the third size, a fourth DCI format including the first number of padding bits is obtained.

8. The UE according to claim 7, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine: a number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, and the larger of the third size and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, The second number of padding bits is used for: a first DCI format when the first maximum size is less than the second maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the second maximum size and the first maximum size, or a second DCI format when the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the second maximum size, when the first maximum size is smaller than the second maximum size, the first maximum size obtained by adding the second number of padding bits to the first maximum size, and When the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, the second maximum size is obtained by adding a second number of padding bits to the second maximum size.

9. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine a number of padding bits for the first DCI format, The first DCI format has a first size, the first size is less than the first maximum size, the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the first size, The transceiver is also configured to receive second information about a field of the first DCI format, The field provides a value common to all cells in the first cell combination, The processor is further configured to determine: a maximum bit width of M bits among the bit widths of the fields corresponding to all cells in the cell set, a bit width of N bits of the field corresponding to the first cell in the first cell combination, where N ≤ M, and The N least significant bits (LSBs) of the value for the first cell, and The PDSCH reception on the first cell in the PDSCH reception is based on N LSBs of the value.

10. The UE according to claim 5, wherein: The frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the first DCI format includes values ​​for all cells in the cell set, a first value among said values ​​of the FDRA field in the first DCI format is valid, The remaining ones of the values ​​of the FDRA field in the first DCI format are invalid, and The first value has a one-to-one association with PDSCH reception on the first cell combination.

11. A base station, comprising: a transceiver configured to send first information about a set of cells; as well as A processor, operatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor being configured to: identifying a first cell combination in the set of cells; and Determining a first maximum size among a first size of a first downlink control information (DCI) format, wherein: The first DCI format schedules a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission on a first cell combination in the first cell combination, and The first size corresponds to a first cell combination; and The transceiver is further configured to send a first DCI format based on a first maximum size.

12. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The processor is also configured to: identifying a second combination of cells in the set of cells; and Determining a second maximum size among the second sizes of the second DCI format, where: The second DCI format schedules physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) reception on a second cell combination in the second cell combination, and The second size corresponds to a second cell combination, The transceiver is further configured to send a second DCI format based on a second maximum size, and The first maximum size is different from the second maximum size.

13. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine: a third size of a third DCI format for scheduling PDSCH transmission on a reference cell in the set of cells, a fourth size of a fourth DCI format for scheduling PUSCH reception on a reference cell, The number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, the third size, and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, and A first number of padding bits is used to: a third DCI format when the third size is smaller than the fourth size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the fourth size and the third size, or a fourth DCI format when the fourth size is smaller than the third size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to a difference between the third size and the fourth size; and The transceiver is also configured to transmit: When the third size is less than the fourth size, a third DCI format obtained by including the first number of padding bits, or When the fourth size is smaller than the third size, a fourth DCI format is obtained by including the first number of padding bits.

14. The base station according to claim 13, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine: a number of sizes among the first maximum size, the second maximum size, and the larger of the third size and the fourth size exceeds a predetermined number of sizes of the reference cell, A second number of padding bits is used to: a first DCI format when the first maximum size is less than the second maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the second maximum size and the first maximum size, or a second DCI format when the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, wherein the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the second maximum size, When the first maximum size is less than the second maximum size, the first maximum size obtained by adding the second number of padding bits to the first maximum size, and When the second maximum size is smaller than the first maximum size, the second maximum size is obtained by adding a second number of padding bits to the second maximum size.

15. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The processor is further configured to determine a number of padding bits for the first DCI format, The first DCI format has a first size, the first size is less than the first maximum size, the number of padding bits is equal to the difference between the first maximum size and the first size, The transceiver is further configured to send second information about a field of the first DCI format, The field provides a value common to all cells in the first cell combination, The processor is further configured to determine: a maximum bit width of M bits among the bit widths of the fields corresponding to all cells in the cell set, a bit width of N bits of the field corresponding to the first cell in the first cell combination, where N ≤ M, and The N least significant bits (LSBs) of the value for the first cell, and The PDSCH transmission on the first cell among the PDSCH transmissions is based on the N LSBs of the value.

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