Frequency domain resource allocation for sub-band non-overlapping full duplex

Abstract

Example embodiments generally relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media that support frequency domain resource allocation for sub-band full duplex. A terminal device may be configured to receive, from a network device, frequency domain resource allocation information indicating a frequency domain resource in a virtual bandwidth portion as part of a downlink allocation or an uplink grant for scheduling a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission, respectively, and mapping the indicated frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The example embodiments described herein generally relate to communication technologies, and more particularly, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media that support frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) for sub-band full-duplex (SBFD). Background Art

[0002] Certain abbreviations that may appear in the specification and / or drawings are defined as follows:

[0003] BWP: Bandwidth Part

[0004] DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0005] FDRA: Frequency-Domain Resource Allocation

[0006] GB: Guard Band

[0007] gNB: Next Generation Node-B

[0008] GP: Guard Period

[0009] PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0010] PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0011] PRB: Physical Resource Block

[0012] PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0013] RBG: Resource Block Group

[0014] RIV: Resource Indicator Value

[0015] RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0016] SBFD: Sub-Band Full-Duplex

[0017] TDD: Time-Division Duplex

[0018] UE: User Equipment

[0019] Sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) is a proposed base-station full-duplex technology where a time-division duplex (TDD) carrier is split into at least one downlink (DL) sub-band and one uplink (UL) sub-band at a particular point in time (e.g., a time slot), which means that the base station is able to transmit in (multiple) DL sub-bands and receive in (multiple) UL sub-bands simultaneously in SBFD mode, while the user equipment (UE) served by the base station still operates in half-duplex mode. The DL sub-band and the UL sub-band should not overlap in the frequency domain. Compared with traditional TDD operation, SBFD is beneficial for UL coverage enhancement, end-to-end latency reduction, and system capacity improvement. Summary of the Invention

[0020] A brief overview of exemplary embodiments is provided below to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments. It should be noted that this overview is not intended to identify the key features of the basic elements or define the scope of the exemplary embodiments. Its sole purpose is to introduce some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

[0021] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a frequency-domain resource allocation solution for sub-band full-duplex.

[0022] In a first aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the terminal device may at least: receive frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission; and map the indicated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the terminal device.

[0023] In a second aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a network device is provided. The network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the network device may at least: allocate frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission; map the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for downlink transmission or uplink transmission for the terminal device; and send frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to the terminal device as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission.

[0024] Exemplary embodiments of methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media supporting frequency-domain resource allocation for sub-band full-duplex are also provided. Such exemplary embodiments generally correspond to the above exemplary embodiments of the terminal and the network device, and for the sake of convenience, the repeated description thereof is omitted here.

[0025] When read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of the specific embodiments, which illustrate the principles of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure by way of example. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0026] Some example embodiments will now be described by way of non - limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0027] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example communication network in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0028] Figure 2 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example time - slot format for sub - band full - duplex operation.

[0029] Figure 3 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example bandwidth portion within a sub - band during sub - band full - duplex operation.

[0030] Figure 4A FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example bandwidth portion extending beyond the downlink sub - band during sub - band full - duplex operation.

[0031] Figure 4B FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example bandwidth portion extending beyond the uplink sub - band during sub - band full - duplex operation.

[0032] Figure 5 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example scheme for splitting a carrier into a downlink sub - band and an uplink sub - band.

[0033] Figure 6 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example virtual bandwidth portion for frequency - domain resource allocation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 7 FIG. is a schematic diagram of an example virtual bandwidth portion for frequency - domain resource allocation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 8 FIG. is a schematic message sequence diagram of a process according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 9 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of a device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 10 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of a device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 11 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of a device in a communication system that can be used to implement example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0039] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. Repeated descriptions of the same elements will be omitted. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Next, some example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description includes specific details aimed at providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, those skilled in the art will understand that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known circuits, techniques, and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the described concepts and features.

[0041] As used herein, the term "network device" may refer to any suitable entity or device capable of providing network coverage, such as through a network cell having corresponding indoor and / or outdoor coverage, through which a terminal device can access the network and receive services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, the network device may refer to a base station, an access point (AP), or a transmission and reception point (TRP), such as Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), super 5G base station, remote radio unit (RRU), remote radio head (RRH), relay, low-power node (such as a pico base station, femto base station, etc.). A base station may consist of several distributed network units, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more remote radio heads (RRH) or remote radio units (RRU). The number and functions of these distributed units depend on the applied split radio access network (RAN) architecture.

[0042] As used herein, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) may refer to any entity or device that can communicate wirelessly with a network device or with each other. Examples of terminal devices may include mobile phones, mobile terminals (MT), mobile stations (MS), subscriber stations (SS), portable subscriber stations (PSS), access terminals (AT), computers, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted communication devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device-to-device (D2D) communication devices, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication devices, and sensors, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" may be used interchangeably.

[0043] Figure 1 An example communication network 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is illustrated. As Figure 1 shown, the communication network 100 may include a plurality of user equipment (UE) 110 and a base station 120 serving the plurality of UEs 110. In this example, only one UE 110 is shown, and the base station 120 is illustrated as a next-generation Node B (gNB). The UE 110 may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the gNB 120 to receive downlink (DL) transmissions from the gNB 120 and / or send uplink (UL) transmissions to the gNB 120.

[0044] UE 110 and gNB 120 can operate in Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode. TDD is a communication scheme in which UL transmission and DL transmission are separated from each other in the time domain, allowing these two types of transmissions to share the same frequency band (i.e., carrier). The TDD mode can save valuable frequency resources and is also beneficial in cases where the UL and DL data rates are asymmetric. On the other hand, limited allocation of time slots to DL or UL may reduce the coverage and increase the end-to-end delay.

[0045] As mentioned above, Subband Full Duplex (SBFD) has been proposed to mitigate TDD limitations by splitting the TDD carrier into subbands and allowing simultaneous UL and DL transmissions on the corresponding subbands. Figure 2 Illustrated is an example implementation of the time slot format for SBFD operation. As Figure 2 shown, at the beginning, gNB 120 operates in full DL mode, where the full TDD carrier is used for DL transmission, and then the gNB enters the SBFD mode, where gNB 120 can send DL transmissions in two DL subbands and receive UL transmissions in one UL subband. It is worth noting that during the SBFD mode, UE 110 still operates in half-duplex mode. Depending on the time slot format applied to UE110, UE 110 receives DL transmissions in one or both of the two DL subbands, or sends UL transmissions in the UL subband. After the SBFD mode, gNB 120 switches to full UL mode, where the full TDD carrier will be used for UL transmission. A potential guard period (GP) can be inserted in the time domain between the UL time slot and the DL time slot for switching of the transmit-receive circuitry and interference mitigation. A potential guard band (GB) can be inserted in the frequency domain between the UL subband and the DL subband to mitigate self-interference caused by simultaneous transmission and reception of the gNB. It should be understood that Figure 2 the time slot format shown is given only as an example, and the example embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to other time slot formats.

[0046] Before DL and UL transmissions are performed, gNB 120 allocates frequency domain resources to the DL and UL data channels that carry the DL and UL transmissions, and notifies UE 110 of the Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) so that UE 110 can receive DL transmissions or send UL transmissions on the correct frequency domain resources (e.g., Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs)). The DL data channel can include, for example, the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the UL data channel can include, for example, the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The FDRA information can be signaled to UE 110 through Downlink Control Information (DCI) conveyed by the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0047] The UE 110 can be configured with a specific number (e.g., a maximum of 4) of bandwidth parts (BWPs) in the UL direction and a specific number (e.g., a maximum of 4) of BWPs in the DL direction. At a given time point, only one UL BWP and one DL BWP are used for UL and DL transmissions, respectively. The FDRA is performed within the active BWP, which includes a set of consecutive resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. In a traditional TDD carrier, the UE can be configured with a BWP that covers the full carrier bandwidth to make full use of the frequency resources. In the SBFD mode, the full carrier will be split into a set of subbands (DL or UL) with the same / opposite directions, and the granularity of the subbands is the RB. On the other hand, since the UE still operates in half-duplex with a specific direction, it is clear that frequency resources within (multiple) subbands with opposite directions should not be scheduled for the UE. For example, as Figure 2 shown, when the UE receives DL signals during the SBFD period, the FDRA should not include any RBs within the UL subband, and vice versa.

[0048] One method is to fully configure the BWP within the DL / UL subbands, and an example is shown as Figure 3 shown. As Figure 3 shown, during the SBFD period, two DL BWPs (i.e., DL BWP 0, DL BWP 2) are respectively configured within two DL subbands, and one UL BWP (i.e., UL BWP 1) is configured within the UL subband. All DL and UL BWPs can include a set of consecutive RBs in the frequency domain. In this case, existing FDRA types (such as type 0, type 1, and type 2) can be performed in a traditional manner because the BWP structure is the same as that of the traditional BWP. Whether the gNB operates in the SBFD mode can be transparent to the UE. One disadvantage of this method is that since the BWP switching cannot be completed within the GP duration when the gNB transitions from the full DL mode to the SBFD mode or from the SBFD mode to the full UL mode, the active BWP of a certain UE cannot be changed. This means that even when the gNB operates in the full DL or full UL mode, not all UEs can utilize all the frequency resources.

[0049] Figure 4A and Figure 4B illustrate an example BWP configured outside the DL / UL subbands during SBFD operation. First, referring to Figure 4A , the UE operates in the DL reception mode during the SBFD period, and the DL BWP (i.e., DL BWP 0) configured for the UE covers the entire carrier. In this case, the UL subband and two guard bands (GBs) on both sides of the UL subband (see Figure 2) should not be used for DL communication, even though they are still within the active DL BWP (i.e., DL BWP 0). Here, the UL subband and the two GBs together can be referred to as the excluded or prohibited subbands. In Figure 4B the example shown, the UE operates in the UL transmission mode during the SBFD period, and the UL BWP (i.e., UL BWP 0) configured for the UE covers the entire carrier. In this case, the two DL subbands on both sides of the UL subband and the two GBs between the corresponding DL subbands and the UL subband (see Figure 2 ) should not be used for UL communication, even though they are still within the active UL BWP (i.e., UL BWP 0). Here, the DL subband and the GB below the UL subband can be referred to as the first excluded or prohibited subband (i.e., excluded subband 1), and the GB above the DL subband and the UL subband can be referred to as the second excluded or prohibited subband (i.e., excluded subband 2).

[0050] When the gNB allocates frequency-domain resources for UL / DL transmission to / from the UE, the gNB shall ensure that the frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) does not include resource blocks (RBs) belonging to the (multiple) excluded subbands during the SBFD period. This is feasible for some FDRA types. For example, when scheduling the PDSCH or PUSCH using FDRA type 0, resource block groups (RBGs) overlapping with the excluded subbands can be not scheduled. However, for some other FDRA types, this is not the case. For example, when using FDRA type 1 with interleaving or frequency hopping for PDSCH or PUSCH scheduling, since interleaving and frequency hopping are implemented for the full active BWP, it is impossible to avoid the scheduled frequency-domain resources overlapping with the excluded subbands. A similar problem occurs when FDRA type (based on interlacing) 2 is enabled for PUSCH scheduling. Therefore, these FDRA types cannot be adopted in the SBFD mode.

[0051] Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide an improved solution for FDRA during the SBFD period, which can naturally support existing FDRA types even when the active BWP of the UE in the UL direction or the DL direction spans both UL subbands and DL subbands, while only (a plurality of) DL subbands or (a plurality of) UL subbands are available for the UE during the SBFD period. In some example embodiments, unavailable frequency domain resources can be removed from the active BWP to form a virtual BWP. Similar to the active BWP, the virtual BWP can be defined with contiguous / continuous (virtual) resource block indices, and the FDRA can be implemented based on the virtual BWP index. Since the virtual BWP implements contiguous / continuous resource block indices and is defined in the same way as the active BWP, the virtual BWP can naturally support existing FDRA types. The gNB can indicate the allocated resources in the virtual BWP to the UE, for example, via downlink control information (DCI) carried on the PDCCH, where the allocated resources in the virtual BWP are mapped to the original active BWP for actual physical layer processing. As a result, when the UE decodes the DCI that schedules the PDSCH or PUSCH in the SBFD mode, the bit width of the frequency domain resource allocation field included in the DCI depends on the size of the virtual BWP, rather than the size of the original active BWP. Since the size of the virtual BWP is larger than the size of the original active BWP, the signaling overhead of the DCI can be greatly reduced.

[0052] Figure 5 Illustrates an example of splitting a carrier into DL subbands and UL subbands for the SBFD mode. Generally, a full TDD carrier can be split into a set of DL subbands and UL subbands that do not overlap in the frequency domain. Each of the DL subbands and UL subbands contains a set of contiguous RBs. Potential GBs can be inserted between adjacent DL subbands and UL subbands to mitigate self-interference caused by simultaneous transmission and reception at the gNB. Refer to Figure 5 , the left side shows a first splitting scheme, where the full TDD carrier is split into two DL subbands located at the bottom and top of the full carrier bandwidth and one UL subband centered on the full carrier bandwidth. Two GBs are inserted between the corresponding DL subbands and UL subbands. The first splitting scheme is also as Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4A and Figure 4B shown. The right side shows a second splitting scheme, where the full TDD carrier is split into one DL subband located in the lower half of the full TDD carrier and one UL subband located in the upper half of the full TDD carrier, with one GB inserted therebetween. Some example embodiments will be described below for the first carrier splitting scheme and the second carrier splitting scheme, but it should be understood that in actual implementation, there can be various splitting schemes of DL subbands and UL subbands, and the example embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in any way to Figure 5The first carrier splitting scheme and the second carrier splitting scheme shown.

[0053] Figure 6 The figure illustrates an example virtual BWP obtained from an example active BWP according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As discussed in detail below, the virtual BWP can be used for FDRA, and then the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP can be mapped to the active BWP for physical layer processing. Since the proposed FDRA based on virtual BWP and active BWP applies to both DL and UL, in the following description, the virtual BWP and the active BWP will not be described as DL-specific BWP or UL-specific BWP. In other words, the following description of the virtual BWP and the active BWP can apply to DL DFRA or UL FDRA.

[0054] As Figure 6 shown, the active BWP can be from in the frequency domain and includes consecutive resource blocks (RBs). In units of RBs and counted relative to a common reference point (e.g., point A). The active BWP can be defined by two parameters and . In this example, it is assumed that where N and M RBs are the available frequency-domain resources for FDRA during the SBFD period, and X RBs are the unavailable frequency-domain resources for FDRA during the SBFD period. As described above regarding Figure 4A , the X unavailable RBs can be referred to as excluded (or prohibited) subbands, which include subbands in the direction opposite to that of the active BWP, as well as two GBs inserted on both sides of the reverse subband. The N available RBs can be numbered with indices from to , the X unavailable RBs can be encoded with indices from to , and the M available RBs can also be numbered with indices from to .

[0055] The virtual BWP can be obtained by excluding the frequency-domain resources belonging to the excluded subband from the active BWP and coherently (or continuously) renumbering (or re-indexing) the remaining available frequency-domain resources. In the example shown in Figure 6 , the X RBs in the excluded subband are removed from the active BWP, and the remaining M + N RBs within the active BWP are available for FDRA during the SBFD period. The virtual BWP can include the remaining M + N RBs, which can be counted relative to a common reference point (e.g., point A) in the frequency domain and numbered with indices from to Index coherent (or consecutive) renumbering (or reindexing). Obviously, the RBs in the virtual BWP to correspond to the RBs in the active BWP to and the RBs in the virtual BWP to correspond to the RBs in the active BWP to

[0056] Since the RBs are coherently (or consecutively) renumbered (or reindexed) in the virtual BWP, the virtual BWP can be defined in exactly the same way as the active BWP, i.e., using two parameters and In Figure 6 the example shown, is equal to and has a value of M + N. Therefore, existing FDRA types (such as type 0, type 1, and type 2) can be applied to the virtual BWP in a conventional manner.

[0057] Figure 7 Also illustrated is an example virtual BWP obtained from an example active BWP according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Similar to the Figure 6 active BWP shown, Figure 7 the active BWP shown can start from the RB in the frequency domain and include consecutive RBs. The difference is that the X' RBs are the available frequency domain resources of the FDRA during the SBFD period, while the N' and M' RBs are the unavailable frequency domain resources of the FDRA during the SBFD period. As described above with respect to Figure 4B , the N' unavailable RBs can be referred to as the first exclusion (or prohibited) subband, and the M' unusable RBs can be referred to as the second exclusion (or prohibited) subband. Each of the first exclusion subband and the second exclusion subband includes subbands in opposite directions with respect to the active BWP, and one GB inserted between the reverse subbands and the subband including the X' available RBs. The N' unavailable RBs in the first exclusion subband can be numbered with indices from to , the X' available RBs can be numbered with indices from to , and the M' unavailable RBs in the second exclusion subband can be numbered with indices from to .

[0058] The virtual BWP can be obtained by excluding the frequency-domain resources belonging to the first exclusion sub-band and the second exclusion sub-band from the active BWP, and coherently (or continuously) renumbering (or re-indexing) the remaining available frequency-domain resources. In Figure 7 In the example shown, the first N' RBs and the last M' RBs in the active BWP are removed, and the virtual BWP includes the middle X' RBs available for FDRA during the SBFD period. The X' available RBs can be counted relative to a common reference point in the frequency domain (e.g., point A), and coherently (or continuously) renumbered (or re-indexed) with indices from to It is obvious that the RBs in the virtual BWP to correspond to the RBs in the active BWP to

[0059] Since the virtual BWP includes RBs with coherent (or continuous) numbering (or indexing) in the frequency domain, the virtual BWP can be defined in exactly the same way as the active BWP, i.e., using two parameters and In Figure 7 the example shown, is equal to and has a value of X'. Therefore, existing FDRA types (such as type 0, type 1, and type 2) can be applied to the virtual BWP in a traditional way.

[0060] Figure 8 FIG. illustrates a process 200 of FDRA during the SBFD period according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 200 can be executed at a network device (e.g., Figure 1 the gNB 120 shown in Figure 1 ) and a terminal device (e.g., Figures 1 - 7 the UE 110 shown in

[0061] As Figure 8As shown, at 210, gNB 120 may send exclusion sub-band information to UE 110. In an example, gNB 120 may send DL sub-band and UL sub-band information, for example, via RRC signaling (such as cell-specific signaling or UE group-specific signaling) or via system information broadcast. The DL sub-band and UL sub-band information may indicate one or more DL sub-bands and one or more UL sub-bands to be used by UE 110 during the SBFD period. As discussed above, a full TDD carrier may be split into at least one DL sub-band and one UL sub-band for SBFD operation at gNB 120, while UE 110 can only operate in one direction (DL or UL) during the SBFD period. UE 110 may then derive the (one or more) exclusion sub-bands from the DL sub-band and UL sub-band information. The (one or more) exclusion sub-bands may include one or more sub-bands in the opposite direction with respect to UE operation and one or more GBs. gNB 120 may indicate one or more DL sub-bands and UL sub-bands to UE 110. For example, the DL sub-band and UL sub-band information may indicate the start RB of each sub-band in the DL sub-band and UL sub-band, as well as the size (in RBs) or the end RB. One or more exclusion sub-bands for DL may be obtained by subtracting one or more available DL sub-bands from the carrier bandwidth, and one or more exclusion sub-bands for UL may be obtained by subtracting one or more available UL sub-bands from the carrier bandwidth. Alternatively, the excluded frequency domain resources for DL may be obtained by subtracting one or more available DL sub-bands (or DL RBs) from the active DL BWP, and the excluded frequency domain resources for UL may be obtained by subtracting one or more available UL sub-bands (or UL RBs) from the active UL BWP. In another example, gNB 120 may indicate one or more exclusion sub-bands for the respective communication directions (DL and UL) to UE 110. For example, the exclusion sub-band information may indicate the (one or more) unavailable sub-bands or RBs for a specific communication direction of UE 110 during the SBFD period. One or more available sub-bands for DL may be determined by subtracting one or more exclusion sub-bands for DL from the carrier bandwidth, and one or more available sub-bands for UL may be determined by subtracting one or more exclusion sub-bands for UL from the carrier bandwidth. Alternatively, the available frequency domain resources for DL may be determined by subtracting one or more exclusion sub-bands (or RBs) for DL from the active DL BWP, and the available frequency domain resources for UL may be determined by subtracting one or more exclusion sub-bands (or RBs) for UL from the active UL BWP.

[0062] At 220, the gNB 120 may allocate frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP to the UE 110 for DL or UL transmission to be performed during the SBFD period. As discussed above, the virtual BWP may be determined by excluding frequency-domain resources belonging to one or more excluded subbands from the active BWP of the UE 110 and coherently (or continuously) renumbering (or reindexing) the remaining frequency-domain resources within the virtual BWP of the UE 110. Since the virtual BWP has the same BWP structure as the active BWP (i.e., including consecutive indexing of RBs), existing FDRA types (such as type 0, type 1, and type 2) may be applied in a conventional manner at step 220, and for the sake of convenience, the details of the existing FDRA types are omitted here.

[0063] Here, it can be understood that if the gNB 120 allocates frequency-domain resources to the UE 110 for scheduling DL or UL transmission outside the SBFD period (i.e., in non-SBFD mode), the gNB 120 may still allocate frequency-domain resources in the active BWP to the UE 110 (which matches the virtual BWP in this case).

[0064] At 230, the gNB 120 may map the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP to the frequency-domain resources in the active BWP corresponding to the virtual BWP for the DL or UL transmission to be performed during the SBFD period. It is worth noting that the DL or UL transmission will be performed on the frequency-domain resources in the active BWP, rather than on the frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP. Since the gNB 120 knows the active BWP configured and activated for the UE 110 during the SBFD period and the (one or more) excluded subbands, the gNB 120 understands the RB mapping relationship between the virtual BWP and the active BWP, and it may map the frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP allocated to the UE 110 at 220 for DL or UL transmission to be performed during the SBFD period to the active BWP configured and activated for the UE 110.

[0065] At 240, the gNB 120 may send FDRA information indicating the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP to the UE 110. The FDRA information may be sent as part of a DL allocation or UL grant for scheduling DL or UL transmission to be performed during the SBFD period, and the DL or UL transmission may be carried in downlink control information (DCI) conveyed on the PDCCH. Since the virtual BWP has consecutive RB numbering (indexing), and existing FDRA types may be applied to the virtual BWP in a conventional manner, at step 240, the gNB 120 may reuse the existing DCI format for sending FDRA information associated with the active BWP to send FDRA information associated with the virtual BWP.

[0066] When the UE 110 receives FDRA information included in a DL allocation or UL grant from the gNB 120, if the DL or UL transmission scheduled by the DL allocation or UL grant respectively is to be performed during the SBFD period, the UE 110 may determine that the FDRA information indicates the frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP. On the other hand, if the DL or UL transmission scheduled by the DL allocation or UL grant respectively is to be performed outside the SBFD period, the UE 110 may determine that the FDRA information indicates the frequency-domain resources in the active BWP (instead of the virtual BWP).

[0067] In an example embodiment, the FDRA information, or the DL allocation or UL grant including the FDRA information, may include an indicator, such as a bit, to indicate whether the FDRA information indicates the frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP or the active BWP. The UE 110 may determine, based on the indicator, whether the frequency-domain resources indicated in the FDRA information are associated with the virtual BWP or the active BWP. In another example embodiment, the indicator may be sent to the UE 110 via RRC signaling. For example, in step 210, the indicator may be jointly indicated to the UE 110 with the DL subband and UL subband information (or with the excluded subband information).

[0068] The FDRA information may be represented, for example, by a frequency-domain resource allocation field in the DCI. In an example, the frequency-domain resource allocation field may include a bitmap to indicate the frequency-domain resources allocated to the UE 110 for DL or UL transmission, and each bit in the bitmap indicates whether the corresponding resource block group (RBG) is allocated to the UE 110. The size (number of bits) of the bitmap may be determined as follows:

[0069]

[0070] where is the BWP size in terms of RBs, is the index of the starting RB in the BWP, and P is the number of RBs included in an RBG. For example, assuming that the active BWP starts from and has a size of 273 RBs, and the virtual BWP starts from and has a size of 137 RBs, and P is 16, then the resulting bitmap size indicating the FDRA in the active BWP is 18, and the bitmap size indicating the FDRA in the virtual BWP is 9. Therefore, when the FDRA is performed based on the virtual BWP, the DCI payload size can be greatly reduced.

[0071] In an example embodiment, the frequency-domain resource allocation field may include a Resource Indicator Value (RIV) to indicate the frequency-domain resources allocated to UE 110 for DL or UL transmission. The RIV may indicate the starting RB and the RB size of a set of contiguous RBs in the BWP allocated to UE 110. The bit string representing the RIV may have a size (number of bits) determined as follows:

[0072]

[0073] where represents the number of RBs included in the BWP. For example, assuming the active BWP includes 273 RBs and the virtual BWP includes 137 RBs, the size of the bit string of the resulting RIV indicating the FDRA in the active BWP is 16, while the size of the RIV indicating the FDRA in the virtual BWP is 14. Therefore, when the FDRA is performed based on the virtual BWP, the DCI payload size can also be reduced.

[0074] It should be understood that under the same carrier split scheme, the virtual BWP for DL transmission and the virtual BWP for UL transmission may have different BWP sizes, as Figure 4A and Figure 4B shown, which will result in different bitmap or bit string sizes of the frequency-domain resource allocation field in the DCI. In an example embodiment, if needed, zero-padding may be performed to keep the DL DCI and UL DCI having the same payload size.

[0075] When UE 110 receives the FDRA information indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP from gNB 120, UE 110 may map the indicated frequency-domain resources in the virtual BWP to the frequency-domain resources in the active BWP corresponding to the virtual BWP at 250 for physical layer processing. Since UE 110 has received the DL sub-band and UL sub-band information (or excluded sub-band information) from gNB 120 at step 210, UE 110 can obtain the virtual BWP from the active BWP and thus know the RB mapping relationship between the virtual BWP and the active BWP (e.g., as Figures 6 - 7 shown). Then at step 250, UE 110 may map each RB or RBG indicated for DL or UL transmission in the virtual BWP to the corresponding RB or RBG in the active BWP.

[0076] Since the available RBs in the active BWP of UE 110 may be discontinuous due to the presence of (one or more) excluded sub-bands (e.g., as Figure 6As shown, a certain RBG indicated in the virtual BWP can be split into two discontinuous parts within the active BWP (i.e., separated by the excluded subbands). In the case where FDRA type 1 with frequency interleaving or frequency hopping is performed to schedule DL or UL transmissions, a specific RB bundle or frequency hopping can be split into two discontinuous parts within the active BWP (i.e., separated by the excluded subbands). Similarly, in the case where FDRA type (based on interlaced scanning) 2 is performed to schedule UL transmissions, a set of RBs associated with a certain interlaced scanning index can be split into two discontinuous parts within the active BWP (i.e., separated by the excluded subbands).

[0077] When the frequency domain resources in the virtual BWP have been mapped to the frequency domain resources of the active BWP, the UE 110 can receive DL transmissions or send UL transmissions on the mapped frequency domain resources in the active BWP ( Figure 8 not shown in the figure). It should be understood that if the FDRA information schedules DL transmissions, the DL transmissions can be received in the same time slot or a subsequent time slot as the FDRA information. The UE 110 will first map the virtual BWP resources indicated by the FDRA information to the active BWP resources, and then decode the active BWP resources for DL transmissions. If the FDRA information schedules UL transmissions, the UE 110 can send UL transmissions in the same time slot or a subsequent time slot as the FDRA information.

[0078] As discussed above, since the FDRA type can be performed based on the virtual BWP, the process 200 can support traditional FDRA types in the SBFD mode. The virtual BWP can include consecutive / coherent (virtual) frequency domain resource indices and be defined in the same way as the active BWP, and the traditional FDRA type can be performed based on the virtual BWP. Considering that the size of the virtual BWP is smaller than the corresponding active BWP, the DCI payload size can be reduced. The gNB can reuse the existing signaling to notify the UE of the FDRA information associated with the virtual BWP without causing additional signaling overhead. Since the UE and the gNB know the subbands of the SBFD mode, the UE and the gNBs can map the FDRA in the virtual BWP to the active BWP for further physical layer processing.

[0079] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 300 can be implemented to include or form at least a part of a terminal device such as the UE 110 described above to perform operations related to the UE 110. Since the operations related to the UE 110 have been discussed in detail Figures 1 - 8 above, the blocks of the apparatus 300 will be described in a simple manner here, and the details can be referred to the above description.

[0080] Refer toFigure 9 , the apparatus 300 may include: a first component 310 for receiving FDRA information from a network device (e.g., Figure 1 the gNB 120 shown). The FDRA information may be received as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission, respectively, and it may indicate frequency domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part. The apparatus 300 may further include: a second component 320 for mapping the indicated frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the UE 110.

[0081] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 300 may optionally include: a third component 330 for determining the virtual bandwidth part from the active bandwidth part. The third component 330 may include: a first sub-component 332 for excluding frequency domain resources belonging to one or more excluded sub-bands from the active bandwidth part, and a second sub-component 334 for coherently renumbering the remaining frequency domain resources within the virtual bandwidth part.

[0082] In an example embodiment, the virtual bandwidth part and the active bandwidth part may share a common reference point in the frequency domain, such as point A.

[0083] In an example embodiment, the FDRA information may include: a first bitmap indicating frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part, and the first bitmap has a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth part.

[0084] In an example embodiment, the FDRA information may include: a first resource indicator value indicating frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part, and the first resource indicator value is encoded in a first bit string, which has a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth part.

[0085] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 300 may optionally include: a fourth component 340 for receiving from the network device information indicating one or more excluded sub-bands of the UE 110.

[0086] In an example embodiment, if the active bandwidth part is an uplink bandwidth part, one or more excluded sub-bands may include: frequency domain resources for downlink transmission. If the active bandwidth part is a downlink bandwidth part, one or more excluded sub-bands may include: frequency domain resources for uplink transmission.

[0087] In an example embodiment, one or more excluded sub-bands may further include one or more guard bands.

[0088] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 300 may optionally include a fifth component 350 configured to determine whether the received frequency-domain resource allocation information indicates frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part or frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part. If a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission scheduled by a downlink allocation or an uplink grant including the frequency-domain resource allocation information is performed during sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) operation of the network device, the fifth component 350 may determine that the received frequency-domain resource allocation information indicates frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part. If a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission scheduled by a downlink allocation or an uplink grant including the frequency-domain resource allocation information is performed during a non-SBFD period, the fifth component 350 may determine that the received frequency-domain resource allocation information indicates frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part.

[0089] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus 400 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 may be implemented to include or form at least a part of a network device such as the gNB 120 described above to perform operations related to the gNB 120. Since the operations related to the gNB 120 have been discussed in detail Figures 1 - 8 the blocks of the apparatus 400 will be described in a simple manner here, and the details may be referred to the above description.

[0090] Reference Figure 10 , the apparatus 400 may include a first component 410, a second component 420, and a third component 430. The first component 410 is configured to allocate frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission. The second component 42 is configured to map the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission. The third component 43 is configured to send, as part of a downlink allocation or an uplink grant respectively for scheduling a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to the terminal device.

[0091] In an example embodiment, in a case where a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission is performed during a sub-band full-duplex period, frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part may be allocated to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission.

[0092] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 400 may optionally include a fourth component 440 for determining a virtual bandwidth portion from an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for a terminal device. The fourth component 440 may include a first sub-component 442 for excluding frequency-domain resources belonging to one or more excluded sub-bands from the active bandwidth portion, and a second sub-component 444 for coherently renumbering the remaining frequency-domain resources within the virtual bandwidth portion.

[0093] In an example embodiment, the virtual bandwidth portion and the active bandwidth portion may share a common reference point in the frequency domain, such as point A.

[0094] In an example embodiment, the frequency-domain resource allocation information may include a first bitmap indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first bitmap may have a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating the frequency-domain resources in the active bandwidth portion.

[0095] In an example embodiment, the frequency-domain resource allocation information may include a first resource indicator value indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first resource indicator value may be encoded in a first bit string having a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating the frequency-domain resources in the active bandwidth portion.

[0096] In an example embodiment, the apparatus 400 may further include a fifth component 450 for sending information indicating one or more excluded sub-bands for the terminal device to the terminal device, such as by sending DL sub-band and UL sub-band information from which the excluded sub-bands can be implicitly derived; or by explicitly sending the excluded sub-band information for the corresponding communication direction.

[0097] In an example embodiment, if the active bandwidth portion is an uplink bandwidth portion, one or more excluded sub-bands may include frequency-domain resources for downlink transmission. If the active bandwidth portion is a downlink bandwidth portion, one or more excluded sub-bands may include frequency-domain resources for uplink transmission.

[0098] In an example embodiment, one or more excluded sub-bands may further include one or more guard bands.

[0099] Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram of a device in a communication system 500 that may be used to implement an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 11 shown, the communication system 500 may include a terminal device 510 and a network device 520. The terminal device 510 may be implemented as Figure 1 shown UE 110, and the network device 520 may be implemented as Figure 1 shown base station (e.g., gNB) 120.

[0100] Reference Figure 11 ,The terminal device 510 may include one or more processors 511, one or more memories 512, and one or more transceivers 513 interconnected by one or more buses 514. The one or more buses 514 may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, copper cables, optical fibers, or other electrical / optical communication devices, etc. Each of the one or more transceivers 513 may include a receiver and a transmitter connected to one or more antennas 516. The terminal device 510 may communicate wirelessly with the network device 520 via the one or more antennas 516. The one or more memories 512 may include computer program code or instructions 515. The one or more memories 512 and the computer program code or instructions 515 may be configured to cause the terminal device 510 to perform the processes and steps related to the UE 110, as described above, when executed by the one or more processors 511.

[0101] The network device 520 may include one or more processors 521, one or more memories 522, one or more transceivers 523, and one or more network interfaces 527 interconnected by one or more buses 524. The one or more buses 524 may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, copper cables, optical fibers, or other electrical / optical communication devices, etc. Each of the one or more transceivers 523 may include a receiver and a transmitter connected to one or more antennas 526. The network device 520 may operate as a base station for the terminal device 510 and communicate wirelessly with the terminal device 510 via the one or more antennas 526. The one or more network interfaces 527 may provide a wired or wireless communication link through which the network device 520 may communicate with other network devices, entities, or functions. The one or more memories 522 may include computer program code or instructions 525. The one or more memories 522 and the computer program code or instructions 525 may be configured to cause the network device 520 to perform the processes and steps related to the base station 120, as described above, when executed by the one or more processors 521.

[0102] One or more of the above-mentioned processors 511, 521 may be of any suitable type adapted to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general-purpose processors, dedicated processors, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more processors in a processor-based multi-core processor architecture, and dedicated processors such as those developed based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). One or more processors 511, 521 may be configured to control other elements of the terminal / network device and cooperate with them to implement the above processes.

[0103] One or more memories 512, 522 may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, random access memory (RAM) or cache. Non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, etc. In addition, one or more memories 512, 522 may include, but are not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or components, or any combination of the above.

[0104] The network device 520 may be implemented as a single network node or split and distributed over two or more network nodes using different functional splitting architectures and different interfaces, such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), and a remote radio head (RRH).

[0105] It should be understood that the blocks in the drawings may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In some example embodiments, one or more blocks may be implemented using software and / or firmware, such as machine-executable instructions stored in a storage medium. In addition to or instead of machine-executable instructions, some or all of the blocks in the drawings may be implemented at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. For example, but not limited to, illustrative types of hardware logic components that may be used include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc.

[0106] Some example embodiments also provide computer program code or instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, can cause a device or apparatus to perform the above-described processes. The computer program code or instructions for performing the processes of the example embodiments can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The computer program code or instructions can be provided to one or more processors or controllers of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code or instructions, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram to be implemented. The program code or instructions can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, executed as a stand-alone software package, partially on the computer and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0107] Some example embodiments also provide a computer program product or computer-readable medium having computer program code or instructions stored therein. The computer-readable medium can be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium will include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0108] Furthermore, although the operations are described in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that the operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all of the illustrated operations be performed to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although the above discussion includes several specific implementation details, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular example embodiments. Certain features described in the context of separate example embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single example embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single example embodiment may also be implemented separately or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple example embodiments.

[0109] As used herein, "at least one of the following: <list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of <list of two or more elements>" and similar phrases (where the list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or") mean at least any one of these elements, or at least any two or more of these elements, or at least all of these elements.

[0110] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described above. On the contrary, the above specific features and acts are disclosed as examples for implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: receive, as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission, frequency domain resource allocation information indicating frequency domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part from a network device; and map the indicated frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the terminal device.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the virtual bandwidth part is obtained by: excluding frequency domain resources belonging to one or more excluded subbands from the active bandwidth part, and consecutively renumbering the remaining frequency domain resources within the virtual bandwidth part.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the virtual bandwidth part and the active bandwidth part share a common reference point in the frequency domain.

4. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information comprises: a first bitmap indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part, and the first bitmap has a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth part.

5. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information comprises: a first resource indicator value indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part, and the first resource indicator value is encoded in a first bit string which has a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth part.

6. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: receive information indicating the one or more excluded subbands for the terminal device from the network device.

7. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein if the active bandwidth part is an uplink bandwidth part, the one or more excluded subbands comprise: frequency domain resources for downlink transmission, or if the active bandwidth part is a downlink bandwidth part, the one or more excluded subbands comprise: frequency domain resources for uplink transmission.

8. The terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the one or more excluded subbands further comprise one or more guard bands.

9. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein if the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission scheduled by the downlink allocation or the uplink grant containing the frequency domain resource allocation information is performed during subband full-duplex operation of the network device, the terminal device determines that the received frequency domain resource allocation information indicates the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part.

10. A network device, comprising: at least one processor; and At least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: Allocate frequency domain resources in a virtual bandwidth portion for downlink transmission or uplink transmission to a terminal device; Map the allocated frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to frequency domain resources in an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission; And As part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission, send frequency domain resource allocation information indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to the terminal device.

11. The network device according to claim 10, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion is obtained by: excluding frequency domain resources belonging to one or more excluded subbands from an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device, and consecutively renumbering the remaining frequency domain resources within the virtual bandwidth portion.

12. The network device according to claim 10, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion shares a common reference point in the frequency domain with an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

13. The network device according to claim 10, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information Comprises: A first bitmap indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first bitmap has a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating the frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

14. The network device according to claim 10, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information Comprises: A first resource indicator value indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first resource indicator value is encoded in a first bit string, and the first bit string has a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating the frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

15. The network device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: Send information indicating the one or more excluded subbands for the terminal device to the terminal device.

16. The network device according to claim 11, wherein if the active bandwidth portion is an uplink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded subbands Comprise: Frequency domain resources for downlink transmission, or If the active bandwidth portion is a downlink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded subbands comprise: frequency domain resources for uplink transmission.

17. The network device according to claim 16, wherein the one or more excluded subbands further comprise one or more guard bands.

18. The network device according to claim 10, wherein, when the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission is performed during the sub-band full-duplex operation of the network device, the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion are allocated to the terminal device for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission.

19. A method, comprising: receiving, as part of a downlink allocation or an uplink grant respectively for scheduling a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth portion from a network device; and mapping the indicated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for a terminal device.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion is obtained by: excluding frequency-domain resources belonging to one or more excluded sub-bands from the active bandwidth portion, and consecutively renumbering the remaining frequency-domain resources within the virtual bandwidth portion.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion and the active bandwidth portion share a common reference point in the frequency domain.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the frequency-domain resource allocation information comprises: a first bitmap indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first bitmap has a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating the frequency-domain resources in the active bandwidth portion.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the frequency-domain resource allocation information comprises: a first resource indicator value indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first resource indicator value is encoded in a first bit string, and the first bit string has a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating the frequency-domain resources in the active bandwidth portion.

24. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: receiving information indicating the one or more excluded sub-bands for the terminal device from the network device.

25. The method according to claim 20, wherein if the active bandwidth portion is an uplink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded sub-bands comprise: frequency-domain resources for downlink transmission, or if the active bandwidth portion is a downlink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded sub-bands comprise: frequency-domain resources for uplink transmission.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the one or more excluded sub-bands further comprise one or more guard bands.

27. The method according to claim 19, wherein if the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission scheduled by the downlink allocation or the uplink grant containing the frequency-domain resource allocation information is performed during the sub-band full-duplex operation of the network device, the terminal device determines that the received frequency-domain resource allocation information indicates the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion.

28. A method, comprising: Allocate the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission; Map the allocated frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to the frequency domain resources in an active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission; And As part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant for scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission respectively, send frequency domain resource allocation information indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion to the terminal device.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion is obtained by: excluding the frequency domain resources belonging to one or more excluded subbands from the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device, and consecutively renumbering the remaining frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the virtual bandwidth portion shares a common reference point in the frequency domain with the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

31. The method according to claim 28, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information Comprises: A first bitmap indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first bitmap has a smaller size compared to a second bitmap indicating the frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

32. The method according to claim 28, wherein the frequency domain resource allocation information Comprises: A first resource indicator value indicating the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion, and the first resource indicator value is encoded in a first bit string, and the first bit string has a smaller size compared to a second bit string encoding a second resource indicator value indicating the frequency domain resources in the active bandwidth portion configured and activated for the terminal device.

33. The method according to claim 29, further Comprises: Send information indicating the one or more excluded subbands for the terminal device to the terminal device.

34. The method according to claim 29, wherein if the active bandwidth portion is an uplink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded subbands Comprise: Frequency domain resources for downlink transmission, or If the active bandwidth portion is a downlink bandwidth portion, the one or more excluded subbands comprise: frequency domain resources for uplink transmission.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the one or more excluded subbands further comprise one or more guard bands.

36. The method according to claim 28, wherein in the case where the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission is performed during a subband full-duplex period, the frequency domain resources in the virtual bandwidth portion are allocated to the terminal device for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission.

37. An apparatus, Comprises: A component for receiving, as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part from a network device; and A component for mapping the indicated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for a terminal device.

38. An apparatus, comprising: A component for allocating frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission; A component for mapping the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission for the terminal device; and A component for sending, as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to the terminal device.

39. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least: Receive, as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling downlink transmission or uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part from a network device; and Map the indicated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for a terminal device.

40. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least: Allocate frequency-domain resources in a virtual bandwidth part to a terminal device for downlink transmission or uplink transmission; Map the allocated frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to frequency-domain resources in an active bandwidth part configured and activated for the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission for the terminal device; and Send, as part of a downlink allocation or uplink grant respectively for scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission, frequency-domain resource allocation information indicating the frequency-domain resources in the virtual bandwidth part to the terminal device.

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