Scheduling mechanism for multiple component carriers

Abstract

Mechanisms for scheduling multiple component carriers (CCs) within a wireless cellular access network are disclosed, including flexible mechanisms for scheduling channels or signals on itself or other CCs using multiple CCs to provide for scheduling channels or signals across multiple CCs. The method includes configuring M CCs for a wireless terminal device, wherein M is an integer greater than 1. A first scheduling command sent on the ith CC of the M CCs schedules a channel or a signal on the ith CC or on at least one of Ni other CCs of the M CCs, Ni is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and i is an integer and 1 < = i < = M, and the channel or the signal on the ith CC is scheduled by a second scheduling command sent on the ith CC or on at least one of Pi other CCs of the M CCs, wherein Pi is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and each scheduling command schedules channels or signals on one or more CCs of the M CCs. Thereby, scheduling flexibility is increased, thereby reducing scheduling latency and improving resource utilization efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to resource scheduling in a wireless cellular access network, and particularly to a mechanism for scheduling multiple component carriers within a wireless cellular access network. Background Art

[0002] In a cellular network, wireless communication resources for a wireless terminal device to receive or transmit data or control information can be scheduled by a base station using, for example, downlink control information (DCI). Currently, three different known scheduling mechanisms are commonly used: self-scheduling, cross-carrier scheduling, and SCell (Secondary Cell) scheduling of a PCell (Primary Cell). However, these known scheduling mechanisms limit scheduling flexibility. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present disclosure relates to resource scheduling / signaling in a wireless cellular access network, and particularly to a mechanism for scheduling multiple component carriers within a wireless cellular access network. Each exemplary embodiment particularly relates to using multiple component carriers (CCs) to schedule channels or signals on themselves or other CCs, to provide a flexible mechanism for scheduling channels or signals across multiple CCs.

[0004] In some exemplary embodiments, a method for scheduling multiple component carriers (CCs) performed by a wireless access node is disclosed. The method may include configuring M CCs for a wireless terminal device, where M is an integer greater than 1. Similarly, a method for scheduling multiple CCs performed by a wireless terminal device is also disclosed, which may include receiving a configuration of M CCs for the wireless terminal device from the wireless access node. In various examples, a first scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC among the M CCs schedules a channel or signal on the i-th CC or at least one of N other CCs among the M CCs, where N is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and where i is an integer and 1 ≤ i ≤ M, where the channel or signal on the i-th CC is scheduled by a second scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC or on at least one of P other CCs among the M CCs, where P is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and where each scheduling command schedules a channel or signal on one or more CCs among the M CCs. In some embodiments, N is equal to M - 1, and / or P i is greater than 0 and less than M, and where i is an integer and 1 ≤ i ≤ M, where the channel or signal on the i-th CC is scheduled by a second scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC or on at least one of P other CCs among the M CCs, where P i is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and where each scheduling command schedules a channel or signal on one or more CCs among the M CCs. In some embodiments, N i is equal to M - 1, and / or P i is equal to M - 1, and / or P i is equal to M - 1, and / or P iEqual to M - 1. In addition, each of the M CCs may include at least one of a downlink carrier or an uplink carrier.

[0005] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes a radio access node indicating to a wireless terminal device to enable scheduling for the M CCs and indicating the M CCs for which scheduling is enabled. In some embodiments, the method may include: the radio access node indicating M CC indexes corresponding to the M CCs and corresponding scheduling donor CCs for the M CCs, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling donor CC for the CC. Similarly, the method may include the wireless terminal device receiving any one of these indications from the radio access node.

[0006] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes the radio access node configuring the k-th CC among the M CCs as the scheduling donor CC for the (k + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, where 1 ≤ k ≤ M - 1 and k is an integer, and configuring the M-th CC among the M CCs as the scheduling donor CC for the first CC among the M CCs, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling donor CC for the CC. Similarly, the method may include the wireless terminal device receiving any one of these configurations from the radio access node.

[0007] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes the radio access node for the i-th CC and N among the M CCs iThe search space indices of the search spaces configured for the other CCs are the same, where the first scheduling command is carried in a PDCCH candidate associated with the search space having the same search space index. In some embodiments, the method may include a radio access node indicating to a radio terminal device one or more search spaces for the i-th CC, where each of the one or more search spaces is associated with one or more of the M CCs, and where the first scheduling command carried in the PDCCH candidate associated with the one or more search spaces schedules a channel or signal on one or more CCs associated with the search space. In some embodiments, the method may further include a radio access node indicating to a radio terminal device a search space configuration for the one or more search spaces, the search space configuration including at least one of the following: an associated control resource set for configuring a time / frequency control resource set in which to search for downlink control information, a time position of the one or more search spaces configured by a period and a start offset within the period, or some PDCCH candidates, where the radio terminal device monitors PDCCH candidates on the i-th CC after the search space configuration for the i-th CC. Similarly, the method may include the radio terminal device receiving any one of these configurations and / or indications from the radio access node.

[0008] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the first scheduling command may be transmitted on the i-th CC among the M CCs having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u, where, for operation under N i + 1 CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the radio terminal device is defined as M u , where M u is an integer greater than 0, and where N i + 1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

[0009] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes: a radio access node indicating to a radio terminal device a P i parameter to divide the monitored PDCCH candidate budget for the second scheduling command for P i + 1 CCs, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , where P i + 1 CCs include the i-th CC and P iFor the operation under the K-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M k = a k ·M u ; and for the operation under the (P + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = M u - ∑ i M i ; and where M u is the monitored PDCCH candidate budget for the i-th CC. Similarly, the method may include the wireless terminal device receiving these indications from the radio access node.

[0010] In some exemplary embodiments that can be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, a first scheduling command may be transmitted on the i-th CC having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u, where, for the operation under N i + 1 CCs, the maximum number of monitored non-overlapping control channel element (CCE) candidates per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as C u , where C u is an integer greater than 0, and where N i + 1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

[0011] In some exemplary embodiments that can be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes: the radio access node indicating a P i parameter to divide the non-overlapping CCE budget for a second scheduling command for P i + 1 CCs, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , where P i + 1 CCs include the i-th CC and P i other CCs among the M CCs, where, for the operation under the K-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as C k = a k ·C u , and for the operation under the (P + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = Cu -∑ k C k where C u is the non - overlapping CCE budget for the i - th CC. Similarly, the method may include the wireless terminal device receiving these indications from the radio access node.

[0012] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, a control channel element (CCE) index for a PDCCH candidate is determined based on a unified CC index, where the unified CC index is the CC index of the CC carrying the PDCCH, the CC index configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling, or the smallest CC index among the set of CCs that can be scheduled by the PDCCH monitored in the scheduling - side CC. In some exemplary embodiments, the downlink control information (DCI) having the same DCI format carried by the first scheduling command on the i - th CC is padded with zeros or ones at the end of each DCI to match the DCI bit length corresponding to the maximum DCI bit size of the DCI carried by the first scheduling command on the i - th CC.

[0013] In some exemplary embodiments that may be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, a reference sub - carrier spacing (SCS) configuration u is defined according to one of the following: the reference SCS configuration u is configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling; the smallest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; the largest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; among all M CCs configured, the SCS configuration of the CC in the PCell is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; or among all M CCs configured for the UE, the SCS configuration of the CC with the smallest CC index is determined as the reference SCS configuration u. In some exemplary embodiments, within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, at most one CC is configured with a PDCCH monitoring occasion. In some exemplary embodiments, the wireless terminal device is configured to: within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, monitor the PDCCH only on at most X CCs with smaller CC indices among the M CCs, where X is an integer based on the capabilities of the wireless terminal device, and where 1 ≤ X ≤ M.

[0014] In some exemplary embodiments that can be combined with any other exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the method further includes a wireless access node indicating a periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern to a wireless terminal device, and the wireless terminal device specifying the CCs of the PDCCH to be monitored based on the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern, wherein the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern is indicated by a bit sequence having X bits, where X is an integer greater than 1, and wherein each bit corresponds to a time slot for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration, and wherein the value of each bit of the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern indicates the target CCs on which the wireless terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH. Similarly, the method may include the wireless terminal device receiving such indications from the wireless access node.

[0015] In some other embodiments, a device for wireless communication, such as a network device, is disclosed. The network device mainly includes one or more processors and one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to read computer code from the one or more memories to implement any of the above methods. The device for wireless communication can be a wireless access node or a wireless terminal device.

[0016] In still some other embodiments, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer code stored thereon, and the computer code, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to implement any one of the above methods.

[0017] The above embodiments and other aspects and alternatives of their implementations are explained in more detail in the following drawings, description, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 A wireless access network with exemplary uplink, downlink, and control channel configurations is shown.

[0019] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 various example processing components of a wireless terminal device and a wireless access network node.

[0020] Figure 3A , 3B and 3C show example operations of known scheduling mechanisms.

[0021] Figure 4A , Figure 4B and Figure 4C show example scheduling configurations according to the new scheduling mechanism disclosed in various embodiments herein.

[0022] Figure 5 Illustrates an example operation of a new scheduling mechanism according to various embodiments.

[0023] Figure 6 Illustrates additional example operations of a new scheduling mechanism according to various embodiments. Detailed Description

[0024] The techniques and example embodiments and / or examples described in this disclosure can be used to facilitate radio resource allocation, configuration, and signaling in a wireless access network. The term "exemplary" is used to mean "an example of", and does not mean an ideal or preferred example, embodiment, or example unless otherwise stated. Section headings are used in this disclosure to facilitate understanding of the disclosed embodiments and are not intended to limit the techniques disclosed in the section to the corresponding section. The disclosed embodiments can be further embodied in various different forms, and thus, the scope of this disclosure or the claimed subject matter is intended to be interpreted as not limited to any of the embodiments set forth below. The various embodiments can be embodied as a method, device, component, system, or non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thus, the embodiments of this disclosure can take, for example, the form of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.

[0025] This disclosure relates to resource scheduling / signaling in wireless cellular access and, in particular, to a mechanism for a radio base station to schedule multiple component carriers within a wireless cellular access network for a user equipment (UE). The various example embodiments provide configuration and signaling such that a component carrier (CC) can schedule a channel or signal on itself or on another CC, and allow a channel or signal to be scheduled on that CC by itself or by a different CC. In this way, some or all of the CCs can schedule channels or signals on some or all of the other CCs. Thus, the flexibility is greatly increased, which can also lead to a reduction in scheduling delay and an increase in resource utilization efficiency.

[0026] Overview of Wireless Network

[0027] A wireless communication network can include a radio access network for providing network access to wireless terminal devices and a core network for routing data between access networks or between a wireless network and other types of data networks. In a wireless access network, radio resources are provided for allocating and for transmitting data and control information. Figure 1An exemplary radio access network 100 is shown, which includes a radio access network node (WANN) or radio base station 102 (referred to herein as a radio base station, base station, radio access node, radio access network node, or WANN) and radio terminal devices or user equipment (UE) 104 (referred to herein as user equipment, UE, terminal device, or radio terminal device) that communicate with each other via over-the-air (OTA) radio communication resources 106. The radio access network 100 can be implemented as, for example, a 2G, 3G, 4G / LTE, or 5G cellular radio access network. Accordingly, the base station 102 can be implemented as a 2G base station, 3G Node B, LTE eNB, or 5G New Radio (NR) gNB. The user equipment 104 can be implemented as a mobile or fixed communication device equipped with a mobile identity module for accessing the base station 102. The user equipment 104 can include, but is not limited to, mobile phones, laptops, tablets, personal digital assistants, wearable devices, distributed remote sensor devices, and desktop computers. Alternatively, the radio access network 100 can be implemented as other types of radio access networks, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiMax networks.

[0028] Figure 2 Further shown is Figure 1 example processing components of the WANN 102 and UE 104. For example, the UE 104 can include a transceiver circuit 206 coupled to one or more antennas 208 to enable wireless communication with the WANN 102 (or with other UEs). The transceiver circuit 206 can also be coupled to a processor 210, which can also be coupled to a memory 212 or other storage device. The memory 212 can be either temporary or non-temporary and can store computer instructions or code therein that, when read and executed by the processor 210, cause the processor 210 to implement various functions, methods, and processes described herein. Similarly, the WANN 102 can include a transceiver circuit 214 coupled to one or more antennas 216, which can include various forms of antenna towers 218, to enable wireless communication with the UE 104. The transceiver circuit 214 can be coupled to one or more processors 220, which can be further coupled to a memory 222 or other storage device. The memory 222 can be either temporary or non-temporary and can store instructions or code therein that, when read and executed by the one or more processors 220, cause the one or more processors 220 to implement various functions, methods, and processes of the WANN 102 described herein.

[0029] Wireless Communication Resource Scheduling / Signaling

[0030] Returning to Figure 1, the radio communication resources for the air interface 106 can include a combination of frequency, time, and / or space communication resources organized into various resource units or elements in frequency, time, and / or space. The radio communication resources 106 in the frequency domain can include a portion of a licensed radio frequency band, a portion of an unlicensed allocated band, or a portion that is a mixture of both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands. The radio communication resources 106 that can be used to carry wireless communication signals between the base station 102 and the user equipment 104 can be further divided into a physical downlink channel 110 for sending wireless signals from the base station 102 to the user equipment 104 and a physical uplink channel 120 for sending wireless signals from the user equipment 104 to the base station 102. The physical downlink channel 110 can also include a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 112 and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) 114. Similarly, the physical uplink channel 120 can also include a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) 122 and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) 124. For simplicity, Figure 1 other types of downlink and uplink channels are not shown in Figure 1 , but they are within the scope of the present disclosure. The control channels PDCCH 112 and PUCCH 122 can be used to carry control information in the form of control messages 116 and 126, which are referred to herein as downlink control information (DCI) messages or uplink control information (UCI) messages. The shared channels (shared between data and control information) PDSCH 114 and PUSCH 124 can be allocated and used to convey downlink data transmissions 118 and uplink data transmissions 128 between the base station 102 and the user equipment 104.

[0031] The allocation and configuration of radio communication resources associated with data channels such as PDSCH and PUSCH can be provided by one or more resource scheduler DCIs carried in the PDCCH. The PDCCH can be shared by multiple UEs in the access network. In various methods, a specific UE can be configured to perform a blind decoding process on a preconfigured UE-specific search space (USS) to detect and identify the payload of the resource scheduler DCI specific to the particular UE carried in the PDCCH. The blind decoding can be performed at a preconfigured monitoring occasion of the PDCCH associated with the USS. Such a monitoring occasion can be referred to as a set of PDCCH candidates. Each PDCCH candidate can be associated with a set of control channel elements (CCEs). The UE can specifically use its radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) to decode the PDCCH candidate. The RNTI can be used to demask the CRC of the PDCCH candidate. If no CRC error is detected, the UE determines that the PDCCH candidate carries its own control information. Then, the UE can process the DCI and extract the resource allocation information related to the PDSCH and / or PUSCH used for receiving and / or transmitting data.

[0032] Known Resource Scheduling Mechanisms

[0033] In existing New Radio (NR) systems, three different scheduling mechanisms are currently known and used. The first known scheduling mechanism is self-scheduling. The scheduling command (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information) carried by the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)) and the scheduled channel / signal (e.g., PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and CSI-RS (Channel State Information-Reference Signal)) are transmitted on the same CC (Component Carrier).

[0034] The second known scheduling mechanism is cross-carrier scheduling. The scheduling command and the scheduled channel / signal are transmitted on different CCs. In this case, a CC can only be a scheduling CC or a scheduled CC, but not both. For example, if CC A is configured as the scheduling CC, the PDCCH on CC A can schedule the scheduled channel / signal on itself or on another CC. The channel / signal on CC A can only be scheduled by itself because CC A is the scheduling CC, so it cannot be scheduled by other CCs. The CCs of the PCell (Primary Cell) in the MCG (Master Cell Group) and the PCell in the SCG (Secondary CellGroup), also known as the PSCell (Primary Secondary Cell), can only be configured as the scheduling CC and cannot be configured as the scheduled CC.

[0035] The third known scheduling mechanism is that the SCell (Secondary Cell) schedules the PCell (Primary Cell). This is an extension of cross-carrier scheduling. In this case, the scheduling commands on the CC of the SCell can schedule the channels / signals on its own CC or the CC of the PCell. The scheduling commands on the CC of the PCell can schedule the channels / signals on its own (i.e., the PCell). In this case, the scheduling commands on the CC of the PCell are not allowed to schedule the channels / signals on the SCell. In these examples, each cell includes one or more downlink carriers and / or one or more uplink carriers.

[0036] However, the above three known scheduling mechanisms limit the scheduling flexibility.

[0037] For example, for self-scheduling, the scheduling commands on one CC can only be used to schedule the channels / signals on the same CC. Refer to Figure 3A As an example, the PDCCHs on CC#1 and CC#2 can only be used to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on their respective CC#1 and CC#2. Even if there are some PDCCH resources on CC#2 (as shown in time slots 4 and 5), they cannot be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1.

[0038] For cross-carrier scheduling, the scheduling commands can only be configured on the scheduling CC. There are no PDCCH resources configured on the scheduled CC. Refer to Figure 3B As an example, CC#1 is the scheduling CC and CC#2 is the scheduled CC. Only the PDCCH on CC#1 can be used to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#1 and CC#2. Even if there are downlink time slots on CC#2 (e.g., time slots 4 and 5), it is not allowed to configure PDCCH resources in these time slots.

[0039] For SCell (Secondary Cell) scheduling PCell (Primary Cell), the PDCCH on the CC of the SCell is allowed to schedule the channels / signals on the CCs of the SCell and the PCell, while the PDCCH on the CC of the PCell can only be used to schedule the channels / signals on the PCell. Refer to Figure 3C As an example, CC#1 is on the SCell and CC#2 is on the PCell. The PDCCH on CC#1 can schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#1 and CC#2, but the PDCCH on CC#2 can only be used to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#2.

[0040] Note that in Figure 3AIn - C, the gap symbols between the DL time slot and the UL time slot are not depicted. In various methods, there may be multiple (e.g., 2) gap symbols after the DL symbol and before the UL symbol for DL - UL transition. The CCs can be classified as DL (downlink) carriers and UL (uplink) carriers for DL transmission and UL transmission, respectively. Figure 3A Each of CC#1 and CC#2 in - C includes one DL carrier and one UL carrier. In other embodiments, a carrier can refer to only one DL carrier or only one UL carrier.

[0041] Description of New Resource Scheduling Mechanism

[0042] As described above, according to the present disclosure, configurations are disclosed that enable a CC to schedule channels or signals on itself or on another CC and allow channels or signals on that CC to be scheduled by itself or by a different CC. In this way, some or all CCs can schedule channels or signals on some or all other CCs. This overcomes the limitations of the existing known mechanisms discussed above and increases flexibility, reduces scheduling latency, and improves resource utilization efficiency.

[0043] According to various embodiments, a method for scheduling multiple component carriers (CCs) performed by a radio access node 102 or by a UE 104 is disclosed. As part of this method, the base station 102 configures M CCs for the UE 104, where M is an integer and greater than 1. The UE receives this configuration from the base station 102. The scheduling command sent on the i - th CC among the M CCs can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on other N i CC sets among the M CCs, where N i is an integer and N i is greater than 0 and N i is less than M, and where i is an integer and 1 ≤ i ≤ M. In other words, all or some of the CCs in the group of M CCs for the UE104 can be used to schedule channels or signals on itself and on one or more other CCs in the group of M CCs.

[0044] Similarly, the channels / signals on the i - th CC can be scheduled by a scheduling command sent on itself and by scheduling commands sent on other P i CC sets, where P i is an integer and P i is greater than 0 and P i is less than M. In other words, all the channels or signals of some CCs in the group of M CCs for the UE 104 can be scheduled by itself and by one or more other CCs in the group of M CCs.

[0045] In various embodiments, each scheduling command can be used to schedule channels / signals on one or more component carriers (CCs). In some methods, N i can be equal to M - 1, which means that each CC is allowed to schedule channels / signals on itself and schedule channels / signals on all other CCs in a group of M CCs for UE 104. Similarly, in some methods, P i can be equal to M - 1, which means that channels / signals on each CC are allowed to be scheduled by a scheduling command on itself or by scheduling commands on all other CCs in a group of M CCs for UE 104. However, in other embodiments, N i and / or P i can be less than M - 1, such that each CC is allowed to schedule channels / signals on itself and schedule channels / signals on less than all other CCs in a group of M CCs, and such that channels / signals on each CC are allowed to be scheduled by a scheduling command on itself and by scheduling commands on less than all other CCs in a group of M CCs.

[0046] In one example, the base station 102 configures two CCs for UE 104. The scheduling commands sent in each CC can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the other CC. As Figure 4A shown, the arrows indicate the scheduling direction of the scheduling commands. The scheduling command on CC#1 402 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on CC#1 402 (as shown by arrow 410) and CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 406). The scheduling command on CC#2 404 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 412) and CC#1 402 (as shown by arrow 408). In this example, according to the variables discussed directly above, for both CC#1 402 and CC#2 404, M is equal to 2, N i is equal to 1 (i.e., N1 = 1 and N2 = 1), and for both CC#1 402 and CC#2 404, P i is equal to 1 (i.e., P1 = 1 and P2 = 1).

[0047] In another example, the base station 102 configures three CCs for UE 104. In a specific example, as Figure 4BAs shown, the scheduling command sent in the first CC 402 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the second CC 404. The scheduling command sent in the second CC 404 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the third CC 414. The scheduling command sent in the third CC 414 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the first CC 402. As Figure 4B shown in the example of Figure 4B , the scheduling command on CC#1 402 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on CC#1 402 (as shown by arrow 410) and CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 406). The scheduling command on CC#2 404 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 412) and CC#3 414 (as shown by arrow 418). The scheduling command on CC#3 414 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on CC#3 414 (as shown by arrow 420) and CC#1 402 (as shown by arrow 416). In this example, according to the variables discussed above, for CC#1 402, CC#2 404, and CC#3 414, M equals 3, N i equals 2, (i.e., N1 = 2, N2 = 2, and N3 = 2), and for CC#1 402, CC#2 404, and CC#3 414, P i equals 2, (i.e., P1 = 2, P2 = 2, and P3 = 2).

[0048] In another example, the base station 102 configures three CCs for the UE 104 in a different way such that as Figure 4C shown, the scheduling command sent in the first CC 402 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the second CC 404 or the third CC 414. The scheduling command sent in the second CC 404 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the third CC 414. The scheduling command sent in the third CC 414 can be used to schedule channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on the first CC 402 or the second CC 404. As Figure 4CAs shown in the example, the scheduling command on CC#1 402 is allowed to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1 402 (shown as arrow 410), CC#2 404 (shown as arrow 406), and CC#3 414 (shown as arrow 422). The scheduling command on CC#2 404 is allowed to schedule the channels / signals on CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 412) and CC#3 414 (as shown by arrow 418) (note that in this illustrative example, scheduling the channels / signals on CC#1 402 is not allowed). The scheduling command on CC#3 414 is allowed to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1 402 (as shown by arrow 416), CC#2 404 (as shown by arrow 424), and CC#3 414 (as shown by arrow 420). In this example, respectively, for CC#1 402, CC#2 404, and CC#3 420, according to the variables discussed above, M equals 3, N i equals 3, 2, and 3 (i.e., N1 = 3, N2 = 2, and N3 = 3), and respectively, for CC#1 402, CC#2 404, and CC#3 420, P i equals 2, 3, and 3 (i.e., P1 = 2, P2 = 3, and P3 = 3). Although three example configurations are disclosed herein, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and many different permutations or combinations of CC scheduling configurations are possible, and the present disclosure contemplates these permutations or combinations.

[0049] In various embodiments disclosed herein, the scheduling command may refer to a physical layer scheduling command for scheduling channels / signals (e.g., DCI carried by PDCCH) and a higher layer scheduling command (e.g., MAC-CE). The channels / signals refer to downlink and uplink channels / signals, e.g., PDSCH, CSI-RS, PUSCH, SRS. In some methods, CC refers to a downlink carrier and / or an uplink carrier. The scheduling command may be sent from the base station 102 to the UE 104 on a downlink carrier. For example, referring to Figure 5 , CC#1 includes one downlink carrier (D) and one uplink carrier (U). A CC may also include only a downlink carrier or only an uplink carrier. For example, a CC in an FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing) band may include only one downlink carrier, while a CC in a SUL (Supplementary Uplink) band may include only one downlink carrier. For example, referring to Figure 6, three CCs are configured, namely CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. CC#1 includes a downlink carrier (D), CC#2 includes a downlink carrier (D) and an uplink carrier (U), and CC#3 includes an uplink carrier (U). The PDCCH on CC#1 may be allowed to schedule the PDSCH on CC#1 and schedule the PUSCH on CC#2 and CC#3, and the PDCCH on CC#2 may be allowed to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#2 and schedule the PUSCH on CC#3. In various embodiments, a unit includes one or more CCs.

[0050] In various embodiments, if a CC includes only uplink carriers, it can only be scheduled by other CCs and not by itself. Similarly, in various embodiments, if a CC includes only uplink carriers, there are no scheduling commands sent on that CC.

[0051] In various embodiments, if the scheduling command on CC A can be used to schedule the channels or signals on CC B, then CC A is the scheduling CC for CC B, and CC B can be scheduled by CC A.

[0052] The scheduling mechanism for multiple CCs disclosed herein can reduce scheduling latency and improve the efficiency of resource utilization. For example, referring to Figure 5 , the PDCCH on CC#1 is allowed to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#1 and CC#2. The PDCCH on CC#2 is allowed to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#2 and CC#1. For example, when compared with the scheduling mechanism disclosed in Figure 3A -C (showing a known scheduling mechanism), the scheduling latency of the PUSCH in slot 5 on CC#1 is reduced in Figure 5 . At the same time, the resource utilization efficiency on CC#2 is improved because the PDCCH resources on CC#2 can be used to schedule the PDSCH / PUSCH on CC#2 and CC#1 (instead of being only for CC#2 as shown in Figure 3A and 3C ).

[0053] CC Configuration and Indication

[0054] According to various embodiments, methods for enabling a new scheduling mechanism and indicating which CCs are included in a scheduling configuration are disclosed. In various methods, a base station 102 indicates to a UE 104 to enable the new scheduling command, and indicates M CCs to the UE 104. The UE 104 may receive these indications from the base station 102. The M CCs may be indicated by corresponding CC indices. The scheduling command may indicate a CC index, and the scheduled channel / signal may be sent on the CC corresponding to the indicated CC index. The scheduling command sent on each of the M CCs may schedule a channel or signal on itself or on any other CC. In other words, all M CCs are the scheduling party CCs for each of the M CCs.

[0055] For example, the base station 102 may indicate the following radio resource configuration (RRC) to the UE: The RRC parameter EnablingCollaborativeScheduling may be used to indicate to the UE 104 to enable the new scheduling mechanism. The RRC parameter CCIndex may be used to indicate a CC index. An example of the RRC parameter EnablingCollaborativeScheduling is shown below.

[0056]

[0057]

[0058] As an illustrative example, for the new scheduling mechanism, three CCs with CC indices 1, 2, and 3 are indicated to the UE 104, where the scheduling command sent on the CC with index 1 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on the CCs with indices 1, 2, and 3. The scheduling command sent on the CC with index 2 is allowed to schedule channels / signals on the CCs with indices 1, 2, and 3. The scheduling command sent on CC3 is also allowed to schedule channels / signals on the CCs with indices 1, 2, and 3. In some embodiments, a DCI field (e.g., CIF (Carrier Indication Field)) in the scheduling party DCI may be used to indicate the target CC index of the scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH. For example, if the CIF in the DCI sent on the CC with index 2 is 1, the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by this DCI is sent on CC1.

[0059] In another method, the base station 102 may indicate to the UE 104 to enable a new scheduling mechanism, and may indicate to the UE 104 M CC indices and the corresponding scheduling party CCs. The UE 104 may receive these indications from the base station 102. In various examples, the base station 102 may not need to configure a CC as its own scheduling party CC. For example, by default, a CC itself may be used as its own scheduling party CC. In addition to itself, each CC may be configured with one or more scheduling party CCs. In this case, in order to schedule a channel / signal on a CC, the scheduling command may be sent only on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling party CCs for that CC. The scheduling command indicates the CC index, and the scheduled channel / signal is sent on the CC corresponding to the indicated CC index.

[0060] For example, in this method, the base station 102 may indicate the following RRC configuration to the UE 104: In various examples, the RRC parameter EnablingCollaborativeScheduling may be used to indicate to the UE 104 to enable this new scheduling mechanism. The scheduling party CC may be indicated by the RRC parameter CarrierIndex (carrier index). The scheduling party CCs for each CC may be configured by schedulingCarrierIndex. As an illustrative example, for the CC with index 1 (CC#1), the scheduling party CCs are configured as the CCs with indices 2 and 3 (i.e., CC#2 and CC#3). Thus, in order to schedule a channel / signal on CC#1, the scheduling command may be sent on itself (CC#1) as well as on CC#2 and CC#3. Continuing with this illustrative example, for CC#2, the scheduling party CC may be configured as CC#1. Thus, in order to schedule a channel / signal on CC#2, the scheduling command may be sent on itself (CC#2) and on CC#1. Still continuing with this illustrative example, for CC#3, the scheduling party CCs are configured as CC#1 and CC#2. Thus, in order to schedule a channel / signal on CC#3, the scheduling command may be sent on itself (CC#3) as well as on CC#1 and CC#2. Examples of the RRC parameter EnablingCollaborativeScheduling for each CC are shown below.

[0061] Example RRC configuration for CC#1:

[0062]

[0063] Example RRC configuration for CC#2:

[0064]

[0065] Example RRC configuration for CC#3:

[0066]

[0067] In another method, the base station 102 may configure M CCs for the UE 104. In a specific example, the base station 102 may configure the first CC as the scheduling CC for the second CC, the second CC as the scheduling CC for the third CC, and so on, and configure the (M−1)th CC as the scheduling CC for the Mth CC, and configure the Mth CC as the scheduling CC for the first CC. In this example, in order to schedule the channel / signal on the first CC, the scheduling command may be sent on itself and on the Mth CC. In order to schedule the channel / signal on the second CC, the scheduling command may be sent on itself and on the first CC, and so on.

[0068] In other words, the method may be understood as the base station 102 configuring the kth CC among the M CCs as the scheduling CC for the (k + 1)th CC among the M CCs (and the UE 104 receiving this configuration from the base station 102), where k is an integer and 1 ≤ k ≤ M−1; and configuring the Mth CC among the M CCs as the scheduling CC for the first CC among the M CCs. In order to schedule the channel or signal on each of the M CCs, the scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling CC for the CC.

[0069] In another specific example, if the base station 102 configures two CCs for the UE 104, the base station may configure the first CC as the scheduling CC for the second CC, and configure the second CC as the scheduling CC for the first CC. This configuration instructs the UE to enable this new scheduling mechanism. In this case, the scheduling commands sent on the first CC and the second CC are allowed to schedule the channel / signal on the first CC. The scheduling commands sent on the first CC and the second CC are allowed to schedule the channel / signal on the second CC.

[0070] For example, the base station 102 may indicate the following RRC configuration to the UE 104 by configuring the CC with index 2 (CC#2) as the scheduling CC for the CC with index 1 (CC#1), and configuring CC#1 as the scheduling CC for CC#2. In this way, in order to schedule the channel / signal on CC#1, the scheduling command may be sent on CC#1 and CC#2. In order to schedule the channel / signal on CC#2, the scheduling command may be sent on CC#1 and CC#2. In various embodiments, the existing RRC configuration of CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig may be utilized, and examples for each CC are provided below:

[0071] Example RRC configuration for CC#1

[0072]

[0073]

[0074] Example RRC Configuration for CC#2

[0075]

[0076] Search Space Set Configuration

[0077] In some methods, in order to utilize the disclosed new scheduling mechanism, multiple CCs may need to be configured with the same search space. In other words, if there is a search space with the same index configured on more than one CC, the PDCCH carried in the PDCCH candidates associated with the search space on each of these CCs can be used to schedule channels / signals on any of these CCs. In other words, this method can be understood as the base station 102 configuring the same search space index for the search space of the i-th CC and the N i th other CCs among the M CCs (and the UE 104 receives this configuration from the base station 102), where the first scheduling command is carried in the PDCCH candidates associated with the search space having the same search space index.

[0078] As an illustrative example, if CC#1 is configured as the scheduling CC for CC#2, and CC#2 is configured as the scheduling CC for CC#1, and a search space (SS#s) with index s is configured on CC#1, and another SS with index s is also configured on CC#2, then the PDCCH carried in the PDCCH candidates associated with the search space (SS#s) on CC#1 is used to schedule channels / signals on CC#1 and to schedule channels / signals on CC#2. Additionally, the PDCCH carried in the PDCCH candidates associated with the search space (SS#s) on CC#2 is used to schedule channels / signals on CC#1 and to schedule channels / signals on CC#2.

[0079] When monitoring the PDCCH in the PDCCH candidates associated with a search space on a CC, the UE 104 follows the search space configuration on that CC, regardless of whether the PDCCH is for scheduling channels / signals on that CC or on another CC. The search space configuration includes at least:

[0080] Associated control resource set for configuring the time / frequency control resource set for searching for downlink control information;

[0081] The temporal location of the search space, e.g., the temporal location of the search space configured by a period and a starting offset within the period; or

[0082] Some PDCCH candidates.

[0083] In an illustrative example, CC#1 and CC#2 are respectively configured as the scheduling CCs for CC#2 and CC#1. Two search spaces (i.e., SS#1 and SS#2) with indexes 1 and 2 are configured on CC#1. Two search spaces (i.e., SS#2 and SS#3) with indexes 2 and 3 are configured on CC#2. Since SS#2 is configured on both CC#1 and CC#2, the PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#2 on CC#1 can be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1 and CC#2. Similarly, the PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#2 on CC#2 can be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1 and CC#2. However, since SS#1 and SS#3 are respectively configured on CC#1 and CC#2, the PDCCHs monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#1 and SS#3 can only be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1 and CC#2 respectively. The PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#1 cannot be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#2. Similarly, the PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#3 cannot be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1.

[0084] In another method, the search spaces configured in each CC can be associated with one or more scheduled CCs. The PDCCH monitored in the PDCCH candidates associated with the search space can be used to schedule the channels / signals transmitted on one or more CCs associated with the search space. In other words, this method can be understood as the base station 102 indicating one or more search spaces of the i-th CC (and the UE 104 receiving this indication from the base station 102), where each of the one or more search spaces is associated with one or more CCs among the M CCs. The first scheduling command carried in the PDCCH candidates associated with the one or more search spaces schedules the channels or signals on one or more CCs associated with the search space.

[0085] As another illustrative example, CC#1 and CC#2 are respectively configured as the scheduling CCs for CC#2 and CC#1. Two search spaces with indexes 1 and 2 (i.e., SS#1 and SS#2) are configured on CC#1. If SS#1 is associated with CC#1 and SS#2 is associated with both CC#1 and CC#2, then the PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#1 can only be used to schedule the channels / signals on CC#1. However, the PDCCH monitored on the PDCCH candidates associated with SS#2 can be used to schedule the channels / signals on both CC#1 and CC#2.

[0086] Blind Detection (BD) and Control Channel Element (CCE) Budget

[0087] To reduce UE implementation complexity, the maximum number of PDCCH candidates monitored by UE 104 in the DL bandwidth part (BWP) with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u per time slot or per span for operations under a CC is defined. This is also referred to as the Blind Detection (BD) budget of the UE.

[0088] Similarly, for operations under a CC, the maximum number of non - overlapping CCEs (Control Channel Elements) of the DL BWP with an SCS configuration u that UE 104 is expected to monitor for corresponding PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span is defined, and it is considered as the CCE budget for the UE.

[0089] According to the embodiments disclosed above, the base station 102 can configure M CCs for UE 104, where M is an integer and M > 1, and the scheduling command sent on one CC can be used to schedule the channels / signals on itself and can be used to schedule the channels / signals on N other CCs among the M CCs, where N is an integer greater than 0 and less than M. In other words, the scheduling command sent on one CC can be used to schedule the channels / signals on N + 1 CCs among the M CCs. Each scheduling command can be used to schedule the channels / signals on one CC or multiple CCs.

[0090] If the scheduling command is sent on the i - th CC among the M CCs with an SCS configuration u, then for the operation under N i +1 CCs, the maximum number of PDCCH candidates monitored by UE 104 per time slot or per span can be defined as M u , where N i +1 CCs include the i - th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs. It is not expected that UE 104 monitors more than M on this scheduling CC per time slot or per span for UE 104u PDCCH candidates to schedule these N i +1 channels / signals on the CC. M u is an integer greater than 0 and can be defined according to UE capabilities.

[0091] Similarly, if the scheduling command is sent on the i-th CC among M CCs with SCS configuration u, then for N i +1 operations on the CC, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs that UE 104 is expected to monitor for the corresponding PDCCH candidates in each time slot or each span can be defined as C u . It is not expected that UE 104 monitors more than C u non-overlapping CCEs on this scheduling CC in each time slot or each span to schedule these N i +1 channels / signals on the CCE. C u is an integer greater than 0 and can also be defined according to UE capabilities.

[0092] In an alternative method, the base station 102 can configure M CCs for UE 104, where M is an integer and M > 1. The channel / signal on the i-th CC can be scheduled by a scheduling command sent on itself and by scheduling commands sent on a set of other P i CCs, where P i is an integer and P i > 0 and P i < M. In other words, the channel / signal on the i-th CC can be scheduled by P i +1 CCs, and P i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and the other P i CCs among the M CCs.

[0093] Since the channel / signal on a CC can be scheduled by commands sent on P i +1 CCs including itself (e.g., the i-th CC among the M CCs) and other P i CCs, the P i parameter (i.e., ) is indicated to UE 104 to divide the BD budget and the CCE budget, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i .

[0094] Alternatively, since the channel / signal on the CC can be scheduled by commands sent on P i +1 CCs including itself and P i other CCs, thus P is indicated to the UEi The parameter (i.e., ) is used to divide the BD budget and the CCE budget, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i .

[0095] If the scheduling channel / signal is transmitted on the i-th CC with the SCS configuration u, then for operation under the k-th CC, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the UE is defined as M k = a k · M u , where 1 ≤ k ≤ P. Additionally, for operation under the P i +1-th CC, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the UE is defined as M P+1 = M u - ∑ i M i , where 1 ≤ i ≤ P. Additionally, M i = 0 means that no PDCCH can be monitored on the i-th CC for scheduling the channel / signal on the CC. Additionally, M P+1 = 0 means that no PDCCH can be monitored on the P+1-th CC for scheduling the channel / signal on the CC. Additionally, M u is for operation under the CC with the SCS configuration u, and is the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the UE. If a i · M u is not an integer, then an upward rounding operation or a downward rounding operation can be performed on a i · M u , i.e.,

[0096] Moreover, for operation under the k-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or per span for the UE is defined as C k = a k · C u , and for operation under the P+1-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs per time slot or per span for the UE is defined as M P+1 = C u - ∑ k C k , where C u is the non-overlapping CCE budget for the i-th CC.

[0097] PDCCH Candidate Location

[0098] In various examples, the CCE index for a PDCCH candidate is based on the CC index of the scheduled CC. As described above, according to the new scheduling mechanism of the present disclosure, a scheduling command transmitted on one CC can be used to schedule a channel / signal on itself and can be used to schedule channels / signals on other N CCs out of M CCs, where N is an integer greater than 0 and less than M. In other words, a scheduling command transmitted on one CC can be used to schedule channels / signals on N + 1 CCs out of M CCs. However, if the CCE index of a PDCCH candidate on the scheduling CC is still based on the CC index of the scheduled CC, this increases the burden of PDCCH candidate detection for UE 104.

[0099] To alleviate this burden, in various embodiments, a unified CC index is used to determine the CCE index of a PDCCH candidate. In various methods, the unified CC index can be the CC index of the CC carrying the PDCCH, can be the CC index configured by Radio Resource Configuration (RRC) signaling, or can be the smallest CC index among the CCs schedulable by the PDCCH monitored in the scheduling CC.

[0100] For example, base station 102 configures M CCs for UE 104. The CCE index of the PDCCH candidate carrying the DCI for scheduling channels / signals on N + 1 CCs can be determined based on the same CC index n ci In some methods, this CC index n ci is the CC index configured by RRC signaling.

[0101] Downlink Control Information (DCI) Size

[0102] In some applications, the DCI carried by the PDCCH for scheduling channels / signals on different CCs may have different DCI bit sizes. To avoid the monitoring burden on the UE side, the following scheme is proposed.

[0103] For the DCI with the same DCI format carried by the PDCCH on a CC for scheduling channels / signals on N + 1 CCs, the maximum DCI bit size of these DCIs is X. Then, all DCIs with this DCI format carried by the PDCCH on the CC for scheduling channels / signals on these N + 1 CCs can be padded with 0 or 1 at the end of each DCI to align their DCI bit sizes with X. Return to Figure 5, as an example, if the DCI size of DCI format 0_1 for scheduling PUSCH on CC#1 carried by PDCCH on CC#1 is 80 bits, and the DCI size of DCI format 0_1 for scheduling PUSCH on CC#2 carried by PDCCH on CC#1 is 85 bits, then 5 bits of 0 or 1 are filled at the end of the DCI format 0_1 for scheduling PUSCH on CC#1 to align the DCI sizes of these two DCI format 0_1s.

[0104] In another example, the DCI with the same DCI format carried by the scheduling command on the i-th CC is filled with zeros or ones at the end of each DCI to match the DCI bit length corresponding to the maximum DCI bit size of the DCI carried by the scheduling command on the i-th CC.

[0105] PDCCH Monitoring Occasion

[0106] In various applications, different UEs have different PDCCH monitoring capabilities. Thus, a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration is defined. The following methods can be used to determine the reference SCS configuration u.

[0107] In the first method, the reference SCS configuration u is configured by RRC signaling.

[0108] In the second method, the minimum SCS configuration u among all M CCs configured for UE 104 is determined as the reference SCS configuration u. In this case, the slot length of the reference SCS configuration is the longest among all M CCs.

[0109] In the third method, the maximum SCS configuration u among all M CCs configured for UE 104 is determined as the reference SCS configuration. In this case, the slot length of the reference SCS configuration is the shortest among all M CCs.

[0110] In the fourth method, the SCS configuration u of the CC in the PCell among all M CCs configured for UE 104 is determined as the reference SCS configuration.

[0111] In the fifth method, the SCS configuration u of the CC with the smallest CC index among all M CCs configured for UE 1012 is determined as the reference SCS configuration.

[0112] As long as the base station 102 and the UE 104 have the same understanding of the reference SCS configuration, the above five methods are all feasible. To adapt to different UE capabilities, the following three alternative solutions are disclosed.

[0113] In a first alternative, a reference SCS configuration is defined. During the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration, at most one CC is allowed to be configured with a PDCCH monitoring occasion.

[0114] Referring to the third method discussed above as an example, if CC#1 is configured with an SCS of 15 KHz (u = 0) and CC#2 is configured with an SCS of 30 KHz (u = 1), then the SCS configuration of CC#2 will be determined as the reference SCS configuration, i.e., the SCS of 30 KHz (u = 1). In this case, during each time slot corresponding to the SCS of 30 KHz (i.e., 0.5 ms), at most one CC is allowed to be configured with a PDCCH monitoring occasion. For example, the PDCCH monitoring occasions on CC#1 and CC#2 can be configured on time slots with odd and even indices respectively.

[0115] In a second alternative, UE 104 may only need to monitor the PDCCH on at most X CCs during the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration, where X is an integer and 1 ≤ X ≤ M. X can be based on the UE capability. To reduce the UE PDCCH monitoring complexity, in various examples, X can be set to 1, which means UE 104 only needs to monitor the PDCCH on at most one CC during the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration.

[0116] If there are more than X CCs configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions during the duration of a time slot of the reference SCS configuration, the following two methods can be applied to determine how to monitor the PDCCH.

[0117] In the first method, UE 104 may only need to monitor the PDCCH on at most X CCs with smaller CC indices. For example, if three CCs are configured for UE 104 (e.g., with CC indices CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3), and all three CCs are configured with PDCCH occasions in a time slot of the reference SCS configuration, then if X is 2, UE 104 only needs to monitor the PDCCH on CC#1 and CC#2, where the CCs have smaller CC indices.

[0118] In the second method, UE 104 may only need to monitor the PDCCH on at most Y CCs with smaller SCS configuration u, where U is an integer and is determined such that and In other words, Y is not greater than X. For example, if four CCs are configured for UE 104 (e.g., CC#1 with SCS configuration u = 0, CC#2 with SCS configuration u = 0, CC#3 with SCS configuration u = 1, and CC#4 with SCS configuration u = 1), and all four CCs are configured with PDCCH occasions in one time slot of the reference SCS configuration, then if X is 3, UE 104 only needs to monitor the PDCCH on CC#1 and CC#2 because in this case U is equal to 0.

[0119] In a third alternative, the base station 102 indicates a periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern to the UE 104. The UE 104 determines the CCs on which to monitor the PDCCH based on the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern. The pattern can be indicated by a bit sequence having X bits. Each bit of the pattern can correspond to a time slot of the reference SCS configuration. Each bit value of the pattern can indicate the target CC on which the UE 104 needs to monitor the PDCCH. The period can be a time slot having the reference SCS configuration. It is desirable that T is an integer greater than 0.

[0120] Reference Figure 5 As an example, UE 104 is configured with two CCs (i.e., CC#1 and CC#2). UE 104 receives an indication of a periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern of "10001" from the base station 102. Each (i.e., ) bit corresponds to a time slot for the reference SCS configuration. In this example, the first bit value of 1 indicates that UE 104 needs to monitor the PDCCH on CC#2 during the first time slot (time slot 0) of the reference SCS configuration in each period. The last bit value of 1 indicates that UE 104 also needs to monitor the PDCCH on CC#2 during the last time slot (time slot 4) of the reference SCS configuration in each period. The other three bit values of 0 indicate that UE 104 needs to monitor the PDCCH on CC#1 during the second, third, and fourth time slots (time slots 1, 2, and 3) of the reference SCS configuration in each period. The period in this example is five time slots having the reference SCS configuration. The reference SCS configuration is the same as the SCS configurations of CC#1 and CC#2 in this example.

[0121] The above description and the accompanying drawings provide specific example embodiments and implementations. However, the described subject matter may be embodied in a variety of different forms, and thus, the subject matter covered or claimed is intended to be construed as not limited to any example embodiment set forth herein. The reasonably broad scope of the subject matter claimed or covered is intended. Among other things, for example, the subject matter may be embodied as a method, apparatus, component, system, or non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing computer code. Thus, an embodiment may take, for example, the form of hardware, software, firmware, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, the above method embodiments may be implemented by a component, device, or system including a memory and a processor by executing computer code stored in the memory.

[0122] Throughout the specification and the claims, terms may have nuanced meanings that go beyond the explicitly stated meanings, suggested or implied by the context. Similarly, as used herein, the phrase "in one embodiment / implementation / example / method" does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, and the phrase "in another embodiment / implementation / example / method" does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. For example, the claimed subject matter is intended to include, in whole or in part, combinations of example embodiments.

[0123] Generally, terms may be understood, at least in part, from their usage in context. For example, as used herein, terms such as "and", "or", or "and / or" may include a variety of meanings that may depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, if "or" is used to associate a list such as A, B, or C, it is intended to mean A, B, and C, used herein in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, used herein in an exclusive sense. Additionally, as used herein, the term "one or more" may, at least in part, depend on the context, be used to describe any feature, structure, or property in a singular sense, or may be used to describe a combination of features, structures, or properties in a plural sense. Similarly, terms such as "a", "an", or "the" may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, at least in part, depending on the context. Further, the term "based on" may be understood to not necessarily convey an exclusive set of factors, but may allow for the existence of additional factors that are not necessarily explicitly described again, at least in part, depending on the context.

[0124] References throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language do not mean that all features and advantages that can be achieved with the present solution should or are included in any single embodiment thereof. Instead, language referring to features and advantages is understood to mean that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present solution. Thus, the discussion of features and advantages throughout the specification and similar language may, but does not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

[0125] In addition, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the present solution can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Based on the description herein, those of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that the present solution can be practiced without one or more specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other cases, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present solution.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling multiple component carriers (CCs) performed by a radio access node, the method comprising: Configuring M CCs for a radio terminal device, where M is an integer greater than 1, Among them, a first scheduling command sent on the i-th CC among the M CCs schedules a channel or a signal on the i-th CC or at least one of N other CCs among the M CCs, where N i is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and where i is an integer and 1 ≤ i ≤ M, i ​ Among them, the channel or signal on the i-th CC is scheduled by a second scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC or on at least one of the P i other CCs among the M CCs, where P i is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and wherein each scheduling command schedules a channel or a signal on one or more of the M CCs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: N i is equal to M - 1.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: P i is equal to M - 1.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Each of the M CCs includes at least one of a downlink carrier or an uplink carrier.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Instructing the radio terminal device to enable scheduling for the M CCs; and Indicating the M CCs for which scheduling is enabled.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Instructing the radio terminal device to enable scheduling for the M CCs; and Indicating M CC indexes corresponding to the M CCs and corresponding scheduling party CCs for the M CCs, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling party CC for the CC.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Configuring the k-th CC among the M CCs as the scheduling party CC for the (k + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, where k is an integer and 1 ≤ k ≤ M - 1; and Configuring the M-th CC among the M CCs as the scheduling party CC for the first CC among the M CCs, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling party CC for the CC.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Search space indices that are the same for the search space configurations of the i-th CC and N i of the other CCs among the M CCs wherein the first scheduling command is carried in a PDCCH candidate associated with a search space having the same search space index.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Instructing the radio terminal device to indicate one or more search spaces for the i-th CC, wherein each of the one or more search spaces is associated with one or more of the M CCs, and wherein the first scheduling command carried in a PDCCH candidate associated with the one or more search spaces schedules a channel or a signal on the one or more CCs associated with the search space.

10. The method according to any one of claims 8 or 9, further comprising: Instructing the radio terminal device to indicate a search space configuration for the one or more search spaces, the search space configuration including at least one of the following items: An associated control resource set for configuring a time / frequency control resource set in which downlink control information is to be searched, A time position of the one or more search spaces configured by a period and a start offset within the period, or Some PDCCH candidates.

11. The method according to claim 1, Among them, The first scheduling command is transmitted on the i-th CC among the M CCs having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u. Among them, for N i +1 CC operations, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span of the wireless terminal device is defined as M u , where M u is an integer greater than 0, and Among them, the N i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Indicate P to the wireless terminal device i parameters for P i divide the monitored PDCCH candidate budget by the second scheduling command for P + 1 CCs, where and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , Among them, the P i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and P i other CCs among the M CCs, Among them, for the operation under the Kth CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span by the wireless terminal device is defined as M k = a k ·M u and For operations under the (P + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = M u - ∑ i M i and Among them, M u is the monitored PDCCH candidate budget for the i-th CC.

13. The method according to claim 1, Among them, The first scheduling command is transmitted on the i-th CC having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u. Among them, for N i +1 CC operations, the maximum number of monitored non-overlapping control channel element (CCE) candidates per time slot or per span by the wireless terminal device is defined as C u , where C u is an integer greater than 0, and Among them, the N i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Indicate P to the wireless terminal device i parameter for P i divide the non - overlapping CCE budget with the second scheduling command for P + 1 CCs, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , Among them, the P i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and P i other CCs among the M CCs. Among them, for operations under the K-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in each time slot or each span for the wireless terminal device is defined as C k = a k · C u and For operations under the (P + 1)-th CC out of the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in each time slot or each span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = C u - ∑ k C k , where C u is the non-overlapping CCE budget for the i-th CC.

15. The method according to claim 1, Among them, Determine a control channel element (CCE) index for a PDCCH candidate based on a unified CC index, where the unified CC index is one of the following: The CC index of the CC carrying the PDCCH; The CC index configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling; or The smallest CC index among the set of CCs that can be scheduled by the PDCCH monitored in the scheduling party CC.

16. The method according to claim 1, Among them, The downlink control information (DCI) having the same DCI format carried by the first scheduling command on the i-th CC is padded with zeros or ones at the end of each DCI to match the DCI bit length corresponding to the maximum DCI bit size of the DCI carried by the first scheduling command on the i-th CC.

17. The method according to claim 1, Among them, The reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u is defined according to one of the following: The reference SCS configuration u is configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling; The smallest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; The largest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; Among all M CCs configured, the SCS configuration of the CC in the PCell is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; or Among all M CCs configured for the UE, the SCS configuration of the CC with the smallest CC index is determined as the reference SCS configuration u.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 and 17, wherein Within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, at most one CC is configured with a PDCCH monitoring occasion.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 and 17, Among them, The wireless terminal device is configured to: within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, monitor the PDCCH only on at most X CCs among the M CCs having a smaller CC index, where X is an integer based on the capabilities of the wireless terminal device, and where 1 ≤ X ≤ M.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 and 17, further comprising: Indicate a periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern to the wireless terminal device, and the wireless terminal device determines the CCs on which to monitor the PDCCH based on the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern, wherein the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern is indicated by a bit sequence having X bits, where X is an integer greater than 1, wherein each of the periodic PDCCH monitoring patterns bit corresponds to a time slot for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration, and Among them, each bit value indicates the target CC on which the wireless terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH.

21. A method for scheduling for multiple component carriers performed by a wireless terminal device, the method comprising: Receive configurations of M CCs for the wireless terminal device from a radio access node, where M is an integer greater than 1, Among them, a first scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC among the M CCs schedules a channel or a signal on the i-th CC or at least one of N other CCs among the M CCs, where N i is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and where i is an integer and 1 ≤ i ≤ M, i ​ Among them, the channel or signal on the i-th CC is scheduled by a second scheduling command transmitted on the i-th CC or on at least one of P other CCs among the M CCs, where P i is an integer greater than 0 and less than M, and i ​ wherein each scheduling command schedules a channel or a signal on one or more of the M CCs.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: N i is equal to M - 1.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein: P i is equal to M - 1.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein: Each of the M CCs includes at least one of a downlink carrier or an uplink carrier.

25. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receiving an indication from the radio access node for enabling scheduling for the M CCs; and Receiving an indication of the M CCs for which scheduling is enabled from the radio access node.

26. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receiving an indication from the radio access node for enabling scheduling for the M CCs; and Receiving an indication of M CC indices corresponding to the M CCs and an indication of corresponding scheduling party CCs for the M CCs from the radio access node, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling party CC for the CC.

27. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receiving a configuration of the k-th CC among the M CCs as a scheduling party CC for the (k + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, where k is an integer and 1 ≤ k ≤ M - 1; and Receiving a configuration of the M-th CC among the M CCs as a scheduling party CC for the first CC among the M CCs, wherein, in order to schedule a channel or a signal on each of the M CCs, a scheduling command is sent on the CC itself or on the corresponding scheduling party CC for the CC.

28. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receive the configuration of the same search space index for the search space of the N i other CCs among the i-th CC and the M CCs, wherein the first scheduling command is carried in a PDCCH candidate associated with a search space having the same search space index.

29. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receiving an indication of one or more search spaces for the i-th CC from the radio access node, wherein each of the one or more search spaces is associated with one or more of the M CCs, and wherein the first scheduling command carried in a PDCCH candidate associated with the one or more search spaces schedules a channel or a signal on the one or more CCs associated with the search space.

30. The method according to any one of claims 28 or 29, further comprising: Receiving an indication of a search space configuration including at least one of the following items from the radio access node: An associated control resource set for configuring a time / frequency control resource set in which downlink control information is to be searched, A time position of the one or more search spaces configured by a periodicity and a start offset within the periodicity, or Some PDCCH candidates, Among them, the wireless terminal device monitors the PDCCH candidates on the i-th CC after the search space configuration for the i-th CC.

31. The method according to claim 21, Among them, The first scheduling command is sent on the i-th CC among the M CCs with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u. Among them, for N i +1 CC operations, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span by the wireless terminal device is defined as M u , where M u is an integer greater than 0, and Among them, the N i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

32. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receive P from the wireless access node i Indications of parameters (a1, a2, …, a P ) to divide the monitored PDCCH candidate budget for the second scheduling command for P i +1 CCs, where And k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , Among them, the P i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and the P i other CCs among the M CCs, Among them, for the operation under the Kth CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span of the wireless terminal device is defined as M k = a k ·M k and For operation under the (P + 1)-th CC out of the M CCs, the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates per time slot or per span by the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = M u - ∑ i M i , and where M u is the monitored PDCCH candidate budget for the i-th CC.

33. The method according to claim 21, Among them, The first scheduling command is sent on the i-th CC with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u. Among them, for N i +1 CC operations, the maximum number of monitored non-overlapping control channel element (CCE) candidates per time slot or per span by the wireless terminal device is defined as C u , where C u is an integer greater than 0, and Among them, the N i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and N i other CCs among the M CCs.

34. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receive P from the wireless terminal device i parameter of the indication to divide the non-overlapping CCE budget for the second scheduling command of the P i +1 CCs, where 0 ≤ a k ≤ 1, and k is an integer, where 1 ≤ k ≤ P i , Among them, the P i +1 CCs include the i-th CC and P i other CCs among the M CCs, Among them, for operations under the K-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in each time slot or each span of the wireless terminal device is defined as C k = a k ·C u and For operations under the (P + 1)-th CC among the M CCs, the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in each time slot or each span for the wireless terminal device is defined as M P+1 = C u - ∑ k C k , where C u is the non-overlapping CCE budget for the i-th CC.

35. The method according to claim 21, Among them, Determine the control channel element (CCE) index for the PDCCH candidate based on a unified CC index, where the unified CC index is one of the following: The CC index of the CC carrying the PDCCH; The CC index configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling; or The smallest CC index among the set of CCs that can be scheduled by the PDCCH monitored in the scheduling party CC.

36. The method according to claim 21, Among them, The downlink control information (DCI) with the same DCI format carried by the first scheduling command on the i-th CC is padded with zeros or ones at the end of each DCI to match the DCI bit length corresponding to the maximum DCI bit size of the DCI carried by the first scheduling command on the i-th CC.

37. The method according to claim 21, Among them, The reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration u is defined according to one of the following: The reference SCS configuration u is configured by radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling; The smallest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; The largest SCS configuration u among all M CCs is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; Among all the configured M CCs, the SCS configuration of the CC in the PCell is determined as the reference SCS configuration u; or Among all the M CCs configured for the UE, the SCS configuration of the CC with the smallest CC index is determined as the reference SCS configuration u.

38. The method according to any one of claims 21 and 37, Among them, Within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, at most one CC is configured with a PDCCH monitoring occasion.

39. The method according to any one of claims 21 and 37, further comprising: Within the duration of each time slot of the reference SCS configuration u, monitor the PDCCH on at most X CCs with smaller CC indices among the M CCs, where X is an integer based on the capabilities of the wireless terminal device, and where 1 ≤ X ≤ M.

40. The method according to any one of claims 21 and 37, further comprising: Receive an indication of a periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern from the radio access node to the wireless terminal device, the indication specifying the CCs on which to monitor the PDCCH based on the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern. Wherein, the periodic PDCCH monitoring pattern is indicated by a bit sequence having X bits, where X is an integer greater than 1. wherein each of the periodic PDCCH monitoring patterns bit corresponds to a time slot for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration, and Wherein, each of the bit values indicates a target CC on which the wireless terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH.

41. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising a processor configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 40.

42. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code stored thereon, the code causing the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 40 when executed by the processor.

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