Signaling for dynamic waveform switching

Abstract

Wireless communication systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving, from a network element, an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switching between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and monitoring downlink control information (DCI) from the network element based on the indicator, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 382,339, filed on November 4, 2022, and the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 472,780, filed on September 22, 2023. The entire contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to signaling for dynamic waveform switching in wireless communication systems. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wireless multi - access communication system may include multiple base stations (BSs), each of which simultaneously supports communication of multiple communication devices, which may also be referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0005] To meet the growing demand for extended mobile broadband connectivity, wireless communication technologies are evolving from LTE technology to the next - generation New Radio (NR) technology. For example, compared to LTE, NR is designed to provide lower latency, higher bandwidth or throughput, and higher reliability. NR is designed to operate over a wide array of frequency bands, e.g., from low - frequency bands below about 1 gigahertz (GHz) and mid - frequency bands from about 1 GHz to about 6 GHz to high - frequency bands such as millimeter - wave (mmWave) bands. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrum types, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed spectrum and shared spectrum. Spectrum sharing enables operators to have the opportunity to aggregate spectrum to dynamically support high - bandwidth services. Spectrum sharing can extend the benefits of NR technology to operating entities that may not have access to licensed spectrum.

[0006] NR can support various deployment scenarios to benefit from various spectrums, licensed and / or unlicensed, within different frequency ranges and / or the co - existence of LTE and NR technologies. For example, NR can be deployed in stand - alone NR mode on licensed and / or unlicensed frequency bands, or in dual - connectivity mode with various combinations of NR and LTE on licensed and / or unlicensed frequency bands.

[0007] In a wireless communication network, a BS can communicate with a UE in both the uplink direction and the downlink direction. A sidelink was introduced in LTE to allow a UE to transfer data to another UE (e.g., from one vehicle to another vehicle) without tunneling through the BS and / or the associated core network. LTE sidelink technology has been extended to provide device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, and / or cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication. Similarly, NR can be extended to support sidelink communication, D2D communication, V2X communication, and / or C-V2X on licensed bands and / or unlicensed bands (e.g., shared bands). SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0008] Some aspects of the present disclosure are summarized below to provide a basic understanding of the technologies discussed. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all the expected features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects of the present disclosure, nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. The sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a generalized form as a prelude to the more detailed embodiments that are given later.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) may include: receiving, from a network unit, an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and monitoring, based on the indicator, downlink control information (DCI) from the network unit, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0010] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) may include: receiving, from a network unit, a first indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and receiving, based on the first indicator, from the network unit, a second indicator indicating a switch to be made between the first waveform type and the second waveform type.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a network unit may include: sending, to a user equipment (UE), an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and sending, based on the indicator, downlink control information (DCI) to the UE, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0012] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a network element may include: sending a first indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to a user equipment (UE); and sending a second indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type to the UE based on the first indicator.

[0013] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) may include: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to: receive an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type from a network element; and monitor downlink control information (DCI) from the network element based on the indicator, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0014] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) may include: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to: receive a first indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type from a network element; and receive a second indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type from the network element based on the first indicator.

[0015] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a network element may include: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the network element is configured to: send an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to a user equipment (UE); and send downlink control information (DCI) to the UE based on the indicator, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0016] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a network element may include: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the network element is configured to: send a first indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to a user equipment (UE); and send a second indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type to the UE based on the first indicator.

[0017] After reading the following description of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although the features of the present invention may be discussed below with respect to certain aspects and the drawings, all embodiments of the present invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the exemplary aspects may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. Description of the Drawings

[0018] Figure 1 Illustrates a wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2 Illustrates an example split base station architecture in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3 Illustrates a waveform switching timeline in a wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 4 Illustrates a waveform switching timeline in a wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 5 Is a signal flow diagram of a communication method in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 6 Is a signal flow diagram of a communication method in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 7 Is a block diagram of an exemplary user equipment (UE) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 8 Is a block diagram of an exemplary network element in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 9 Is a flowchart of a communication method in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 10 Is a flowchart of a communication method in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 11 Is a flowchart of a communication method in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 12It is a flowchart of a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0030] The detailed implementation manners described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various configurations and are not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. To provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts, the detailed implementation manners include specific details. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0031] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication systems, which are also referred to as wireless communication networks. In various instances, technologies and devices can be used in wireless communication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, fifth-generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, and other communication networks. As used herein, the terms "network" and "system" can be used interchangeably.

[0032] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "Third Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "Third Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a cooperation between telecommunications association groups aimed at defining globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP plan aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP can define the specifications for next-generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to the evolution from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and more advanced wireless technologies, where a series of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces are used to share access to the wireless spectrum among networks.

[0033] Specifically, the 5G network contemplates various deployments, various spectrums, and various services and devices that can be implemented using an OFDM-based unified air interface. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also contemplated. 5G NR will be able to scale to (1) provide coverage for massive Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-high density (e.g., approximately 1M nodes / km2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., approximately 10s bits / second), and ultra-low power consumption (e.g., approximately 10+ year battery life), and provide deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) provide coverage including critical mission control with strong security to protect sensitive personal, financial, or classified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., approximately 99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., approximately 1 millisecond), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) have enhanced mobile broadband, including extremely high capacity (e.g., approximately 10 Tbps / km2), extremely high data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+ Mbps user experience rate), and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimization capabilities.

[0034] 5G NR can be implemented to use an optimized OFDM-based waveform with scalable parameter sets and transmission time intervals (TTIs); have a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features using dynamic low-latency time-division duplex (TDD) / frequency-division duplex (FDD) designs; and have advanced radio technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel decoding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of parameter sets and the scaling of subcarrier spacing in 5G NR can efficiently address the operation of various services across different spectrums and different deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro-coverage deployments implemented with less than 3 GHz FDD / TDD, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 15 kHz for bandwidths (BW) such as 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments with TDD greater than 3 GHz, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 30 kHz for 80 MHz / 100 MHz BW. For other various indoor broadband implementations using TDD in the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 60 kHz for 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments using mmWave components at 28 GHz with TDD, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 120 kHz for 500 MHz BW.

[0035] The scalable parameter sets of 5G NR facilitate scalable TTIs for different latency and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmissions to start at symbol boundaries. 5G NR also envisions a self - contained integrated sub - frame design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments in the same sub - frame. The self - contained integrated sub - frame supports communication in unlicensed spectrum or contention - based shared spectrum, and in an adaptive uplink / downlink that can be flexibly configured on a per - cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current traffic demands.

[0036] The following further describes various other aspects and features of the present disclosure. It should be apparent that the teachings herein can be embodied in various forms, and any particular structure, function, or both disclosed herein are merely representative and not restrictive. Based on the teachings herein, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of the aspects set forth herein can be used to implement an apparatus or practice a method. In addition, such an apparatus or method can be implemented using other structures, functionality, or a combination of structures and functionality in addition to or different from one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, a method can be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus, and / or as instructions stored on a computer - readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Moreover, one aspect can include at least one element of a claim.

[0037] Deploying NR on unlicensed spectrum is referred to as NR-U. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) are working on regulating 6 GHz as a new unlicensed band for wireless communication. Adding the 6 GHz band allows hundreds of megahertz (MHz) of bandwidth (BW) to be available for unlicensed band communication. Additionally, NR-U can also be deployed on the 2.4 GHz unlicensed band, which is currently shared by various radio access technologies (RATs) such as IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) or WiFi and / or licensed-assisted access (LAA). Sidelink communication can benefit from utilizing the additional bandwidth available in the unlicensed spectrum. However, channel access in a particular unlicensed spectrum can be managed by an official agency. For example, some unlicensed bands may impose restrictions on the power spectral density (PSD) of transmissions and / or the minimum occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) in the unlicensed band. For example, the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII) radio bands have a minimum OCB requirement of approximately at least 70%.

[0038] Some sidelink systems can operate on a 20 MHz bandwidth in the unlicensed band, for example, for listen-before-talk (LBT)-based channel access. The BS can configure a sidelink resource pool for sidelink communication on one or more 20 MHz LBT sub-bands. The sidelink resource pool is typically allocated multiple frequency sub-channels within a sidelink bandwidth part (SL-BWP), and the sidelink UE can select sidelink resources (e.g., one or more sub-channels in frequency and one or more time slots in time) from the sidelink resource pool for sidelink communication.

[0039] The deployment of a communication system such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system can be arranged with various components or constituent parts in multiple ways. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, radio access network (RAN) nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network equipment such as a base station (BS) or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functions can be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a BS such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit-receive point (TRP), or cell, etc., can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as a stand-alone BS or monolithic BS) or a disaggregated base station.

[0040] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A split base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed within one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0041] Base station type operations or network designs may consider the converged characteristics of base station functionality. For example, split base stations may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as a network configuration advocated by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Splitting may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. The various units of a split base station or a split RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0042] Aspects generally relate to wireless communication and, more particularly, to signaling for dynamic waveform switching. Some aspects more particularly relate to a network element that signals a user equipment (UE) to switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type for uplink communication. In some examples, the network element may send an indicator to the UE to enable switching between waveform types. When waveform switching is enabled, the network element may send downlink control information (DCI) indicating which waveform type is to be used for uplink communication. In some examples, the size of the DCI may be the same size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type. Accordingly, the UE may perform blind decoding of the DCI using a common DCI size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type. The DCI may also include scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE. The UE may send PUSCH communication to the network element via the scheduled resources using the indicated waveform type.

[0043] Additionally or alternatively, the UE may switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type on a semi-static basis. In some examples, a network element may send an indicator to the UE to enable switching between waveform types. When waveform switching is enabled, the network element may send non-uplink scheduling DCI and / or MAC-CE communication indicating which waveform type is used for uplink communication to the UE. The network element may then use the DCI size associated with the previously indicated waveform type to send uplink scheduling DCI to the UE. The DCI size associated with the first waveform type may be different from the DCI associated with the second waveform type. Accordingly, the UE may perform blind decoding of the DCI based on the DCI size associated with the indicated waveform type. The UE may send PUSCH communication to the network element via the scheduled resources using the indicated waveform type.

[0044] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by implementing dynamic waveform switching in accordance with embodiments of this disclosure, compared to blindly decoding a first DCI associated with a first waveform type and a second DCI of a different size associated with a second waveform type, the techniques described may be used to reduce computational resources, memory requirements, latency, and / or power consumption in the UE by blindly decoding a DCI having a common size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type. Dynamic waveform switching in accordance with embodiments of this disclosure may increase network coverage and / or network capacity. For example, the UE may switch to using a DFT-s-OFDM waveform to send uplink communication to increase range and coverage. In some examples, the UE may switch to using a CP-OFDM waveform to send uplink communication to increase throughput and / or data rate.

[0045] Figure 1 A wireless communication network 100 is illustrated in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. Network 100 includes a plurality of base stations (BSs) 105 and other network entities. A BS 105 may be a station that communicates with a UE 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” may refer to this particular geographic coverage area of the BS 105 and / or the BS subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0046] BS105 can provide communication coverage for macro cells or small cells (such as picocells or femtocells) and / or other types of cells. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographical area (e.g., with a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access by UEs having a service subscription with the network provider. A small cell (such as a picocell) generally covers a relatively small geographical area and can allow unrestricted access by UEs having a service subscription with the network provider. A small cell (such as a femtocell) generally also covers a relatively small geographical area (e.g., a home), and in addition to unrestricted access, can provide restricted access by UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs of users in a home, etc.). The BS for a macro cell can be referred to as a macro BS. The BS for a small cell can be referred to as a small cell BS, picocell BS, femtocell BS, or home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown, BS105d and 105e can be conventional macro BSs, while BS105a to 105c can be macro BSs with the ability of one of three-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. BS105a to 105c can utilize their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to employ 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. BS105f can be a small cell BS, which can be a home node or a portable access point. BS105 can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0047] Network 100 can support synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs can have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs can be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs can have different frame timings, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

[0048] UE 115 is dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile. UE 115 can also be referred to as a terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. UE 115 can be a cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, wireless communication device, handheld device, tablet computer, laptop computer, cordless phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, etc. In one aspect, UE 115 can be a device including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE can be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, UE 115 that does not include a UICC can also be referred to as an IoT device or an Internet of Everything (IoE) device. UE 115a - 115d are examples of mobile smart phone type devices accessing the network 100. UE 115 can also be a machine specifically configured for connected communications, including machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. UE 115e - 115h are examples of various machines configured for communication accessing the network 100. UE 115i - 115k are examples of vehicles equipped with wireless communication devices configured for communication accessing the network 100. UE 115 can be capable of communicating with any type of BS, whether it is a macro BS, small cell, etc. In Figure 1 it, lightning symbols (e.g., communication links) indicate wireless transmissions between UE 115 and the serving BS 105 (which is the BS designated to serve UE 115 on the downlink (DL) and / or uplink (UL)), desired transmissions between BS 105s, backhaul transmissions between BSs, or sidelink transmissions between UE 115s.

[0049] In operation, BSs 105a - 105c use 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial techniques, such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity, to serve UE 115a and 115b. The macro BS 105d can perform backhaul communications with BSs 105a to 105c and the small cell BS 105f. The macro BS 105d can also send multicast services subscribed to and received by UE 115c and 115d. Such multicast services can include mobile TV or streaming video, or can include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alerts or Gray alerts.

[0050] BS105 can also communicate with the core network. The core network can provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. At least some of the BS105 (e.g., the BS can be an example of an evolved Node B (eNB) or an access node controller (ANC)) can interface with the core network 130 via a backhaul link (e.g., S1, S2, etc.) and can perform radio configuration and scheduling to communicate with the UE 115. In various examples, the BS 105 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via the core network) via a backhaul link (e.g., X1, X2, etc.), which can be a wired communication link or a wireless communication link.

[0051] Network 100 can also support mission-critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices such as UE 115e, which can be a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, an autonomous vehicle, an airplane, a ship, etc.). The redundant communication links with UE 115e can include links from macro BS105d and 105e, and links from small cell BS105f. Other machine type devices (such as UE 115f (e.g., a thermometer), UE 115g (e.g., a smart meter), and UE 115h (e.g., a wearable device)) can communicate directly with a BS (such as small cell BS105f and macro BS105e) via network 100, or be in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user equipment that relays its information to the network (such as UE 115f communicating temperature measurement information to smart meter UE 115g, which is then reported to the network via small cell BS105f). In some aspects, UE 115h can harvest energy from the surrounding environment associated with UE 115h. Network 100 can also provide additional network efficiency via dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communications such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications between UE 115i, 115j, or 115k and other UEs 115, and / or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications between UE 115i, 115j, or 115k and BS105.

[0052] In some specific implementations, network 100 utilizes an OFDM-based waveform for communication. An OFDM-based system can divide the system BW into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are typically also referred to as subcarriers, tones, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system BW. The system BW can also be divided into subbands. In other instances, the subcarrier spacing and / or the duration of the TTI can be scalable.

[0053] In some instances, BS105 can assign or schedule transmission resources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RBs)) for downlink (DL) transmissions and uplink (UL) transmissions in network 100. DL refers to the transmission direction from BS105 to UE 115, and UL refers to the transmission direction from UE 115 to BS105. This communication can have the form of a radio frame. The radio frame can be divided into multiple subframes, e.g., about 10. Each subframe can be divided into time slots, e.g., about 2. Each time slot can also be divided into mini-slots. In the FDD mode, simultaneous UL transmissions and DL transmissions can occur in different frequency bands. For example, each subframe includes a UL subframe in the UL frequency band and a DL subframe in the DL frequency band. In the TDD mode, UL transmissions and DL transmissions occur in different time periods using the same frequency band. For example, a subset of subframes in the radio frame (e.g., DL subframes) can be used for DL transmissions, and another subset of subframes in the radio frame (e.g., UL subframes) can be used for UL transmissions.

[0054] The DL subframe and the UL subframe may also be divided into several regions. For example, each DL subframe or UL subframe may have predefined regions for the transmission of reference signals, control information, and data. The reference signal is a predetermined signal that facilitates communication between BS105 and UE 115. For example, the reference signal may have a specific pilot pattern or structure, where the pilot tones may span the operable BW or frequency band, and each pilot tone is located at a predefined time and a predefined frequency. For example, BS105 may transmit a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) and / or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) so that UE 115 can estimate the DL channel. Similarly, UE 115 may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) so that BS105 can estimate the UL channel. The control information may include resource assignment and protocol control. The data may include protocol data and / or operable data. In some instances, BS105 and UE 115 may communicate using self-contained subframes. The self-contained subframe may include a portion for DL communication and a portion for UL communication. The self-contained subframe may be DL-centric or UL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a DL communication duration that is longer than the UL communication duration. A UL-centric subframe may include a UL communication duration that is longer than the UL communication duration.

[0055] In some instances, network 100 may be an NR network deployed on licensed spectrum. BS 105 may send synchronization signals (e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS)) in network 100 to facilitate synchronization. BS105 may broadcast system information associated with network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB), a remaining minimum system information (RMSI), and other system information (OSI)) to facilitate initial network access. In some instances, BS105 may broadcast the PSS, SSS, and / or MIB in the form of a synchronization signal block (SSB) on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and may broadcast the RMSI and / or OSI on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0056] In some instances, UE 115 attempting to access network 100 may perform an initial cell search by detecting the PSS from BS105. The PSS may achieve synchronization of the time slot timing and may indicate a physical layer identity value. Then, UE 115 may receive the SSS. The SSS may achieve radio frame synchronization and may provide a cell identity value, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value to identify the cell. The SSS may also achieve detection of the duplex mode and the cyclic prefix length. The PSS and the SSS may be located in the central part of the carrier or at any suitable frequency within the carrier.

[0057] After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive the MIB. The MIB may include system information for initial network access and scheduling information for the RMSI and / or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 may receive the RMSI and / or OSI. The RMSI and / or OSI may include radio resource control (RRC) information related to the random access channel (RACH) procedure, paging, control resource sets (CORESETs) for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, SRS, and cell barring.

[0058] After obtaining the MIB, RMSI, and / or OSI, the UE 115 may perform a random access procedure to establish a connection with the BS 105. For the random access procedure, the UE 115 may send a random access preamble, and the BS 105 may respond with a random access response. Upon receiving the random access response, the UE 115 may send a connection request to the BS 105 and the BS 105 may respond with a connection response (e.g., a contention resolution message).

[0059] After establishing the connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105 may enter a normal operation phase in which operable data may be exchanged. For example, the BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL communication and / or DL communication. The BS 105 may send a UL scheduling grant and / or a DL scheduling grant to the UE 115 via the PDCCH. The BS 105 may send a DL communication signal to the UE 115 via the PDSCH according to the DL scheduling grant. The UE 115 may send a UL communication signal to the BS 105 via the PUSCH and / or the PUCCH according to the UL scheduling grant.

[0060] The network 100 may be designed to enable a wide range of usage scenarios. While in some examples the network 100 may utilize a monolithic base station, there are a variety of other architectures that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the BS 105 may be separated into a remote radio head (RRH) and a baseband unit (BBU). The BBU may be centralized into a BBU pool and connected to the RRH via a low-latency and high-bandwidth transmission link (such as an optical transmission link). The BBU pool may be a cloud-based resource. In some aspects, the baseband processing is performed on virtualized servers running in a data center rather than being co-located with the BS 105. In another example, the base station functionality may be split between a remote unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). The RU typically performs low physical layer functions, while the DU performs higher layer functions, which may include higher physical layer functions. The CU performs higher RAN functions such as radio resource control (RRC).

[0061] For simplicity of discussion, this disclosure refers to the methods of this disclosure being performed by a base station or more generally by a network entity, while the functionality may be performed by various architectures other than a monolithic base station. In addition to decomposed base stations, aspects of this disclosure may also be performed by a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, etc.

[0062] In some aspects, UE 115 may receive an indicator from BS105 indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. UE 115 may monitor downlink control information (DCI) from a network element based on the indicator, where at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0063] In some aspects, UE 115 may receive a first indicator from BS105 indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. UE 115 may receive a second indicator from BS105 indicating a switch to be made between the first waveform type and the second waveform type based on the first indicator.

[0064] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an exemplary decomposed base station 200 architecture is shown. The decomposed base station 200 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 210, which may communicate directly with the core network 220 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 220 through one or more decomposed base station units (such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 225 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 215 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 205, or both). The CU 210 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 230 via corresponding midhaul links (such as an F1 interface). The DU 230 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 240 via corresponding fronthaul links. The RU 240 may communicate with a corresponding UE 115 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some specific implementations, the UE 115 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 240.

[0065] Each of the units (i.e., CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and the near RT RIC 225, non-RT RIC 215, and SMO framework 205) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces that are configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of these units or the associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface that is configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) that is configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium, or both.

[0066] In some aspects, the CU 210 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may utilize an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 210. The CU 210 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the CU 210 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. As needed, the CU 210 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 230 for network control and signaling.

[0067] The DU 230 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 240. In some aspects, the DU 230 may host one or more of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation, etc.) at least partially according to a functional split (such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, the DU 230 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 230 or with control functions hosted by the CU 210.

[0068] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 240. In some deployments, the RUs 240 controlled by the DU 230 may correspond to logical nodes that host RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.) or both at least partially based on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RUs 240 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 115. In some embodiments, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of the control plane and user plane communication with the RUs 240 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 230. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 230 and the CU 210 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0069] The SMO framework 205 can be configured to support the RAN deployment and orchestration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 205 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, and these dedicated physical resources can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 205 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 290) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include the CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and the near RT RIC 225. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 205 can communicate with the hardware aspect of the 4G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 211) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 205 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 240 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 205 can also include a non-RT RIC 215 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 205.

[0070] The non-RT RIC 215 can be configured to include a logical function that can enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflow including model training and update, or policy-based guidance for applications / features in the near RT RIC 225. The non-RT RIC 215 can be coupled to or communicate with the near RT RIC 225 (such as via the A1 interface). The near RT RIC 225 can be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through an interface (such as via the E2 interface) via data collection and actions, and this interface connects one or more CUs 210, one or more DUs 230, or both, and the O-eNB to the near RT RIC 225.

[0071] In some specific implementations, to generate the AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 225, the non-RT RIC 215 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 225 and can be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 205 or the non-RT RIC 215. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 215 or the near-RT RIC 225 may be configured to tune the RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 215 may monitor the long-term trends and patterns of the performance and employ an AI / ML model to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 205 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0072] In some aspects, the UE 115 may receive an indicator from the RU 240 indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. The UE 115 may monitor downlink control information (DCI) from the RU 240 based on the indicator, where at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0073] In some aspects, the UE 115 may receive a first indicator from the RU 240 indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. The UE 115 may receive a second indicator from the RU 240 indicating a switch to be made between the first waveform type and the second waveform type based on the first indicator.

[0074] Figure 3 Illustrated is a waveform switch timeline 300 in a wireless communication network (e.g., network 100 and / or network 200) according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 3 it, the horizontal axis may represent time in some arbitrary units. In some aspects, a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) may receive a dynamic waveform switch indicator 310 from a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the UE may receive the dynamic waveform switch indicator 310 via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) messages, medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communications, or other suitable communications. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the enabling of the dynamic waveform switch.

[0075] In some aspects, the first waveform type may include a Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform types. The second waveform type may include a Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform types. Dynamic waveform switching may enable the UE to maximize network coverage and / or network capacity. For example, the UE may switch to using the DFT-s-OFDM waveform to transmit uplink communications to increase range and coverage. In some aspects, the UE may switch to using the CP-OFDM waveform to transmit uplink communications to increase throughput and / or data rate.

[0076] In some aspects, the UE may monitor uplink-scheduled downlink control information (DCI) 312 from a network element. The UE may monitor DCI 312 based on a dynamic waveform switch indicator 310. In some aspects, the size of DCI 312, the size of the bit field of DCI 312, or the position of the bit field of DCI 312 may be interpreted based on the indicator. DCI 312a and 312c may be associated with the first waveform type. DCI 312b may be associated with the second waveform type. In some aspects, when DCI 312a and 312c are associated with the first waveform type and when DCI 312b is associated with the second waveform type, the size of DCI 312 may be the same (e.g., a common size). However, the size of the bit field of DCI 312 may be different when DCI 312a and 312c are associated with the first waveform type compared to when DCI 312b is associated with the second waveform type. Additionally or alternatively, the position of the bit field of DCI 312 may be different when DCI 312a and 312c are associated with the first waveform type compared to when DCI 312b is associated with the second waveform type. The UE may interpret the size of DCI 312, the size of the bit field of DCI 312, and / or the position of the bit field of DCI 312 based on whether DCI 312 is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0077] In some aspects, the dynamic waveform switching indicator 310 may also indicate the size of the DCI 312. The size of the DCI 312 may be the maximum size of the DCI 312 associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI 312 associated with the second waveform type. For example, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x + y, the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 may be x + y. Additionally or alternatively, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x + y, the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 may be x + y.

[0078] In some aspects, the UE may monitor the DCI 312 by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of the DCI 312. Since the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 is the same for the first waveform type and the second waveform type, the UE may monitor the DCI 312 of a single size (e.g., a common size). Compared with blindly decoding the first DCI associated with the first waveform type and blindly decoding the second DCI of a different size associated with the second waveform type, the UE may reduce the computing resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding the DCI 312 with a common size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type.

[0079] In some aspects, the bit field of the DCI 312 may include at least one zero-padding bit. For example, when the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 is x + y, based on the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type being x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type being x + y. When the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 is associated with the first waveform type, the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 may include y zero-padding bits.

[0080] In some aspects, the dynamic waveform switching DCI 312 may reuse the bit field of the default (e.g., conventional) DCI. For example, the bit field of the DCI 312 may include rows / columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, rows / columns of a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) table, rows / columns of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, or other suitable reused bit fields.

[0081] In some aspects, the size of DCI 312 can be based on the format of the DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1, 2_0, 2_1, 2_2, or 2_3). For example, a first DCI format can indicate a first DCI 312 size, while a second DCI format can indicate a different second DCI 312 size. In some aspects, the size of the bit fields of DCI 312 can be based on the format of DCI 312. In some aspects, the position of the bit fields of DCI 312 can be based on the format of DCI 312.

[0082] In some aspects, a UE can receive DCI 312 from a network element based on blind decoding of DCI 312. DCI 312 can indicate scheduling resources (e.g., time resources and / or frequency resources) for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication 314 associated with the UE. DCI 312 can indicate whether a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication 314. For example, the scheduling information can explicitly indicate and / or implicitly indicate whether a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication 314. The scheduling information that implicitly indicates whether a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication 314 can include resource allocation (RA) type, the most significant bit of the RA, the number of resource blocks in the scheduling resources, the position of the resource blocks (e.g., frequency subchannel, time slot index), the MCS associated with the scheduling resources, the number of repetitions of PUSCH communication 314, the number of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) code division multiplexing (CDM) groups without data, precoding information, the number of layers, the sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI), and / or other suitable scheduling information.

[0083] In some aspects, the UE can send PUSCH communication 314 to the network element using the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources. For example, the UE can receive an uplink scheduling DCI 312a that indicates the resources for PUSCH communication 314a and a first waveform type. The UE can send PUSCH communication 314a to the network element using the first waveform type via the scheduling resources. The UE can then receive an uplink scheduling DCI 312b that indicates the resources for PUSCH communication 314b and a second waveform type. The UE can send PUSCH communication 314b to the network element using the second waveform type via the scheduling resources. The UE can then receive an uplink scheduling DCI 312c that indicates the resources for PUSCH communication 314c and a first waveform type. The UE can send PUSCH communication 314c to the network element using the first waveform type via the scheduling resources.

[0084] Figure 4Illustrates a waveform switching timeline 400 in a wireless communication network (e.g., network 100 and / or network 200) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 4 the horizontal axis may represent time in some arbitrary units. In some aspects, a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) may receive a dynamic waveform switching enable indicator 408 from a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210) indicating that dynamic waveform switching is enabled between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the UE may receive the dynamic waveform switching enable indicator 408 via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, the MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating that dynamic waveform switching is enabled.

[0085] In some aspects, the UE may receive a first waveform indicator 410 from the network element indicating to switch to the first waveform type. The dynamic waveform switching enable indicator 408 may enable waveform type switching of the UE, while the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 may indicate which waveform type to switch to for uplink communication.

[0086] In some aspects, the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 may include downlink control information (DCI) for non-uplink communication scheduling. The non-uplink communication scheduling DCI may be a DCI that includes an indicator of which waveform type to switch to but does not include scheduling resources for uplink communication. Additionally or alternatively, the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 may be included in MAC-CE communication.

[0087] In some aspects, the UE may receive the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 on a semi-persistent (e.g., semi-static) basis. For example, the waveform types indicated by the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 may be valid until the waveform type is switched based on the UE receiving a subsequent waveform indicator. For example, the UE may receive the first waveform indicator 410 and apply the first waveform to PUSCH communication 416 until the UE receives the second waveform indicator 418 and applies the second waveform to PUSCH communication 424.

[0088] The waveform types indicated by the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418 may be valid for a certain period of time until a subsequent first waveform indicator 410 or second waveform indicator 418 switches the waveform type. This period of time may include one or more time slots, sub-frames, frames, or other periods of time (e.g., several milliseconds). In some aspects, the waveform type may be switched based on UE conditions. For example, when the UE is scheduled to transmit uplink communications that require a high data rate, the waveform type may be switched to the CP-OFDM waveform. In some aspects, when the UE is located at the cell edge, the waveform type may be switched to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform.

[0089] After transmitting a PUCCH HARQ-ACK communication 412 indicating successful reception (e.g., decoding) of the first waveform indicator 410 or the second waveform indicator 418 to the network element, the UE may switch to the waveform type indicated by the first waveform indicator 410 and the second waveform indicator 418. For example, the UE may switch to the first waveform type indicated by the first waveform indicator 410 after a pre-configured (e.g., predefined) period of time ending at time T430a after transmitting the PUCCH HARQ-ACK communication 412a. For example, the UE may switch to the second waveform type indicated by the second waveform indicator 418 after a pre-configured (e.g., predefined) period of time ending at time T430b after transmitting the PUCCH HARQ-ACK communication 412b.

[0090] In some aspects, the UE may receive from the network element a DCI 414 indicating the scheduling resources for a PUSCH communication 416 associated with the UE. Based on the waveform type indicated by the first waveform indicator 410 or the second waveform indicator 418, the UE may use the first waveform type or the second waveform type to transmit one or more PUSCH communications 416 to the network element via the scheduling resources.

[0091] In some aspects, DCI 414 may indicate scheduling resources for PUSCH communication 416. DCI 414 may have a DCI size associated with a first waveform type (e.g., a conventional first waveform DCI size) or a DCI size associated with a second waveform type (e.g., a conventional second waveform DCI size). The DCI size associated with the second waveform type may be different from the DCI size associated with the first waveform type. When the first waveform indicator 410 indicates the first waveform type, the UE may monitor DCI 414a by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type. When the second waveform indicator 418 indicates the second waveform type, the UE may monitor DCI 414b by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type. In this way, compared to blindly decoding two different sizes of DCI, the UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding only a single size of DCI 414.

[0092] In some aspects, DCI 414 indicating scheduling resources for PUSCH communication 416 may include the size of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type (e.g., a conventional bit field size of the first waveform type) or the size of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type (e.g., a conventional bit field size of the second waveform type). The size of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type may be different from the size of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type. When the first waveform indicator 410 indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type. When the second waveform indicator 418 indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type.

[0093] In some aspects, the DCI 414 indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication 416 may include the position of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the first waveform type) or the position of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the second waveform type). The position of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type may be different from the position of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type. When the first waveform indicator 410 indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of DCI 414a associated with the first waveform type. When the second waveform indicator 418 indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of DCI 414b associated with the second waveform type.

[0094] In some aspects, the UE may transmit PUSCH communication 416 using the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources. The UE may use the indicated waveform type to transmit PUSCH communication 416 until the UE receives a subsequent indicator indicating a waveform type switch. For example, the UE may receive a dynamic waveform switch enable indicator 408 to enable waveform type switching. The UE may receive a first waveform indicator 410 indicating that the first waveform type is to be used for UL communication. The UE may confirm receipt of the first waveform indicator by sending a PUCCH HARQ 412a to the network element. After a delay, the UE may apply the first waveform at time T430a. The UE may receive a first waveform DCI 414a scheduling resources for PUSCH communication 416a. The UE may use the first waveform to transmit PUSCH communication until the second waveform indicator 418 is received. The UE may receive a second waveform indicator 418 indicating that the second waveform type is to be used for UL communication. The UE may confirm receipt of the second waveform indicator by sending a PUCCH HARQ 412b to the network element. After a delay, the UE may apply the second waveform at time T430b. The UE may receive a second waveform DCI 414b scheduling resources for PUSCH communication 416b. The UE may use the second waveform and the scheduling resources to transmit PUSCH communication 416b.

[0095] Figure 5is a flowchart of a communication method 500 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 500 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as BS105, RU 240, DU 230, CU 210, and / or network unit 800) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 802, memory 804, waveform switching module 808, transceiver 810, modem 812, and one or more antennas 816) to perform aspects of method 500. For example, a wireless communication device (such as UE 115 or UE 700) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 702, memory 704, waveform switching module 708, transceiver 710, modem 712, and one or more antennas 716) to perform aspects of method 500. Method 500 may employ mechanisms similar to those in network 100 or 200 and aspects and actions regarding Figures 3 to 4 as described. As shown, method 500 includes a number of recited actions, but method 500 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0096] At action 502, network unit 105 may send a dynamic waveform switching indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to UE 115. In this regard, UE 115 may receive the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the enabling of dynamic waveform switching.

[0097] At action 504, UE 115 may monitor DCI. In some aspects, UE 115 may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI. Since the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI is the same for the first waveform type and the second waveform type, UE 115 may monitor a single size (e.g., a common size) of DCI. Compared to blindly decoding a first DCI associated with the first waveform type and a second DCI of a different size associated with the second waveform type, UE 115 may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding a DCI having a common size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type.

[0098] At action 506, network element 105 may send an uplink scheduling DCI to UE 115. The uplink scheduling DCI may indicate, using a first waveform, scheduling resources for PUSCH communication. The DCI may indicate scheduling resources (e.g., time resources and / or frequency resources) for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with UE 115. The DCI may indicate whether a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit the PUSCH. For example, the scheduling information may explicitly indicate and / or implicitly indicate that a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication. Scheduling information that implicitly indicates that a first waveform type or a second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication may include resource allocation (RA) type, the most significant bit of the RA, the number of resource blocks in the scheduling resources, the location of the resource blocks (e.g., frequency subchannel, slot index), the MCS associated with the scheduling resources, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH communication, the number of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) code division multiplexing (CDM) groups without data, precoding information, the number of layers, the sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI), and / or other suitable scheduling information.

[0099] At action 508, UE 115 may transmit PUSCH communication using the first waveform. The UE may transmit PUSCH communication using the first waveform via the scheduling resources received at action 506.

[0100] At action 510, UE 115 may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI.

[0101] At action 512, network element 105 may send an uplink scheduling DCI to UE 115. The uplink scheduling DCI may indicate, using a second waveform, scheduling resources for PUSCH communication.

[0102] At action 514, UE 115 may transmit PUSCH communication using the second waveform. UE 115 may transmit PUSCH communication using the second waveform via the scheduling resources received at action 512.

[0103] Figure 6is a flowchart of a communication method 600 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 600 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, CU 210, and / or network unit 800) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 802, memory 804, waveform switching module 808, transceiver 810, modem 812, and one or more antennas 816) to perform aspects of method 600. For example, a wireless communication device (such as UE 115 or UE 700) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 702, memory 704, waveform switching module 708, transceiver 710, modem 712, and one or more antennas 716) to perform aspects of method 600. Method 600 may employ mechanisms similar to those in network 100 or 200 and aspects and actions regarding Figures 3 to 4 as described. As shown, method 600 includes a number of recited actions, but method 600 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0104] At action 602, network unit 105 may send a dynamic waveform switch indicator to UE 115 indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, UE 115 may receive the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the enabling of a dynamic waveform switch.

[0105] At action 604, network unit 105 may send a first waveform indicator to UE 115. The first waveform indicator may be sent via a non-uplink scheduling DCI and / or a MAC-CE message.

[0106] At action 606, the UE may send a HARQ PUCCH to the network unit confirming receipt of the first waveform indicator received at action 604.

[0107] At action 608, UE 115 may monitor DCI. In some aspects, UE 115 may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. In this way, compared to blindly decoding two different sizes of DCI, the UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding only a single size of DCI.

[0108] At action 610, network element 105 may send an uplink scheduling DCI indicating scheduling resources for PUSCH communication to UE 115 using the first waveform type.

[0109] At action 612, the UE may send PUSCH communication to the network element via the scheduling resources received at action 610 using the first waveform type indicated at action 604.

[0110] At action 614, network element 105 may send a second waveform indicator to UE 115. The second waveform indicator may be sent via a non - uplink scheduling DCI and / or a MAC - CE message.

[0111] At action 616, the UE may send a HARQ PUCCH acknowledging receipt of the second waveform indicator received at action 614 to the network element.

[0112] At action 618, UE 115 may monitor DCI. In some aspects, UE 115 may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type. In this way, compared to blindly decoding two different sizes of DCI, the UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding only a single size of DCI.

[0113] At action 620, network element 105 may send an uplink scheduling DCI indicating scheduling resources for PUSCH communication to UE 115 using the second waveform type.

[0114] At action 622, the UE may send PUSCH communication to the network element via the scheduling resources received at action 620 using the second waveform type indicated at action 614.

[0115] Figure 7is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 700 in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 700 may be the UE 115 in network 100 or 200 as discussed above. As shown, the UE 700 may include a processor 702, a memory 704, a waveform switching module 708, a transceiver 710 including a modem subsystem 712 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 714, and one or more antennas 716. These components may be coupled to each other, for example, via one or more buses and communicate directly or indirectly with each other.

[0116] The processor 702 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 702 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0117] The memory 704 may include cache memory (e.g., cache memory of the processor 702), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memory devices, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In some instances, the memory 704 includes non-transitory computer-readable media. The memory 704 may store instructions 706. The instructions 706 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 702, cause the processor 702 to perform the operations described herein with reference to aspects of the present disclosure in connection with the UE 115 (e.g., Figures 3 to 6 aspects). The instructions 706 may also be referred to as code. The terms "instructions" and "code" should be interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readable statement. For example, the terms "instructions" and "code" may refer to one or more programs, routines, subroutines, functions, procedures, etc. "Instructions" and "code" may include a single computer-readable statement or multiple computer-readable statements.

[0118] The waveform switching module 708 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the waveform switching module 708 may be implemented as a processor, circuitry, and / or instructions 706 stored in the memory 704 and executed by the processor 702. In some aspects, the waveform switching module 708 may implement Figures 3 to 6Aspects of. For example, the waveform switching module 708 may receive an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type from a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS105, CU 210, DU 230, or RU 240), and monitor downlink control information (DCI) from the network element based on the indicator, where at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0119] As shown, the transceiver 710 may include a modem subsystem 712 and an RF unit 714. The transceiver 710 may be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices (such as BS105 and / or UE 115). The modem subsystem 712 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data from the memory 704 according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (e.g., low-density parity-check (LDPC) coding scheme, turbo coding scheme, convolutional coding scheme, digital beamforming scheme, etc.). The RF unit 714 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.) the modulated / encoded data of a transmission from the modem subsystem 712 (for an outbound transmission) or from another source (such as UE 115 or BS105). The RF unit 714 may also be configured to perform analog beamforming in combination with digital beamforming. Although shown as being integrated together in the transceiver 710, the modem subsystem 712 and the RF unit 714 may be separate devices coupled together to enable the UE 700 to communicate with other devices.

[0120] The RF unit 714 may provide the modulated and / or processed data, such as data packets (or more generally, data messages that may include one or more data packets and other information), to the antenna 716 for transmission to one or more other devices. The antenna 716 may also receive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antenna 716 may provide the received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at the transceiver 710. The antenna 716 may include multiple antennas with similar or different designs to maintain multiple transmission links. The RF unit 714 may configure the antenna 716.

[0121] In some instances, the UE 700 may include multiple transceivers 710 implementing different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In some instances, the UE 700 may include a single transceiver 710 implementing multiple RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In some instances, the transceiver 710 may include various components, and different combinations of the components may implement the RAT.

[0122] Figure 8FIG. is a block diagram of an exemplary network unit 800 in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. The network unit 800 may be a BS 105, CU 210, DU 230, or RU 240 as discussed above. As shown, the network unit 800 may include a processor 802, a memory 804, a waveform switching module 808, a transceiver 810 including a modem subsystem 812 and an RF unit 814, and one or more antennas 816. These elements may be coupled to each other via one or more buses and communicate directly or indirectly with each other, for example.

[0123] The processor 802 may have various features as a particular type of processor. For example, these features may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, an FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 802 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0124] The memory 804 may include cache memory (e.g., the cache memory of the processor 802), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory devices, one or more hard disk drives, a memristor-based array, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In some instances, the memory 804 may include non-transitory computer-readable media. The memory 804 may store instructions 806. The instructions 806 may include instructions that cause the processor 802 to perform the operations described herein (e.g., Figures 3 to 6 aspects of this document) when executed by the processor 802. The instructions 806 may also be referred to as code, which may be broadly interpreted to include any type of computer-readable statement.

[0125] The waveform switching module 808 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the waveform switching module 808 may be implemented as a processor, a circuit, and / or instructions 806 stored in the memory 804 and executed by the processor 802.

[0126] In some aspects, the waveform switching module 808 may implement Figures 3 to 6 aspects of this document. For example, the waveform switching module 808 may send an indicator to a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. The waveform switching module 808 may send downlink control information (DCI) to the UE based on the indicator, where at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0127] Additionally or alternatively, the waveform switching module 808 may be implemented in any combination of hardware and software, and in some specific implementations may involve, for example, a processor 802, a memory 804, instructions 806, a transceiver 810, and / or a modem 812.

[0128] As shown, the transceiver 810 may include a modem subsystem 812 and an RF unit 814. The transceiver 810 may be configured to communicate bidirectionally with other devices (such as UE 115 and / or UE 800). The modem subsystem 812 may be configured to modulate and / or encode data according to an MCS (e.g., LDPC decoding scheme, turbo decoding scheme, convolutional decoding scheme, digital beamforming scheme, etc.). The RF unit 814 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion, etc.) the modulated / encoded data of a transmission from the modem subsystem 812 (for an outbound transmission) or originating from another source (such as UE 115 or UE 700). The RF unit 814 may also be configured to perform analog beamforming in combination with digital beamforming. Although shown as being integrated together in the transceiver 810, the modem subsystem 812 and / or the RF unit 814 may be separate devices coupled together at the network unit 800 such that the network unit 800 can communicate with other devices.

[0129] The RF unit 814 may provide the modulated and / or processed data, such as data packets (or more generally, data messages that may include one or more data packets and other information), to the antenna 816 for transmission to one or more other devices. For example, according to aspects of the present disclosure, this may include indicating the configuration of multiple sub-slots within a time slot. The antenna 816 may also receive data messages transmitted from other devices and provide the received data messages for processing and / or demodulation at the transceiver 810. The antenna 816 may include multiple antennas with similar or different designs in order to maintain multiple transmission links.

[0130] In some instances, the network unit 800 may include multiple transceivers 810 that implement different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In some instances, the network unit 800 may include a single transceiver 810 that implements multiple RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In some instances, the transceiver 810 may include various components, and different combinations of the components may implement the RAT.

[0131] Figure 9is a flowchart of a communication method 900 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 900 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as UE 115 or UE 700) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 702, memory 704, waveform switching module 708, transceiver 710, modem 712, and one or more antennas 716) to perform aspects of method 900. Method 900 may employ mechanisms similar to those in networks 100 and 200 and aspects and actions described with respect to Figures 3 to 6 As shown, method 900 includes a plurality of recited actions, but method 900 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0132] At action 910, method 900 includes a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) receiving an indicator from a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the UE may receive the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the enabling of a dynamic waveform switch.

[0133] In some aspects, the first waveform type may include a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform type. The second waveform type may include a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform type. The dynamic waveform switch may enable the UE to maximize network coverage and / or network capacity. For example, the UE may switch to using a DFT-s-OFDM waveform to transmit uplink communication to increase range and coverage. In some aspects, the UE may switch to using a CP-OFDM waveform to transmit uplink communication to increase throughput and / or data rate.

[0134] At operation 920, method 900 includes a UE monitoring downlink control information (DCI) from a network element. The UE may monitor the DCI (e.g., dynamic waveform switching DCI) based on the indicator received at operation 910. In some aspects, the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the location of the bit field of the DCI may be interpreted based on the indicator. The DCI may be associated with a first waveform type or a second waveform type. In some aspects, the size of the DCI may be the same (e.g., a common size) when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type and when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. However, the size of the bit field of the DCI may be different when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type compared to when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. Additionally or alternatively, the location of the bit field of the DCI may be different when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type compared to when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. The UE may interpret the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field, and / or the location of the bit field based on whether the DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0135] In some aspects, the indicator may also indicate the size of the DCI. The size of the DCI may be the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type. For example, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x + y, then the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI may be x + y. Additionally or alternatively, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x + y, then the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI may be x + y.

[0136] In some aspects, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI. Since the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI is the same for the first waveform type and the second waveform type, the UE may monitor a DCI of a single size (e.g., a common size). The UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding a DCI having a common size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type compared to blindly decoding a first DCI associated with the first waveform type and a second DCI of a different size associated with the second waveform type.

[0137] In some aspects, the bit field of the DCI may include at least one zero-padding bit. For example, when the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI is x + y, the default (e.g., legacy) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x and the default (e.g., legacy) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x + y. When the dynamic waveform switching DCI is associated with the first waveform type, the dynamic waveform switching DCI may include y zero-padding bits.

[0138] In some aspects, the dynamic waveform switching DCI may reuse the bit field of the default (e.g., legacy) DCI. For example, the bit field of the DCI may include rows / columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, rows / columns of a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) table, rows / columns of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, or other suitable reused bit fields.

[0139] In some aspects, the size of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1, 2_0, 2_1, 2_2, or 2_3). For example, a first DCI format may indicate a first DCI size, while a second DCI format may indicate a different second DCI size. In some aspects, the size of the bit field of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI. In some aspects, the position of the bit field of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI.

[0140] In some aspects, the UE may receive the DCI from a network element based on blind decoding of the DCI. The DCI may indicate scheduling resources (e.g., time resources and / or frequency resources) for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE. The DCI may indicate whether the first waveform type or the second waveform type should be used to transmit the PUSCH. For example, the scheduling information may explicitly indicate and / or implicitly indicate whether the first waveform type or the second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication. The scheduling information that implicitly indicates whether the first waveform type or the second waveform type should be used to transmit PUSCH communication may include resource allocation (RA) type, the most significant bit of the RA, the number of resource blocks in the scheduling resources, the position of the resource blocks (e.g., frequency subchannel, slot index), the MCS associated with the scheduling resources, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH communication, the number of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) code division multiplexing (CDM) groups without data, pre-coding information, the number of layers, the sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI), and / or other suitable scheduling information.

[0141] In some aspects, the UE may send PUSCH communication to the network element using the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources.

[0142] Figure 10is a flowchart of a communication method 1000 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 1000 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as UE 115 or UE 700) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 702, memory 704, waveform switching module 708, transceiver 710, modem 712, and one or more antennas 716) to perform aspects of method 1000. Method 1000 may employ mechanisms similar to those in networks 100 and 200 and aspects and actions regarding Figures 3 to 6 as described. As shown, method 1000 includes a number of recited actions, but method 1000 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0143] At action 1010, method 1000 includes a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) receiving, from a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210), an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the UE may receive the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the dynamic waveform switch.

[0144] At action 1020, method 1000 includes the UE receiving, from the network element, a second indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type. The first indicator may enable the UE waveform type switch, and the second indicator may indicate which waveform type to switch to for uplink communication.

[0145] In some aspects, the second indicator may include non-uplink communication scheduled downlink control information (DCI). The non-uplink communication scheduled DCI may be DCI that includes an indicator of which waveform type to switch to but does not include scheduling resources for uplink communication. Additionally or alternatively, the second indicator may be included in MAC-CE communication.

[0146] In some aspects, the UE may receive a second indicator on a semi-persistent (e.g., semi-static) basis. For example, the waveform type indicated by the second indicator may be valid until the waveform type is switched based on the UE receiving a subsequent second indicator. The subsequent second indicator may be non-uplink scheduling DCI and / or MAC-CE communication that indicates that the UE should switch to another waveform type (e.g., from a first waveform type to a second waveform type or from a second waveform type to a first waveform type).

[0147] The waveform type indicated by the second indicator may be valid for a certain period of time until a subsequent second indicator switches the waveform type. The period of time may include one or more time slots, subframes, frames, or other periods of time (e.g., several milliseconds). In some aspects, the waveform type may be switched based on UE conditions. For example, when the UE is scheduled to transmit uplink communication that requires a high data rate, the waveform type may be switched to the CP-OFDM waveform. In some aspects, when the UE is located at the cell edge, the waveform type may be switched to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform.

[0148] After transmitting HARQ-ACK communication indicating successful reception (e.g., decoding) of the second indicator to the network element, the UE may switch to the waveform type indicated by the second indicator. For example, the UE may switch to the waveform type indicated by the second indicator after a preconfigured (e.g., predefined) period of time after transmitting the HARQ-ACK communication.

[0149] In some aspects, the UE may receive DCI from the network element indicating scheduling resources for PUSCH communication associated with the UE. Based on the waveform type indicated by the second indicator, the UE may use the first waveform type or the second waveform type to transmit one or more PUSCH communications to the network element via the scheduling resources.

[0150] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include a DCI size associated with the first waveform type (e.g., a conventional first waveform DCI size) or a DCI size associated with the second waveform type (e.g., a conventional second waveform DCI size). The DCI size associated with the second waveform type may be different from the DCI size associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type. In this way, compared to blindly decoding two different sizes of DCI, the UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding only a single size of DCI.

[0151] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with a first waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field size of the first waveform type) or the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with a second waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field size of the second waveform type). The size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type may be different from the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0152] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with a first waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the first waveform type) or the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with a second waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the second waveform type). The position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type may be different from the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0153] In some aspects, the UE may use the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources to transmit PUSCH communication. The UE may use the indicated waveform type to transmit PUSCH communication until the UE receives a subsequent second indicator indicating a waveform type switch.

[0154] Figure 11 is a flowchart of a communication method 1100 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 1100 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as a network unit (e.g., network unit 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210)) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 802, memory 804, waveform switching module 808, transceiver 810, modem 812, and one or more antennas 816) to perform aspects of method 1100. Method 1100 may employ mechanisms similar to those in networks 100 and 200 and regarding Figures 3 to 6The aspects and actions described. As shown, method 1100 includes a plurality of recited actions, but method 1100 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0155] At action 1110, method 1100 includes a network element (e.g., network element 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210) sending an indicator to a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the network element may send the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, the MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the enabling of the dynamic waveform switch.

[0156] In some aspects, the first waveform type may include a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform type. The second waveform type may include a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform or other suitable waveform type. The dynamic waveform switch may enable the UE to maximize network coverage and / or network capacity. For example, the UE may switch to using the DFT-s-OFDM waveform to send uplink communications to increase range and coverage. In some aspects, the UE may switch to using the CP-OFDM waveform to send uplink communications to increase throughput and / or data rate.

[0157] At operation 1120, method 1100 includes a network element sending downlink control information (DCI) to a UE. The UE may monitor the DCI (e.g., dynamic waveform switching DCI) based on an indicator received at operation 1110. In some aspects, the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI may be interpreted based on the indicator. The DCI may be associated with a first waveform type or a second waveform type. In some aspects, the size of the DCI may be the same (e.g., a common size) when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type and when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. However, the size of the bit field of the DCI may be different when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type compared to when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. Additionally or alternatively, the position of the bit field of the DCI may be different when the DCI is associated with the first waveform type compared to when the DCI is associated with the second waveform type. The UE may interpret the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field, and / or the position of the bit field based on whether the DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0158] In some aspects, the indicator may also indicate the size of the DCI. The size of the DCI may be the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type. For example, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x + y, then the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI may be x + y. Additionally or alternatively, if the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x + y, then the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI may be x + y.

[0159] In some aspects, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI. Since the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI is the same for the first waveform type and the second waveform type, the UE may monitor a DCI of a single size (e.g., a common size). The UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding a DCI having a common size for the first waveform type and the second waveform type compared to blindly decoding a first DCI associated with the first waveform type and a second DCI of a different size associated with the second waveform type.

[0160] In some aspects, the bit field of the DCI may include at least one zero-padding bit. For example, when the size of the dynamic waveform switching DCI is x + y, the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is x and the default (e.g., conventional) size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type is x + y. When the dynamic waveform switching DCI is associated with the first waveform type, the dynamic waveform switching DCI may include y zero-padding bits.

[0161] In some aspects, the dynamic waveform switching DCI may reuse the bit field of the default (e.g., conventional) DCI. For example, the bit field of the DCI may include rows / columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, rows / columns of a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) table, rows / columns of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, or other suitable reusable bit fields.

[0162] In some aspects, the size of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1, 2_0, 2_1, 2_2, or 2_3). For example, a first DCI format may indicate a first DCI size, while a second DCI format may indicate a different second DCI size. In some aspects, the size of the bit field of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI. In some aspects, the position of the bit field of the DCI may be based on the format of the DCI.

[0163] In some aspects, the UE may receive the DCI from the network element based on blind decoding of the DCI. The DCI may indicate scheduling resources (e.g., time resources and / or frequency resources) for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE. The DCI may indicate whether the network element should use the first waveform type or the second waveform type to receive the PUSCH. For example, the scheduling information may explicitly indicate and / or implicitly indicate that the network element should use the first waveform type or the second waveform type to receive PUSCH communication. The scheduling information that implicitly indicates that the network element should use the first waveform type or the second waveform type to receive PUSCH communication may include resource allocation (RA) type, the most significant bit of the RA, the number of resource blocks in the scheduling resources, the position of the resource blocks (e.g., frequency subchannel, slot index), the MCS associated with the scheduling resources, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH communication, the number of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) code division multiplexing (CDM) groups without data, pre-coding information, the number of layers, the sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI), and / or other suitable scheduling information.

[0164] In some aspects, the network element may receive PUSCH communication from the UE using the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources.

[0165] Figure 12is a flowchart of a communication method 1200 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of method 1200 may be performed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuitry, and / or other suitable components) of a wireless communication device or other suitable components for performing these actions. For example, a wireless communication device (such as a network unit (e.g., network unit 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210)) may utilize one or more components (such as processor 802, memory 804, waveform switching module 808, transceiver 810, modem 812, and one or more antennas 816) to perform aspects of method 1200. Method 1200 may employ mechanisms similar to those in networks 100 and 200 and aspects and actions regarding Figures 3 to 6 as described. As shown, method 1200 includes a number of recited actions, but method 1200 may include additional actions before, after, and between these recited actions. In some aspects, one or more of these recited actions may be omitted or performed in a different order.

[0166] At action 1210, method 1200 includes a network unit (e.g., network unit 800, BS 105, RU 240, DU 230, and / or CU 210) sending a first indicator to a UE (e.g., UE 115 or UE 700) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type. In this regard, the network unit may send the indicator via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a media access control control element (MAC-CE) communication, or other suitable communication. For example, the RRC message, MAC-CE communication, or other suitable communication MAC-CE may include a code point indicating the dynamic waveform switch.

[0167] At action 1220, method 1200 includes the network unit sending a second indicator to the UE indicating which waveform type to switch to between the first waveform type and the second waveform type based on the first indicator. The first indicator may enable the UE waveform type switch, while the second indicator may indicate which waveform type to switch to for uplink communication.

[0168] In some aspects, the second indicator may include non-uplink communication scheduled downlink control information (DCI). The non-uplink communication scheduled DCI may be DCI that includes an indicator of which waveform type to switch to but does not include scheduling resources for uplink communication. Additionally or alternatively, the second indicator may be included in a MAC-CE communication.

[0169] In some aspects, the network element may send the second indicator on a semi-persistent (e.g., semi-static) basis. For example, the waveform type indicated by the second indicator may be valid until the waveform type is switched based on the network element sending a subsequent second indicator. The subsequent second indicator may be non-uplink scheduling DCI and / or MAC-CE communication, which indicates that the UE should switch to another waveform type (e.g., from the first waveform type to the second waveform type or from the second waveform type to the first waveform type).

[0170] The waveform type indicated by the second indicator may be valid for a certain period of time until the waveform type is switched by a subsequent second indicator. This period may include one or more time slots, subframes, frames, or other time periods (e.g., several milliseconds). In some aspects, the waveform type may be switched based on UE conditions. For example, when the UE is scheduled to send uplink communication that requires a high data rate, the waveform type may be switched to the CP-OFDM waveform. In some aspects, when the UE is located at the cell edge, the waveform type may be switched to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform.

[0171] After sending HARQ-ACK communication indicating successful reception (e.g., decoding) of the second indicator to the network element, the UE may switch to the waveform type indicated by the second indicator. For example, the UE may switch to the waveform type indicated by the second indicator after a preconfigured (e.g., predefined) period of time after sending the HARQ-ACK communication.

[0172] In some aspects, the network element may send DCI to the UE indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication associated with the UE. Based on the waveform type indicated by the second indicator, the network element may receive one or more PUSCH communications from the UE via the scheduling resources using the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0173] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include a DCI size associated with the first waveform type (e.g., a conventional first waveform DCI size) or a DCI size associated with the second waveform type (e.g., a conventional second waveform DCI size). The DCI size associated with the second waveform type may be different from the DCI size associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may monitor the DCI by blindly decoding the search space based on the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type. In this way, the UE may reduce computational resources and / or power consumption by blindly decoding only a single size of DCI as compared to blindly decoding two different sizes of DCI.

[0174] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with a first waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field size of the first waveform type) or the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with a second waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field size of the second waveform type). The size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type may be different from the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the bit field based on the size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0175] In some aspects, the DCI indicating the scheduling resources for PUSCH communication may include the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with a first waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the first waveform type) or the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with a second waveform type (e.g., the conventional bit field position of the second waveform type). The position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type may be different from the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the first waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type. When the second indicator indicates the second waveform type, the UE may interpret the position of the bit field based on the position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0176] In some aspects, the network element may receive PUSCH communication using the indicated waveform type via the scheduling resources. The network element may receive PUSCH communication using the indicated waveform type until the network element transmits a subsequent second indicator indicating a waveform type switch.

[0177] Other aspects of the present disclosure include the following:

[0178] Aspect 1 includes a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network element, an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and monitoring downlink control information (DCI) from the network element based on the indicator, wherein at least one of interpreting the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the indicator.

[0179] Aspect 2 includes the method according to Aspect 1, wherein the first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and the second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

[0180] Aspect 3 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 2, wherein receiving the indicator includes receiving the indicator via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) communication; or medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0181] Aspect 4 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type; and the size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is the same as the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0182] Aspect 5 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, the size of the DCI being the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; and monitoring the DCI includes monitoring the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI.

[0183] Aspect 6 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes at least one zero-padding bit.

[0184] Aspect 7 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6, the method further comprising: receiving the DCI from the network unit based on the monitoring, wherein the DCI indicates scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

[0185] Aspect 8 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7, the method further comprising transmitting the PUSCH communication to the network unit using the indicated waveform type and the scheduling resources.

[0186] Aspect 9 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 8, the method further comprising receiving the DCI from the network unit based on the monitoring, wherein the DCI indicates scheduling information associated with physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and the scheduling information implicitly indicates at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

[0187] Aspect 10 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 9, the method further comprising receiving the DCI from the network unit based on the monitoring, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table.

[0188] Aspect 11 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 10, the method further comprising receiving the DCI from the network unit based on the monitoring, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table.

[0189] Aspect 12 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 11, wherein at least one of the following exists: the size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; the size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or the position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

[0190] Aspect 13 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 12, wherein monitoring the DCI includes monitoring the DCI by maintaining the same number of blind decodings per search space for the DCI associated with the first waveform and the DCI associated with the second waveform.

[0191] Aspect 14 includes a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a first indicator from a network unit indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and receiving a second indicator from the network unit based on the first indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type.

[0192] Aspect 15 includes the method according to Aspect 14, wherein the second indicator is non-uplink communication scheduling downlink control information (DCI).

[0193] Aspect 16 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 15, wherein the second indicator is medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0194] Aspect 17 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 16, wherein receiving the second indicator includes receiving the second indicator on a semi-persistent basis.

[0195] Aspect 18 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 17, the method further comprising: receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the network unit indicating scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and transmitting the PUSCH communication to the network unit based on the second indicator using the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0196] Aspect 19 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 18, wherein a size of the DCI is a first size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type; a size of a bit field of the DCI is a first size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type; and a position of the bit field of the DCI is a first position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type.

[0197] Aspect 20 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 19, the method further comprising monitoring the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the first size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type.

[0198] Aspect 21 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 20, wherein the size of the DCI is a second size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; the size of the bit field of the DCI is a second size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; and the position of the bit field of the DCI is a second position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0199] Aspect 22 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 21, the method further comprising monitoring the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the second size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0200] Aspect 23 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 22, wherein the first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and the second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

[0201] Aspect 24 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 14 to 23, wherein receiving the first indicator includes receiving the first indicator via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) communication; or medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0202] Aspect 25 includes a method of wireless communication performed by a network unit, the method including: sending an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to a user equipment (UE); and sending downlink control information (DCI) to the UE based on the indicator, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

[0203] Aspect 26 includes the method according to Aspect 25, wherein the first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and the second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

[0204] Aspect 27 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 26, wherein sending the indicator includes sending the indicator via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) communication; or medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0205] Aspect 28 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 27, wherein the DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type; and a size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is the same as a size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0206] Aspect 29 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 28, wherein the indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, the size of the DCI being a maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or a size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0207] Aspect 30 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 29, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes at least one zero-padding bit.

[0208] Aspect 31 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 30, wherein the DCI indicates scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

[0209] Aspect 32 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 31, the method further comprising receiving the PUSCH communication from the UE using the indicated waveform type and the scheduling resources.

[0210] Aspect 33 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 32, wherein the DCI indicates scheduling information associated with physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and the scheduling information implicitly indicates at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

[0211] Aspect 34 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 33, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes a column of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table.

[0212] Aspect 35 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 34, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes a column of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table.

[0213] Aspect 36 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 35, wherein at least one of the following exists: the size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; the size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or the position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

[0214] Aspect 37 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 25 to 36, wherein the DCI maintains the same number of blind decodings per search space for the DCI associated with the first waveform and the DCI associated with the second waveform.

[0215] Aspect 38 includes a method of wireless communication performed by a network unit, the method comprising: sending a first indicator to a user equipment (UE) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and sending a second indicator to the UE based on the first indicator indicating to switch between the first waveform type and the second waveform type.

[0216] Aspect 39 includes the method according to aspect 38, wherein the second indicator is a downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling downlink communication in a non-uplink communication.

[0217] Aspect 40 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 39, wherein the second indicator is a medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0218] Aspect 41 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 40, wherein transmitting the second indicator includes transmitting the second indicator on a semi-persistent basis.

[0219] Aspect 42 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 41, the method further comprising: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) indicating scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE to the UE; and receiving the PUSCH communication from the UE based on the second indicator using the first waveform type or the second waveform type.

[0220] Aspect 43 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 42, wherein the size of the DCI is a first size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type; the size of the bit field of the DCI is a first size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type; and the position of the bit field of the DCI is a first position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the first waveform type.

[0221] Aspect 44 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 43, wherein the second indicator indicates blind decoding of a search space based on the first size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type.

[0222] Aspect 45 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 44, wherein the size of the DCI is a second size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; the size of the bit field of the DCI is a second size of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; and the position of the bit field of the DCI is a second position of the bit field of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0223] Aspect 46 includes the method according to any one of aspects 38 to 45, wherein the second indicator indicates blind decoding of a search space based on the second size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

[0224] Aspect 47 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 38 to 46, wherein the first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and the second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

[0225] Aspect 48 includes the method according to any one of Aspects 38 to 47, wherein transmitting the first indicator includes transmitting the first indicator via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) communication; or medium access control control element (MAC-CE) communication.

[0226] Aspect 31 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication, the one or more instructions including, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), causing the UE to execute one or more instructions of any one of Aspects 1 to 16.

[0227] Aspect 32 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication, the one or more instructions including, when executed by one or more processors of a network unit, causing the network unit to execute one or more instructions of any one of Aspects 17 to 30.

[0228] Aspect 33 includes a user equipment (UE) including one or more components for performing any one or more of Aspects 1 to 13.

[0229] Aspect 34 includes a user equipment (UE) including one or more components for performing any one or more of Aspects 14 to 24.

[0230] Aspect 35 includes a network unit including one or more components for performing any one or more of Aspects 25 to 37.

[0231] Aspect 36 includes a network unit including one or more components for performing any one or more of Aspects 38 to 48.

[0232] Aspect 37 includes a user equipment (UE) including: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to perform any one or more of Aspects 1 to 13.

[0233] Aspect 37 includes a user equipment (UE) that includes: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to perform any one or more of aspects 14 to 24.

[0234] Aspect 38 includes a network unit that includes: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the network unit is configured to perform any one or more of aspects 25 to 37.

[0235] Aspect 39 includes a network unit that includes: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the network unit is configured to perform any one or more of aspects 38 to 48.

[0236] Information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and processes. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0237] Various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein can be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0238] The functions described herein can be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium or transmitted through a computer-readable medium. Other examples and specific implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination of these items. The features implementing the functions can also be physically located in different places, including being distributed such that various parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations. Additionally, as used herein (including in the claims), the "or" as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items followed by "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates an inclusive listing, such that for example, the listing of [at least one of A, B, or C] means: A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

[0239] As will be understood by those skilled in the art so far and depending on the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to the materials, devices, configurations, and methods of use of the devices of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In view of this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the scope of the specific examples illustrated and described herein (since they are only some of the examples), but should be fully commensurate with the appended claims hereinafter and their functional equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network element, an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and monitoring, based on the indicator, downlink control information (DCI) from the network element, wherein at least one of a size of the DCI, a size of a bit field of the DCI, or a position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and the second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type; and a size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is the same as a size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, the size of the DCI being a maximum size of a DCI associated with the first waveform type or a size of a DCI associated with the second waveform type; and monitoring the DCI includes monitoring the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes at least one zero-padding bit.

6. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, based on the monitoring, the DCI from the network element, wherein the DCI indicates: scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

7. The method according to claim 6, the method further comprising transmitting the PUSCH communication to the network element using the indicated waveform type and the scheduling resources.

8. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, based on the monitoring, the DCI from the network element, wherein the DCI indicates: scheduling information associated with physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and the scheduling information implicitly indicates at least one of the following: the first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or the second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

9. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, based on the monitoring, the DCI from the network element, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes a column of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table.

10. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: Receiving the DCI from the network unit based on the monitoring, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes columns of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the following cases exists: The size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; The size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or The position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein monitoring the DCI includes monitoring the DCI by maintaining the same number of blind decodings per search space for the DCI associated with the first waveform and the DCI associated with the second waveform.

13. A method of wireless communication performed by a network unit, the method comprising: Sending an indicator to a user equipment (UE) indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and Sending downlink control information (DCI) to the UE based on the indicator, wherein at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The first waveform type includes a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform; and The second waveform type includes a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The DCI is associated with the first waveform type or the second waveform type; and The size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type is the same as the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, and the size of the DCI is the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes at least one zero-padding bit.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein the DCI indicates: Scheduling resources for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and At least one of the following: The first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or The second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

19. The method according to claim 18, the method further comprising receiving the PUSCH communication from the UE using the indicated waveform type and the scheduling resources.

20. The method according to claim 13, wherein the DCI indicates: Scheduling information associated with physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication associated with the UE; and The scheduling information implicitly indicates at least one of the following: The first waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication; or The second waveform type is associated with the PUSCH communication.

21. The method according to claim 13, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes columns of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table.

22. The method according to claim 13, wherein the bit field of the DCI includes columns of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table.

23. The method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the following cases exists: The size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; The size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or The position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

24. The method according to claim 13, wherein the DCI maintains the same number of blind decodings per search space for the DCI associated with the first waveform and the DCI associated with the second waveform.

25. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprises: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to: receive an indicator from a network unit indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type; and monitor downlink control information (DCI) from the network unit based on the indicator, wherein at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

26. The UE according to claim 25, wherein: The indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, the size of the DCI being the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type; and monitoring the DCI includes monitoring the DCI by blindly decoding a search space based on the size of the DCI.

27. The UE according to claim 25, wherein at least one of the following cases exists: The size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; The size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or The position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

28. A network unit, the network unit comprises: a memory; a transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the network unit is configured to: send an indicator indicating a dynamic waveform switch between a first waveform type and a second waveform type to a user equipment (UE); and send downlink control information (DCI) to the UE based on the indicator, wherein at least one of the size of the DCI, the size of the bit field of the DCI, or the position of the bit field of the DCI is interpreted based on the indicator.

29. The network element according to claim 28, wherein: the indicator further indicates the size of the DCI, and the size of the DCI is the maximum size of the DCI associated with the first waveform type or the size of the DCI associated with the second waveform type.

30. The network element according to claim 28, wherein at least one of the following cases exists: the size of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; the size of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI; or the position of the bit field of the DCI is based on the format of the DCI.

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