Multislot transmission in sbfd operation

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for multi-slot transmission in SBFD operation are described. Some embodiments include an indication that the UE receiving the multi-slot transmission from a network node should be any of the following: restricted to SBFD or non-SBFD time slots; or transmission can be performed across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. Further steps may include: performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the indication, and the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: receiving PDSCH transmission on the multi-slot time slots; transmitting PUSCH transmission on the multi-slot time slots; and transmitting PUCCH transmission on the multi-slot time slots.

Description

[0001] Cross-referencing of relevant information This application claims the benefit of U.S. priority application 63 / 555,324, filed February 19, 2024, entitled “MultipleSlot Transmission in SBFD Operation”. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to apparatus and methods for performing multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operations. Background Technology

[0003] The New Radio (NR) standard in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is designed to provide services for a variety of use cases, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), and machine-type communications (MTC). Each of these services has different technical requirements. For example, the general requirement for eMBB is high data rates with medium latency and medium coverage, while URLLC services require low latency and high reliability transmission, but may have medium data rates. Figure 1 An example radio resource in NR is shown.

[0004] In Rel-15 NR, a UE can configure up to four carrier bandwidth portions in the downlink, with a single downlink carrier bandwidth portion active at any given time. Similarly, a UE can configure up to four carrier bandwidth portions in the uplink, with a single uplink carrier bandwidth portion active at any given time.

[0005] According to the current protocol, NR time slots consist of several orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, either 7 or 14 symbols (OFDM subcarrier spacing ≤ 60 kHz) or 14 symbols (OFDM subcarrier spacing > 60 kHz). Figure 2 The diagram shows NR time slots with 14 OFDM symbols. Figure 2 middle, and These represent the time slot and the OFDM symbol duration, respectively. Figure 2 The NR time slot is shown.

[0006] FDD and TDD systems Transmissions and receptions from nodes (such as terminals in a cellular system) can be multiplexed in the frequency domain or the time domain (or a combination thereof). For example... Figure 3 The Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) shown on the left means that downlink and uplink transmissions occur in different, fully separated frequency bands. For example... Figure 3As shown on the right, Time Division Duplex (TDD) means that downlink and uplink transmissions occur in different non-overlapping time slots. Therefore, TDD can operate in unpaired spectrum, while FDD requires paired spectrum. Figure 3 Frequency division duplex and time division duplex are shown.

[0007] Typically, the structure of signals transmitted in a communication system is organized in the form of a frame structure. For example, NR uses ten time slots of equal size in each radio frame, such as... Figure 4 The following is an example of a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing. Figure 4 The uplink / downlink time / frequency structure is shown in FDD or TDD scenarios.

[0008] In the case of FDD operation ( Figure 4 The upper part has two carrier frequencies, one for uplink transmission (f UL ), one for downlink transmission (f DL At least for terminals in cellular communication systems, FDD can be full-duplex or half-duplex. In full-duplex mode, a terminal can transmit and receive simultaneously, while in half-duplex operation, a terminal cannot transmit and receive simultaneously (although the base station can receive / transmit simultaneously, for example, receiving from one terminal and transmitting to another). In Long Term Evolution (LTE), half-duplex terminals monitor / receive in the downlink unless explicitly instructed to transmit in a particular subframe.

[0009] In the case of TDD operation ( Figure 4 In a TDD system (the lower part of the cell), there is only a single carrier frequency, and uplink and downlink transmissions are always time-separated on a cell-by-cell basis. Because the same carrier frequency is used for both uplink and downlink transmissions, both the base station and the mobile terminal need to switch from transmission to reception, and vice versa. A fundamental aspect of any TDD system is the possibility of providing a sufficiently large guard time during which neither downlink nor uplink transmissions occur. This is necessary to avoid interference between uplink and downlink transmissions. For NR, this guard time is provided by special subframes, which are divided into three parts: symbols for DL, a guard period (GP), and symbols for uplink. The remaining subframes are allocated to either uplink or downlink transmissions.

[0010] More specifically, the following two information elements are defined in the current specification. TDD mode is typically configured with at least a first IE and an optional second IE: TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon (Specific to this residential community) TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated (UE-specific).

[0011] The first IE is cell-specific (common to all UEs) and is provided by broadcast signaling. It provides the number of slots in TDD mode via reference subcarrier spacing and periodicity, causing the S-slot mode to repeat every S slots. This IE allows for very flexible mode configuration, characterized as follows: From parameters nDownlinkSlots The number of full downlink slots at the start of the configured mode From parameters nUplinkSlots The number of full uplink time slots at the end of the configured mode From parameters nDownlinkSymbols Number of downlink (“D”) symbols after the configured full downlink time slot From parameters nUplinkSlots The number of uplink (“U”) symbols prior to the configured full downlink time slot If there is a gap between the last downlink symbol and the first uplink symbol, all symbols in the gap are characterized as flexible (“F”). Symbols classified as “F” can be used for either the downlink or uplink. The UE uses one of two methods to determine direction: a. Detecting downlink control information (DCI) that schedules / triggers DL signals / channels (e.g., Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS)) or schedules / triggers uplink (UL) signals / channels (e.g., Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Sound Reference Signal (SRS), etc.). b. Through IE TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated This is a dedicated (UE-specific) signaling parameter. It covers some or all of the "F" symbols in the mode, thus providing a semi-static indication of whether a symbol is classified as "D" or "U". Optionally, a second mode cascaded to the first mode can be configured as described above. If a second mode is configured, the constraint is that the sum of the periods of the two modes must be divisible by 20 ms.

[0012] Figure 5 An exemplary TDD DL / UL mode configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon is shown. It includes three all-D time slots, one all-U time slot, and a mixed time slot in between consisting of four "D" symbols and three "U" symbols. The remaining seven symbols in the mixed time slot are classified as "F". Figure 5As shown, an exemplary TDD DL / UL mode includes S = 5 time slots. TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon Configure a specific mode for the community. TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated (If provided) The UE may specifically configure the orientation of some or all of the “F” symbols in a cell-specific mode.

[0013] If the UE is not configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated, the pattern at the top of the diagram is the assumed pattern. As mentioned above, the network can flexibly utilize the "F" symbol by scheduling / triggering uplink or downlink signals / channels in a UE-specific manner. This allows for very dynamic behavior: the UE is unaware of the direction beforehand; conversely, the direction becomes known once the UE detects that a specific DL or UL signal / channel has been scheduled / triggered by the DCI.

[0014] Conversely, by configuring the UE with TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated via RRC, the DL / UL direction of some or all “F” symbols in a specific time slot can be provided to the UE in a semi-static manner. Figure 5 The lower part shows three exemplary configurations for overlaying “F” symbols in slot 3. If the IE indicates “all downlink” or “all uplink” for a specific slot (or multiple slots), all “F” symbols in that slot are converted to “D” or “U”, respectively. If the IE indicates “explicit”, multiple symbols at the beginning of the slot and / or at the end of the slot are indicated as “D” and “U”, respectively. In the example below, the first 7 and the last 5 are indicated as “D” and “U”, which converts some “F” symbols (but not all of them in this example) to “D” and “U”.

[0015] The key behavior mentioned above is UE-specific IE. TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated Only coverage (i.e., specifying "D" or "U") can be achieved by cell-specific IEs. TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon The symbol is configured as "F". In other words, the UE does not expect the "D" symbol to be converted to "U", and vice versa.

[0016] Figure 6 It shows the result of TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon Three additional exemplary TDD DL / UL modes are configured. In the first and second modes, there is no "F" symbol, therefore, according to the current behavior in the Rel-17 specification, the UE will not expect to be configured with this feature. TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated In the second mode, all symbols in slots 1, 2, and 3 are configured as "F"; therefore, the UE can be configured as follows: TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated This provides direction (“D” or “U”) for any or all symbols in these three time slots. Note that the current (Rel-17) specification allows for dedicated configuration of the TDD mode on a time slot-specific basis. In other words, TDD-DL-UL-ConfigDedicated It is not limited to the same in every time slot where the "F" symbol is covered.

[0017] Sub-belt full-duplex As mentioned in the previous section, in traditional TDD systems, all carriers across the entire carrier bandwidth or within the same frequency band need to utilize the same DL transmission or UL reception direction. This is in Figure 7 The text further illustrates that, Figure 7 This illustrates a conventional TDD carrier or carrier system.

[0018] For the Rel-18 evolution of NR systems, 3GPP has decided to study the technical feasibility and potential benefits of sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) systems.

[0019] In such a system, a portion of the wide-bandwidth carrier can be used in a direction different from the rest of the carrier. This is in Figure 8 The left side is shown. That is to say, as shown... Figure 7 Unlike the traditional TDD system shown on the left (where the entire bandwidth is used for DL ​​transmission in the first three time slots), the central portion of the SBFD carrier is used for UL reception, while the remaining portion of the carrier continues to be used for DL ​​transmission, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown on the left.

[0020] Similarly, such as Figure 8 As shown on the right, some carriers in an SBFD system can be used in directions different from other carriers, rather than as... Figure 7 As shown on the right, in a traditional TDD system, all carriers are used for the same DL or UL direction.

[0021] In the 3GPP Rel-18 study, the range was limited, meaning that in SBFD operations, only the gNB could simultaneously transmit DL and receive UL. A single UE was scheduled in only one direction (DL or UL) at a time. Figure 6 A sub-band full-duplex system is shown.

[0022] Current UE process for determining symbol type The current UE procedure for determining the symbol type is provided in Section 11.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213. A portion of the procedures and symbol definitions related to this disclosure are reproduced below: The time slot format includes downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and flexible symbols. The following applies to each serving cell. If UE is provided tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon Then the UE is as follows tdd-UL-DL- ConfigurationCommon The time slot format is set for each of the multiple time slots indicated. tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon supply: a. through referenceSubcarrierSpacing Reference SCS configuration b. pattern1 . pattern1 supply: a. pass dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity of Millisecond time slot configuration period b. pass nrofDownlinkSlots The number of time slots with only downlink symbols c. pass nrofDownlinkSymbols Number of downlink symbols d. pass nrofUplinkSlots The number of time slots containing only uplink symbols e. pass nrofUplinkSymbols Number of uplink symbols P The value of 0.625 milliseconds only applies to... = 3、 = 5 or = 6 is valid. P The value of 1.25 milliseconds only applies to... = 2、 = 3、 = 5 or = 6 is valid. P The value of 2.5 milliseconds only applies to... = 1、 = 2、 = 3、 = 5 or = 6 is valid. P = The value of 10 milliseconds only applies to = 0、 = 1、 = 2、 = 3 or = 5 is valid. PThe millisecond time slot configuration period includes those with SCS configuration. of Each time slot. From S In each time slot, the previous Each time slot includes only downlink symbols, and finally... Each time slot includes only uplink symbols. After one time slot The last symbol is the downlink symbol. Before the time slot The first symbol is the uplink symbol. The remaining ones... It is a flexible symbol. Each The first symbol of the cycle is the first symbol in an even-numbered frame. if tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon supply pattern1 and pattern2 Both, then UE in such a way pattern1 The time slot format is set for each time slot on the first number of time slots indicated, and the UE is configured as follows: pattern2 The time slot format is set for each time slot on the second number of time slots indicated. pattern2 supply: a. pass dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity of Millisecond time slot configuration period b. pass nrofDownlinkSlots The number of time slots with only downlink symbols c. pass nrofDownlinkSymbols Number of downlink symbols d. pass nrofUplinkSlots The number of time slots containing only uplink symbols e. pass nrofUplinkSymbols Number of uplink symbols Applicable values ​​and The applicable values ​​are the same. The millisecond time slot configuration period includes the first One time slot and the second Each time slot. from In each time slot, the previous Each time slot includes only downlink symbols, and finally... Each time slot includes only uplink symbols. After one time slot The last symbol is the downlink symbol. Before the time slot The first symbol is the uplink symbol. The remaining ones... It is a flexible symbol. UE expectations Divide by 20 milliseconds. Each The first symbol of the cycle is the first symbol in an even-numbered frame.

[0023] Multi-slot transmission 3GPP NR Rel-16 supports PDSCH and PUSCH repetition in multiple consecutive time slots, subject to scheduling constraints imposed by public or private TDD configurations and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmissions. The number of consecutive time slots is determined by the Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) configuration in the RRC and the TDRA indicator in the scheduling DCI. The same frequency and time domain resource allocations are used for the entire repetition timing. Multiple PDSCH and PUSCH timings carry the same user data but with different redundant versions. Furthermore, to address the issue of too many PUSCH repetitions being canceled due to conflicts with DL time slots (in typical TDD scenarios with high DL-UL time slot ratios), Rel-17 introduced an available time slot counting mechanism for PUSCH repetition type A, allowing indication of whether PUSCH repetitions should be counted based on consecutive physical time slots or available UL time slots. PDSCH and PUSCH repetition is supported by dynamically scheduled and configured transmissions (i.e., SPS (Semi-Persistent Scheduling) PDSCH and CG (Configuration Granting) PUSCH).

[0024] Furthermore, in PUSCH TBoMS (Transport Blocks on Multiple Time Slots) introduced in Rel-17, a single TB is transmitted across multiple time slots. Its Transport Block Size (TBS) is determined based on all allocated REs in these time slots and is no larger than the maximum size of a code block. TBoMS uses a similar time-domain and frequency-domain resource allocation as PUSCH repetition type A, meaning that the same UL symbols and the same number of PRBs are allocated across time slots in the TBoMS. TBoMS can be used in conjunction with PUSCH repetition when the number of repetitions appears in the row indicated by the configured time-domain resource allocation table, producing N*K PUSCH transmission opportunities (K is the number of repetitions, and N is the number of time slots per PUSCH transmission). TBoMS can also be used with available time slot counting. When available time slot counting is enabled, TBoMS transmits only in UL time slots determined based on public and / or private TDD configurations and SSB transmissions.

[0025] Support for multi-slot PDSCH or PUSCH transmission is an optional configuration, and not all UEs support this capability. If a UE supports this capability, this should be communicated to the network via the corresponding information element in the UECapabilityInformation.

[0026] Several challenges exist. For NR, the aggregation of multiple time slots with transport block repetition for PDSCH and PUSCH support is required. When a UE is scheduled to repeatedly receive / transmit PDSCH / PUSCH, the UE should receive / transmit multiple PDSCH / PUSCH transmission opportunities for the same transport block across a specific number of consecutive time slots or available time slots. In SBFD operation, PDSCH / PUSCH transmission opportunities can be mapped to one or more time slots with traditional DL / UL symbols and one or more DL / UL subbands within the SBFD time slots. The 3GPP specification needs to be enhanced to define network and UE behavior for PDSCH and PUSCH repetition in SBFD operation. Summary of the Invention

[0027] Certain embodiments of this disclosure can provide systems and methods for multi-slot transmission operation with a variety of technical advantages. For example, for a UE with SBFD capability, some embodiments allow aggregation of multiple time slots with multi-slot transmissions of PDSCH and PUSCH for SBFD operation. This technical capability is useful for SBFD because both PDSCH and PUSCH can be victims of DL-to-UL and UL-to-DL cross-link interference (CLI), which can negatively impact DL and UL performance. Aggregation of multiple time slots with transport block repetition enhances link reliability, and TBoMS enhances UL coverage, and can improve latency performance as well as reliability and UL coverage.

[0028] One embodiment of this disclosure includes a method performed by a UE for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operation. The steps include: receiving an indication from a network node that the multi-slot transmission is any of the following: restricted to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or transmitted across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. A further step includes: performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the indication, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: receiving one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; transmitting one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and transmitting PUCCHs on multiple time slots.

[0029] Another possible method embodiment of this disclosure is a method performed by a network node for performing one or more multi-slot transmissions in SBFD operation. The steps include: transmitting to the UE an indication that the multi-slot transmission is any of the following: restricted to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or transmitted across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. The steps also include: performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the indication, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: transmitting one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; receiving one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and receiving one or more PUCCH transmissions on multiple time slots.

[0030] Another embodiment of this disclosure includes a UE for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operation. The UE includes processing circuitry and a memory. The memory stores instructions, thereby enabling the processing circuitry to perform the following steps: receiving an instruction from a network node that the multi-slot transmission is either restricted to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or transmitted across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. A further step includes performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the instruction, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: receiving one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; transmitting one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and transmitting one or more PUCCH transmissions on multiple time slots.

[0031] Another embodiment of this disclosure includes a network node for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operation. The network node includes processing circuitry and a memory. The memory stores instructions, thereby enabling the processing circuitry to perform the following steps: transmitting a multi-slot transmission to the UE that is any of the following: restricted to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or transmitted across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. A further step includes: performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the instructions, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: transmitting one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; receiving one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and receiving one or more PUCCH transmissions on multiple time slots.

[0032] This overview is provided to present, in a simplified form, a selection of concepts that will be further described in the detailed description below. This overview is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to serve as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter. Attached Figure Description

[0033] To gain a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is now made to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 An example radio resource in NR is shown; Figure 2 The NR time slot is shown; Figure 3 Frequency division duplex and time division duplex are shown; Figure 4 The uplink / downlink time / frequency structure is shown in FDD or TDD scenarios; Figure 5 An exemplary TDD DL / UL mode consisting of S = 5 time slots is shown; Figure 6 Three additional exemplary cell-specific TDD DL / UL modes are shown (a), (b), and (c); Figure 7 This illustrates a conventional TDD carrier or carrier system; Figure 8 This illustrates a sub-band full-duplex system; Figure 9 A flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to this disclosure is shown; Figure 10 A flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to this disclosure is shown; Figure 11 This illustrates PDSCH repetition in SBFD or non-SBFD time slots; Figure 12The PDSCH repetition is shown in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots; Figure 13 TBoMS in SBFD or non-SBFD time slots are shown; Figure 14 The TBoMS in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots are shown; Figure 15 A flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to this disclosure is shown; Figure 16 A flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to this disclosure is shown; Figure 17 A flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to this disclosure is shown; Figure 18 A schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication system according to the present disclosure is shown; Figure 19 A schematic diagram of a user equipment embodiment according to the present disclosure is shown; Figure 20 A schematic diagram of a network node embodiment according to the present disclosure is shown; Figure 21 A schematic diagram of a host embodiment according to the present disclosure is shown; Figure 22 A schematic diagram of an embodiment of a virtualization environment according to the present disclosure is shown; and Figure 23 A schematic representation of an embodiment of communication between nodes, hosts, and user equipment according to this disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0034] Before describing the various embodiments of this disclosure in detail, it should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the parameters of the specifically illustrated systems, methods, devices, products, processes, and / or kits, which can, of course, vary. Therefore, although certain embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to specific configurations, parameters, components, elements, etc., these descriptions are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed embodiments. Furthermore, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments and is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments.

[0035] Several challenges exist. For PDSCH and PUSCH in NR, aggregation of multiple time slots with transport block repetition is supported. In SBFD operation, PDSCH / PUSCH transmission timing can be mapped to time slots with traditional DL / UL symbols and one or more DL / UL subbands within the SBFD time slots. The 3GPP specification needs to be enhanced to define network and UE behavior for PDSCH and PUSCH repetition in SBFD operation.

[0036] Certain aspects of this disclosure and its embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments include systems and methods related to transmission repetition across multiple time slots in SBFD operation in NR. Some embodiments include solutions that allow multi-time slot transmission, including transport block repetition supported by PDSCH and PUSCH and PUSCH TBoMS in NR, when the network operates SBFD. During SBFD operation, different types of symbols can coexist in frames / time slots (both SBFD and non-SBFD). As a result, current PDSCH and PUSCH multi-time slot transmission mechanisms can be enhanced by two main options: 1) restricting PDSCH and PUSCH transmission in multiple time slots to only one type of symbol, either only SBFD symbols or only non-SBFD symbols. 2) allowing PDSCH and PUSCH multi-time slot transmission across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in multiple time slots. That is, based on a TDD configuration with SBFD enhancements, PDSCH / PUSCH multi-time slot transmission opportunities can be scheduled in DL / UL time slots and one or more DL / UL subbands in SBFD time slots. The 3GPP specifications need to be enhanced to include network and UE behaviors necessary for PDSCH and PUSCH repetition and PUSCH TBoMS in SBFD operations, and to communicate to the UE what options to follow.

[0037] exist Figure 9 The present disclosure illustrates an embodiment of a method 800 for enhancing PDSCH and PUSCH multislot transmission of a UE in SBFD operation, such that multislot transmission is limited to SBFD or non-SBFD time slots. In step 810, the UE determines in which type of time slot the multislot transmission should be transmitted. In step 820, the UE determines a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme for each time slot for transmitting the multislot transmission. In step 830, the UE counts the multislot transmissions based on consecutive time slots or available time slots as configured by the network. Method 800 may include various additional, alternative, and / or optional steps or other variations.

[0038] Figure 10 Another embodiment shown includes a method 1000 that enhances PDSCH and PUSCH multi-slot transmission for a UE in SBFD operation, enabling multi-slot transmission in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots. In step 1010, the UE determines a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme for each time slot used to transmit the multi-slot transmission. In step 1020, the UE counts the multi-slot transmissions based on consecutive time slots or available time slots as configured by the network. Method 1000 may include various additional, alternative, and / or optional steps or other variations.

[0039] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For UEs with SBFD capability, certain embodiments will allow aggregation of multiple time slots with multi-slot transmissions of PDSCH and PUSCH for SBFD operation. This feature is of interest to SBFD because both PDSCH and PUSCH can be victims of DL-to-UL and UL-to-DL cross-link interference (CLI), which will negatively impact DL and UL performance. Aggregation of multiple time slots with transport block repetition enhances link reliability, and TBoMS enhances UL coverage. Depending on the chosen embodiment—whether multi-slot PDSCH / PUSCH transmission is limited to SBFD or non-SBFD time slots, or whether time slot mixing is allowed—latency performance, reliability, and UL coverage can also be improved.

[0040] If the UE supports multi-slot transmission for both PDSCH and PUSCH, and the network operates on SBFD, then when this feature is enabled, it should be determined whether the hybrid slot type should be used for multi-slot transmission. The slot type can also be referred to as the symbol type, such as SBFD symbol type or non-SBFD symbol type. For this purpose, at least the following options are possible: Whether only one type of time slot or symbol (SBFD or non-SBFD) can be used for multi-slot transmission (and which type in this case), or a mixture of time slots can be used, is defined by the specification. It is defined via RRC configuration. It is indicated via MAC CE. It is indicated in the DCI scheduling.

[0041] Example 1 In some embodiments of this disclosure, for SBFD operation, the repetition or TBoMS timing of multi-slot PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions is limited to SBFD slot / symbol type or non-SBFD slot / symbol type. The same frequency domain resources indicated by the scheduling DCI or semi-static configuration can be used throughout the multi-slot transmission timing.

[0042] Preferably, the UE understands whether PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmission should be transmitted in SBFD or non-SBFD slots / symbols. In a variation of the embodiment, this can be explicitly indicated by a field in the scheduling DCI or semi-static configuration. In another variation of this embodiment, whether PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmission should be transmitted in SBFD or non-SBFD slots / symbols can be implicitly derived based on the semi-static configuration. In a non-limiting example, this determination is based on the type of slot where the first valid transmission opportunity occurs. Thereafter, PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmission opportunities in subsequent slots with types other than the first opportunity should be omitted.

[0043] Regarding the allocation of time-domain resources during multi-slot transmission, in a variation of the embodiment, the same time-domain resources, as indicated by the scheduling DCI or semi-static configuration, are used throughout the multi-slot transmission period. In another variation of the embodiment, if some allocated OFDM symbols are determined to be unavailable for transmission, PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions in the time slot are rate-matched or punctured. This provides greater scheduling flexibility for PDSCH / PUSCH repetition.

[0044] The available slot counting mechanism for PUSCH repetition type A introduced in Rel-17 extends the multi-slot transmission of PDSCH and PUSCH in SBFD operations, allowing the counting of PDSCH and PUSCH multi-slot transmissions to be based on either consecutive slots or available slots. According to the teachings of this embodiment, when available slot counting is enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions can be counted by one or more slots with conventional DL / UL symbols or one or more slots with SBFD symbols, depending on which slot type the repetition is associated with.

[0045] Figure 11 The example shown illustrates PDSCH repetition in either SBFD or non-SBFD time slots. The number of repetitions is 8, and the PDSCH repetitions are limited to SBFD time slots. The first repetition is scheduled in time slot 2, which is an SBFD time slot. According to certain versions of this embodiment, the UE can deduce that subsequent PDSCH repetitions are limited to SBFD time slots (time slots 3, 6, 7, and 8). Repetitions falling into DL or UL time slots (i.e., time slots 4, 5, and 9) are omitted.

[0046] Example 2 In some embodiments of SBFD operation, the multi-slot transmission timing of multi-slot PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions can be transmitted across SBFD and non-SBFD slots / symbols in different slots.

[0047] In variations of the embodiments, the allocation of a single frequency domain resource allocation indication and a single time domain resource allocation indication, indicated by a scheduling DCI or semi-static configuration, can be used throughout the multi-slot transmission period. Using the method described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 553,965, filed February 15, 2024, the interpretation of the FDRA indication may differ in time slots with conventional DL / UL symbols and in time slots with SBFD symbols. If some allocated OFDM symbols are determined to be unavailable for transmission, PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions in the time slot are rate-matched or punctured.

[0048] When scheduling a transport block (TB) of PDSCH or PUSCH with repeating or PUSCH TBoMS, and where the first repeat timing overlaps with a non-SBFD time slot, the gNB may preferably take note that, in the case of PDSCH, its size is no greater than the size of two DL subbands, or in the case of PUSCH, it is no greater than the size of a UL subband.

[0049] The available slot counting mechanism introduced in Rel-17 for PUSCH repetition type A can be extended to PDSCH and PUSCH repetitions in SBFD operations, allowing PDSCH and PUSCH repetition counts to be based on available slots. According to the teachings of this embodiment, when available slot counting is enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH repetitions are counted via one or more slots with conventional DL / UL symbols and / or one or more slots with SBFD symbols, as long as DL or UL resources are available for transmission.

[0050] Figure 12 An example of PDSCH repetition is demonstrated, where the repetition count is 8, and the PDSCH repetition is transmitted in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots. The first repetition is scheduled in time slot 0. According to some versions of this embodiment, subsequent repetitions are transmitted in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots (time slots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7). The repetition falling into the UL time slot (i.e., time slot 4) is omitted.

[0051] In some embodiments, for a non-repeating CG PUSCH configuration, if the transmission timing spans SBFD and non-SBFD symbols (where each transmission timing has all SBFD symbols or all non-SBFD symbols), and for PUSCH repetition type A spanning SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots (where each repetition has all SBFD symbols or all non-SBFD symbols), and for multiple PUSCHs scheduled by a single DCI spanning SBFD and non-SBFD symbols (where each PUSCH within a time slot has all SBFD or all non-SBFD symbols), and for TBoMS spanning SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots (where each transmission within a time slot has all SBFD or all non-SBFD symbols), then a single resource configuration / indication and (one or more) RB offset configuration / indication / determination for non-SBFD symbols are used to determine the frequency resources of SBFD symbols, and the number of PRBs is the same for PUSCH transmissions in SBFD symbols and PUSCH transmissions in non-SBFD symbols.

[0052] Example 3 Some embodiments may include TBoMS in SBFD operation. Although the methods described in Example Embodiments 1 and 2 focus primarily on PDSCH and PUSCH repetition, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the methods can be applied to PUCCH repetition / transmission, PUSCH TBoMS, or any other multi-slot transmission scheme (e.g., multiple PDSCH, multiple PUSCH) in similar circumstances.

[0053] Figure 13 and Figure 14 Two examples of TBoMS in SBFD operations are provided. Figure 13 TBoMS in SBFD or non-SBFD time slots are shown. Figure 14 The diagram illustrates TBoMS in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots. In the first example, TBoMS is limited to SBFD time slots determined based on the time slot type of a first transmission timing. In the second example, TBoMS can be transmitted in both SBFD and non-SBFD time slots.

[0054] Example 4 In some embodiments, the gNB can be configured with a separate time-domain allocation list, such as `pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListForSBFD`, dedicated to application in SBFD time slots. When PUSCH repeating is scheduled to a UE with SBFD capability across SBFD and non-SBFD time slots via the DCI, the UE can use the same index to retrieve different sets of `{PUSCH mapping type, K2, S, L}` from two different tables, one for SBFD time slots and the other for non-SBFD time slots. This allows for differentiation of time-domain resources between SBFD and non-SBFD time slots. In another variation of this embodiment, a single time-domain allocation list is used, where each row consists of two sets of `{PUSCH mapping type, K2, S, L}`, one corresponding to an SBFD time slot and the other for a non-SBFD time slot. A conventional UE can interpret the non-SBFD entries, while a UE with SBFD capability utilizes the same index indicated in the DCI to retrieve the two sets of `{PUSCH mapping type, K2, S, L}` respectively applied to SBFD and non-SBFD time slots. A similar approach can be employed for PDSCH repeating by those skilled in the art.

[0055] Additional Examples Figure 15Another possible method embodiment of the invention is illustrated. Method 2300 includes a method performed by the UE for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operation. Step 2310 receiving the multi-slot transmission from the network node is an instruction that is restricted to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or that the transmission spans SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols across different time slots. Step 2320 is, according to the instruction, performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: receiving one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; transmitting one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and transmitting one or more PUCCH transmissions on multiple time slots. Method 2300 may include various additional, alternative, and / or optional steps or other variations. For example, some variations may also include any of the following steps: detecting in what type of time slot the one or more multi-slot transmission operations should be transmitted; determining a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme for each time slot in which the multi-slot transmission is transmitted; and counting the multi-slot transmissions based on consecutive time slots or available time slots as configured by the network. Some variations may also include restricting PDSCH and PUSCH transmissions across multiple time slots to only one type of symbol: SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only. Some variations may also include transmitting multi-slot transmissions (e.g., PDSCH transmissions, PUSCH transmissions, PUCCH transmissions) across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. Some embodiments may include situations where, for SBFD operation, repetition, or TBoMS, the timing of multi-slot PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions may be limited to SBFD time slots / symbols or non-SBFD time slots / symbols. In some variations, whether PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions should be transmitted in SBFD and / or non-SBFD time slots / symbols is explicitly indicated by fields in the scheduling DCI or semi-static configuration. In some variations, whether PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions should be transmitted in SBFD and / or non-SBFD time slots / symbols can be implicitly derived based on the semi-static configuration. In some embodiments, any subsequent PDSCH or PUSCH multislot transmission timing in a subsequent time slot of a different type than the first timing should be omitted. In some embodiments, when available time slot counting is enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH multislot transmissions are counted by one or more time slots with conventional DL / UL symbols or one or more time slots with SBFD symbols, depending on which time slot type the repetition is associated with. In some cases, when the available time slot counting mechanism is not enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH multislot transmissions are counted consecutively by time slot.

[0056] Figure 16Another possible method embodiment of the invention is illustrated. Method 2500 includes a method performed by the UE for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in SBFD operation. Step 2510 determines a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme for each slot transmitting the multi-slot transmission. Step 2520 counts one or more multi-slot transmissions based on consecutive slots or available slots as configured by the network. Step 2530 receives PDSCH multi-slot transmissions. Step 2540 transmits PUSCH multi-slot transmissions, wherein for SBFD operation, the multi-slot transmission timing of PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions can be transmitted across SBFD and non-SBFD slots / symbols. Method 2500 may include various additional, alternative, and / or optional steps or other variations. For example, in some variations, PDSCH multi-slot and / or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions include SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in multiple slots. In some embodiments, multi-slot timing of PDSCH multi-slots and / or PUSCH multi-slots can be scheduled in one or more DL / UL subbands and one or more SBFD slots based on a TDD configuration with SBFD enhancement. In some variations, when scheduling TB or PUSCH, TBoMS with repeating PDSCH or PUSCH, and in the case that the first repeat timing overlaps with a non-SBFD slot, the network node ensures that its size never exceeds: the size of the two DL subbands in the case of PDSCH; or the size of the UL subband in the case of PUSCH. In some cases, when available slot counting is enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH repeats are counted by one or more slots with traditional DL / UL symbols and one or more slots with SBFD symbols, as long as DL or UL resources are available for transmission. In some variations, when the available slot counting mechanism is not enabled, PDSCH or PUSCH multi-slot transmissions are counted consecutively by slot.

[0057] Figure 17Another possible method embodiment of the invention is illustrated. Method 2700 includes a method performed by a network node for enhancing one or more multi-slot transmissions in SBFD operations. Step 2710 transmits the multi-slot transmission to the UE as an instruction that is either limited to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or transmitted across SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots. Step 2720 performs one or more multi-slot transmission operations according to the instruction, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: transmitting one or more PDSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; receiving one or more PUSCH transmissions on multiple time slots; and receiving one or more PUCCH transmissions on multiple time slots. Method 2700 may include various additional, alternative, and / or optional steps or other variations. For example, some variations may also include receiving one or more multi-slot transmissions from the UE, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmissions are generated by the following processes: the UE detecting in what type of time slot the multi-slot transmission should be performed; the UE determining a time domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme for each time slot in which the multi-slot transmission is performed; and the UE counting the multi-slot transmissions based on consecutive time slots or available time slots as configured by the network.

[0058] Figure 18 An example of a communication system 3100 according to some embodiments is shown. In this example, the communication system 3100 includes a telecommunications network 3102 and a core network 3106. The telecommunications network 3102 includes an access network 3104, such as a RAN, and the core network 3106 includes one or more core network nodes 3108. The access network 3104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 3110a and 3110b (one or more of which may generally be referred to as network node 3110), or any other similar 3GPP access node or non-3GPP access point. Network node 3110 facilitates direct or indirect connections of user equipment (UEs), such as connecting UEs 3112a, 3112b, 3112c, and 3112d (one or more of which may generally be referred to as UE 3112) to the core network 3106 via one or more wireless connections.

[0059] Examples of wireless communication via wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without the use of wires, cables, or other conductors. Furthermore, in various embodiments, communication system 3100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 3100 may include any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar system and / or be connected to any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar system via an interface.

[0060] UE 3112 can be any communication device of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 3110 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 3110 is arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 3112 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 3102 to enable and / or provide network access (such as wireless network access) and / or to perform other functions (such as management in telecommunication network 3102).

[0061] In the depicted example, core network 3106 connects network node 3110 to one or more hosts (such as host 3116). These connections may be direct or indirect, via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 3106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 3108) constructed from hardware and software components. The characteristics of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to UE, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the description generally applies to the corresponding components of core network node 3108. Example core network nodes include one or more of the following: Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier Dehiding Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Secure Edge Protection Agent (SEPP), Network Open Function (NEF), and / or User Plane Function (UPF).

[0062] Host 3116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of telecommunications network 3102 and / or access network 3104, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Host 3116 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include: live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (such as retrieving and compiling data on various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analytics functionality, social media, functionality for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functionality for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functionality performed by the server.

[0063] on the whole, Figure 18 The communication system 3100 enables connectivity between the UE, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards, or any applicable next-generation standard (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as WiMax, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0064] In some examples, telecommunications network 3102 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, telecommunications network 3102 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to it. For example, telecommunications network 3102 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive machine-type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to yet another UE.

[0065] In some examples, UE 3112 is configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to transmit information to access network 3104 on a predetermined schedule when triggered by internal or external events or in response to a request from access network 3104. Additionally, the UE may be configured to operate in single or multiple RAT or multi-standard modes. For example, the UE may operate with any or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., configured for multiple radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) NR-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0066] In the example, hub 3114 communicates with access network 3104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 3112c and / or 3112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 3110b). In some examples, hub 3114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any other communication device described herein with respect to a UE. For example, hub 3114 may be a broadband router for enabling access to core network 3106 for a UE. As another example, hub 3114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in a UE. Commands or instructions may be received from the UE, network node 3110, or may be received via executable code, scripts, procedures, or other instructions in hub 3114. As another example, hub 3114 may be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data, and in some embodiments, hub 3114 may perform data analytics or other processing. As another example, hub 3114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, hub 3114 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node. Hub 3114 then provides the VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information to the UE directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In another example, hub 3114 acts as a proxy server or coordinator for the UE, particularly if one or more of the UEs are low-power IoT devices.

[0067] Hub 3114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 3110b. Hub 3114 may also be designed with different communication schemes and / or scheduling between hub 3114 and UE (e.g., UE 3112d and / or 3112d) and between hub 3114 and core network 3106. In other examples, hub 3114 is connected to core network 3106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Furthermore, hub 3114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider via access network 3104 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, a UE can establish a wireless connection to network node 3110 while still being connected via hub 3114, either via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 3114 may be a dedicated hub—that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communication from network node 3110b to UE / to network node 3110b. In other embodiments, hub 3114 may be a non-dedicated hub—that is, a device capable of operating to route communication between the UE and network node 3110b, but also capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0068] Figure 19 A UE 3200 according to some embodiments is illustrated. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle-embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, Machine Type Communication (MTC) UEs, and / or Enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0069] The UE can support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidechain communication, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily be a user in the sense of a human user owning and / or operating the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device intended for sale to or operated by a human user but which may not or can not initially be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device not intended for sale to or operated by an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0070] UE 3200 includes processing circuitry 3202, which is operatively coupled via bus 3204 to input / output interface 3206, power supply 3208, memory 3210, communication interface 3212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Some UEs may utilize... Figure 19 All or a subset of the components shown. The level of integration between components can vary from one UE to another. Furthermore, some UEs may contain multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0071] Processing circuitry 3202 is configured to process instructions and data and can be configured to implement any sequential state machine that operates to execute instructions stored in memory 3210 as a machine-readable computer program. Processing circuitry 3202 can be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, a general-purpose processor such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry 3202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0072] In the example, input / output interface 3206 can be configured to provide interfaces or multiple interfaces to input devices, output devices, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, other output devices, or any combination thereof. Input devices can allow users to capture information into UE 3200. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital camcorders, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, orientation pads, trackpads, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. Presence-sensitive displays may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors to sense input from the user. Sensors may be, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt sensors, force sensors, magnetometers, light sensors, proximity sensors, biosensors, etc., or any combination thereof. Output devices can use the same type of interface port as input devices. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port can be used to provide input and output devices.

[0073] In some embodiments, power supply 3208 is configured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a storage battery, may be used. Power supply 3208 may also include power supply circuitry for delivering power from power supply 3208 itself and / or an external power source to various parts of UE 3200 via an interface or input circuitry such as a power cable. The delivery of power may, for example, be used for charging power supply 3208. The power supply circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from power supply 3208 to suit the power for the respective components of the UE 3200 being powered.

[0074] Memory 3210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), disk, optical disk, hard disk, removable cassette tape, flash drive, etc. In one example, memory 3210 includes one or more applications 3214 (such as an operating system, web browser application, widget, gadget engine, or other application) and corresponding data 3216. Memory 3210 can store any operating system or combination of operating systems from a wide variety of different operating systems used by UE 3200.

[0075] The memory 3210 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital universal disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard drive, Blu-ray disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro DIMM SDRAM, smart card memory such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) (including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as USIM and / or ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC can be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card". The memory 3210 can allow the UE 3200 to access instructions, applications, etc., stored on transient or non-transient memory media to offload or upload data. Articles such as those utilizing communication systems may be tangibly embodied in or contained in memory 3210, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0076] Processing circuitry 3202 can be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 3212. Communication interface 3212 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to antenna 3222. Communication interface 3212 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., a network node in the access network or another UE). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 3218 and / or a receiver 3220 adapted to provide network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). Furthermore, transmitter 3218 and receiver 3220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 3222) and may share circuitry, software, or firmware, or alternatively, transmitter 3218 and receiver 3220 may be implemented separately.

[0077] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication interface 3212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth and near-field communication, location-based communication such as using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0078] Regardless of the sensor type, the UE can provide the output of data captured by its sensors via its communication interface 3212 or via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by the UE's sensors can be transmitted via another UE, via a wireless connection to a network node. The output can be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the load of reports from several sensors), responsive to a triggered event (e.g., sending an alarm when humidity is detected), responsive to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., live video feed of a patient).

[0079] As another example, the UE includes actuators, motors, or switches associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. The state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change in response to the received wireless input. For example, the UE may include motors that adjust the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight based on the received input, or motors that control a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0080] When a UE takes the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, it can be a device intended for use in one or more application domains, including but not limited to urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices include or are embedded in the following devices: connected refrigerators or freezers, TVs, connected lighting fixtures, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, heat pump-like air conditioning systems, autonomous vehicles, monitoring systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smartwatches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), wearable devices for haptic or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or object tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any kind of medical device such as heart rate monitors or remotely controlled surgical robots. (Except as per the above...) Figure 19 In addition to the other components described in UE 3200 shown, UEs in the form of IoT devices include circuitry and / or software that depend on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0081] As another specific example, in IoT scenarios, a UE can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or network node. In this case, the UE can be an M2M device, which in the 3GPP context may be referred to as an MTC device. As a specific example, the UE can implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, the UE can represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, or aircraft, or other device capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0082] In practice, any number of UEs can be used together for a single use case. For example, the first UE can be an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or can be integrated into the UAV and provide the UAV's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE, which acts as a remote controller for operating the UAV. When a user makes a change from the remote controller, the first UE can adjust a throttle valve on the UAV (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the UAV's speed. The first and / or second UEs can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, the UE can include sensors and actuators and handle communication of data from both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0083] Figure 20A network node 3300 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points) and base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR Node Bs (gNBs)).

[0084] Base stations can be classified based on the coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power levels), and therefore, depending on the coverage provided, a base station can be referred to as a femtobase, picobase, microbase, or macrobase. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes can also include one or more (or all) portions of a distributed radio base station such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio headend (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio device. A portion of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as a node in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0085] Other examples of network nodes include multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, MSR devices such as multi-standard radio (MSR) BS, network controllers such as radio network controller (RNC) or base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), transmission point, transmission node, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), operation and maintenance (O&M) node, operation support system (OSS) node, self-organizing network (SON) node, location node (e.g., evolved servicing mobile location center (E-SMLC)), and / or minimized drive test (MDT).

[0086] Network node 3300 includes processing circuitry 3302, memory 3304, communication interface 3306, and power supply 3308. Network node 3300 may consist of multiple physically separate components (e.g., node B components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In some scenarios where network node 3300 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of these separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple node Bs. In such scenarios, each unique node B and RNC pair may be considered a single independent network node in some instances. In some embodiments, network node 3300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 3304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 3310 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 3300 may also include a collection of various described components for integrating into network node 3300 various wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within network node 3300.

[0087] The processing circuitry 3302 may include: a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or coding logic operable to provide the functionality of the network node 3300 alone or in combination with other network node 3300 components such as memory 3304.

[0088] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 includes a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 3312 and a baseband processing circuitry 3314. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 3312 and the baseband processing circuitry 3314 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 3312 and the baseband processing circuitry 3314 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0089] Memory 3304 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, but not limited to, permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drives, CDs, or DVDs), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 3302. Memory 3304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including applications, software, computer programs, and / or other instructions that contain one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, and / or can be executed by processing circuitry 3302 and utilized by network node 3300. Memory 3304 may be used to store any calculations performed by processing circuitry 3302 and / or any data received via communication interface 3306. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 3302 and memory 3304 are integrated.

[0090] Communication interface 3306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As illustrated, communication interface 3306 includes one or more ports / terminals 3316 for transmitting data to and receiving data from the network, for example, via a wired connection. Communication interface 3306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 3318 that may be coupled to antenna 3310 or, in some embodiments, is part of antenna 3310. Radio front-end circuitry 3318 includes filter 3320 and amplifier 3322. Radio front-end circuitry 3318 may be connected to antenna 3310 and processing circuitry 3302. Radio front-end circuitry may be configured to modulate the signal transmitted between antenna 3310 and processing circuitry 3302. Radio front-end circuitry 3318 may receive digital data to be transmitted via a wireless connection to other network nodes or UEs. Radio front-end circuitry 3318 may use a combination of filter 3320 and / or amplifier 3322 to convert digital data into radio signals with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. Radio signals can then be transmitted via antenna 3310. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 3310 can collect radio signals and then convert them into digital data via radio front-end circuitry 3318. The digital data can then be passed to processing circuitry 3302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0091] In some alternative embodiments, network node 3300 does not include a separate radio front-end circuit 3318; instead, processing circuitry 3302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 3310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 3312 is part of communication interface 3306. In other embodiments, communication interface 3306 includes one or more ports or terminals 3316, radio front-end circuitry 3318, and RF transceiver circuitry 3312 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 3306 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 3314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0092] Antenna 3310 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 3310 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 3318 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 3310 is decoupled from network node 3300 and may be connected to network node 3300 via an interface or port.

[0093] Antenna 3310, communication interface 3306, and / or processing circuitry 3302 can be configured to perform any receive operation and / or certain acquire operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals can be received from the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 3310, communication interface 3306, and / or processing circuitry 3302 can be configured to perform any transmit operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals can be transmitted to the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0094] Power supply 3308 provides power to the various components of network node 3300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). Power supply 3308 may also include or be coupled to power management circuitry to power the components of network node 3300 for performing the functionality described herein. For example, network node 3300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., mains, electrical outlet) via input circuitry or interface such as a cable, thereby supplying power to the power circuitry of power supply 3308. As another example, power supply 3308 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, connected to or integrated into the power circuitry. The battery can provide backup power in the event of an external power failure.

[0095] Embodiments of network node 3300 may include, except Figure 20Additional components beyond those shown herein are used to provide certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the topics described herein. For example, network node 3300 may include user interface devices for allowing information to be input to and output from network node 3300. This allows users to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for network node 3300.

[0096] Figure 21 It is based on the various aspects described in this article, and may be Figure 18 A block diagram of host 4400 in an embodiment of host 3116. As used herein, host 4400 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including standalone servers, blade servers, cloud-implemented servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 4400 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0097] Host 4400 includes processing circuitry 4402, which is operatively coupled to input / output interface 4406, network interface 4408, power supply 4410, and memory 4412 via bus 4404. Other components may be included in other embodiments. These components may be characterized substantially similarly to those relating to... Figure 10 and Figure 11 The features described in the previous diagrams of the device make their description generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 4400.

[0098] Memory 4412 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications 4414 and data 4416. Data 4416 may include user data (e.g., data generated by the UE for the host 4400 or data generated by the host 4400 for the UE). Embodiments of the host 4400 may utilize only a subset of the components shown or all of the components shown. The host application 4414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture, and the host application 4414 may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Universal Video Codec (VVC), High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC), Advanced Video Codec (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Codec (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including code conversion for multiple different categories, types, or implementations of the UE (e.g., mobile phone, desktop computer, wearable display system, head-up display system). The host application 4414 may also provide user authentication and authorization checks and may periodically report health, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device in the core network or at the edge). Therefore, host 4400 can select and / or instruct different hosts for the UE to use for overhead services. Host application 4414 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Real-time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), and HTTP-based Dynamic Adaptive Streaming (MPEG-DASH).

[0099] Figure 22 This is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 5500 that can virtualize functionality implemented by some embodiments. In this context, virtualization means creating a device or virtual version of a device that may include a virtualization hardware platform, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device or component thereof described herein and relates to the implementation of at least a portion of functionality as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functionality described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 5500 hosted by one or more hardware nodes, such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts. Furthermore, in embodiments where virtual nodes do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes can be fully virtualized.

[0100] Running application 5502 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, virtual device, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) in virtualization environment 5500 to implement some of the features, functions and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0101] Hardware 5504 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. Software can be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 5506 (also referred to as a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM)), providing VMs 5508a and 5508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VM 5508), and / or performing any functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation to some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer 5506 can present a virtual operating platform to VM 5508 that appears to be networked hardware.

[0102] VM 5508 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage devices, and can run through a corresponding virtualization layer 5506. Different embodiments of instances of virtual appliances 5502 can be implemented on one or more VMs 5508, and can be implemented in different ways. Hardware virtualization is referred to in some contexts as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many types of network devices into industry-standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can be located in data centers and customer premises.

[0103] In the context of NFV, a VM 5508 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 5508, and the portion of the hardware 5504 that executes that VM—whether it's dedicated hardware for that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with other VMs—forms an independent virtual network element. Still within the NFV context, the virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running on one or more VMs 5508 above the hardware 5504 and corresponds to application 5502.

[0104] Hardware 5504 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 5504 can utilize virtualization to implement some functions. Alternatively, hardware 5504 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 5510, which in particular also oversees the lifecycle management of application 5502. In some embodiments, hardware 5504 is coupled to one or more radio units, each including one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more suitable network interfaces and can be combined with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes, such as radio access nodes or base stations. In some embodiments, a control system 5512 can be used to provide signaling; the control system 5512 can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes and the radio units.

[0105] Figure 23 A communication diagram is shown of a host 6602 communicating with a UE 6606 via a partially wireless connection through a network node 6604, according to some embodiments. Reference will now be made to... Figure 23 To describe the UEs discussed in the preceding paragraphs (such as...) Figure 18 UE3112a and / or Figure 19 UE 3200), network nodes (such as Figure 18 Network node 3110a and / or Figure 20 Network node 3300) and hosts (such as Figure 18 Host 3116 and / or Figure 21 Example implementations of the host 4400 according to various embodiments.

[0106] Like host 4400, embodiments of host 6602 include hardware such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 6602 also includes software stored in or accessible by host 6602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 6606 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 6650 extending between UE 6606 and host 6602. In providing services to a remote user, the host application can provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 6650.

[0107] Network node 6604 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with host 6602 and UE 6606. Connection 6600 can be direct or via a core network (like...). Figure 18The core network (similar to 3106) and / or one or more other intermediate networks (such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks). For example, an intermediate network could be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0108] UE 6606 includes hardware and software. The software is stored in or accessible by UE 6606 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. The software includes client applications, such as web browsers or carrier-specific "apps," operable to provide services to human or non-human users via UE 6606 with the support of host 6602. In host 6602, the executing host application can communicate with the executing client application via OTT connection 6650, which terminates at both UE 6606 and host 6602. When providing services to a user, the UE's client application can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 6650 can transmit both request data and user data. The UE's client application can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides to the host application via OTT connection 6650.

[0109] OTT connection 6650 can be extended via connection 6660 between host 6602 and network node 6604 and via wireless connection 6670 between network node 6604 and UE 6606 to provide connectivity between host 6602 and UE 6606. Connection 6660 and wireless connection 6670, on which OTT connection 6650 can be provided, have been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between host 6602 and UE 6606 via network node 6604, without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices or the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0110] As an example of data transmission via OTT connection 6650, in step 6608, host 6602 provides user data, which can be executed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE 6606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with UE 6606, which shares data with host 6602 without explicit human interaction. In step 6610, host 6602 initiates a transmission carrying user data toward UE 6606. Host 6602 may initiate the transmission in response to a request transmitted by UE 6606. The request may be triggered by human interaction with UE 6606 or by an operation of a client application executed on UE 6606. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may pass through network node 6604. Therefore, in step 6612, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 6604 transmits to UE 6606 the user data carried in the transmission initiated by host 6602. In step 6614, UE 6606 receives user data carried in the transmission, which can be executed by a client application that is executed on UE 6606 and associated with a host application executed by host 6602.

[0111] In some examples, UE 6606 executes a client application that provides user data to host 6602. User data can be provided as a response to or in response to data received from host 6602. Therefore, in step 6616, UE 6606 can provide user data, which can be done by executing the client application. When providing user data, the client application may also consider user input received from a user via the input / output interface of UE 6606. Regardless of the specific manner in which user data is provided, UE 6606 initiates a transmission of user data to host 6602 via network node 6604 in step 6618. In step 6620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 6604 receives user data from UE 6606 and initiates a transmission of the received user data to host 6602. In step 6622, host 6602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 6606.

[0112] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 6606 using OTT connection 6650, wherein wireless connection 6670 forms the final segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve data rates, latency, and / or power consumption, thereby providing benefits such as reduced user wait times, relaxed file size limits, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0113] In the example scenario, host 6602 can collect and analyze plant status information. As another example, host 6602 can process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from the UE for creating mappings. As another example, host 6602 can collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling traffic congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host 6602 can store surveillance video uploaded by the UE. As another example, host 6602 can store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR, which it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the UE. As other examples, host 6602 can be used for energy pricing, balancing power generation demand, location services, remote control of non-time-critical power loads (such as compiled graphs from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or transmitting data.

[0114] In some examples, the measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors that improve one or more embodiments. Optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 6650 between host 6602 and UE 6606 may also be available in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in the software and hardware of host 6602 and / or UE 6606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 6650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities illustrated above or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities that the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities from. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 6650 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; reconfiguration does not require a direct change in the operation of network node 6604. Such processes and functions are known and implemented in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc., by host 6602. Measurement is possible because the software uses an OTT connection to the 6650 to transmit messages, especially empty or "fake" messages, while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0115] While the computing devices described herein (e.g., UE, network node, host) may include the hardware component combinations shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different component combinations. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting acquired information into other information, comparing acquired or converted information with information stored in a network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and making a determination as a result of said processing. Furthermore, although components are depicted as a single box within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between individual components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of a component may be partitioned between processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0116] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry that executes instructions stored in memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of these particular embodiments, the processing circuitry may be configured to perform the described functionality regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by this functionality are not limited to individual processing circuitry or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the entire computing device and / or by the end user and wireless network as a whole.

[0117] It should be understood that computer systems are increasingly taking on multiple forms. In this specification and claims, the terms “controller,” “computer system,” or “computing system” are broadly defined to include any device or system—or a combination thereof—comprising at least one physical and tangible processor and physical and tangible memory thereon capable of having computer-executable instructions executable by the processor. By way of example and not limitation, the terms “computer system” or “computing system” as used herein are intended to include personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, handheld devices (e.g., mobile phones, PDAs, pagers), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, multiprocessor systems, network PCs, distributed computing systems, data centers, message processors, routers, switches, and even devices not conventionally considered computing systems, such as wearable devices (e.g., glasses).

[0118] A computing system also has multiple structures commonly referred to as “executable components.” For example, the memory of a computing system may include executable components. The term “executable component” is a name for a structure well-known to those skilled in the art of computing, which can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, those skilled in the art will understand that the structure of an executable component can include software objects, routines, methods, etc., executable by one or more processors on the computing system, whether such an executable component exists in the heap of the computing system or on a computer-readable storage medium. The structure of an executable component exists on a computer-readable medium in such a form that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, it is operable to cause the computing system to perform one or more functions, such as the functions and methods described herein. This structure can be directly computer-readable by the processor—as if the executable component were binary. Alternatively, the structure can be constructed to be interpretable and / or compilable—whether in a single stage or in multiple stages—to generate binary code that can be directly interpreted by the processor.

[0119] The terms “component,” “service,” “engine,” “module,” “control,” “generator,” etc., may also be used in this specification. As used in this specification and in this context, these terms—whether expressed in modifying clauses or not—are intended to be synonymous with the term “executable component” and therefore have a structure well understood by those skilled in the art of computing.

[0120] In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understood to include one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer, processor, and controller are used interchangeably. When provided by a computer, processor, or controller, these functions can be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by multiple separate computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Furthermore, the terms "processor" or "controller" also refer to other hardware capable of performing such functions and / or executing software, such as the example hardware described above.

[0121] Generally, various exemplary embodiments can be implemented in hardware or dedicated chips, circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects can be implemented in hardware, while others can be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, although this disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it is well understood that, by way of non-limiting example, these blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0122] While not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments, the computing system includes a user interface for conveying information to / from a user. The user interface can include both output and input mechanisms. The principles described herein are not limited to precise output or input mechanisms, as this will depend on the nature of the device. However, output mechanisms can include, for example, speakers, displays, haptic outputs, projections, holograms, and the like. Examples of input mechanisms can include, for example, microphones, touchscreens, projections, holograms, cameras, keyboards, pens, mice or other pointer inputs, any type of sensor, and the like.

[0123] Abbreviations and defined terms To aid in understanding the scope and content of this written description and the appended claims, several selected terms are defined directly below. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0124] As used herein, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” refer to a quantity or condition that is close to a specific stated quantity or condition and still achieves the desired function or result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to a quantity or condition that deviates from the specific description by less than 10%, or less than 5%, or less than 1%, or less than 0.1%, or less than 0.01%.

[0125] Various aspects of this disclosure, including apparatus, systems, and methods, may be illustrated with reference to one or more embodiments or implementations that are exemplary in nature. As used herein, the term "exemplary" means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration" and should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments disclosed herein. Furthermore, references to "implementation" of this disclosure or embodiments include specific references to one or more embodiments thereof, and are intended to provide illustrative examples without limiting the scope of this disclosure, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims rather than this specification.

[0126] As used in this specification, words appearing in the singular form include their plural counterparts, and words appearing in the plural form include their singular counterparts, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or otherwise stated. Therefore, it will be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents, unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise. For example, a reference to a singular referent (e.g., “component”) includes one, two, or more referents, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or otherwise stated. Similarly, a reference to multiple referents should be interpreted as including a single referent and / or multiple referents, unless the content and / or context clearly indicate otherwise. For example, a referent mentioned in the plural form (e.g., “component”) does not necessarily require multiple such referents. Rather, it will be understood that one or more referents are contemplated herein, independent of the inferred number of referents, unless otherwise stated.

[0127] References to "an embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," etc., in the specification indicate that the described embodiment may include specific features, structures, or characteristics, but it is not necessary for every embodiment to include specific features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, when a specific feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is believed that the influence of such feature, structure, or characteristic on other embodiments is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, whether explicitly described or not.

[0128] It should be understood that although the terms “first” and “second”, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0129] It should also be understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” and / or “having” as used herein specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0130] in conclusion This disclosure includes any novel features or combinations of features expressly disclosed herein, or any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in light of the foregoing description. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0131] It should be understood that, for any given component or embodiment described herein, any possible candidates or alternatives listed for that component may generally be used alone or in combination with each other, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or otherwise stated. Furthermore, it should be understood that any list of such candidates or alternatives is merely illustrative and not restrictive, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or otherwise stated.

[0132] Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the figures used in the specification and claims to represent quantities, components, distances, or other measurements should be understood to be modified by the term "approximately," as defined herein. Therefore, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and appended claims are approximate values ​​that may vary depending on the desired properties sought to be obtained from the subject matter presented herein. At least, and without attempting to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalence to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should be interpreted at least according to the number of significant figures reported and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. While the numerical ranges and parameters set forth in the broad scope of the subject matter presented herein are approximate values, the numerical values ​​set forth in specific embodiments are reported as precisely as possible. However, any numerical value inherently includes a certain degree of error necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective test measurements.

[0133] Any headings and subheadings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the specification or claims. The terminology and expressions used herein are descriptive rather than restrictive, and the use of such terminology and expressions is not intended to exclude any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof; however, it should be recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that while a portion of this disclosure has been specifically disclosed through certain embodiments, those skilled in the art may employ optional features, modifications, and variations of the concepts disclosed herein, and such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this description.

[0134] It should also be understood that, according to certain embodiments of this disclosure, systems, apparatuses, products, kits, methods, and / or processes may include, incorporate, or otherwise include the attributes or features (e.g., components, members, elements, parts, and / or portions) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Therefore, various features of certain embodiments may be compatible with, combined with, included in, and / or incorporated into other embodiments of this disclosure. Consequently, the disclosure of certain features with respect to specific embodiments of this disclosure should not be construed as limiting the application or inclusion of said features to that particular embodiment. Rather, it should be understood that other embodiments may also include said features, members, elements, parts, and / or portions without necessarily departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0135] Furthermore, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature to be combined with, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of the same or different embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, to avoid obscuring aspects of the exemplary embodiments, various well-known aspects of illustrative systems, methods, devices, etc., are not described in particular detail herein. However, such aspects are contemplated herein.

[0136] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that methods, apparatuses, apparatus elements, materials, processes, and techniques other than those specifically described herein can be applied to the practice of the embodiments as broadly disclosed herein without resorting to excessive experimentation. All functional equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, apparatus elements, materials, processes, and techniques specifically described herein are intended to be covered by this disclosure.

[0137] When a group of materials, compositions, components, or compounds is disclosed herein, it should be understood that all individual members of that group and all its subgroups are disclosed separately. When the Markush group or other groupings are used herein, all individual members of that group, as well as all possible combinations and subcombinations of that group, are intended to be included separately in this disclosure.

[0138] The above embodiments are merely examples. Those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, and variations to specific embodiments without departing from the scope of the specification defined solely by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method (2300) performed by a user equipment (UE) (2200) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in a subband full-duplex (SBFD) operation, the method comprising: Receiving (2310) multi-slot transmissions from network node (3300) is an indication of any of the following: Limited to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or Transmitting across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots; and According to the instruction, perform (2320) one or more multi-slot transmission operations, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: Receive one or more Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions in multiple time slots. Transmit one or more Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions over multiple time slots, and Transmit one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions over multiple time slots.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine in which type of symbol the one or more multi-slot transmission operations should be performed; For each time slot performing the one or more multi-slot transmission operations, a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme is determined; as well as The one or more multi-slot transmission operations are counted based on consecutive time slots or available time slots as configured by the network.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein, The one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: PDSCH repetition; SPS PDSCH; multiple PDSCH; PUSCH repetition; CG PUSCH; multiple PUSCH; PUSCH on multiple time slots, transport blocks TBoMS; PUCCH repetition.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The indication includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages that explicitly configure the one or more multi-slot transmission operations.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The indication includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message that explicitly configures the type of symbols used for the one or more multi-slot transmission operations.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, Whether the one or more PDSCH transmissions, one or more PUSCH transmissions, or one or more PUCCH transmissions are transmitted in SBFD or in non-SBFD symbols is based on the type of symbol in which the first valid transmission occurs, and wherein any one or more subsequent PDSCH transmissions, one or more subsequent PUSCH transmissions, or one or more subsequent PUCCH transmissions in subsequent time slots having a symbol type different from the first valid transmission should be omitted.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, When available slot counting is enabled, depending on the transmission timing and the type of symbol associated with it, the count is performed on one or more PDSCH transmissions, one or more PUSCH transmissions, or one or more PUCCH transmissions based on one or more slots with traditional downlink / uplink DL / UL symbols or one or more slots with SBFD symbols.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, When the available time slot counting mechanism is not enabled, the one or more PDSCH transmissions, one or more PUSCH transmissions, or one or more PUCCH transmissions are counted based on consecutive time slots.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, The one or more multi-slot transmission operations include: PDSCH multi-slot transmission including SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols in multiple time slots and / or PUSCH multi-slot transmission and / or PUCCH multi-slot transmission.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, Based on a Time Division Duplex (TDD) configuration with SBFD enhancement, it is possible to schedule multi-slot timing for PDSCH multi-slot transmission and / or PUSCH multi-slot transmission and / or PUCCH multi-slot transmission in one or more time slots with downlink / uplink DL / UL symbols and one or more DL / UL subbands with SBFD symbols.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, When available slot counting is enabled, the timing of PDSCH, PUSCH, or PUCCH transmissions is counted by one or more slots with traditional DL / UL symbols and one or more slots with SBFD symbols, regardless of whether DL or UL resources are available for transmission.

12. A method (2700) performed by a network node (3300) for performing one or more multi-slot transmissions in a subband full-duplex SBFD operation, the method comprising: Transmitting (2710) multi-slot transmission to user equipment (UE) (2200) is an instruction for any of the following: Limited to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or Transmitting across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots; and According to the instruction, perform (2720) the one or more multi-slot transmission operations, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: One or more Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions are sent over multiple time slots. Receive one or more Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions in multiple time slots, and Receive one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions in multiple time slots.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: Sending one or more multi-timeslot transmissions to the UE, or receiving one or more multi-timeslot transmissions from the UE, wherein the one or more multi-timeslot transmissions are generated by the following process: Determine in which type of symbol one or more multi-slot transmission operations should be performed; For each time slot performing the one or more multi-slot transmission operations, a time-domain resource allocation and rate matching or puncturing scheme is determined; as well as The one or more multi-slot transmission operations are counted based on the continuous time slots or available time slots configured for the UE.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, The determination is defined via at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration; Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE); Scheduling Downlink Control Information (DCI).

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein, If some symbols in one or more allocated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols are determined to be unavailable for transmission, then rate matching or puncturing is performed on the one or more PDSCH transmissions, one or more PUSCH transmissions, or one or more PUCCH transmissions in the time slot.

16. A user equipment (UE) (3200) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in subband full-duplex SBFD operation, comprising: The processing circuit (3202) is configured to perform any step of any one of claims 1 to 11; as well as The power supply circuit (3208) is configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

17. A network node (3300) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in a subband full-duplex SBFD operation, the network node comprising: The processing circuit (3302) is configured to perform any step of any of claims 12 to 15; The power supply circuit (3308) is configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

18. A user equipment (UE) (3200) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in subband full-duplex SBFD operation, the UE comprising: Antenna (3222) is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; A communication interface (3212) is connected to the antenna and the processing circuit (3202) and is configured to regulate the signal transmitted between the antenna and the processing circuit; The processing circuit is configured to perform any step of any one of claims 1 to 13; An input interface (3206) is connected to the processing circuit and is configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuit; An output interface (3206) is connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuit; as well as A battery (3208) is connected to the processing circuit and is configured to power the UE.

19. A user equipment (UE) (3200) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in subband full-duplex SBFD operation, comprising: Processing circuit (3202); as well as The memory (3210) stores instructions, thereby enabling the processing circuitry to perform the following steps: Receiving (2310) multi-slot transmissions from network node (3300) is an indication of any of the following: Limited to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or Transmitting across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots; and According to the instruction, perform (2320) one or more multi-slot transmission operations, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: Receive one or more Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions in multiple time slots. Transmit one or more Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions over multiple time slots, and Transmit one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions over multiple time slots.

20. A network node (3300) for performing one or more multi-slot transmission operations in subband full-duplex SBFD operation, the network node comprising: Processing circuit (3302); as well as A memory (3304) stores instructions, thereby enabling the processing circuitry to perform the following steps: Transmitting (2710) multi-slot transmission to user equipment (UE) (2200) is an instruction for any of the following: Limited to SBFD symbols only or non-SBFD symbols only; or Transmitting across SBFD and non-SBFD symbols in different time slots; and According to the instruction, perform (2720) the one or more multi-slot transmission operations, wherein the one or more multi-slot transmission operations include at least one of the following: One or more Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions are sent over multiple time slots. Receive one or more Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions in multiple time slots, and Receive one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions in multiple time slots.

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