Carrier aggregation capability signaling for control channels with ultra-reliable low latency communications

Abstract

In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method, computer readable medium, and apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a UE. The apparatus may be configured to transmit capability information indicating at least two possible configurations for a first carrier complexity and a second carrier complexity, the first carrier complexity being different from the second carrier complexity, the capability information being provided as a value pair for each of the at least two possible configurations, a first value of the value pair is associated with a first carrier complexity and a second value of the value pair is associated with a second carrier complexity.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application number 202180029720.9 filed on April 23, 2021 and invention name “Carrier aggregation capability signaling for control channels with ultra-reliable low-latency communications”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 302,035, filed on April 22, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 014,659, filed on April 23, 2020, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to a user equipment configured to send a capability message indicating support for two mobile communication standards of a radio access technology. Background Art

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of communication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of these multiple access technologies include: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0006] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continued mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Certain aspects of 5G NR may be based on 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE).

[0007] (LTE) standard. Further improvements are required for 5G NR technology. These improvements may also apply to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that adopt these technologies. Summary of the invention

[0008] A simplified summary of one or more aspects is presented below in order to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects, nor to describe the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that is presented later.

[0009] In an exemplary radio access network (RAN), the network configures communications with a user equipment (UE) according to the functions that the UE can perform. Therefore, the UE should inform the network of the UE capabilities, for example, via a UE capability information message. The network may request such a UE capability information message from the UE by sending a UE capability query message. For example, the network may send a UE capability query message when the UE initially attaches or registers to the RAN.

[0010] In response to the UE capability query message, the UE may send a UE capability information message, which may indicate capability information related to supporting carrier aggregation, modulation level, coding rate, etc. Specifically, the UE capability message may indicate the UE's ability to detect control information on a control channel in a search space during a monitoring opportunity, since different UEs may have different capabilities to detect control channels intended for the UE.

[0011] As mobile communication standards (or "releases") of radio access technologies (RATs) evolve, the capabilities of UEs may evolve accordingly. A UE capable of communicating in accordance with a newer mobile communication standard may still be able to communicate with network elements (e.g., base stations) that are not configured for the newer mobile communication standard. However, the UE may lack a mechanism to inform the network of the ability to receive certain information (e.g., control information) from both base stations configured for the newer (e.g., current) mobile communication standard and base stations configured for the older (e.g., legacy) mobile communication standard.

[0012] The present disclosure describes various techniques and solutions for a UE to send UE capability information to a network, the information indicating the ability to receive control information on a component carrier (CC) configured for a first mobile communication capability for a RAT and to receive control information on a CC configured for a second mobile communication capability for the RAT. For example, the UE may indicate the ability of the UE to detect control information on a control channel on the first component carrier and to detect control information on a control channel on the second component carrier.

[0013] To accomplish the foregoing and related ends, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0015] Figure 2A , Figure 2B , Figure 2C and Figure 2D 2 are diagrams showing examples of a first 5G / NR frame, a DL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, a second 5G / NR frame, and a UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, respectively.

[0016] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a base station and a user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[0017] Figure 4 is a call flow diagram illustrating operations in a wireless communication network.

[0018] Figure 5 A time slot diagram that can be used for communications in a wireless communication network.

[0019] Figure 6 is a flow chart of a method for wireless communication by a UE. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configuration in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid confusing these concepts.

[0021] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0022] For example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gating logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted as instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, processes, functions, etc., whether referring to software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other.

[0023] Therefore, in one or more example embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, these functions may be stored in or encoded as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media may be any available media that a computer can access. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of computer-readable media of the above types, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0024] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include a base station 102, a user equipment (UE) 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell may include a base station. A small cell may include a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell.

[0025] Base stations 102 configured for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) (which may be collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., using an S1 interface). Base stations 102 configured for 5G New Radio (NR) (which may be collectively referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interact with core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Among other functions, base stations 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message distribution, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and transmission of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (eg, via the EPC 160 or the core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (eg, using an X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0026] Base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including small cells and macro cells may be considered a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group, which may be considered a closed subscriber group (CSG). A communication link 120 between a base station 102 and a UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be through one or more carriers. The base station 102 / UE 104 can use spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz) bandwidth for each carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of a total of Yx MHz (e.g., x component carriers (CCs)) for transmission on each. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). The CC may include a primary CC and one or more secondary CCs. The primary CC may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary CC may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0027] Certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR.

[0028] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0029] The small cell 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may improve coverage of the access network and / or increase capacity of the access network.

[0030] Base station 102, whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station), can include and / or be referred to as an eNB, gNodeB (gNB), or other type of base station. Some base stations (such as gNB 180) can communicate with UE 104 at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum. When gNB 180 operates at mmW or near mmW frequencies, gNB 180 can be referred to as a mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band can be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a wavelength of 100 mm and a frequency of 3 GHz. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communications using millimeter wave / near millimeter wave radio spectrum bands (e.g., 3 GHz to 300 GHz) have extremely high path losses and short distances. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. The base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays to facilitate beamforming.

[0031] The base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals in one or more transmit directions 182' to the UE 104. The UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from the base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182". The UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions. The base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit and receive directions of the base station 180 may be the same or different. The transmit and receive directions of the UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0032] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Typically, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides IP address allocation to the UE as well as other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS services to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts specific services, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0033] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may communicate with a unified data management (UDM) 196. AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and the core network 190. Typically, AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through UPF 195. UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. UPF 195 is connected to IP services 197. IP services 197 may include the Internet, intranet, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0034] A base station may also include and / or be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. Base station 102 provides an access point to EPC 160 or core network 190 for UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet computer, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a medical device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similar functional device. Some UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0035] Although the present disclosure may focus on 5G NR, the concepts and aspects described herein may be applicable to other similar areas, such as, for example, LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), or other wireless / radio access technologies.

[0036] Reference again Figure 1 In certain aspects, the base station 102 / 180 may be configured to send a request for UE capability information to the UE 104, which the UE 104 may receive. In response to the request, the UE 104 may send a UE capability information message (198) indicating the first mobile communication capability and the second mobile communication capability of the supported RAT.

[0037] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a UE capability information message (198) indicating a first mobile communication capability and a second mobile communication capability supporting a RAT may indicate a first value pair set associated with a monitoring opportunity for a control channel for at least one first component carrier and a second value pair set associated with a monitoring opportunity for a control channel for at least one second component carrier, and each of the first value pair set and the second value pair set may include a first value corresponding to a minimum time interval between consecutive spans of the monitoring opportunity and a second value corresponding to a span length of the monitoring opportunity.

[0038] Figure 2A FIG200 is a diagram showing an example of a first subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2B FIG230 is a diagram showing an example of DL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. Figure 2C Figure 250 shows an example of a second subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2D 280 is a diagram showing an example of UL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be FDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within a subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL, or the 5G NR frame structure may be TDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within a subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 2A and Figure 2C In the example provided, it is assumed that the 5G NR frame structure is TDD, subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mainly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexibly used between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (mainly UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format through a received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically through DL control information (DCI), or semi-statically / statically through radio resource control (RRC) signaling). It should be noted that the description of (infra) below also applies to the 5G NR frame structure of TDD.

[0039] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a mini-time slot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Depending on the time slot configuration, each time slot may contain 7 or 14 symbols. For time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission). The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and numerology. For slot configuration 0, different numerical parameters μ0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different parameters 0 to 2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Thus, for slot configuration 0 and numerical parameter μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ time slots / subframe. Subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of digital parameters. Subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kHz, where μ is a digital parameter 0 to 5. Thus, a digital parameter μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz and a digital parameter μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely proportional to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D An example is provided for slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and a numerical parameter μ = 2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 66.7 μs.

[0040] The frame structure can be represented using a resource grid. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) extending 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0041] like Figure 2A As shown in FIG. 1 , some REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for UEs. RSs may include demodulation RSs (DM-RSs) (indicated as R for a particular configuration). x, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam refinement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0042] Figure 2B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are shown. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of the frame. The UE 104 uses the PSS to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identification. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of the frame. The UE uses the SSS to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identification and the physical layer cell identification group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the above-mentioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent through the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs) and paging messages).

[0043] like Figure 2C As shown, some REs carry DM-RS (indicated as R for one specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE can send DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS can be sent in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is sent and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS can be sent in different configurations. The UE can send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS can be sent in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can send the SRS on one of the combs. The base station can use the SRS for channel quality estimation to achieve frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0044] Figure 2DExamples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are shown. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0045] Figure 3 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 communicating with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements the functions of Layer 3 and Layer 2. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and Layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs to transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0046] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, modulation / demodulation channels of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 processes the mapping to signal clusters based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from channel estimator 374 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback sent by UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier having a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0047] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal cluster point sent by the base station 310. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by the base station 310. The data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 359 which implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions.

[0048] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0049] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with the DL transmission of the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functions associated with acquisition of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs to transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0050] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 310 may be used by the TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0051] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

[0052] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0053] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 (198) related aspects.

[0054] refer to Figures 4 to 6 , the RAN may configure the communication with the UE according to the functions that the UE can perform. Therefore, the UE should inform the network of the UE capabilities, for example via a UE capability information message. The network may request such a UE capability information message from the UE by sending a UE capability query message. For example, when the UE initially attaches or registers to the RAN, the network may send a UE capability query message.

[0055] In response to the UE capability query message, the UE may send a UE capability information message, which may indicate capability information related to supporting carrier aggregation, modulation level, coding rate, etc. Specifically, the UE capability message may indicate the UE's ability to detect control information on a control channel in a search space during a monitoring opportunity, since different UEs may have different capabilities to detect control channels intended for the UE.

[0056] The RAT of the network may adopt continuous updates through iterations of mobile communication standards or capabilities. For example, a 3GPP RAT (e.g., 5G NR) may follow "releases" that introduce new and / or updated functions, procedures, etc., such as Release 15, Release 16, etc. The UE may be configured to comply with newer mobile communication capabilities and / or standards (e.g., 3GPP Release 16) while also complying with older mobile communication capabilities and / or standards (e.g., 3GPP Release 15). However, the UE may lack a mechanism to notify the network of the ability to receive certain information (e.g., control information) from both base stations configured for newer (e.g., current) mobile communication capabilities and / or standards and base stations configured for older (e.g., legacy) mobile communication capabilities and / or standards.

[0057] Figures 4 to 6 Various techniques and solutions are described for a UE to send UE capability information to a network, the information indicating the ability to receive control information on a CC configured for a first mobile communication capability for a RAT and to receive control information on a CC configured for a second mobile communication capability for the RAT. For example, the UE may indicate the ability of the UE to detect control information on a control channel on a first component carrier and to detect control information on a control channel on a second component carrier.

[0058] Figure 44 is a call flow diagram 400 illustrating exemplary operations in a network 406 of a RAT. The network 406 may include at least two base stations 402a-b. A UE 404 may be configured to communicate with the network 406. For example, each of the base stations 402a-b may be configured to provide a respective serving cell on which the UE 404 may operate. In order to operate and communicate on the serving cells provided by the base stations 402a-b, each of the base stations 402a-b may send respective control information to the UE 404 on a control channel (e.g., a PDCCH).

[0059] In some aspects, the base stations 402a-b may be configured to communicate in accordance with different mobile communication standards of the RATs. For example, the first base station 402a may be configured to communicate in accordance with a first mobile communication capability of the RAT (such as 3GPP Release 16 for 5G NR), while the second base station may be configured to communicate in accordance with a second mobile communication capability of the RAT (such as 3GPP Release 15 for 5G NR). When capable of operating on both serving cells, the UE 404 may be configured to communicate in accordance with both the first mobile communication capability and the second mobile communication capability of the RAT.

[0060] In order to detect the control information on the control channel, the UE 404 may be configured to perform blind decoding (BD) of CCE sets at different aggregation levels (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16). The UE 404 may perform BD in a monitoring opportunity. The monitoring opportunity may be a time domain location in which one or more symbols of a control resource set (CORESET) are found. The CORESET may include one or more search spaces, and each search space may be a set of CCEs that include control information on a control channel for the UE 404 at different aggregation levels (e.g., 2, 4, 8, 16). However, the number of CCEs and the number of BDs may be subject to corresponding limitations (e.g., a maximum limit of CCEs and a maximum limit of BDs).

[0061] UE 404 is capable of monitoring and decoding control information on a control channel on a first component carrier according to a first mobile communication capability that is different from control information on a second component carrier according to a second mobile communication capability. However, UE 404 may need to inform network 406 of the ability of UE 404 to detect control information on a control channel on the first component carrier (from first base station 402a) and to detect control information on a control channel on the second component carrier (from second base station 402b).

[0062] Thus, the network 406 may be configured to send a request 422 for UE capability information to the UE 404. In some aspects, the request 422 may indicate a set of frequency bands for which the UE 404 is to report the UE's capabilities. For example, the request 422 may indicate a first subset of frequency bands corresponding to the first base station 402a and a second subset of frequency bands corresponding to the second base station 402b.

[0063] UE 404 may receive request 422, and in response to request 422, UE 404 may send a UE capability information message 424 indicating support for a first mobile communication capability in a first component carrier and a second mobile communication capability in a second component carrier.

[0064] UE 404 may generate UE capability information message 424 to include information indicating the capabilities of UE 404, and the information may include a set of values ​​each corresponding to a respective capability. For example, the set of values ​​may be referred to as a "feature group", and each feature group may correspond to one UE capability.

[0065] In one configuration, the second mobile communication capability may include a first feature group (e.g., feature group 3-1 associated with a basic downlink control channel) indicating that for a type 1 common search space (CSS), a type 3 CSS, and a UE-specific search space (UE-SS) with a dedicated RRC configuration, the monitoring opportunity is within the first 3 OFDM symbols of a time slot. In another configuration, the second mobile communication capability may include a second feature group (e.g., feature group 3-2 associated with PDCCH monitoring over any span of up to 3 consecutive OFDM symbols in a time slot) indicating that for a given UE, all search spaces are configured within the same span of 3 consecutive OFDM symbols in a time slot.

[0066] In another configuration, the second mobile communication capability may include a third feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5), which indicates that for type 1 CSS, type 3 CSS, and UE-SS with dedicated RRC configuration, the monitoring opportunity may be any (multiple) OFDM symbol of the time slot for case 2. In yet another configuration, the second mobile communication capability may include a fourth feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5a), which indicates that for type 1 CSS, type 3 CSS, and UE-SS with dedicated RRC configuration, the monitoring opportunity may be any (multiple) OFDM symbol of the time slot for case 2 with DCI gaps.

[0067] In yet another further configuration, the second mobile communication capability may include a fifth feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5b), which indicates that all control channels (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols for a time slot with a span gap case 2. An example of the fifth feature group may be given in Table 1 below.

[0068]

[0069]

[0070]

[0071] Table 1

[0072] As described for feature groups, each monitoring opportunity can be included in a span. Figure 5 , diagram 500 shows exemplary time slots 502a-c. Each time slot 502a-c may include a set of spans. Referring to the first time slot 502a, a maximum of 7 spans are included. Each span may have a length 504a of 2 symbols, and each span may have an interval 506a of at least 2 symbols relative to the first symbol of each span (including across time slot boundaries). Therefore, the span pattern or value pair for time slot 502a may be (2,2) because X is equal to 2 and Y is equal to 2.

[0073] Referring to the second time slot 502b, a maximum of 3 spans are included. Each span may have a length 504b of 3 symbols, and each span may have an interval 506b of at least 4 symbols relative to the first symbol of each span (including across time slot boundaries). Therefore, the span pattern or value pair for time slot 502b may be (4,3) because X is equal to 4 and Y is equal to 3.

[0074] Referring to the third time slot 502c, at most 2 spans are included. Each span may have a length 504c of 3 symbols, and each span may have an interval 506c of at least 7 symbols relative to the first symbol of each span (including across time slot boundaries). Therefore, the span pattern or value pair of time slot 502c may be (7,3) because X is equal to 4 and Y is equal to 3.

[0075] The span patterns shown in time slots 502a-c can have different complexities because each span pattern can include a different number of CCEs and therefore involve a greater number of BDs of the UE. The span pattern of (2,2) may be the most complex, the span pattern (4,3) may be relatively less complex, and the span pattern (7,3) may be the least complex. Then, according to the second mobile communication capability, a UE that can support the span pattern of the value pair (2,2) should also be able to support the span patterns of the value pairs (4,3) and (7,3). Similarly, a UE that can support the span pattern of the value pair (4,3) should also be able to support the span pattern of the value pair (7,3). Potentially, the UE may only be able to support the span pattern of the value pair (7,3).

[0076] For the second mobile communication capability, limits on the number of non-overlapping CCEs and BDs may be defined on a per-time slot basis. A base station may configure a large number of CCEs and BDs (potentially, all CCEs and BDs) within the span of a time slot. This configuration may significantly increase the complexity of the UE, especially when the UE is configured to communicate based on capabilities with relatively short timelines, such as capabilities for ultra-reliable low-latency communications (e.g., cap #2).

[0077] However, if the base station (or other scheduler) configures CCEs and BDs to be distributed across different spans, the number of CCEs and BDs in each span may not be sufficient to carry control information to the UE on the control channel. For example, in the case of a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 30 kHz and a span pattern of (X, Y) equal to the value pair (2, 2), each span may include only 8 CCEs, and only one candidate can be supported for the control channel of aggregation level 8 (or 2 candidates for aggregation level 4, etc.).

[0078] In this regard, the first mobile communication capability may be different from the second mobile communication capability, for example, by differences in UE complexity and scheduler flexibility for enhanced URLLC (eURLLC). In the first mobile communication capability, new control channel monitoring capabilities may be defined for the UE, for example, for both 15 KHz and 30 KHz SCS. For example, the number of non-overlapping CCEs and BDs per time slot may be increased relative to the second mobile communication capability and, in addition, limits may be defined for each span CCE and BD (rather than each time slot, which may reduce UE complexity).

[0079] For the UE capability of the first mobile communication capability, the span pattern of the supported value pairs may be the same as that supported in the second mobile communication capability - i.e., value pairs (2,2), (4,3) and (7,3). If the UE indicates that the UE supports multiple value pairs, and multiple value pairs are valid for a given span pattern based on the search space / CORESE configuration, the UE shall assume that the value pair has the maximum number of CCEs and BD limit.

[0080] Some UEs may be able to send UE Capability Information messages to indicate two different situations: (1) capability regarding the number of CCs that only have the second mobile communication capability monitoring capability; (2) capability regarding the number of CCs that only have the first mobile communication capability monitoring capability, where the number of different serving cells is less than 4 (for example, pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-RA16 can be less than or equal to 4).

[0081] However, again referring to Figure 4 , the UE 404 is able to send a UE capability information message 424 to separately indicate capabilities regarding the number of CCs with the control channel monitoring capability of the second mobile communication capability and the number of CCs with the control channel monitoring capability of the first mobile communication capability on different serving cells (e.g., pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-RA16 is for the control channel monitoring capability of the CC configured according to the first mobile communication capability, and pdcch-BlindDetectionCA-RA15 is for the control channel monitoring capability of the CC configured according to the second mobile communication capability). In some aspects, each of the capabilities regarding the number of CCs with the control channel monitoring capability of the second mobile communication capability and the number of CCs with the control channel monitoring capability of the first mobile communication capability can be configured on at most 4 serving cells.

[0082] As described above, for the second mobile communication capability, the UE can only report UE capability information in one of three different value pair sets: {(7,3)}, {(4,3), (7,3)}, and {(2,2), (4,3), (7,3)}. The UE capability information may be limited to these three value pair sets because the limits on the number of CCEs and BDs are defined per time slot. However, for the first mobile communication capability, the limits on the number of CCEs and BDs are defined per span, and therefore may be different for different value pairs. Therefore, the UE may be able to indicate support for each value pair separately and independently, for example, on a per span basis. The UE may indicate support related to the number of CCEs (referred to as "C" or "limit C") and the number of BDs (referred to as "M" or "limit M"). The UE may indicate support for a value pair for a specific SCS (represented by μ).

[0083] In one example, UE 404 may be able to report support for a first mobile communication capability in a first exemplary feature group (e.g., a feature group with a specific value or other indication) indicating an increased control channel (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring capability in UE capability information message 424. For example, the first exemplary feature group may indicate to UE 404: (1) support for a limit C on the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs for channel estimation per control channel monitoring span and a limit M on the maximum number of BDs for a combination of value pairs (X, Y, μ); (2) supported combinations of (X, Y, μ); and (3) if the UE reports support for more than one combination of (X, Y) for a given SCS, and if multiple combinations of (X, Y) are valid for span mode, then the span mode with the maximum value of C and M from the valid combinations is applied.

[0084] The first example feature set may be used for SCSs of 15 KHz and 30 KHz. The UE 404 may indicate a candidate value set (eg, component 2 candidate value set) having the first feature set by a value pair {(2,2),(4,3),(7,3)}.

[0085] When the UE 404 indicates the first exemplary feature group example in the UE capability information message 424, the UE 404 may further indicate support for control channel monitoring of the CC for another serving cell configured for the second mobile communication capability. For example, the first exemplary feature group may indicate that the UE 404 supports the fifth feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5b) of the second mobile communication capability, which indicates that all control channels (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols for a time slot of case 2 with a span gap.

[0086] In another example, the UE 404 may be able to report support for a first mobile communication capability in a second exemplary feature group (e.g., another feature group with a specific value or other indication) in the UE capability information message 424, which indicates a mixture of an increased control channel monitoring capability and a monitoring capability of the first three symbols of a time slot in the same time slot of the same CC (e.g., feature group 3-1). For example, the second exemplary feature group may indicate to the UE 404: (1) support for control channel monitoring operation according to the first three symbols of the time slot (e.g., feature group 3-1); (2) support for control channel monitoring with a limit C on the maximum number of additional non-overlapping CCEs and a limit M on the maximum number of additional BDs for the value pair combination (X, Y, μ) for channel estimation per control channel monitoring span; (3) supported combinations of (X, Y, μ); (4) if the UE reports support for more than one (X, Y) value pair combination for a given SCS, and if multiple combinations of (X, Y) are valid for span mode, then the span mode with the maximum value of C and M from the valid combinations is applied.

[0087] The second exemplary feature set may be used for SCSs of 15 KHz and 30 KHz. UE 404 may indicate a candidate value set (eg, component 3 candidate value set) having the second feature set through a value pair {(2,2),(4,3),(7,3)}.

[0088] When the UE 404 indicates the second exemplary feature group example in the UE capability information message 424, the UE 404 may further indicate support for control channel monitoring of the CC for another serving cell configured for the second mobile communication capability. For example, the second exemplary feature group may indicate that the UE 404 supports the fifth feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5b) of the second mobile communication capability, which indicates that all control channels (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols for a time slot of case 2 with a span gap.

[0089] In another example, UE 404 may be able to report support for a first mobile communication capability in a third exemplary feature group (e.g., a feature group with a specific value) in UE capability information message 424, which indicates a mix of an increased control channel monitoring capability and a monitoring capability of any three consecutive symbols of a time slot in the same time slot of the same CC (e.g., feature group 3-2). For example, the third exemplary feature group may indicate to UE 404: (1) support for control channel monitoring operation according to any 3 consecutive OFDM symbols of a time slot (e.g., feature group 3-2); (2) support for PDCCH monitoring with a limit C on the maximum number of additional non-overlapping CCEs and a limit M on the maximum number of additional BDs for the combination (X, Y, μ) for channel estimation per PDCCH monitoring span; (3) supported combinations of (X, Y, μ); (4) if the UE reports support for more than one (X, Y) combination for a given SCS, and if multiple combinations of (X, Y) are valid for span mode, then the span mode with the maximum value of C and M from the valid combinations is applied.

[0090] The third exemplary feature set may be used for SCSs of 15 KHz and 30 KHz. UE 404 may indicate a candidate value set (eg, component 3 candidate value set) having the third feature set through a value pair {(2,2),(4,3),(7,3)}.

[0091] When the UE 404 indicates the third exemplary feature group example in the UE capability information message 424, the UE 404 may further indicate support for control channel monitoring of the CC of another serving cell configured for the second mobile communication capability. For example, the third exemplary feature group may indicate that the UE 404 supports control channel monitoring of any 3 consecutive OFDM symbols of the time slot (e.g., feature group 3-2), and also supports the fifth feature group of the second mobile communication capability (e.g., feature group 3-5b), which indicates that all control channels (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities can be any (multiple) OFDM symbols of the time slot with a span gap case 2.

[0092] In yet another example, UE 404 may be able to report in UE capability information message 424 support for a first mobile communication capability in a fourth exemplary feature group (e.g., a feature group having a particular value) indicating an increased control channel monitoring capability and a mix of all control channel monitoring opportunities that may be monitoring capability of any OFDM symbol(s) of a time slot having a span time slot in case 2 in the same time slot of the same CC. For example, the fourth exemplary feature group may indicate to UE404: (1) 1) for the combination (X1, Y1, μ), support for control channel monitoring operations according to all control channel monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols of a time slot with span time slot case 2 (e.g., feature group 3-5b) (2) support for PDCCH monitoring, channel estimation for each PDCCH monitoring span, with a limit C on the maximum number of additional non-overlapping CCEs and a limit M on the maximum number of additional BDs for the combination (X, Y, μ); (3) supported combinations of (X1, Y1, μ); (4) supported combinations of (X2, Y2, μ); (5) if the UE reports support for more than one (X2, Y2) combination for a given SCS, and if multiple combinations of (X2, Y2) are valid for the span mode, then the span mode with the maximum value of C and M from the valid combinations is applied.

[0093] Illustratively, UE 404 may indicate support for, for example, (X1, Y1) = (7, 3) and (X2, Y2) = (2, 2) with a first number of carriers, and support for (X1, Y1) = (7, 3) and (X2, Y2) = (7, 3) with a second number of carriers, and so on. In some aspects, UE 404 may further indicate support for one or more value pairs (X2, Y2) having a first number of carriers, and support for the following operations having a second number of carriers: monitoring / decoding the first 3 OFDM symbols of a time slot (e.g., feature group 3-1), monitoring / decoding any 3 consecutive OFDM symbols of a time slot (e.g., feature group 3-2), monitoring / decoding any (multiple) OFDM symbols of a time slot of case 2 (e.g., feature group 3-5), monitoring / decoding any (multiple) OFDM symbols of a time slot of case 2 with a DCI gap (e.g., feature group 3-5a), and / or monitoring / decoding any OFDM symbol of a time slot of case 2 with a span gap (e.g., feature group 3-5b).

[0094] The fourth exemplary feature group can be used for SCS of 15KHz and 30KHz. UE 404 can indicate a candidate value set (e.g., component 3 candidate value set) having the fourth feature group through a value pair (X1, Y1) of {(2, 2), (4, 3), (7, 3)}, and can also indicate a candidate value set (e.g., component 4 candidate value set) having a value pair (X2, Y2) of {(2, 2), (4, 3), (7, 3)}.

[0095] When the UE 404 indicates the fourth exemplary feature group example in the UE capability information message 424, the UE 404 may further indicate support for control channel monitoring of the CC for another serving cell configured for the second mobile communication capability. For example, the fourth exemplary feature group may indicate that the UE 404 supports control channel monitoring of the fifth feature group (e.g., feature group 3-5b) of the second mobile communication capability, which indicates that all control channels (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols of the time slot for case 2 with a span gap.

[0096] For any of the foregoing examples, the UE 404 may report the supported value pairs (X, Y) separately for the first mobile communication capability and the second mobile communication capability in the UE capability information message 424. For example, the UE 404 may indicate that all (X, Y) value pairs are supported for case 2, thereby reporting that two of them are in mixed mode when the monitoring opportunity is the first 3 OFDM symbols of the time slot (e.g., feature group 3-1), and only one of them is in mixed mode when all control channel (e.g., PDCCH) monitoring opportunities may be any (multiple) OFDM symbols of the time slot of case 2 with a span gap (e.g., feature group 3-5b).

[0097] In addition, in a hybrid mode (e.g., for the fourth exemplary feature group), the UE 404 may report in the UE capability information message 424 which of the (X2, Y2) value pairs may be supported by each of (X1, Y1) = (7, 3) and the UE 404 may support (X2, Y2) = (7, 3) with {(2, 2), (4, 3), (7, 3)}. In some other aspects, the UE 404 may report (X1, Y1) and (X2, Y2) separately and independently in the UE capability information message 424; however, the UE 404 may then support all value pairs reported by the UE 404.

[0098] In some aspects, the UE 404 may indicate that the UE 404 supports at least one of the aforementioned exemplary feature groups in a feature set corresponding to a subset of a set of frequency bands in a frequency band combination for each of the first base station 402a and the second base station 402b (e.g., indicated by the network 406 in the request 422). In some additional aspects, the UE 404 may indicate that the UE 404 supports at least one of the aforementioned exemplary feature groups in a feature set corresponding to a respective set of carriers for each of the subset(s) of the set of frequency bands in a frequency band combination for each of the first base station 402a and the second base station 402b.

[0099] In some other aspects, the UE 404 may indicate a single feature group in the UE capability information message 424. For example, a new value pair (X, Y) = (14, 3) may be defined, which may correspond to the second mobile communication capability - i.e., a single position for control channel monitoring opportunities, for example, for the first 3 OFDM symbols of the time slot (e.g., feature group 3-1) and any 3 consecutive OFDM symbols of the time slot (e.g., feature group 3-2). The UE 404 may then indicate in the UE capability information message 424 whether the UE 404 supports any (X2, Y2) value pair with the value pair (14, 3). If the UE 404 does support the value pair with the value pair (14, 3), the UE 404 may support a single position for monitoring opportunities on the CC configured for the second mobile communication capability. UE 404 may report support for all control channels (eg, PDCCH) in the combined feature group case or individually. Monitoring occasions may be any OFDM symbol(s) of a slot with a span gap in case 2 (eg, feature groups 3-5b).

[0100] Figure 6 600 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., a UE 104, 350, 404, which may include a memory 360 and may be the entire UE 104, 350, 404 or a component of the UE 104, 350, 404, such as a TX processor 368, a RX processor 356, and / or a controller / processor 359).

[0101] At 602, the UE may request UE capability information from the network. At 604, the UE may send UE capability information indicating at least two possible configurations for a first carrier complexity and a second carrier complexity, the first carrier complexity being different from the second carrier complexity, the capability information being provided as a value pair for each of the at least two possible configurations, a first value of the value pair being associated with the first carrier complexity, and a second value of the value pair being associated with the second carrier complexity.

[0102] In some aspects, the UE capability information further indicates a corresponding set of frequency bands in the frequency band combination corresponding to each of the first value pair set and the second value pair set. In some further aspects, the UE capability information further indicates a corresponding set of CCs in each frequency band of the corresponding frequency band set for each of the first value pair set and the second value pair set.

[0103] According to some aspects, the UE capability information further indicates, for each of the second set of value pairs, a respective subset of the first set of value pairs that is supported. According to some other aspects, each of the second set of value pairs is independent of each of the first set of value pairs.

[0104] Potentially, the UE capability information may also indicate at least one of a corresponding subcarrier spacing corresponding to each of the first value pair set and a corresponding subcarrier spacing corresponding to each of the second value pair set. In one configuration, the first value pair set may be a single value pair for a single monitoring opportunity for each time slot of the first control channel. The UE capability information may also indicate, for each of the second value pair set, whether the single value pair is supported.

[0105] In some aspects, a first set of value pairs is associated with a first number of CCEs and a first number of BDs defined per time slot, and a second set of value pairs is associated with a second number of CCEs and a second number of BDs defined per span, and wherein the first number of CCEs is less than the second number of CCEs and the first number of BDs is less than the second number of BDs. For example, the first set of value pairs is associated with a component carrier (CC) of a first mobile communication capability of a radio access technology (RAT), and the second set of value pairs is associated with a CC of a second mobile communication capability of the RAT.

[0106] In some other aspects, the UE capability information further indicates at least one first feature group corresponding to at least one first component carrier, and the UE capability information separately indicates at least one feature group corresponding to at least one second component carrier. For example, the at least one feature group defines at least one of the following: the monitoring opportunity is within the first 3 OFDM symbols of the time slot, the monitoring opportunity is within the same span of 3 consecutive symbols of the time slot, the monitoring opportunity is within any symbol in the time slot, the monitoring opportunity is within any symbol in the time slot with a downlink control information (DCI) gap, or the monitoring opportunity is within any symbol in the time slot with a span gap.

[0107] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the blocks in the disclosed process / flowchart is an illustration of an exemplary method. It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the blocks in the process / flowchart can be rearranged according to design preferences. In addition, some blocks can be combined or omitted. The attached method claims present the elements of each block in a sample order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0108] The previous description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but to conform to the full scope consistent with the claim language, wherein the reference to the singular element is not intended to represent "one and only one", unless specifically stated, but to represent "one or more". The term "exemplary" is used herein to represent "used as an example, instance or illustration". Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily interpreted as being superior to or better than other aspects. Unless specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C" and "A, B, C or a combination thereof" include any combination of A, B and / or C, and may include multiples of A, multiples of B or multiples of C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or a combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure are known or later become known to those of ordinary skill in the art, are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. Words such as "module," "mechanism," "element," "device," etc. may not replace the word "component." Therefore, any element of a claim shall not be interpreted as a part plus function unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "component for..."

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: receiving a request message for capability information; transmitting the capability information, the capability information comprising a separate indication for each of at least two possible configurations, each possible configuration being associated with a first reference number of cells having a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability associated with a first communication capability associated with a radio access technology (RAT) and being associated with a second reference number of cells having a second PDCCH monitoring capability associated with a second communication capability of the RAT, the first communication capability being different from the second communication capability; as well as Carrier configuration information is received for at least one of the first reference number of cells having the first PDCCH monitoring capability and at least one of the second reference number of cells having the second PDCCH monitoring capability.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the carrier configuration information further comprises: Explicit signaling is received indicating which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information is implicitly determined by a device that sends the capability information. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the capability information comprises at least a blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability is reported by different cells. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capability information comprises at least one of a first set of monitoring capabilities or a second set of monitoring capabilities. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the capability information indicates a control channel monitoring capability.

8. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; as well as One or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured, alone or in any combination, to: receiving a request message for capability information; transmitting the capability information, the capability information comprising a separate indication for each of at least two possible configurations, each possible configuration being associated with a first reference number of cells having a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability associated with a first communication capability associated with a radio access technology (RAT) and being associated with a second reference number of cells having a second PDCCH monitoring capability associated with a second communication capability of the RAT, the first communication capability being different from the second communication capability; as well as Carrier configuration information is received for at least one of the first reference number of cells having the first PDCCH monitoring capability and at least one of the second reference number of cells having the second PDCCH monitoring capability.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein receiving the carrier configuration information further comprises: Explicit signaling is received indicating which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein which one of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information is implicitly determined by the apparatus.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the capability information at least indicates a blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability is reported by different cells.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the capability information comprises at least one of a first set of monitoring capabilities or a second set of monitoring capabilities. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the capability information indicates a control channel monitoring capability.

15. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving a request message for capability information; means for transmitting the capability information, the capability information comprising a separate indication for each of at least two possible configurations, each possible configuration being associated with a first reference number of cells having a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability associated with a first communication capability associated with a radio access technology (RAT) and associated with a second reference number of cells having a second PDCCH monitoring capability associated with a second communication capability of the RAT, the first communication capability being different from the second communication capability; as well as Means for receiving carrier configuration information for at least one of the first reference number of cells having the first PDCCH monitoring capability and at least one of the second reference number of cells having the second PDCCH monitoring capability.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the means for receiving the carrier configuration information further comprises: Means for receiving explicit signaling indicating which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein which one of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information is implicitly determined by the apparatus.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the capability information at least indicates a blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability is reported by different cells.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the capability information comprises at least one of a first set of monitoring capabilities or a second set of monitoring capabilities.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the capability information indicates a control channel monitoring capability.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication, the one or more instructions comprising: One or more instructions that when executed by one or more processors of a device cause the one or more processors to: receiving a request message for capability information; transmitting the capability information, the capability information comprising a separate indication for each of at least two possible configurations, each possible configuration being associated with a first reference number of cells having a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring capability associated with a first communication capability associated with a radio access technology (RAT) and being associated with a second reference number of cells having a second PDCCH monitoring capability associated with a second communication capability of the RAT, the first communication capability being different from the second communication capability; as well as Carrier configuration information is received for at least one of the first reference number of cells having the first PDCCH monitoring capability and at least one of the second reference number of cells having the second PDCCH monitoring capability.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein receiving the carrier configuration information further comprises: Explicit signaling is received indicating which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein which of the at least two possible configurations to apply to the received carrier configuration information is implicitly determined by the apparatus.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the capability information indicates at least a blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the blind detection carrier aggregation monitoring capability is reported by different cells.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the capability information comprises at least one of a first set of monitoring capabilities or a second set of monitoring capabilities.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the capability information indicates a control channel monitoring capability.

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