Sps HARQ feedback in energy saving state

Abstract

A method of network energy saving includes receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a base station, configuration parameters of a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration for a cell; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the SPS configuration, the DCI including a DCI duration field with a DCI duration value indicating a duration between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback; and receiving a transport block (TB) based on the SPS configuration. A time difference between the TB and its associated HARQ feedback: is the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state; and is not the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state.

Description

SPS HARQ FEEDBACK IN ENERGY SAVING STATECROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 395,882, filed on August 8, 2022 (“the provisional application”); the content of the provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention is directed to 5G, which is the 5thgeneration mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables networks designed to connect machines, objects and devices.

[0003] The invention is more specifically directed to enhancing semi- persistent scheduling (SPS) processes and HARQ feedback reporting. Example embodiments enhance the existing SPS and HARQ feedback processes when network energy saving is configured / enabled.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In an embodiment, the invention provides a method of network energy saving includes receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a base station, configuration parameters of a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration for a cell; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the SPS configuration, the DCI including a DCI duration field with a DCI duration value indicating a duration between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback; and receiving a transport block (TB) based on the SPS configuration. A time difference between the TB and its associated HARQ feedback: is the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station orthe cell is in a non-energy saving state; and is not the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state.

[0005] The time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be longer than the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state. The time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field plus an offset, while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state. The method also can include receiving a control parameter indicating the offset . The receiving of the control parameter may be based on a radio resource configuration (RRC) message. The radio resource configuration (RRC) message may comprise an RRC offset field with an RRC offset value indicating the offset.

[0006] Receiving the control parameter may be based on a medium access control (MAC) command. The medium access control (MAC) command may comprise a MAC offset field with a MAC offset value indicating the offset. Receiving the control parameter may be based on a downlink control information (DCI). The downlink control information (DCI) may comprise a DCI offset field with a DCI offset value indicating the offset. Where the receiving is an indication that the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state or has entered the energy saving state, the indication may comprise an indication offset field with an indication offset value indicating the offset. The indication may be based on one or more of a radio resource control (RRC) message and a medium access control (MAC) command and a downlink control information (DCI).

[0007] The method may include ignoring the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field in response to the base station or the cell being or having entered the energy saving state. And the method may includereceiving a message or a channel or a command indicating the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback while the base station or the cell is or has entered the energy saving state. The channel may be a downlink control channel carrying a downlink control information. The downlink control information may be the activation downlink control information (DCI) used for activation of the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration. The activation downlink control information (DCI) may include: a first field with a first value indicating a first duration between a first received transport block and its corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state; and a second field with a second value indicating a second duration between a second received transport block and its corresponding HARQ feedback while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state.

[0008] Preferably, the message is a broadcast message, and the broadcast message is a system information block (SIB) message. The duration may be defined by a number of slots. For that matter, the duration may be based on a subcarrier spacing associated with an uplink control channel carrying the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. The hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be one of positive acknowledgement (ACK) and negative acknowledgement (NACK). The semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration parameters may comprise a periodicity parameter indicating separation between consecutive SPS grants.

[0009] In the method, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback associated with a transport block (TB) received while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state may be postponed to a timing that the base station or a cell that the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is scheduled for transmission is in a non-energy saving state. In the method, the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configurationmay be associated with a first SPS configuration index; and the activation downlink control information (DCI) comprises a DCI activation field with a DCI activation value indicating the SPS configuration index. The time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be based on a periodicity of a signal or a channel while the base station or the cell is in a network energy saving state. The signal or the channel may be a downlink signal or channel. The downlink signal or channel may be a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0010] In the method, the time difference may be based on a first periodicity of the signal or the channel while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state and a second periodicity of the signal or the channel while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state. And the time difference may be based on the first periodicity and the second periodicity. At least one signal or at least one channel or at least one message may be transmitted or received with a larger periodicity and less frequently while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state.

[0011] The method can include receiving configuration parameters indicating a plurality of durations, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) duration value of the DCI duration field of the received DCI may indicate a first duration in the plurality of durations. The configuration parameters of the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration also may comprise a first parameter indicating a SPS radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) and the downlink control information is associated with the SPS RNTI.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 shows an example of a system of mobile communications according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show examples of radio protocol stacks for user plane and control plane, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C show example mappings between logical channels and transport channels in downlink, uplink and sidelink, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show example mappings between transport channels and physical channels in downlink, uplink and sidelink, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D show examples of radio protocol stacks for NR sidelink communication according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 6 shows example physical signals in downlink, uplink and sidelink according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 shows examples of Radio Resource Control (RRC) states and transitioning between different RRC states according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 8 shows example frame structure and physical resources according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 9 shows example component carrier configurations in different carrier aggregation scenarios according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 shows example bandwidth part configuration and switching according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 11 shows example four-step contention-based and contention-free random access processes according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 12 shows example two-step contention-based and contention- free random access processes according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 13 shows example time and frequency structure of Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Block (SSB) according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 14 shows example SSB burst transmissions according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 15 shows example components of a user equipment and a base station for transmission and / or reception according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 16 shows an example process according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 17 shows an example process according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 18 shows an example process according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] FIG. 1 shows an example of a system of mobile communications 100 according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The system of mobile communication 100 may be operated by a wireless communications system operator such as a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), a privatenetwork operator, a Multiple System Operator (MSO), an Internet of Things (IOT) network operator, etc., and may offer services such as voice, data (e.g., wireless Internet access), messaging, vehicular communications services such as Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communications services, safety services, mission critical service, services in residential, commercial or industrial settings such as loT, industrial IOT (HOT), etc.

[0031] The system of mobile communications 100 may enable various types of applications with different requirements in terms of latency, reliability, throughput, etc. Example supported applications include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra- Reliable Low- Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). eMBB may support stable connections with high peak data rates, as well as moderate rates for cell-edge users. URLLC may support applications with strict requirements in terms of latency and reliability and moderate requirements in terms of data rate. Example mMTC application includes a network of a massive number of loT devices, which are only sporadically active and send small data payloads.

[0032] The system of mobile communications 100 may include a Radio Access Network (RAN) portion and a core network portion. The example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 105 and a 5G Core Network (5GC) 110 as examples of the RAN and core network, respectively. Other examples of RAN and core network may be implemented without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Other examples of RAN include Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), etc. Other examples of core network include Evolved Packet Core (EPC), UMTS Core Network (UCN), etc. The RAN implements a Radio Access Technology (RAT) and resides between User Equipments (UEs) 125 and the core network. Examples of such RATs include New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE) also known as Evolved Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess (EUTRA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), etc. The RAT of the example system of mobile communications 100 may be NR. The core network resides between the RAN and one or more external networks (e.g., data networks) and is responsible for functions such as mobility management, authentication, session management, setting up bearers and application of different Quality of Services (QoSs). The functional layer between the UE 125 and the RAN (e.g., the NG-RAN 105) may be referred to as Access Stratum (AS) and the functional layer between the UE 125 and the core network (e.g., the 5GC 110) may be referred to as Non-access Stratum (NAS).

[0033] The UEs 125 may include wireless transmission and reception means for communications with one or more nodes in the RAN, one or more relay nodes, or one or more other UEs, etc. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, wireless transmission and / or reception units in a vehicle, V2X or Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) devices, wireless sensors, loT devices, HOT devices, etc. Other names may be used for UEs such as a Mobile Station (MS), terminal equipment, terminal node, client device, mobile device, etc.

[0034] The RAN may include nodes (e.g., base stations) for communications with the UEs. For example, the NG-RAN 105 of the system of mobile communications 100 may comprise nodes for communications with the UEs 125. Different names for the RAN nodes may be used, for example depending on the RAT used for the RAN. A RAN node may be referred to as Node B (NB) in a RAN that uses the UMTS RAT. A RAN node may be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB) in a RAN that uses LTE / EUTRA RAT. For the illustrative example of the system of mobile communications 100 in FIG. 1, the nodes of an NG-RAN 105 may be either a next generation Node B (gNB) 115 or a next generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB) 120. In this specification, the terms base station, RAN node, gNB and ng-eNB may be used interchangeably. The gNB 115 may provide NR user plane and control plane protocolterminations towards the UE 125. The ng-eNB 120 may provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 125. An interface between the gNB 115 and the UE 125 or between the ng- eNB 120 and the UE 125 may be referred to as a Uu interface. The Uu interface may be established with a user plane protocol stack and a control plane protocol stack. For a Uu interface, the direction from the base station (e.g., the gNB 115 or the ng-eNB 120) to the UE 125 may be referred to as downlink and the direction from the UE 125 to the base station (e.g., gNB 1 15 or ng-eNB 120) may be referred to as uplink.

[0035] The gNBs 115 and ng-eNBs 120 may be interconnected with each other by means of an Xn interface. The Xn interface may comprise an Xn User plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn Control plane (Xn-C) interface.The transport network layer of the Xn-U interface may be built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport and GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) may be used on top of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / IP to carry the user plane protocol data units (PDUs). Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and may support data forwarding and flow control. The transport network layer of the Xn-C interface may be built on Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) on top of IP. The application layer signaling protocol may be referred to as XnAP (Xn Application Protocol) . The SCTP layer may provide the guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to- point transmission may be used to deliver the signaling PDUs. The Xn-C interface may support Xn interface management, UE mobility management, including context transfer and RAN paging, and dual connectivity.

[0036] The gNBs 115 and ng-eNBs 120 may also be connected to the 5GC 110 by means of the NG interfaces, more specifically to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 130 of the 5GC 110 by means of the NG-C interface and to a User Plane Function (UPF) 135 of the 5GC 110 by means of the NG-U interface. The transport network layer of theNG-U interface may be built on IP transport and GTP protocol may be used on top of UDP / IP to carry the user plane PDUs between the NG- RAN node (e.g., gNB 1 15 or ng-eNB 120 ) and the UPF 135. NG-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs between the NG- RAN node and the UPF. The transport network layer of the NG-C interface may be built on IP transport. For the reliable transport of signaling messages, SCTP may be added on top of IP. The application layer signaling protocol may be referred to as NGAP (NG Application Protocol). The SCTP layer may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport, IP layer point-to-point transmission may be used to deliver the signaling PDUs. The NG-C interface may provide the following functions: NG interface management; UE context management; UE mobility management; transport of NAS messages; paging; PDU Session Management; configuration transfer; and warning message transmission.

[0037] The gNB 115 or the ng-eNB 120 may host one or more of the following functions: Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, Dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink (e.g., scheduling); IP and Ethernet header compression, encryption and integrity protection of data; Selection of an AMF at UE attachment when no routing to an AMF can be determined from the information provided by the UE; Routing of User Plane data towards UPF(s); Routing of Control Plane information towards AMF; Connection setup and release; Scheduling and transmission of paging messages; Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (e.g., originated from the AMF); Measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling; Transport level packet marking in the uplink; Session Management; Support of Network Slicing; QoS Flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; Support of UEs in RRC Inactive state; Distribution function for NAS messages;Radio access network sharing; Dual Connectivity; Tight interworking between NR and E-UTRA; and Maintaining security and radio configuration for User Plane 5G system (5GS) Cellular loT (CIoT) Optimization.

[0038] The AMF 130 may host one or more of the following functions: NAS signaling termination; NAS signaling security; AS Security control; Inter CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks; Idle mode UE Reachability (including control and execution of paging retransmission); Registration Area management; Support of intra-system and inter-system mobility; Access Authentication; Access Authorization including check of roaming rights; Mobility management control (subscription and policies); Support of Network Slicing; Session Management Function (SMF) selection; Selection of 5GS CIoT optimizations.

[0039] The UPF 135 may host one or more of the following functions: Anchor point for Intra- / Inter- RAT mobility (when applicable); External PDU session point of interconnect to Data Network; Packet routing & forwarding; Packet inspection and User plane part of Policy rule enforcement; Traffic usage reporting; Uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network; Branching point to support multi-homed PDU session; QoS handling for user plane, e.g. packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement; Uplink Traffic verification (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping); Downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 1, the NG-RAN 105 may support the PC5 interface between two UEs 125 (e.g., UE 125A and UE125B). In the PC5 interface, the direction of communications between two UEs (e.g., from UE 125A to UE 125B or vice versa) may be referred to as sidelink. Sidelink transmission and reception over the PC5 interface may be supported when the UE 125 is inside NG-RAN 105 coverage, irrespective of which RRC state the UE is in, and when the UE 125 is outside NG-RAN 105 coverage. Support of V2X services via the PC5 interface may be provided by NR sidelink communication and / or V2X sidelink communication .

[0041] PC5-S signaling may be used for unicast link establishment with Direct Communication Request / Accept message. A UE may self-assign its source Layer-2 ID for the PC5 unicast link for example based on the V2X service type. During unicast link establishment procedure, the UE may send its source Layer-2 ID for the PC5 unicast link to the peer UE, e.g., the UE for which a destination ID has been received from the upper layers. A pair of source Layer-2 ID and destination Layer-2 ID may uniquely identify a unicast link. The receiving UE may verify that the said destination ID belongs to it and may accept the Unicast link establishment request from the source UE. During the PC5 unicast link establishment procedure, a PC5-RRC procedure on the Access Stratum may be invoked for the purpose of UE sidelink context establishment as well as for AS layer configurations, capability exchange etc. PC5-RRC signaling may enable exchanging UE capabilities and AS layer configurations such as Sidelink Radio Bearer configurations between pair of UEs for which a PC5 unicast link is established.

[0042] NR sidelink communication may support one of three types of transmission modes (e.g., Unicast transmission, Groupcast transmission, and Broadcast transmission) for a pair of a Source Layer-2 ID and a Destination Layer-2 ID in the AS. The Unicast transmission mode may be characterized by: Support of one PC5-RRC connection between peer UEs for the pair; Transmission and reception of control information and user traffic between peer UEs in sidelink; Support of sidelink HARQ feedback; Support of sidelink transmit power control; Support of RLC Acknowledged Mode (AM); and Detection of radio link failure for the PC5-RRC connection. The Groupcast transmission may be characterized by: Transmission and reception of user traffic among UEs belonging to a group in sidelink; and Support of sidelink HARQ feedback.The Broadcast transmission may be characterized by: Transmission and reception of user traffic among UEs in sidelink.

[0043] A Source Layer-2 ID, a Destination Layer-2 ID and a PC 5 Link Identifier may be used for NR sidelink communication. The Source Layer- 2 ID may be a link-layer identity that identifies a device or a group of devices that are recipients of sidelink communication frames. The Destination Layer- 2 ID may be a link-layer identity that identifies a device that originates sidelink communication frames. In some examples, the Source Layer-2 ID and the Destination Layer-2 ID may be assigned by a management function in the Core Network. The Source Layer-2 ID may identify the sender of the data in NR sidelink communication. The Source Layer-2 ID may be 24 bits long and may be split in the MAC layer into two bit strings: One bit string may be the LSB part (8 bits) of Source Layer-2 ID and forwarded to physical layer of the sender. This may identify the source of the intended data in sidelink control information and may be used for filtering of packets at the physical layer of the receiver; and the Second bit string may be the MSB part (16 bits) of the Source Layer-2 ID and may be carried within the Medium Access Control (MAC) header. This may be used for filtering packets at the MAC layer of the receiver. The Destination Layer-2 ID may identify the target of the data in NR sidelink communication. For NR sidelink communication, the Destination Layer- 2 ID may be 24 bits long and may be split in the MAC layer into two bit strings: One bit string may be the LSB part (16 bits) of Destination Layer- 2 ID and forwarded to physical layer of the sender. This may identify the target of the intended data in sidelink control information and may be used for filtering of packets at the physical layer of the receiver; and the Second bit string may be the MSB part (8 bits) of the Destination Layer-2 ID and may be carried within the MAC header. This may be used for filtering packets at the MAC layer of the receiver. The PC5 Link Identifier may uniquely identify the PC5 unicast link in a UE for the lifetime of the PC5 unicast link. The PC5 Link Identifier maybe used to indicate the PC5 unicast link whose sidelink Radio Link failure (RLF) declaration was made and PC5-RRC connection was released.

[0044] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show examples of radio protocol stacks for user plane and control plane, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2A, the protocol stack for the user plane of the Uu interface (between the UE 125 and the gNB 115) includes Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) 201 and SDAP 211, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) 202 and PDCP 212, Radio Link Control (RLC) 203 and RLC 213, MAC 204 and MAC 214 sublayers of layer 2 and Physical (PHY) 205 and PHY 215 layer (layer 1 also referred to as LI).

[0045] The PHY 205 and PHY 215 offer transport channels 244 to the MAC 204 and MAC 214 sublayer. The MAC 204 and MAC 214 sublayer offer logical channels 243 to the RLC 203 and RLC 213 sublayer. The RLC 203 and RLC 213 sublayer offer RLC channels 242 to the PDCP 202 and PCP 212 sublayer. The PDCP 202 and PDCP 212 sublayer offer radio bearers 241 to the SDAP 201 and SDAP 211 sublayer. Radio bearers may be categorized into two groups: Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) for user plane data and Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) for control plane data. The SDAP 201 and SDAP 211 sublayer offers QoS flows 240 to 5GC.

[0046] The main services and functions of the MAC 204 or MAC 214 sublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transport channels; Multiplexing / demultiplexing of MAC Service Data Units (SDUs) belonging to one or different logical channels into / from Transport Blocks (TB) delivered to / from the physical layer on transport channels; Scheduling information reporting; Error correction through Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA)); Priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; Priority handling between logical channels of one UE by means of Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP); Priority handlingbetween overlapping resources of one UE; and Padding. A single MAC entity may support multiple numerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization control which numerology (ies), cell(s), and transmission timing(s) a logical channel may use.

[0047] The HARQ functionality may ensure delivery between peer entities at Layer 1. A single HARQ process may support one TB when the physical layer is not configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, and when the physical layer is configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process may support one or multiple TBs.

[0048] The RLC 203 or RLC 213 sublayer may support three transmission modes: Transparent Mode (TM); Unacknowledged Mode (UM); and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC configuration may be per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and / or transmission durations, and Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) may operate on any of the numerologies and / or transmission durations the logical channel is configured with.

[0049] The main services and functions of the RLC 203 or RLC 213 sublayer depend on the transmission mode (e.g., TM, UM or AM) and may include: Transfer of upper layer PDUs; Sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP (UM and AM); Error Correction through ARQ (AM only); Segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs; Reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); Duplicate Detection (AM only); RLC SDU discard (AM and UM); RLC reestablishment; and Protocol error detection (AM only).

[0050] The automatic repeat request within the RLC 203 or RLC 213 sublayer may have the following characteristics: ARQ retransmits RLC SDUs or RLC SDU segments based on RLC status reports; Polling for RLC status report may be used when needed by RLC; RLC receiver may also trigger RLC status report after detecting a missing RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment.

[0051] The main services and functions of the PDCP 202 or PDCP 212 sublayer may include: Transfer of data (user plane or control plane);Maintenance of PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs); Header compression and decompression using the Robust Header Compression (ROHC) protocol; Header compression and decompression using EHC protocol; Ciphering and deciphering; Integrity protection and integrity verification; Timer based SDU discard; Routing for split bearers; Duplication; Reordering and in-order delivery; Out-of-order delivery; and Duplicate discarding.

[0052] The main services and functions of SDAP 201 or SDAP 211 include: Mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer; and Marking QoS Flow ID (QFI) in both downlink and uplink packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP may be configured for each individual PDU session.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 2B, the protocol stack of the control plane of the Uu interface (between the UE 125 and the gNB 1 15) includes PHY layer (layer 1), and MAC, RLC and PDCP sublayers of layer 2 as described above and in addition, the RRC 206 sublayer and RRC 216 sublayer. The main services and functions of the RRC 206 sublayer and the RRC 216 sublayer over the Uu interface include: Broadcast of System Information related to AS and NAS; Paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN;Establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN (including Addition, modification and release of carrier aggregation; and Addition, modification and release of Dual Connectivity in NR or between E-UTRA and NR); Security functions including key management; Establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of SRBs and DRBs; Mobility functions (including Handover and context transfer; UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection; and Inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting;Detection of and recovery from radio link failure; and NAS message transfer to / from NAS from / to UE. The NAS 207 and NAS 227 layer is acontrol protocol (terminated in AMF on the network side) that performs the functions such as authentication, mobility management, security control, etc.

[0054] The sidelink specific services and functions of the RRC sublayer over the Uu interface include: Configuration of sidelink resource allocation via system information or dedicated signaling; Reporting of UE sidelink information; Measurement configuration and reporting related to sidelink; and Reporting of UE assistance information for SL traffic pattern(s).

[0055] FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C show example mappings between logical channels and transport channels in downlink, uplink and sidelink, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Different kinds of data transfer services may be offered by MAC. Each logical channel type may be defined by what type of information is transferred. Logical channels may be classified into two groups: Control Channels and Traffic Channels. Control channels may be used for the transfer of control plane information only. The Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) is a downlink channel for broadcasting system control information. The Paging Control Channel (PCCH) is a downlink channel that carries paging messages. The Common Control Channel (CCCH) is channel for transmitting control information between UEs and networks. This channel may be used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network. The Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE and the network and may be used by UEs having an RRC connection. Traffic channels may be used for the transfer of user plane information only. The Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point channel, dedicated to one UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH may exist in both uplink and downlink. Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting control information (e.g., PC5-RRC and PC5-S messages)from one UE to other UE(s). Sidelink Traffic Channel (STCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting user information from one UE to other UE(s). Sidelink Broadcast Control Channel (SBCCH) is a sidelink channel for broadcasting sidelink system information from one UE to other UE(s).

[0056] The downlink transport channel types include Broadcast Channel (BCH), Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH), and Paging Channel (PCH). The BCH may be characterized by: fixed, pre-defined transport format; and requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell, either as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances. The DL-SCH may be characterized by: support for HARQ; support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the modulation, coding and transmit power; possibility to be broadcast in the entire cell; possibility to use beamforming; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation; and the support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. The DL-SCH may be characterized by: support for HARQ; support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the modulation, coding and transmit power; possibility to be broadcast in the entire cell; possibility to use beamforming; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation; support for UE discontinuous reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. The PCH may be characterized by: support for UE discontinuous reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving (DRX cycle is indicated by the network to the UE); requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell, either as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances; mapped to physical resources which can be used dynamically also for traffic / other control channels.

[0057] In downlink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels may exist: BCCH may be mapped to BCH; BCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; PCCH may be mapped to PCH; CCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; DCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH may be mapped to DL-SCH.

[0058] The uplink transport channel types include Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) and Random Access Channel(s) (RACH). The UL-SCH may be characterized by possibility to use beamforming; support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the transmit power and potentially modulation and coding; support for HARQ; support for both dynamic and semi- static resource allocation. The RACH may be characterized by limited control information; and collision risk.

[0059] In Uplink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels may exist: CCCH may be mapped to UL-SCH; DCCH may be mapped to UL- SCH; and DTCH may be mapped to UL-SCH.

[0060] The sidelink transport channel types include: Sidelink broadcast channel (SL-BCH) and Sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH). The SL-BCH may be characterized by pre-defined transport format. The SL-SCH may be characterized by support for unicast transmission, groupcast transmission and broadcast transmission; support for both UE autonomous resource selection and scheduled resource allocation by NG-RAN; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation when UE is allocated resources by the NG-RAN; support for HARQ; and support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the transmit power, modulation and coding.

[0061] In the sidelink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels may exist: SCCH may be mapped to SL-SCH; STCH may be mapped to SL-SCH; and SBCCH may be mapped to SL- BCH.

[0062] FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show example mappings between transport channels and physical channels in downlink, uplink and sidelink, respectively, according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The physical channels in downlink include Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). The PCH and DL-SCH transport channels are mappedto the PDSCH. The BCH transport channel is mapped to the PBCH. A transport channel is not mapped to the PDCCH but Downlink Control Information (DCI) is transmitted via the PDCCH.

[0063] The physical channels in the uplink include Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). The UL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to the PUSCH and the RACH transport channel may be mapped to the PRACH. A transport channel is not mapped to the PUCCH but Uplink Control Information (UCI) is transmitted via the PUCCH.

[0064] The physical channels in the sidelink include Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). The Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) may indicate resource and other transmission parameters used by a UE for PSSCH. The Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) may transmit the TBs of data themselves, and control information for HARQ procedures and CSI feedback triggers, etc. At least 6 OFDM symbols within a slot may be used for PSSCH transmission. Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) may carry the HARQ feedback over the sidelink from a UE which is an intended recipient of a PSSCH transmission to the UE which performed the transmission. PSFCH sequence may be transmitted in one PRB repeated over two OFDM symbols near the end of the sidelink resource in a slot. The SL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to the PSSCH. The SL-BCH may be mapped to PSBCH. No transport channel is mapped to the PSFCH but Sidelink Feedback Control Information (SFCI) may be mapped to the PSFCH. No transport channel is mapped to PSCCH but Sidelink Control Information (SCI) may mapped to the PSCCH.

[0065] FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D show examples of radio protocol stacks for NR sidelink communication according to someaspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The AS protocol stack for user plane in the PC5 interface (i.e., for STCH) may consist of SDAP, PDCP, RLC and MAC sublayers, and the physical layer. The protocol stack of user plane is shown in FIG. 5A. The AS protocol stack for SBCCH in the PC5 interface may consist of RRC, RLC, MAC sublayers, and the physical layer as shown below in FIG. 5B. For support of PC5-S protocol, PC5-S is located on top of PDCP, RLC and MAC sublayers, and the physical layer in the control plane protocol stack for SCCH for PC5-S, as shown in FIG. 5C. The AS protocol stack for the control plane for SCCH for RRC in the PC5 interface consists of RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC sublayers, and the physical layer. The protocol stack of control plane for SCCH for RRC is shown in FIG. 5D.

[0066] The Sidelink Radio Bearers (SLRBs) may be categorized into two groups: Sidelink Data Radio Bearers (SL DRB) for user plane data and Sidelink Signaling Radio Bearers (SL SRB) for control plane data. Separate SL SRBs using different SCCHs may be configured for PC5-RRC and PC5-S signaling, respectively.

[0067] The MAC sublayer may provide the following services and functions over the PC5 interface: Radio resource selection; Packet filtering; Priority handling between uplink and sidelink transmissions for a given UE; and Sidelink CSI reporting. With logical channel prioritization restrictions in MAC, only sidelink logical channels belonging to the same destination may be multiplexed into a MAC PDU for every unicast, groupcast and broadcast transmission which may be associated to the destination. For packet filtering, a SL-SCH MAC header including portions of both Source Layer-2 ID and a Destination Layer-2 ID may be added to a MAC PDU. The Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) included within a MAC subheader may uniquely identify a logical channel within the scope of the Source Layer-2 ID and Destination Layer-2 ID combination.

[0068] The services and functions of the RLC sublayer may be supported for sidelink. Both RLC Unacknowledged Mode (UM) and Acknowledged Mode (AM) may be used in unicast transmission while only UM may be used in groupcast or broadcast transmission. For UM, only unidirectional transmission may be supported for groupcast and broadcast.

[0069] The services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the Uu interface may be supported for sidelink with some restrictions: Out-of- order delivery may be supported only for unicast transmission; and Duplication may not be supported over the PC5 interface.

[0070] The SDAP sublayer may provide the following service and function over the PC5 interface: Mapping between a QoS flow and a sidelink data radio bearer. There may be one SDAP entity per destination for one of unicast, groupcast and broadcast which is associated to the destination.

[0071] The RRC sublayer may provide the following services and functions over the PC5 interface: Transfer of a PC5-RRC message between peer UEs; Maintenance and release of a PC5-RRC connection between two UEs; and Detection of sidelink radio link failure for a PC5-RRC connection based on indication from MAC or RLC. A PC5-RRC connection may be a logical connection between two UEs for a pair of Source and Destination Layer-2 IDs which may be considered to be established after a corresponding PC5 unicast link is established. There may be one-to-one correspondence between the PC5-RRC connection and the PC5 unicast link. A UE may have multiple PC5-RRC connections with one or more UEs for different pairs of Source and Destination Layer-2 IDs. Separate PC5-RRC procedures and messages may be used for a UE to transfer UE capability and sidelink configuration including SL-DRB configuration to the peer UE. Both peer UEs may exchange their own UE capability and sidelink configuration using separate bi-directional procedures in both side link directions.

[0072] FIG. 6 shows example physical signals in downlink, uplink and sidelink according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) may be used in downlink, uplink and sidelink and may be used for channel estimation. DM-RS is a UE-specific reference signal and may be transmitted together with a physical channel in downlink, uplink or sidelink and may be used for channel estimation and coherent detection of the physical channel. The Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) may be used in downlink, uplink and sidelink and may be used for tracking the phase and mitigating the performance loss due to phase noise. The PT-RS may be used mainly to estimate and minimize the effect of Common Phase Error (CPE) on system performance. Due to the phase noise properties, PT-RS signal may have a low density in the frequency domain and a high density in the time domain. PT-RS may occur in combination with DM-RS and when the network has configured PT-RS to be present. The Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) may be used in downlink for positioning using different positioning techniques. PRS may be used to measure the delays of the downlink transmissions by correlating the received signal from the base station with a local replica in the receiver. The Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) may be used in downlink and sidelink. CSI-RS may be used for channel state estimation, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement for mobility and beam management, time / frequency tracking for demodulation among other uses. CSI-RS may be configured UE- specifically but multiple users may share the same CSI-RS resource. The UE may determine CSI reports and transmit them in the uplink to the base station using PUCCH or PUSCH. The CSI report may be carried in a sidelink MAC CE. The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) may be used for radio fame synchronization. The PSS and SSS may be used for the cell search procedure during the initial attachment or for mobility purposes. TheSounding Reference Signal (SRS) may be used in uplink for uplink channel estimation. Similar to CSI-RS, the SRS may serve as QCL reference for other physical channels such that they can be configured and transmitted quasi-collocated with SRS. The Sidelink PSS (S-PSS) and Sidelink SSS (S-SSS) may be used in sidelink for sidelink synchronization .

[0073] FIG. 7 shows examples of Radio Resource Control (RRC) states and transitioning between different RRC states according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE may be in one of three RRC states: RRC Connected State 710, RRC Idle State 720 and RRC Inactive state 730. After power up, the UE may be in RRC Idle state 720 and the UE may establish connection with the network using initial access and via an RRC connection establishment procedure to perform data transfer and / or to make / receive voice calls. Once RRC connection is established, the UE may be in RRC Connected State 710. The UE may transition from the RRC Idle state 720 to the RRC connected state 710 or from the RRC Connected State 710 to the RRC Idle state 720 using the RRC connection Establishment / Release procedures 740.

[0074] To reduce the signaling load and the latency resulting from frequent transitioning from the RRC Connected State 710 to the RRC Idle State 720 when the UE transmits frequent small data, the RRC Inactive State 730 may be used. In the RRC Inactive State 730, the AS context may be stored by both UE and gNB. This may result in faster state transition from the RRC Inactive State 730 to RRC Connected State 710. The UE may transition from the RRC Inactive State 730 to the RRC Connected State 710 or from the RRC Connected State 710 to the RRC Inactive State 730 using the RRC Connection Resume / Inactivation procedures 760. The UE may transition from the RRC Inactive State 730 to RRC Idle State 720 using an RRC Connection Release procedure 750.

[0075] FIG. 8 shows example frame structure and physical resources according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The downlink or uplink or sidelink transmissions may be organized into frames with 10 ms duration, consisting of ten 1 ms subframes. Each subframe may consist of 1, 2, 4, ... slots, wherein the number of slots per subframe may depend on the subcarrier spacing of the carrier on which the transmission takes place. The slot duration may be 14 symbols with Normal Cyclic Prefix (CP) and 12 symbols with Extended CP and may scale in time as a function of the used sub-carrier spacing so that there is an integer number of slots in a subframe. FIG. 8 shows a resource grid in time and frequency domain. Each element of the resource grid, comprising one symbol in time and one subcarrier in frequency, is referred to as a Resource Element (RE). A Resource Block (RB) may be defined as 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0076] In some examples and with non-slot-based scheduling, the transmission of a packet may occur over a portion of a slot, for example during 2, 4 or 7 OFDM symbols which may also be referred to as minislots. The mini- slots may be used for low latency applications such as URLLC and operation in unlicensed bands. In some embodiments, the mini-slots may also be used for fast flexible scheduling of services (e.g., pre-emption of URLLC over eMBB).

[0077] FIG. 9 shows example component carrier configurations in different carrier aggregation scenarios according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In Carrier Aggregation (CA), two or more Component Carriers (CCs) may be aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA may be supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs in the same band or on different bands as shown in FIG. 9. A gNB and the UE may communicate using a serving cell. A serving cell may be associated with at least withone downlink CC (e.g., may be associated only with one downlink CC or may be associated with a downlink CC and an uplink CC). A serving cell may be a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Secondary cCell (SCell).

[0078] A UE may adjust the timing of its uplink transmissions using an uplink timing control procedure. A Timing Advance (TA) may be used to adjust the uplink frame timing relative to the downlink frame timing. The gNB may determine the desired Timing Advance setting and provides that to the UE. The UE may use the provided TA to determine its uplink transmit timing relative to the UE's observed downlink receive timing.

[0079] In the RRC Connected state, the gNB may be responsible for maintaining the timing advance to keep the LI synchronized. Serving cells having uplink to which the same timing advance applies and using the same timing reference cell are grouped in a Timing Advance Group (TAG) . A TAG may contain at least one serving cell with configured uplink. The mapping of a serving cell to a TAG may be configured by RRC. For the primary TAG, the UE may use the PCell as timing reference cell, except with shared spectrum channel access where an SCell may also be used as timing reference cell in certain cases. In a secondary TAG, the UE may use any of the activated SCells of this TAG as a timing reference cell and may not change it unless necessary.

[0080] Timing advance updates may be signaled by the gNB to the UE via MAC CE commands. Such commands may restart a TAG-specific timer which may indicate whether the LI can be synchronized or not: when the timer is running, the LI may be considered synchronized, otherwise, the LI may be considered non-synchronized (in which case uplink transmission may only take place on PRACH).

[0081] A UE with single timing advance capability for CA may simultaneously receive and / or transmit multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells sharing the same timing advance (multiple serving cells grouped in one TAG). A UE with multiple timing advance capability for CA may simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCscorresponding to multiple serving cells with different timing advances (multiple serving cells grouped in multiple TAGs). The NG-RAN may ensure that each TAG contains at least one serving cell. A non-CA capable UE may receive on a single CC and may transmit on a single CC corresponding to one serving cell only (one serving cell in one TAG).

[0082] The multi-carrier nature of the physical layer in case of CA may be exposed to the MAC layer and one HARQ entity may be required per serving cell. When CA is configured, the UE may have one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment / reestablishment / handover, one serving cell (e.g., the PCell) may provide the NAS mobility information. Depending on UE capabilities, SCells may be configured to form together with the PCell a set of serving cells. The configured set of serving cells for a UE may consist of one PCell and one or more SCells. The reconfiguration, addition and removal of SCells may be performed by RRC.

[0083] In a dual connectivity scenario, a UE may be configured with a plurality of cells comprising a Master Cell Group (MCG) for communications with a master base station, a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) for communications with a secondary base station, and two MAC entities: one MAC entity and for the MCG for communications with the master base station and one MAC entity for the SCG for communications with the secondary base station.

[0084] FIG. 10 shows example bandwidth part configuration and switching according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE may be configured with one or more Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) 1010 on a given component carrier. In some examples, one of the one or more bandwidth parts may be active at a time. The active bandwidth part may define the UE's operating bandwidth within the cell's operating bandwidth. For initial access, and until the UE's configuration in a cell is received, initial bandwidth part 1020 determined from system information may be used. With BandwidthAdaptation (BA), for example through BWP switching 1040, the receive and transmit bandwidth of a UE may not be as large as the bandwidth of the cell and may be adjusted. For example, the width may be ordered to change (e.g., to shrink during period of low activity to save power); the location may move in the frequency domain (e.g., to increase scheduling flexibility); and the subcarrier spacing may be ordered to change (e.g., to allow different services). The first active BWP 1020 may be the active BWP upon RRC (re-) configuration for a PCell or activation of an SCell.

[0085] For a downlink BWP or uplink BWP in a set of downlink BWPs or uplink BWPs, respectively, the UE may be provided the following configuration parameters: a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS); a cyclic prefix; a common RB and a number of contiguous RBs; an index in the set of downlink BWPs or uplink BWPs by respective BWP-Id; a set of BWP- common and a set of BWP-dedicated parameters. A BWP may be associated with an OFDM numerology according to the configured subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix for the BWP. For a serving cell, a UE may be provided by a default downlink BWP among the configured downlink BWPs. If a UE is not provided a default downlink BWP, the default downlink BWP may be the initial downlink BWP.

[0086] A downlink BWP may be associated with a BWP inactivity timer. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with the active downlink BWP expires and if the default downlink BWP is configured, the UE may perform BWP switching to the default BWP. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with the active downlink BWP expires and if the default downlink BWP is not configured, the UE may perform BWP switching to the initial downlink BWP.

[0087] FIG. 11 shows example four-step contention-based and contention-free random access processes according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 shows example two-step contention-based and contention-free random access processes according to some aspects of some of variousexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The random access procedure may be triggered by a number of events, for example: Initial access from RRC Idle State; RRC Connection Re-establishment procedure; downlink or uplink data arrival during RRC Connected State when uplink synchronization status is "non-synchronized"; uplink data arrival during RRC Connected State when there are no PUCCH resources for Scheduling Request (SR) available; SR failure; Request by RRC upon synchronous reconfiguration (e.g. handover); Transition from RRC Inactive State; to establish time alignment for a secondary TAG; Request for Other System Information (SI); Beam Failure Recovery (BFR);Consistent uplink Listen-Before -Talk (LBT) failure on PCell.

[0088] Two types of Random Access (RA) procedure may be supported: 4- step RA type with MSG1 and 2-step RA type with MSGA. Both types of RA procedure may support Contention-Based Random Access (CBRA) and Contention- Free Random Access (CFRA) as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12.

[0089] The UE may select the type of random access at initiation of the random access procedure based on network configuration. When CFRA resources are not configured, an RSRP threshold may be used by the UE to select between 2-step RA type and 4-step RA type. When CFRA resources for 4-step RA type are configured, UE may perform random access with 4-step RA type. When CFRA resources for 2-step RA type are configured, UE may perform random access with 2-step RA type.

[0090] The MSG1 of the 4-step RA type may consist of a preamble on PRACH. After MSG1 transmission, the UE may monitor for a response from the network within a configured window. For CFRA, dedicated preamble for MSG1 transmission may be assigned by the network and upon receiving Random Access Response (RAR) from the network, the UE may end the random access procedure as shown in FIG. 11. For CBRA, upon reception of the random access response, the UE may send MSG3 using the uplink grant scheduled in the random access response andmay monitor contention resolution as shown in FIG. 11. If contention resolution is not successful after MSG3 (re)transmission(s), the UE may go back to MSG1 transmission.

[0091] The MSGA of the 2-step RA type may include a preamble on PRACH and a payload on PUSCH. After MSGA transmission, the UE may monitor for a response from the network within a configured window. For CFRA, dedicated preamble and PUSCH resource may be configured for MSGA transmission and upon receiving the network response, the UE may end the random access procedure as shown in FIG. 12. For CBRA, if contention resolution is successful upon receiving the network response, the UE may end the random access procedure as shown in FIG. 12; while if fallback indication is received in MSGB, the UE may perform MSG3 transmission using the uplink grant scheduled in the fallback indication and may monitor contention resolution. If contention resolution is not successful after MSG3 (re)transmission(s), the UE may go back to MSGA transmission.

[0092] FIG. 13 shows example time and frequency structure of Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Block (SSB) according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The SS / PBCH Block (SSB) may consist of Primary and Secondary Synchronization Signals (PSS, SSS), each occupying 1 symbol and 127 subcarriers (e.g., subcarrier numbers 56 to 182 in FIG. 13), and PBCH spanning across 3 OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but on one symbol leaving an unused part in the middle for SSS as show in FIG. 13. The possible time locations of SSBs within a half-frame may be determined by sub-carrier spacing and the periodicity of the half-frames, where SSBs are transmitted, may be configured by the network. During a half-frame, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e., using different beams, spanning the coverage area of a cell).

[0093] The PBCH may be used to carry Master Information Block (MIB) used by a UE during cell search and initial access procedures. The UE may first decode PBCH / MIB to receive other system information. The MIB may provide the UE with parameters required to acquire System Information Block 1 (SIB1), more specifically, information required for monitoring of PDCCH for scheduling PDSCH that carries SIB 1. In addition, MIB may indicate cell barred status information. The MIB and SIB 1 may be collectively referred to as the minimum system information (SI) and SIB1 may be referred to as remaining minimum system information (RMSI). The other system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., SIB2, SIB3, ..., SIB 10 and SIBpos) may be referred to as Other SI. The Other SI may be periodically broadcast on DL-SCH, broadcast on- demand on DL-SCH (e.g., upon request from UEs in RRC Idle State, RRC Inactive State, or RRC connected State), or sent in a dedicated manner on DL-SCH to UEs in RRC Connected State (e.g., upon request, if configured by the network, from UEs in RRC Connected State or when the UE has an active BWP with no common search space configured).

[0094] FIG. 14 shows example SSB burst transmissions according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. An SSB burst may include N SSBs and each SSB of the N SSBs may correspond to a beam. The SSB bursts may be transmitted according to a periodicity (e.g., SSB burst period). During a contentionbased random access process, a UE may perform a random access resource selection process, wherein the UE first selects an SSB before selecting a RA preamble. The UE may select an SSB with an RSRP above a configured threshold value. In some embodiments, the UE may select any SSB if no SSB with RSRP above the configured threshold is available. A set of random access preambles may be associated with an SSB. After selecting an SSB, the UE may select a random access preamble from the set of random access preambles associated with theSSB and may transmit the selected random access preamble to start the random access process.

[0095] In some embodiments, a beam of the N beams may be associated with a CSI-RS resource. A UE may measure CSI-RS resources and may select a CSI-RS with RSRP above a configured threshold value. The UE may select a random access preamble corresponding to the selected CSI- RS and may transmit the selected random access process to start the random access process. If there is no random access preamble associated with the selected CSI-RS, the UE may select a random access preamble corresponding to an SSB which is Quasi-Collocated with the selected CSI-RS.

[0096] In some embodiments, based on the UE measurements of the CSI- RS resources and the UE CSI reporting, the base station may determine a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state and may indicate the TCI state to the UE, wherein the UE may use the indicated TCI state for reception of downlink control information (e.g., via PDCCH) or data (e.g., via PDSCH). The UE may use the indicated TCI state for using the appropriate beam for reception of data or control information. The indication of the TCI states may be using RRC configuration or in combination of RRC signaling and dynamic signaling (e.g., via a MAC Control element (MAC CE) and / or based on a value of field in the downlink control information that schedules the downlink transmission). The TCI state may indicate a Quasi-Colocation (QCL) relationship between a downlink reference signal such as CSI-RS and the DM-RS associated with the downlink control or data channels (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH, respectively).

[0097] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with a list of up to M TCI- State configurations, using Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) configuration parameters, to decode PDSCH according to a detected PDCCH with DCI intended for the UE and the given serving cell, where M may depend on the UE capability. Each TCI-State may containparameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH, the DM- RS port of PDCCH or the CSI-RS port(s) of a CSI-RS resource. The quasi co-location relationship may be configured by one or more RRC parameters. The quasi co-location types corresponding to each DL RS may take one of the following values: 'QCL-TypeA': {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}; ’QCL-TypeB': {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}; 'QCL-TypeC: {Doppler shift, average delay}; ’QCL- TypeD': {Spatial Rx parameter}. The UE may receive an activation command (e.g., a MAC CE), used to map TCI states to the codepoints of a DCI field.

[0098] FIG. 15 shows example components of a user equipment and a base station for transmission and / or reception according to some aspects of some of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. All or a subset of blocks and functions in FIG. 15 may be in the base station 1505 and the user equipment 1500 and may be performed by the user equipment 1500 and by the base station 1505. The Antenna 1510 may be used for transmission or reception of electromagnetic signals. The Antenna 1510 may comprise one or more antenna elements and may enable different input-output antenna configurations including Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) configuration, Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) configuration and Single-Input Multiple-Output (SIMO) configuration. In some embodiments, the Antenna 150 may enable a massive MIMO configuration with tens or hundreds of antenna elements. The Antenna 1510 may enable other multi- antenna techniques such as beamforming. In some examples, depending on the UE 1500 capabilities or the type of UE 1500 (e.g., a low-complexity UE), the UE 1500 may support a single antenna only.

[0099] The transceiver 1520 may communicate bi-directionally, via the Antenna 1510, wireless links as described herein. For example, thetransceiver 1520 may represent a wireless transceiver at the UE and may communicate bi-directionally with the wireless transceiver at the base station or vice versa. The transceiver 1520 may include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the Antennas 1510 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the Antennas 1510.

[0100] The memory 1530 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 1530 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1535 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the memory 1530 may contain, among other things, a Basic Input / output System (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0101] The processor 1540 may include a hardware device with processing capability (e.g., a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some examples, the processor 1540 may be configured to operate a memoiy using a memory controller. In other examples, a memoiy controller may be integrated into the processor 1540. The processor 1540 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 1530) to cause the UE 1500 or the base station 1505 to perform various functions.

[0102] The Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1550 may perform basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and Input / output (I / O) operations specified by the computer instructions in the Memory 1530. The user equipment 1500 and / or the base station 1505 may include additional peripheral components such as a graphics processing unit (GPU) 1560 and a Global Positioning System (GPS) 1570. The GPU 1560 is a specialized circuitry for rapid manipulation and altering of the Memory 1530 for acceleratingthe processing performance of the user equipment 1500 and / or the base station 1505. The GPS 1570 may be used for enabling location-based services or other services for example based on geographical position of the user equipment 1500.

[0103] In some examples, an SPS-Config may be used to configure downlink semi-persistent transmission. Multiple Downlink SPS configurations may be configured in one BWP of a serving cell. A field / parameter harq-CodebookID may indicate the HARQ-ACK codebook index for the corresponding HARQ-ACK codebook for SPS PDSCH and ACK for SPS PDSCH release. A field / parameter harq-ProcID-Offset may indicate the offset used in deriving the HARQ process IDs. A field / parameter mcs-Table may indicate the MCS table the UE may use for DL SPS. A field / parameter nlPUCCH-AN may indicate HARQ resource for PUCCH for DL SPS. The network may configure the resource either as formatO or format 1. The actual PUCCH-Resource may be configured in PUCCH-Config and referred to by its ID. A field / parameter nlPUCCH-AN-PUCCHsSCell may indicate HARQ resource for PUCCH on PUCCH switching SCell (sSCell) for DL SPS. The network configures the resource either as format 0 or format 1. The actual PUCCH-Resource may be configured in PUCCH-Config of the PUCCH sSCell and referred to by its ID. A field / parameter nrofHARQ-Processes, nrofHARQ- ProcessesExt may indicate number of configured HARQ processes for SPS DL. A field / parameter pdsch-AggregationFactor may indicate number of repetitions for SPS PDSCH. A field / parameter periodicity may indicate periodicity for DL SPS. A field / parameter sps-Configlndex may indicate the index of one of multiple SPS configurations. A field / parameter sps-HARQ-Deferral may indicate the maximum number of slots or subslots the transmission of DL SPS HARQ-ACK in a slot or subslot can be deferred.

[0104] In some examples, an IE SPS-Configlndex may be used to indicate the index of one of multiple DL SPS configurations in one BWP.

[0105] In some examples, Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) may be configured by RRC for a Serving Cell per BWP. Multiple assignments may be active simultaneously in the same BWP. Activation and deactivation of the DL SPS may be independent among the Serving Cells.

[0106] In some examples, for the DL SPS, a DL assignment may be provided by PDCCH, and stored or cleared based on LI signaling indicating SPS activation or deactivation.

[0107] In some examples, RRC may configure the following parameters when the SPS is configured: cs-RNTI: CS-RNTI for activation, deactivation, and retransmission; nrofHARQ-Processes: the number of configured HARQ processes for SPS; harq-ProcID-Offset: Offset of HARQ process for SPS; periodicity: periodicity of configured downlink assignment for SPS.

[0108] In some examples, when the SPS is released by upper layers, the corresponding configurations may be released.

[0109] In some examples, after a downlink assignment is configured for SPS, the MAC entity may consider sequentially that the Nth downlink assignment occurs in the slot for which: (numberOfSlotsPerFrame x SEN + slot number in the frame) = [(numberOfSlotsPerFrame x SFNstart time + slotstart time) + N x periodicityxnumberOfSlotsPerFrame / 10] modulo (1024 x numberOfSlotsPerFrame), where SFNstart time and slotstart time are the SFN and slot, respectively, of the first transmission of PDSCH where the configured downlink assignment was (re-) initialized.

[0110] In some examples, in case of unaligned SFN across carriers in a cell group, the SFN of the concerned Serving Cell may be used to calculate the occurrences of configured downlink assignments.

[0111] In some examples, if a downlink assignment for a PDCCH occasion has been received for a Serving Cell on the PDCCH for the MAC entity's CS-RNTI or G-CS-RNTI: if the NDI in the received HARQ information is 0: if PDCCH contents indicate SPS deactivation: the MAC entity may clear the configured downlink assignment for the Serving Cell (if any); if thetimeAlignmentTimer, associated with the TAG containing the Serving Cell on which the HARQ feedback is to be transmitted, is running: the MAC entity may indicate a positive acknowledgement for the SPS deactivation to the physical layer. If PDCCH content indicates SPS activation, the MAC entity may store the downlink assignment for this Serving Cell and the associated HARQ information as configured downlink assignment; the MAC entity may initialize or re-initialize the configured downlink assignment for this Serving Cell to start in the associated PDSCH duration and to recur according to rules.

[0112] In some examples, a UE may receive a DCI to activate a SPS configuration. The DCI may be a downlink scheduling DCI such as DCI format l_0, or DCI format 1_1, or DCI format 1_2. The DCI formats l_0, 1_1 and 1_2 may include a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing fields.

[0113] In some examples, the power consumption of a base station may be split into two parts: the dynamic part which may be consumed when data transmission / reception is ongoing, and the static part which may be consumed (e.g., all the time) to maintain the necessary operation of the base station, even when the data transmission / reception is not ongoing. The static power consumption may be determined by the sleep modes and may be a fixed value.

[0114] In some examples, for the dynamic part, the power consumption may be optimized based on the traffic. Considering the varied requirements of different UEs and different services in different transmission time intervals (TTIs), the transmission parameters, like the active TRX chain set, the transmit power, may be adjusted based on service’s requirements and maximize the potential power savings without incurring large performance loss. In some examples, some transmission parameters may be adjusted according to the UEs’ data rate requirements and the expected transmission capacity. In an example, when the traffic is small and the transmission capacity may be redundant, some of the transceiver chains or components may be turnedoff in order to reduce power consumption. Example techniques to enable NES may comprise power reduction in time, spatial, frequency and / or power domains. For example, dynamic on / off and light common signaling may be for time domain.

[0115] In some examples, in the time domain, when there is no data, the base station may reduce power consumption by symbol muting. More efficient symbol muting may be achieved by simplifying some always-on signals / channels. In some examples, some always-on common signals (e.g., SSB and SIB1) may be transmitted by the base station to guarantee that the cell is detectable by UEs. These always-on common signals may occupy a certain number of symbols, in which the BS may not go into a sleep mode for energy saving.

[0116] In some examples, a portion of the symbols may be active in a time for the network to only transmit SSB and SIB 1.

[0117] In some examples, for reducing ratio of SSB and SIB1, a periodicity of SSB and SIB1 may be changed when the network is idle. Changing the periodicity may increase the access delay of UEs and there may be a risk that the legacy UE may not correctly identify a cell with a longer periodicity of SSB.

[0118] In some examples, when there is already a carrier for a UE to be able to receive SSB / SIB 1, the common signals for other carriers may be simplified and / or assisted by the signals received from the first carrier.

[0119] In some examples, for SSB, discovery reference signal (DRS) occupying fewer symbols (e.g., 2 symbols) than the existing SSB may be transmitted on an energy saving carrier to impose less impact on UE performance such as synchronization accuracy. In some examples, if the BS can maintain the synchronization between different carriers (such as anchor carrier and energy saving carrier), the SSB on energy saving carrier may be completely skipped, e.g., SSB-less, achieving additional sleeping time. The UE on energy saving carrier may acquire time and synchronization based on the SSB on anchor carrier. In some examples,the legacy UE may not access the network through energy saving carrier, however, due to the existence of anchor carrier, legacy UE may receive normal SSB and SIB1 on anchor carrier. In some examples, skipping SSB on energy saving carrier may reduce the latency of SCell activation and improve throughput performance, since UE may acquire synchronization information from PCell. For example, the latency of fast SCell activation may be reduced.

[0120] In some examples, use of SSB received from one carrier for other carriers in multi-carrier scenarios may bring energy saving gain as well as lower latency of SCell activation procedure.

[0121] In some examples, for a FR2 carrier which may be deployed in a standalone manner, there may be further room to reduce the need of the always-on common signals such as SSB / SIB 1 due to different activeness among beams, e.g., replacing these signals by on-demand SSB / SIB 1.

[0122] In some examples, transmission of common signals, e.g., SSB and SIB 1 , in single -carrier and multi-carrier scenarios may be optimized to minimize the energy consumption.

[0123] Existing UE and network processes may result in high energy consumption at the network / base station. Network energy saving may be important for environmental sustainability and for operation cost savings. Existing semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) processes and more specifically HARQ feedback reporting for the received SPS transport blocks may be inefficient and may cause increased energy consumption at the base station and / or UE when a bae station or a cell provided by the base station are in or are configured to be in an energy saving state. There is a need to enhance the existing SPS processes and HARQ feedback reporting. Example embodiments enhance the existing SPS and HARQ feedback processes when network energy saving is configured / enabled.

[0124] In an example embodiment as shown in FIG. 16, a UE may receive, from a base station, one or more message comprising configurationparameters (e.g., RRC configuration parameters). The one or more messages may comprise one or more RRC messages. The configuration parameters may comprise SPS configuration parameters of one or more SPS configurations. A SPS configuration of the one or more SPS configurations may be configured for a cell (e.g., a cell provided by the base station) . The SPS configuration may include parameters that are used by the UE to determine SPS grants / radio resources for receiving downlink SPS transport blocks. For example, the SPS configuration parameters may include a periodicity parameter indicating time separation between consecutive SPS grants. For example, the SPS configuration parameters may include one or more HARQ related parameters that are used by the UE to determine HARQ process IDs associated with the SPS grants. For example, the SPS configuration parameters may include a SPS configuration index for the SPS configuration in the one or more SPS configurations. For example, the SPS configuration parameters may comprise a SPS RNTI, wherein a DCI that is used for activation of the SPS configuration may be associated with the SPS RNTI.

[0125] The UE may receive an activation DCI indicating activation of the SPS configuration. For example, the DCI may comprise a first field with a value indicating the SPS configuration index associated with the SPS configuration, and the UE may determine which SPS configuration the DCI indicates activation based on the SPS configuration index indicated by the activation DCI. The activation DCI may further comprise a second field with a value indicating a PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing / duration. In some examples, the UE may receive configuration parameters of a plurality of PDSCH to HARQ feedback timings / durations and the value of the second field may indicate (e.g., may provide an index to) one of the plurality of PDSCH to HARQ feedback timings / durations. The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing / duration may be used by the UE to determine a timing of the HARQ feedback associated with a SPS TB.The HARQ feedback timing may further be based on the timing of the SPS TB.

[0126] The UE may receive a SPS TB based on a SPS grant that is determined using the SPS configuration parameters and the activation DCI. The UE may determine timing of the HARQ feedback (e.g., HARQ ACK or NACK) associated with the SPS TB. The UE may determine the timing of the HARQ feedback based on whether the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station (e.g., one or more cells comprising the cell on which the SPS TBS is received or the cell that PUCCH carrying the HARQ feedback is configured) are in an energy saving state or in a non-energy saving state. At least one signal or at least one channel or at least one message may be transmitted or received with a larger periodicity and / or less frequently while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state compared to while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-energy saving state.

[0127] In some examples, based on and while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-energy saving state, the UE may determine the timing of the HARQ feedback associated with the SPS TB based on the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicated by the activation DCI and the timing of the SPS TB. For example, based on and while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy saving state, a time difference between the SPS TB and the HARQ feedback associated with the SPS TB may not be duration indicated by the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicated by the activation DCI.

[0128] In some examples, based on and while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy saving state, a time difference between the SPS TB and the HARQ feedback associated with the SPS TB may be the duration indicated by the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing indicated by the activation DCI plus an offset. In someexamples, the offset may be based on a control parameter (e.g., based on a value of a field of an RRC message or based on a value of a field of MAC CE or based on a value of a field of a DCI). In some examples, the activation DCI may comprise a field indicating the offset. In some examples as shown in FIG. 17, the UE may receive an indication (e.g., via an RRC message or a MAC CE or a DCI) that the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in or have entered an energy saving state. The UE may determine that the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state or have entered the energy saving state in response to receiving the indication. In some examples, the indication may comprise a field with a value indicating the offset.

[0129] In some examples as shown in FIG. 18, the UE may ignore the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing field of the DCI based on the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station having entered the energy saving state.

[0130] In some examples as shown in FIG. 19, the UE may receive one or more message (e.g., a broadcast message, e.g., a SIB message) and / or one or more channels and / or one or more signals and / or one or more commands and may determine the time difference between a SPS TB and its corresponding HARQ feedback, while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state, based on (e.g., based on explicit parameters indicating the time difference) based on at least one of the one or more messages and the one or more channels and the one or more signals and the one or more commands. For example, the SPS activation DCI may comprise a field with a value indicating the time difference. In some examples, the DCI may comprise multiple fields indicating the time difference while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state and while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-energy saving state.

[0131] In some examples, the PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing may be in a number of slots. The PDSCH to HARQ feedback timing may be based on a subcarrier spacing of a control channel carrying the HARQ feedback.

[0132] In some examples, the UE may store the HARQ feedback associated with a SPS TB and may postpone its transmission until the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-energy savings state.

[0133] In some examples, the time difference between the SPS TB and its corresponding HARQ feedback may be based on a periodicity of a signal or a channel (e.g., SSB, etc.) while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station is in a network energy saving state. In some examples, the time difference between the SPS TB and its corresponding HARQ feedback may be based on a first periodicity of a signal or a channel (e.g., SSB, etc.) while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a network energy saving state and a second periodicity of a signal or channel while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in a nonenergy saving state.

[0134] In an example embodiment, a user equipment (UE) may receive, from a base station, configuration parameters of a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration for a cell. The UE may receive a downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the SPS configuration, wherein the DCI comprises a field with a value indicating a duration between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. The UE may receive a transport block (TB) based on the SPS configuration, wherein a time difference between the TB and its associated HARQ feedback: may be the duration indicated by the value of the field, while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state; and may notbe the duration indicated by the value of the field, while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state.

[0135] In some examples, the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be longer than the duration indicated by the value of the field while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state.

[0136] In some examples, the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be the duration indicated by the value of the field plus an offset while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state.

[0137] In some examples, the UE may receive a control parameter indicating the offset. In some examples, receiving the control parameter may be based on a radio resource configuration (RRC) message. In some examples, the RRC message may comprise a field with a value indicating the offset. In some examples, receiving the control parameter may be based on a medium access control (MAC) command. In some examples, the medium access control (MAC) command may comprise a field with a value indicating the offset. In some examples, receiving the control parameter may be based on a downlink control information (DCI). In some examples, the downlink control information (DCI) may comprise a field with a value indicating the offset. In some examples, the UE may receive an indication that the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state or has entered the energy saving state, wherein the indication may comprise a field with a value indicating the offset. In some examples, the indication may be based on one or more of a radio resource control (RRC) message and a medium access control (MAC) command and a downlink control information (DCI) .

[0138] In some examples, the UE may ignore the value of the field in response to the base station or the cell being or having entered in the energy saving state.

[0139] In some examples, the UE may receive a message or a channel or a command indicating the time difference between the TB and its associated HARQ feedback while the base station or the cell is or has entered the energy saving state. In some examples, the channel may be a downlink control channel carrying a downlink control information. In some examples, the downlink control information may be the activation downlink control information used for activation of the SPS configuration. In some examples, the activation downlink control information may comprise: a first field with a first value indicating a first duration between a first received transport block and its corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state; and a second field with a second value indicating a second duration between a second received transport block and its corresponding HARQ feedback while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the message may be a broadcast message. In some examples, the broadcast message may be a system information block (SIB) message.

[0140] In some examples, the duration may be in number of slots. In some examples, the duration may be based on a subcarrier spacing associated with an uplink control channel carrying the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback.

[0141] In some examples, the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback may be one of positive acknowledgement (ACK) and negative acknowledgement (NACK).

[0142] In some examples, the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration parameters may comprise a periodicity parameter indicating separation between consecutive SPS grants.

[0143] In some examples, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback associated with a transport block (TB) received while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state is postponed to a timingthat the base station or a cell that the HARQ feedback is scheduled for transmission is in a non-energy saving state.

[0144] In some examples, the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration may be associated with a first SPS configuration index; and the activation downlink control information (DCI) may comprise a field with a value indicating the SPS configuration index. In some examples, the signal or the channel may be a downlink signal or channel. In some examples, the downlink signal or channel may be a synchronization signal block (SSB). In some examples, the time difference may be based on a first periodicity of the signal or the channel while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state and a second periodicity of the signal or the channel while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the time difference may be based on the first periodicity and the second periodicity.

[0145] In some examples, at least one signal or at least one channel or at least one message may be transmitted or received with a larger periodicity and less frequently while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy saving state.

[0146] In some examples, the UE may receive configuration parameters indicating a plurality of durations, wherein the value of the field of the downlink control information indicates a first duration in the plurality of durations. In some examples, the configuration parameters of the semi- persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration may comprise a first parameter indicating a SPS radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) and the downlink control information may be associated with the SPS RNTI.

[0147] The exemplary blocks and modules described in this disclosure with respect to the various example embodiments may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Examples of the general-purpose processor include but are not limited to a microprocessor, any conventional processor, a controller, a microcontroller, or a state machine. In some examples, a processor may be implemented using a combination of devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0148] The functions described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Instructions or code may be stored or transmitted on a computer-readable medium for implementation of the functions. Other examples for implementation of the functions disclosed herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. Implementation of the functions may be via physically co-located or distributed elements (e.g., at various positions), including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0149] Computer-readable media includes but is not limited to non- transitory computer storage media. A non-transitoiy storage medium may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.Examples of non-transitory storage media include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, etc. A non-transitory medium may be used to carry or store desired program code means (e.g., instructions and / or data structures) and may be accessed by a general-purpose or specialpurpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. In some examples, the software / program code may be transmitted from a remote source (e.g., a website, a server, etc.) using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wirelesstechnologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave. In such examples, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are within the scope of the definition of medium. Combinations of the above examples are also within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0150] As used in this disclosure, use of the term “or” in a list of items indicates an inclusive list. The list of items may be prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of or “one or more of. For example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C includes A or B or C or AB (i.e. , A and B) or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used in this disclosure, prefacing a list of conditions with the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as “based only on” the set of conditions and rather shall be construed as “based at least in part on” the set of conditions. For example, an outcome described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0151] In this specification the terms “comprise”, “include” or “contain” may be used interchangeably and have the same meaning and are to be construed as inclusive and open-ending. The terms “comprise”, “include” or “contain” may be used before a list of elements and indicate that at least all of the listed elements within the list exist but other elements that are not in the list may also be present. For example, if A comprises B and C, both {B, C} and {B, C, D} are within the scope of A.

[0152] The present disclosure, in connection with the accompanied drawings, describes example configurations that are not representative of all the examples that may be implemented or all configurations that are within the scope of this disclosure. The term “exemplary” should not be construed as “preferred” or “advantageous compared to other examples” but rather “an illustration, an instance or an example.” By reading this disclosure, including the description of the embodiments and the drawings, it will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skills in the art that the technology disclosed herein may be implemented usingalternative embodiments. The person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the embodiments, or certain features of the embodiments described herein, may be combined to arrive at yet other embodiments for practicing the technology described in the present disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method of network energy saving, comprising the steps of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a base station, configuration parameters of a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration for a cell; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the SPS configuration, wherein the DCI comprises a DCI duration field with a DCI duration value indicating a duration between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback; and receiving a transport block (TB) based on the SPS configuration, wherein a time difference between the TB and its associated HARQ feedback: is the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or the cell is in a non-energy saving state; and is not the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is longer than the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field, while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is the duration indicated by the DCI duration value of the DCIduration field plus an offset, while the base station or cell is in the energy saving state.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a control parameter indicating the offset.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the control parameter is based on a radio resource configuration (RRC) message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the radio resource configuration (RRC) message comprises an RRC offset field with an RRC offset value indicating the offset.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the control parameter is based on a medium access control (MAC) command.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the medium access control (MAC) command comprises a MAC offset field with a MAC offset value indicating the offset.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the control parameter is based on a downlink control information (DCI) .

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) comprises a DCI offset field with a DCI offset value indicating the offset.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving an indication that the base station or the cell is in an energy saving state or has entered the energy saving state, wherein the indication comprises an indication offset field with an indication offset value indicating the offset.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the indication is based on one or more of a radio resource control (RRC) message and a medium access control (MAC) command and a downlink control information (DCI).

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising ignoring the DCI duration value of the DCI duration field in response to the base station or the cell being or having entered the energy saving state.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a message or a channel or a command indicating the time difference between the transport block (TB) and its associated hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback while the base station or the cell is or has entered the energy saving state.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the channel is a downlink control channel carrying a downlink control information.

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