User equipment and base station involved in monitoring the control channel

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a user equipment UE comprising: a processor determines a capability of the UE for operating a monitor function, including a capability condition related to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans in a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; a transmitter transmits a capability indication to a base station indicating the capability condition of the UE; and a receiver receives information for setting the monitor function from the base station, including one or more monitor opportunities for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure is directed to methods, apparatus, and articles in communication systems, such as 3GPP® communication systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for the next generation of cellular technology, also known as the fifth generation (5G).

[0003] One objective is to provide a single technical framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios (e.g., see 3GPP TR 38.913 version 16.0.0, section 6), including at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC). For example, eMBB deployment scenarios may include indoor hotspots, dense urban, rural, urban macro, and high speed, URLLC deployment scenarios may include industrial control systems, mobile healthcare (remote monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment), real-time control of vehicles, wide area monitoring, and control systems for smart grids, and mMTC deployment scenarios may include scenarios with a large number of devices with non-time-critical data transfer, such as smart wearables and sensor networks. eMBB and URLLC services are similar in that both require very high bandwidth, but differ in that URLLC services may preferably require ultra-low latency.

[0004] A second objective is to achieve forward compatibility: backward compatibility to Long Term Evolution (LTE, LTE-A) cellular systems is not required, thus facilitating the introduction of entirely new system designs and / or novel features. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One non-limiting exemplary embodiment helps provide a procedure to facilitate a UE performing improved downlink control channel monitoring.

[0006] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein features a user equipment UE including: a processor of the UE determines a capability of the UE for operating a monitor function, the monitor function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitor occasions for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message; the determined capability of the UE is determined based on two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitor function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; Includes. A transmitter of the UE sends a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE for operating a monitoring function. The capability indication indicates a first capability condition of the UE and optionally includes a second capability condition of the UE. A receiver of the UE receives configuration information from the base station for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel.

[0007] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, an integrated circuit may control processing of a UE or a base station.

[0008] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and various implementations will become apparent from the specification and drawings. These benefits and / or advantages may be obtained individually by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, and it is not necessary for all of the embodiments and features to be provided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] The following embodiments are explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram of an RRC connection setup / reconfiguration procedure. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) usage scenarios. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario. [Figure 6] A diagram showing the relationship between bandwidth portions, control resource sets (CORESETs), search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates. [Figure 7] A figure showing an example configuration of PDCCH monitor slots and PDCCH monitor patterns within the PDCCH monitor slots. [Figure 8]A diagram showing various exemplary interpretations of various capability indications reported by a UE related to a minimum time interval between two consecutive PDCCH transmissions. [Figure 9] A figure showing an example of an exemplary capability indication and the resulting setting of a monitoring opportunity by a gNB. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates an example time domain structure in a communication system such as 5G NR, including radio frames, subframes, slots, and OFDM symbols with different subcarrier spacing. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 shows the resulting slot lengths and OFDM symbols for the high subcarrier spacing used in the new frequency range of 52.6-72 GHz. [Figure 12] A diagram showing various settings of monitoring opportunities of UE-specific search spaces and common search spaces of two UEs and the resulting drawbacks. [Figure 13] A diagram showing various settings of monitoring opportunities of UE-specific search spaces and common search spaces of two UEs and the resulting drawbacks. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary simplified structure of a UE and a gNB. [Figure 15] A diagram showing the structure of a UE with an exemplary implementation of an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure. [Figure 16] 1 is a flow diagram of a UE operation in accordance with an example implementation of an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a base station with an exemplary implementation of an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure. [Figure 18] 5 is a flow diagram of the operation of a base station participating in an exemplary implementation of an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram illustrating an example exchange between a UE and a gNB in ​​an example implementation of an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure. [Figure 20]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for different UEs in the first solution. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for different UEs in the second solution. [Figure 22] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for different UEs in the third solution. [Figure 23] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of how the overbooking mechanism can be applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP continues to work on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (also known simply as "5G"), which includes the development of New Radio Access Technology (NR) that will operate in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed in late 2017, allowing for the prototyping and commercial deployment of 5G NR-compliant smartphones.

[0011] In particular, the overall system architecture assumes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) with gNBs. The gNBs provide the UE-side termination of the NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to the Next Generation Core (NGC) by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF, e.g. a specific core entity running AMF) by an NG-C interface and to the User Plane Function (UPF, e.g. a specific core entity running UPF) by an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, e.g., section 4 of 3GPP TS 38.300 v16.46.0).

[0012] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, section 4.4.1 of 3GPP TS 38.300) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol, see section 6.4 of TS 38.300) sublayer, the RLC (Radio Link Control, see section 6.3 of TS 38.300) sublayer, and the MAC (Medium Access Control, see section 6.2 of TS 38.300) sublayer, which are terminated on the network side at the gNB. In addition, a new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see, for example, sub-clause 6.5 of TS 38.300). NR also defines a control plane protocol stack (see, for example, section 4.4.2 of TS 38.300). An overview of Layer 2 functions is given in sub-clause 6 of TS 38.300. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in sub-clause 7 of TS 38.300.

[0013] For example, the MAC layer is responsible for multiplexing logical channels and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling various numerologies.

[0014] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. It also maps transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, the physical channels are PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) in the uplink, and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) in the downlink.

[0015] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications), and mMTC (massive Machine Type Communication), which have diverse requirements for data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is required to support peak data rates (20Gbps downlink, 10Gbps uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates that are about three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, URLLC has more stringent requirements for ultra-low latency (user plane latency of 0.5ms for both UL and DL) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps latency within 1ms). -5Finally, mMTC preferably requires high connection density (1 million devices per square kilometer in urban environments), wide coverage in adverse environments, and ultra-long battery life (15 years) for low-cost equipment.

[0016] Therefore, OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not be valid for other use cases. For example, low latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (in other words, TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain similar CP overhead, the subcarrier spacing needs to be optimized accordingly. NR may support multiple values ​​of subcarrier spacing. Correspondingly, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are currently being considered. Symbol length T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is expressed by the formula Δf=1 / T u Similar to LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0017] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for the uplink and downlink, respectively. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on a frequency index in the frequency domain and a symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v16.46.0, e.g., section 4). For example, downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames with a duration of 10 ms, each frame consisting of 10 subframes of 1 ms duration each. In a 5g NR implementation, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing setting. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, a subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (similar to an LTE-compatible implementation assuming a normal cyclic prefix). On the other hand, for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, a subframe has two slots, each slot containing 14 OFDM symbols.

[0018] <Functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 2 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical node of NG-RAN is gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0019] In particular, the gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink; - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data; - Selection of the AMF at UE attach time if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data towards the UPF; - Routing of control plane information towards AMF; - Setting up and tearing down connections; - Scheduling and sending paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (sourced from AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance Function (OAM)); - Setting up measurements and reporting of measurements for mobility and scheduling; - Transport level packet marking in the uplink; - Session management; - Support for network slicing; - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; - Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message delivery function; - Sharing of radio access networks; - Dual connectivity; - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0020] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling; - NAS signaling security; - Access Layer (AS) security controls; - 3GPP Core Network (CN) inter-node signalling for mobility between access networks; - Reachability to idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Managing the registration area; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including roaming privilege checks; - Mobility management control (subscription and policies); - Support for network slicing; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0021] Additionally, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) Session Points for interconnection with data networks; - Packet routing and forwarding; - Packet inspection and policy rule enforcement for the user plane part; - Traffic usage reporting; - an uplink classifier that supports routing of traffic flows to the data network; - Branching Point to support multi-homed PDU sessions; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Validation of uplink traffic (mapping of SDF to QoS flows); - Downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering.

[0022] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - IP address allocation and management for the UE; - Selection and control of the UPF; - Traffic steering setting function in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the appropriate destination; - Policy enforcement and QoS of the control part; - Notification of downlink data.

[0023] <Procedures for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 3 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE moves from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see TS 38.300).

[0024] RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and the gNB. In particular, with this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (which includes, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responding with a SecurityModeComplete message to the gNB. The gNB then performs reconfiguration to set up signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and data radio bearer (DRB) by sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE. For signaling-only connections, the steps related to RRCReconfiguration are omitted since SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, the gNB informs the AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0025] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) of a 5th Generation Core (5GC), comprising: a control circuit that operatively establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB; and a transmitter that operatively transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection such that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and a User Equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element (IE) to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. Then, the UE transmits in uplink or receives in downlink based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0026] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 shows some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project NR (3GPP NR) is considering three use cases that are expected to support a wide variety of services and applications with IMT-2020. The first phase of specifications for enhanced Multimedia Broadcasting (eMBB) has been completed. In addition to further expanding support for eMBB, current and future research is also being conducted on the standardization of ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) and multiple simultaneous connections. Figure 4 shows examples of usage scenarios that are expected for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, Figure 2 in ITU-R M.20183).

[0027] URLLC use cases have stringent performance requirements such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers of future vertical applications such as wireless control of industrial production and manufacturing processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation for smart grids, and road safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by TR 38.913v16.0.0. For NR URLLC in Release 15, the key requirement is to target user plane latency of 0.5 ms UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms DL (downlink). The general URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0028] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many possible ways. Current room for reliability improvement includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, repeated transmission of PDCCH, etc. However, this room can be expanded to achieve ultra-high reliability as NR (with respect to the key requirements of NR URLLC) becomes more stable and more developed. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0029] Also, technology extensions targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technology extensions for improving latency include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configurable grant) uplink, repeated transmissions at slot level in data channel, and pre-emption in downlink. Pre-emption means that a transmission with already allocated resources is stopped and the already allocated resources are used for other transmissions with lower latency / higher priority requirements that are requested later. Thus, a transmission that was already allowed is preempted by a later transmission. Pre-emption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology extensions for improving reliability include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0030] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are not sensitive to latency. The devices are required to be low cost and have very long battery life. From an NR perspective, the use of very narrow bandwidth portions is one solution that saves power from the UE's perspective and allows for long battery life.

[0031] As mentioned above, it is expected that the scope of reliability improvement in NR will be broader. One of the key requirements for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered that can improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. In general, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, repeated transmission of data channel / control channel, and diversity with respect to frequency domain, time domain, and / or spatial domain. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvement regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0032] Further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisaged for NR URLLC, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The stringent requirements include high reliability (10 6 level of reliability), high availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization up to a few μs (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 μs or a few μs depending on the frequency range and short latency on the order of 0.5 ms to 1 ms (in particular, a targeted latency of 0.5 ms on the user plane).

[0033] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, there may be several technical extensions from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical extensions include the extension of the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) related to compact DCI, the repeated transmission of the PDCCH, and the increase in the monitoring of the PDCCH. Also, the extension of UCI (Uplink Control Information) is related to the extension of enhanced HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. There may also be an extension of the PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping, and an extension of retransmission / repeated transmission. The term "mini-slot" refers to a transmission time interval (TTI) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot contains 14 symbols).

[0034] <QoS control> The QoS (Quality of Service) model of 5G is based on QoS flows, and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR (Granteed Bit Rate) QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest-grained QoS classification in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI: QoS Flow ID) that is carried in an encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0035] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for the PDU session, e.g. as shown above with reference to Fig. 3. Additional DRBs for the QoS flows of the PDU session can be configured later (when it is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. The NAS level packet filters in the UE and the 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, whereas the AS level mapping rules in the UE and the NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows a non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see, for example, 3GPP TS 23.501 v16.7.0 or v16.7.1.1, section 4.2.3). An application function (AF), such as an external application server hosting a 5G service, as illustrated in FIG. 4, interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide the service. For example, it may access a network exposure function (NEF) to support applications that affect traffic routing, and interact with a policy framework for policy control such as QoS control (see Policy Control Function (PCF)). Based on the operator's deployment, application functions that are deemed trusted by the operator may directly interact with the relevant network functions. Application functions that are not allowed by the operator to directly access network functions interact with the relevant network functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0037] Figure 5 further illustrates further functional units of the 5G architecture, namely, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator-provided services, Internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and run in a cloud computing environment.

[0038] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) comprising: a transmitter that, in operation, sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMBB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of the 5GC functions (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE according to the QoS requirements; and a control circuit that, in operation, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0039] Bandwidth Part (Partial Bandwidth) The NR system supports a maximum channel bandwidth (e.g., hundreds of MHz) that is much wider than the 20 MHz bandwidth of LTE. LTE also supports wideband communication via carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers up to 20 MHz. Defining a wider channel bandwidth in NR allows for dynamic allocation of frequency resources via scheduling, which can be more efficient and flexible than the carrier aggregation operation of LTE, whose activation / deactivation is based on MAC control elements. Having a single wideband carrier also benefits in terms of lower control overhead, since only one control signaling is required (carrier aggregation requires separate control signaling for each aggregated carrier).

[0040] Also, like LTE, NR may support aggregation of multiple carriers via carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0041] Since UEs do not always require high data rates, the use of wide bandwidths can lead to high idle power consumption in terms of both RF and baseband signal processing. In this regard, the newly developed bandwidth portion concept for NR offers an energy-efficient solution despite supporting wideband operation by providing the means to operate UEs with bandwidths narrower than the configured channel bandwidth. Low-end terminals that cannot access the full NR bandwidth can benefit from it.

[0042] A bandwidth part (BWP) is a subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell, e.g., defined by the location and number of consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs). It can be defined separately for uplink and downlink. Furthermore, each bandwidth part can be associated with a specific OFDM numerology, e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix. For example, bandwidth adaptation is achieved by configuring one or more BWPs in a UE and communicating to the UE which of the configured BWPs is currently active.

[0043] Exemplarily, in 5G NR, a specific BWP is configured only for a UE in the RRC_Connected state. For example, other than an initial BWP (e.g., one for UL and one for DL), BWPs exist only for UEs in the connected state. To support initial data exchange between the UE and the network, such as in the process of transitioning the UE from the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state, the initial DL BWP and the initial UL BWP are configured with minimum system information.

[0044] Although more than one BWP can be configured for a UE (e.g., up to four BWPs per serving cell as currently defined in NR), a UE has only one active DL BWP at a time. Switching between configured BWPs can be achieved, for example, using downlink control information (DCI).

[0045] For a primary cell (PCell), the initial BWP is the BWP used for initial access, and the default BWP is the initial BWP unless another initial BWP is explicitly configured. For a secondary cell (SCell), the initial BWP is always explicitly configured and a default BWP may also be configured. If a default BWP is configured for the serving cell, the active BWP is switched to the default BWP when the inactivity timer associated with that cell expires.

[0046] Some DCI formats do not include a BWP ID (e.g., formats 0_0 and 1_0), while in other DCI formats the number of bits for the BWP ID is configurable by the RRC and can be 0, 1 or 2 bits (e.g., for formats 0_1, 0_2, 1_1, and 1_2).

[0047] Figure 6 shows a scenario in which three different BWPs are configured: BWP1 with a frequency bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, BWP2 with a width of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and BWP3 with a width of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz.

[0048] Control information - Search space set PDCCH monitoring is performed by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (eg, DCI on the PDCCH and user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0049] Downlink control information (which may be referred to, for example, as downlink control information DCI) has essentially the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e., it is a set of special control information that schedules a downlink data channel (such as PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (such as PUSCH). In 5G NR, there are several different predefined DCI formats (see TS38.212v16.6.0 section 7.3.1). An overview is given in the table below. [Table 1]

[0050] In 5G NR, the PDCCH is transmitted in a radio resource region called the control resource set (CORESET). In LTE, the concept of a CORESET does not exist explicitly. Instead, the LTE PDCCH uses the entire carrier bandwidth in the first 1-3 OFDM symbols (4 in the narrowest case). In contrast, the NR CORESET can be anywhere in the slot and anywhere in the carrier's frequency range, except that a UE is not expected to process a CORESET outside its active bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0051] Thus, the UE performs a PDCCH monitoring operation, for example as defined in 3GPP TS38.213 version 16.6.0, sections 10 and 11. As exemplarily defined therein, the UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates defined in units of PDCCH search space sets. The search space set can be a common search space set (CSS) or a UE-specific search space set (USS). As exemplarily defined in 3GPP TS38.213v16.6.0, section 10.1, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following CSS sets and USS sets: - the Type0-PDCCH CSS set by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB, or searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon, or searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - Type0A-PDCCH CSS set by searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG - the Type1-PDCCH CSS set by ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI, or TC-RNTI on the primary cell; - Type2-PDCCH CSS set by pagingSearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG - the Type3-PDCCH CSS set by the SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with SearchSpaceType=common for INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, or CI-RNTI, and for the primary cell only, for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI(s), or PS-RNTI; - a USS set configured by a SearchSpace in a PDCCH-Config with SearchSpaceType=ue-Specific for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, CS-RNTI(s), SL-RNTI, SL-CS-RNTI, or SL semi-persistent scheduling V-RNTI

[0052] The search space sets in one or more CORESETs on the active DL BWP in each activated serving cell with PDCCH monitoring configured using the corresponding search space set are monitored, where monitoring means decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format.

[0053] The first CORESET, CORESET0, is provided as part of the initial bandwidth portion configuration by the master information block (MIB) and allows receiving the remaining system information and additional configuration information from the network. After the connection is set up, multiple CORESETs can be configured in the UE using RRC signaling.

[0054] In an exemplary 5G NR implementation, a search space may include multiple PDCCH candidates associated with the same aggregation level (e.g., the PDCCH candidates differ in terms of the DCI format to be monitored). A search space set may then include multiple search spaces with different aggregation levels but associated with the same CORESET. As mentioned above, unlike LTE, where the control channel spans the entire carrier bandwidth, the bandwidth of the CORESET can be set, for example, within the active DL frequency bandwidth portion (BWP). In other words, the CORESET configuration defines the frequency resources of the search space set and thus the PDCCH candidates included in the search spaces in that set. The CORESET configuration also defines the duration of the search space set, which can have a length of 1 to 3 OFDM symbols. Meanwhile, the start time is set by the search space set configuration itself, e.g., from which OFDM symbol the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH of the search spaces of that set. The combination of the Search Space Set configuration and the CORESET configuration provides a clear definition in frequency and time domain of the UE's PDCCH monitoring requirements (see, for example, 3GPP TS38.213v16.6.0, section 10.1).

[0055] Conceptually, Figure 6 provides an exemplary diagram of the relationship between bandwidth portions that a UE can monitor, CORESETs, search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates. As is evident from Figure 6, one CORESET is shown per BWP, but more than one is possible. Each CORESET can then have several search spaces of one or more PDCCH candidates of a particular aggregation level (e.g., AL2, 4, or 8), which can be grouped into search space sets, e.g., common SS sets and UE-specific SS sets.

[0056] Both the configuration of the CORESET and the search space set can be done semi-statically via RRC signaling, and the corresponding RRC information elements are ControlResourceSet and SearchSpace, for example as defined in 3GPP TS38.331v16.5.0 section 6.3.2 and provided below.

[0057] ControlResourceSet The IE ControlResourceSet is used to configure a time / frequency control resource set (CORESET) for searching for downlink control information (see TS 38.213

[13] , clause 10.1).

number

[0058] SearchSpace The IE SearchSpace defines how and where to search for PDCCH candidates. Each search space is associated to one ControlResourceSet. For scheduled cells in cross-carrier scheduling case, all optional fields are not present (regardless of their presence condition) except for nrofCandidates.

number

number

[0059] The UE performs a process to determine a search space or search space set from some of the above parameters. Exemplary actions by the UE in this regard are provided below, in accordance with the definition provided by 3GPP TS38.213v16.6.0 Section 10.1 "UE procedure for determining physical downlink control channel assignment."

[0060] For each DL BWP configured for the UE in the serving cell, S≦10 search space sets are provided to the UE by higher layers, and for each of the S search space sets, SearchSpace provides the UE with the following: - Search space set index s by searchSpaceId, 0 <s<40 - Association between a search space set s and a CORESET p via controlResourceSetId or controlResourceSetId-v1610 - monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset by k s PDCCH monitoring period of the slot and s PDCCH monitor offset for slot - a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot indicating the first symbol or symbols of the CORESET within the slot to be monitored by PDCCH according to monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot - T, which indicates the number of slots in which the search space set s exists, by duration s <k s Slot Duration PDCCH candidates for each CCE aggregation level L for CCE aggregation level 1, CCE aggregation level 2, CCE aggregation level 4, CCE aggregation level 8, and CCE aggregation level 16 by aggregationLevel1, aggregationLevel2, aggregationLevel4, aggregationLevel8, and aggregationLevel16, respectively.

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0061] Further, according to a 5G compliant example (see again 3GPP TS38.213v16.6.0 section 10.1), the UE determines the PDCCH monitoring opportunity as follows:

[0062] The UE determines the PDCCH monitoring opportunity on the active DL BWP from the PDCCH monitoring period, the PDCCH monitoring offset, and the PDCCH monitoring pattern in the slot. For a search space set s, the UE determines

number

number

number

[0063] As is evident from the above exemplary UE procedure for determining one or more search space sets, the search space sets may also be distinguished between a common search space set and a user-specific search space set.

[0064] FIG. 7 shows the parameters provided by the RRC information element. s , k s , T s , n f 7 shows an example definition of a PDCCH monitoring opportunity in line with the example definition provided above in the 5G standard, specifically using monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot, . In the example scenario of FIG. 7, the following assumptions are made: 6-slot PDCCH monitoring period k s 2 slot PDCCH monitor offset s 2 slots duration T s The number of slots per frame is 10 (0-9), and n f is the radio frame number

[0065] The formula defined above

number

number

number

[0066] In summary, the UE determines that there are PDCCH monitoring opportunities in slots 2, 3, 8, and 9 of radio frame 0, and monitors the PDCCH in these slots. PDCCH slot monitoring is performed according to a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot, which is also shown in Figure 7 and described below.

[0067] Such a slot configured for PDCCH monitoring can be one or more PDCCH monitoring opportunities. The PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot is configured using the parameter MonitoringSymbolsWithinSlot, which is a string of 14 bits, each bit of which is associated with a corresponding symbol of the slot. This parameter indicates the first symbol or symbols of PDCCH monitoring within the slot configured for PDCCH monitoring, with the most significant (left) bit representing the first OFDM symbol in the slot, the second most significant (left) bit representing the second OFDM symbol in the slot, and so on. In other words, the one or more bits set to 1 respectively identify the first OFDM symbol of the control resource set in the slot. Furthermore, the duration of the monitoring opportunity is defined by the duration of the CORESET associated with the search space set s of the PDCCH monitoring opportunity. The first symbol or symbols and the duration combine to define the PDCCH monitoring pattern within the slot.

[0068] As exemplarily assumed in FIG. 7, the PDCCH monitor slots each have two monitor opportunities, which are located in consecutive OFDM symbols 0, 1, 2 and 7, 8, 9, respectively, assuming an exemplarily CORESET duration of 3 OFDM symbols.

[0069] Although the above exemplary description in conjunction with FIG. 7 only refers to a single search space set s, it is equally applicable to the definition of additional search space sets, including common SS sets and UE-specific SS sets.

[0070] Additionally, it should be noted that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of one SS set may or may not overlap (partially or completely) with the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of other SS sets.

[0071] In the context of Figures 6 and 7 above, very specific examples are given of how the gNB can configure search spaces, search space sets, PDCCH monitoring opportunities and how to indicate them to the UE, particularly with respect to the current version of the 5G NR standard Rel. 16. However, it should be noted that the above are merely examples and other ways of configuring and indicating search spaces, search space sets, PDCCH monitoring opportunities are also possible and can be used in conjunction with the improved solutions, UEs and base stations, and corresponding methods described below.

[0072] UE ability indication In the context of PDCCH monitoring, the UE can assist the gNB in ​​setting up a search space set by providing information about the UE capabilities. Different UEs may have different PDCCH monitoring capabilities. For example, a UE supporting URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications) has a higher PDCCH monitoring capability than a UE supporting only mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), for example.

[0073] One possibility is that the UE vendor provides suitable information in the UE regarding the capabilities of the UE, e.g. the UE's ability to monitor the PDCCH and process possible DCI messages. The UE capabilities depend on the UE's hardware and / or software and may vary from UE to UE. In any case, it can be assumed that such information regarding capabilities is pre-stored in the UE, e.g. by the vendor. Thus, the UE can determine the capabilities relevant for its operation according to the operating system and 3GPP standards.

[0074] The UE can provide information of its capabilities regarding PDCCH monitoring, which the gNB can take into account when determining the search space and monitoring occasions. 5G NR has already reached some agreements, for example in 3GPP TS38.306v16.5.0, which should be understood in the following as an example of how the UE can inform the gNB of its capabilities information. Among other things, the UE can indicate the minimum time interval between PDCCH search space monitoring occasions that it supports. For example, in 3GPP TS38.306, the indication pdcch-Monitoring-r16 is defined as part of the FeatureSetDownlink. [Table 6]

[0075] As defined by this capability parameter, the UE can indicate to the gNB its support that PDCCH SS monitoring opportunities (spanning Y symbols) should be separated by at least X symbols. Thus, the supported span Y of a PDCCH search space monitoring opportunity (PDCCH monitoring opportunity for short) is at most two or three consecutive OFDM symbols. Meanwhile, the minimum interval between two spans is 2, 4, or 7 OFDM symbols, which also applies across boundaries to the next consecutive PDCCH monitoring slot. The PDCCH monitoring span is within a single slot, i.e., it does not cross a PDCCH monitoring slot boundary. The PDCCH minimum time interval of X symbols is between the first symbols of two consecutive spans, including those across slots. The number of symbols in a span is at most Y.

[0076] This parameter pdcch-Monitoring-r16 is typically used for URLLC UEs where the UE needs to monitor and receive the PDCCH more frequently (more than once per slot) to reduce scheduling latency. As specified in Section 10 of 3GPP TS38.213, this parameter is only applicable for 15 kHz and 30 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0077] 8 exemplarily illustrates an exemplary interpretation of various combinations of (X,Y) of PDCCH monitoring indications in a slot. For example, for the combination (2,2), the UE can essentially monitor the slot continuously. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 8 includes spans each having a length of two OFDM symbols and conforming to a minimum spacing requirement of two OFDM symbols between the first symbols of two consecutive spans.

[0078] 8 also shows possible spans of (X,Y)=(4,3) illustratively starting at OFDM symbol 1. The resulting spans could, for example, occupy OFDM symbols 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and theoretically also OFDM symbol 13, with the last span occupying only OFDM symbol 13 since the PDCCH monitoring span should be contained within a single slot.

[0079] Considering that the minimum spacing also applies across slots, the next three subsequent spans in the next slot may each have a length of three OFDM symbols and occupy OFDM symbols 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13, conforming to the minimum spacing requirement of four OFDM symbols. In the (4,3) example, it was assumed for purposes of illustration that the first span in the first slot may start at OFDM symbol 1. However, although not shown in FIG. 8, the (4,3) span may also start at another OFDM symbol, such as OFDM symbol 0.

[0080] 8 also shows possible spans for (X,Y)=(7,3), specifically two spans occupying OFDM symbols 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12, each three OFDM symbols long, conforming to the minimum spacing requirement of seven OFDM symbols between the first symbols of two consecutive spans. The same spans are possible in the next slot. Again, other example spans are possible for the combination (7,3), e.g., those starting on other OFDM symbols.

[0081] For all combinations, the spans actually set by the gNB may be shorter (e.g., having only one OFDM symbol) or may be further apart.

[0082] Based on this PDCCH monitoring capability indication, the gNB can then configure the UE with PDCCH monitoring opportunities that, for example, meet the UE's indicated PDCCH monitoring capabilities. The gNB can take into account the PDCCH monitoring capabilities of many UEs when configuring each PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

[0083] FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a UE reporting a particular PDCCH monitoring capability and the resulting PDCCH monitoring opportunities configured by the gNB that satisfy the reported capability. Assume exemplarily that the UE reports (X,Y)=(4,3) as its PDCCH monitoring capability to the gNB. Based on this information, the gNB configures, for example, three PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the first slot, namely, a first MO for OFDM symbols 2 and 3, a second MO for OFDM symbol 8, and a third MO for OFDM symbol 12. For example, the first MO is associated with a CORESET of duration 2 OFDM symbols, and the second and third MOs are associated with a CORESET of duration 1 OFDM symbol. Assume exemplarily that in the second slot, the gNB configures at least a first MO occupying OFDM symbols 2 and 3, with an interval of 4 OFDM symbols from the third MO of the previous slot. The three MOs in the first slot are separated by 6 OFDM symbols between the first and second MOs, and 4 OFDM symbols between the second and third MOs, respectively, so that all configured MOs comply with the indicated UE capabilities with respect to the minimum interval and length of PDCCH monitoring.

[0084] Time Domain in 5G NR In the time domain, transmissions in 5G NR are organized into frames of length 10 ms, each frame divided into 10 equally sized subframes of length 1 ms. The subframes are divided into one or more slots, each consisting of 14 OFDM symbols. The duration of the slots in milliseconds varies depending on the numerology. Thus, for example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, an NR slot has the same structure as an LTE subframe with a regular cyclic prefix. The 5G NR subframe serves as a numerology-independent time reference, which is particularly useful when multiple numerologies are mixed on the same carrier, whereas the slot is the typical unit of dynamic scheduling. This frame structure, which is the basis of 3GPP 5G NR communication, is exemplarily shown in Figure 10.

[0085] New frequency spectrum above 52GHz 5G NR operates in two frequency ranges so far: FR1 and FR2. Frequency range 1 (FR1) is between 450 MHz and 6 GHz and includes LTE. Frequency range 2 (FR2) is between 24.25 GHz and 52.6 GHz. The sub-6 GHz range is designated FR1, and the mmWave spectrum is designated FR2.

[0086] The relatively underutilized millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum offers an excellent opportunity to provide high data rates, low latency, and high capacity due to the huge amount of contiguous bandwidth available. However, operation in bands with frequencies above 52.6 GHz is limited by device performance, such as poor power amplifier (PA) efficiency, higher phase noise impairment, increased front-end insertion loss, and noise in low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). In addition, bands with frequencies above 52.6 GHz are challenged by high propagation and penetration losses. Nevertheless, various use cases are envisioned for NR operating in the frequency range from 52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz.

[0087] 3GPP is currently discussing the use of higher subcarrier spacings, such as 480 kHz and 960 kHz, for higher frequencies above 52.6 GHz, such as the 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz frequency range.

[0088] However, the higher the SCS, the shorter the symbol duration and, consequently, the shorter the slot duration. For example, for a 120 kHz SCS, one slot is 125 us, but for a 480 kHz SCS, one slot is 31.25 us, and for a 960 kHz SCS, it is 15.625 us.

[0089] Figure 11 shows a comparison of the slot length for a 120 kHz SCS with the corresponding slot lengths for 480 kHz and 960 kHz SCSs. Furthermore, the radio frame has 32 slots for the 480 kHz SCS and 64 slots for the 960 kHz SCS, with 14 OFDM symbols per slot and correspondingly shorter OFDM symbol durations.

[0090] These shortened OFDM symbol and slot durations may require high processing power on the UE side. A UE following Rel.15 or Rel.16 should be able to process the PDCCH every slot (single slot monitor capability). On the other hand, in the high frequency range of 52.6-71 GHz, not all UEs may be able to process each slot within such a short time. Furthermore, even if it were practically possible, the need for such a processing timeline would significantly increase the UE complexity and power consumption.

[0091] Therefore, for Rel.17, 3GPP is discussing the feasibility of allowing the UE to monitor the PDCCH only every multiple slots in the case of 480 / 960 kHz SCS, i.e., the feasibility of multi-slot monitoring, in other words, the UE does not need to monitor every slot.

[0092] Further improvements As presented above, one of the developments currently being discussed in 3GPP relates to multi-slot monitors for high SCS and the high frequency range 52.6-71 GHz, which could allow for reduced UE complexity and power consumption. However, such multi-slot monitors have the potential drawback of reducing the scheduling flexibility of the gNB, as fewer scheduling opportunities are configured and used by the gNB.

[0093] FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of two UEs, including the monitoring opportunities of the common SS (CSS) and each UE-specific SS (USS). In FIG. 12, it is exemplarily assumed that both UEs monitor only one PDCCH monitoring opportunity every four slots for both USS and CSS. Therefore, the gNB needs to allocate the USS MO of both UEs to the same position as the CSS MO. In FIG. 12, it is exemplarily assumed that the PDCCH monitoring is at the beginning of the slot, for example, the first two or three OFDM symbols. Since the UE only needs to monitor one PDCCH monitoring opportunity every four slots, the complexity of the PDCCH monitoring of the UE is quite low. However, the gNB may need to set both the CSS and the USS of multiple UEs to the same monitoring opportunity. This significantly limits the number of UEs that can be scheduled by the gNB due to this resource constraint.

[0094] FIG. 13 assumes that both UE1 and UE2 monitor two PDCCH monitoring opportunities every four slots, so it is possible to configure the CSS and USS to different PDCCH monitoring opportunities, rather than using a common PDCCH monitoring opportunity as in FIG. 12. Correspondingly, the scheduling flexibility of the gNB is improved compared to the scenario in FIG. 12. However, the UE requirements for PDCCH monitoring are increased. Moreover, if the two monitoring opportunities are located close to each other, as exemplarily assumed for UE2, the PDCCH monitoring requirements are significantly increased.

[0095] Having identified the potential shortcomings and challenges discussed above, the inventors have identified the possibility of providing an improved PDCCH (Downlink Control Channel) monitoring procedure that makes it possible to avoid or mitigate one or more of the problems identified above. The present invention relates to various solutions and variants for such an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure.

[0096] For example, an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure can balance the scheduling flexibility of the gNB with the complexity of PDCCH monitoring for the UE.

[0097] <Embodiment> In the following, UEs, base stations, and procedures for meeting these needs are described for new radio access technologies envisioned for 5G mobile communication systems, but may also be used in LTE mobile communication systems. Various implementations and variations are described as well. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the discussion and insights discussed above.

[0098] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein and will be made below in order to be able to explain the principles underlying the present disclosure in a clear, concise and understandable manner. However, these assumptions should be understood as merely examples made herein for the purpose of explanation and should not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will realize that the principles of the following disclosure and claims can be applied in different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0099] Furthermore, some of the terms such as procedures, entities, layers, etc. used below are closely related to those used in the LTE / LTE-A system or current 3GPP 5G standardization, but the specific terms used in the context of new radio access technologies for the upcoming 3GPP 5G communication system have not yet been fully determined or may eventually be changed. Thus, the terms may be changed in the future without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. As a result, those skilled in the art recognize that the embodiments and their scope of protection should not be limited to the specific terms used illustratively in this specification lacking newer terms or terms to be finally agreed upon, but should be more broadly understood by the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0100] For example, a mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment (UE) is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a predefined set of functions to other functional entities of the same or another node or network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach the node to a communication facility or medium that allows the node to communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach a functional entity to a communication facility or medium that allows the node to communicate with other functional entities or corresponding nodes.

[0101] The term "base station" or "radio base station" in this specification refers to a physical entity in a communication network. Similar to a mobile station, a base station may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a predefined set of functions to other functional entities of the same or another node or network. A physical entity performs several control tasks for a communication device, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. Note that the base station functionality and the communication device functionality may be integrated in a single device. For example, a mobile terminal may also implement the base station functionality for other terminals. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the term currently used for 5G NR is gNB.

[0102] Communications between a UE and a base station are typically standardized and may be defined by different layers, such as PHY, MAC, RRC, etc. (see background discussion above).

[0103] The terms "monitoring opportunity", "downlink control channel monitoring opportunity", "PDCCH monitoring opportunity" and similar terms should be broadly understood as, for example, a time period of a slot (e.g., a set of one or more consecutive symbols) during which a UE is configured to monitor a PDCCH (e.g., according to a PDCCH candidate). For example, a UE determines a monitoring opportunity for each search space set configured for the UE.

[0104] The terms "span," "time span," "MO time span," and similar terms should be understood broadly as, for example, a number of consecutive symbols that include one or more monitor opportunities. Furthermore, in one optional implementation, each monitor opportunity is within a span, and further, a span starts at the first symbol where the monitor opportunity starts and ends at the last symbol where the monitor opportunity (possibly a different MO than the first MO) ends.

[0105] The expression "search space set" can be broadly understood as a set of search spaces having multiple search spaces, each including one or more possible candidates for receiving a DCI message. For example, a search space is a grouping of various candidates having the same aggregation level but different formats of DCI messages. In turn, for example, a set of search spaces may include search spaces having different aggregation levels but associated with the same set of monitored time-frequency resources (e.g., the same CORESET). A specific exemplary implementation of a search space set is given by the 3GPP 5G NR standard, as described above.

[0106] The term “monitoring” may be broadly understood as a process of attempting to decode possible candidates for receiving a DCI message based on a particular format, etc. Such decoding attempts may also be referred to as blind decoding.

[0107] The term "monitoring candidate" may be broadly understood as a particular candidate monitored by a UE within a monitoring opportunity. In a particular exemplary implementation conforming to the 3GPP 5G NR standard, a "monitoring candidate" may be considered as a "PDCCH candidate."

[0108] In the following solution, it is exemplarily assumed that the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure can be conceptually based on the PDCCH monitoring already defined according to the 3GPP 4G or 5G standards, as explained above.

[0109] 14 shows a general, simplified, exemplary block diagram of a user equipment (also referred to as a communication device) and a scheduling device (here exemplarily assumed to be located in a base station such as an eLTE eNB (aka ng-eNB) or a gNB in ​​5G NR). The UE and the eNB / gNB communicate with each other via (wireless) physical channels using respective transceivers.

[0110] The communication device may include a transceiver and a processing circuit. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or may function as a receiver and a transmitter. The processing circuit may be one or more hardware, such as, for example, one or more processors or any LSI. There is an input / output point (or node) between the transceiver and the processing circuit, through which the processing circuit can control the transceiver during operation, i.e., control the receiver and / or the transmitter to exchange receive / transmit data. The transceiver may include an RF (radio frequency) front, including one or more antennas, amplifiers, and RF modulators / demodulators, as a transmitter and receiver. The processing circuit may perform control tasks, such as, for example, controlling the transceiver to transmit user data and control data provided by the processing circuit and / or to receive user data and control data that are further processed by the processing circuit. In addition, the processing circuit may be responsible for performing other processes, such as, for example, judgment, decision, calculation, measurement, etc. The transmitter may be responsible for performing the process of transmission and other processes related thereto. The receiver may be responsible for performing the process of reception and other processes related thereto, such as monitoring the channel.

[0111] Various solutions for the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure are described below. In this connection, an improved UE and an improved base station participating in the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure are presented. Corresponding methods for UE operation and base station operation are also provided.

[0112] Figure 15 illustrates a simplified exemplary UE structure according to one exemplary implementation of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, which may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in connection with Figure 14. The various structural elements of the UE illustrated in this Figure 15 may be interconnected with each other, e.g., by corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), e.g., for exchanging control and user data and other signals. Although not illustrated for purposes of illustration, the UE may include additional structural elements.

[0113] As can be seen from FIG. 15, the UE may include a circuit for determining the UE's capability for a monitoring function, a capability indication transmitter, a monitoring opportunity setting receiver, and a downlink control channel monitoring circuit.

[0114] Thus, in the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the receiver of the UE may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of: receiving a configuration message for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, receiving a downlink control information message on a downlink control channel, etc.

[0115] Thus, in the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the UE may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of: determining one or more capabilities of the UE, such as the first and / or second capability conditions, determining monitoring opportunities for the downlink control channel, etc.

[0116] Thus, in the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the transmitter of the UE may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of: transmitting a capability indication to the base station, etc.

[0117] One exemplary procedure, disclosed in further more detail below, is implemented by a UE including: A processor of the UE determines a capability of the UE for operating a monitor function, the monitor function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitor occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages. The determined capability of the UE is determined based on two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitor function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; Includes. A transmitter of the UE sends a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE for operating a monitoring function. The capability indication indicates a first capability condition of the UE and optionally includes a second capability condition of the UE. A receiver of the UE receives configuration information from the base station for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel.

[0118] A corresponding exemplary method is performed by a UE: determining a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The determined capability of the UE is determined based on the following two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitor function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; determining, sending a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information on the determined capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE and optionally including a second capability condition of the UE; receiving configuration information from a base station for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel; Includes.

[0119] A sequence diagram corresponding to an exemplary UE operation along with the UE and UE method discussed above is shown in FIG. 16. As is evident from FIG. 16, the UE determines its own capability to operate a monitor function for monitoring the downlink control channel, and then transmits the indicated capability to the base station. The UE capability may include two separate capability conditions (see below for details). Although both capability conditions are determined by the UE, the first capability condition is always transmitted to the base station, and the second capability condition may be transmitted optionally. In response, the UE receives configuration information from the base station for configuring the monitor function, including an opportunity to monitor the downlink control channel. Although not shown in FIG. 16, the determined and indicated UE monitor capability may be: - a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more downlink control channel monitoring opportunities; and - a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; Either or both of the following may be indicated:

[0120] Some exemplary implementations of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure also involve the base station to which the UE is currently connected (e.g., referred to as the serving base station). Correspondingly, the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure also provides for improved base stations to participate therein.

[0121] Figure 17 illustrates a simplified exemplary base station structure according to one exemplary implementation of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, which may be implemented based on the general base station structure described in connection with Figure 14. The various structural elements of the base station illustrated in this Figure 17 may be interconnected with each other, e.g., by corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), e.g., for exchanging control and user data and other signals. Although not illustrated for purposes of illustration, the base station may include further structural elements.

[0122] As is apparent from FIG. 17, the base station comprises a capability indication receiving unit, a capability determining circuit, a circuit for determining a monitoring opportunity, and a monitoring opportunity setting transmitting unit.

[0123] One exemplary procedure, disclosed in further more detail below, is implemented by a base station including: a receiver of the base station receiving a capability indication from one or more user equipments UE, respectively, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; the capability indication from each UE indicating a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; The first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel. The processor of the base station determines, from information indicated by the received capability indication or from stored information and the subcarrier spacing used by each UE for the downlink control channel, a second capability condition of the one or more UEs related to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans in a grouping window having a length of one or more slots. The processor determines, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitor occasions to be monitored on the downlink control channel based on the first and second capability conditions determined for all of the one or more UEs. The transmitter of the base station transmits configuration information for configuring a monitor function in the UE to each of the one or more UEs, including configuring one or more monitor occasions for each UE to monitor the downlink control channel.

[0124] The corresponding method is performed by a base station, receiving a capability indication from each of one or more user equipments UE, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; Includes. The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; determining a second capability condition of the one or more UEs with respect to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots from information indicated by the received capability indication or from stored information and a subcarrier spacing used by the respective UE for the downlink control channel; determining, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on a downlink control channel based on the first and second capability conditions determined for all of the one or more UEs; Sending configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor the downlink control channel.

[0125] A sequence diagram corresponding to an exemplary base station operation along the base station and corresponding method discussed above is shown in FIG. 18. This sequence diagram illustrates an exemplary simplified implementation of the base station method presented above. As is clear from FIG. 18, the base station receives a capability indication from one or more UEs regarding a UE monitoring function of a downlink control channel, where the capability indication can indicate a first capability condition of the UE in advance. The base station then determines the UE capability from the received capability indication, and further optionally determines a second capability condition from a combination of the stored information and the subcarrier spacing used for the downlink control channel. Based on these determined UE monitoring capabilities, the base station determines an appropriate monitoring opportunity of the downlink control channel, which is particularly adapted to the UE monitoring capability. The base station can then transmit configuration information to one or more UEs for setting a monitoring opportunity of the monitoring function for monitoring the downlink control channel.

[0126] FIG. 19 shows a simple and exemplary interaction between the improved UE and the improved base station of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure discussed above. In this solution shown in FIG. 19, the interaction starts with the UE determining the capabilities of the UE, including the capabilities regarding the monitoring function for monitoring the downlink control channel. Details of the UE monitoring capabilities are shown below and include one or more of the first and second UE capability conditions. The UE then transmits information on the determined capabilities to the base station, for example in the form of a capability indication. Depending on the solution, the capability indication includes information on one or both of the first and second UE capability conditions. The base station determines the UE capabilities, for example from the received capability indication and optionally from the stored information and the SCS, and then determines the monitoring opportunity of the UE monitoring function based on the previously determined UE monitoring capability. The base station then informs the UE of the determined downlink control channel monitoring opportunity. In turn, the UE determines the monitoring opportunity of the downlink control channel based on the received configuration. Therefore, the UE can operate the monitor function as configured, and monitor the downlink control channel according to the configured monitor opportunity, so that the UE can receive the downlink control information transmitted by the base station during the monitor period of the downlink control channel.

[0127] The above improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, and associated UE, base station, is based on the use of UE capabilities, which may be determined by the base station and the UE, and transmitted from the UE to the base station.

[0128] In the following, various solutions are presented in which the UE monitoring capability should be used for an improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure.

[0129] First solution In the first solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, these capabilities of the UE are: - a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities for the downlink control channel; and - the minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots It can be said that:

[0130] Therefore, the first solution relies at least on a combination of two capability conditions (which may also be referred to as capability requirements, UE capabilities, UE capability constraints, or UE capability limitations) that should both be satisfied by monitoring opportunities for the downlink control channel.

[0131] The first UE capability condition of this first solution relates to ensuring a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a certain span length of one or more consecutive OFDM symbols. For example, the minimum (as well as actual) span time gap is defined to be located between the end of one time span and the beginning of the subsequent time span. The time span should be understood as including one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel. In other words, the two time spans are separated by at least the minimum span time gap, and the time span can be set by the base station to include one or more downlink control channel monitoring opportunities, but the base station should set the minimum span time gap to not include a downlink control channel monitoring opportunity. The gNB should not expect the UE to monitor the downlink control channel monitoring opportunity within the minimum span time gap. An exception to this first UE capability condition is described below in connection with an overbooking mechanism that can be performed by the base station.

[0132] This minimum time span gap may be, for example, one or more OFDM symbols, up to one or more slots.

[0133] Thus, the first UE capability condition described above ensures that the UE has some processing time after one or more monitoring occasions of a time span to process downlink control information that may be received from the base station during a downlink control channel monitoring occasion of the time span before having to perform the same processing during the next time span.

[0134] The following provides information about the second UE capability condition.

[0135] The second UE capability condition of this first solution relates to ensuring a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots. In other words, each time span of a group (including one or more time spans) is within a grouping window of one or more slots, where two consecutive groups or two consecutive grouping windows should be separated by at least a minimum time gap (e.g., called the minimum group time gap). For example, the minimum group time gap is defined to be located between the end of one grouping window and the beginning of the following grouping window.

[0136] The second UE capability condition of the first solution alternative can be defined as ensuring a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of downlink control channel monitoring opportunities within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots. Given that both the grouping of time spans (having one or more monitoring opportunities) and the grouping of monitoring opportunities result in grouping within the same grouping window, this alternative second UE capability condition is very similar or essentially equivalent to the aforementioned second UE capability condition. Also, the minimum group time gap will be the same in both the first solution alternative and the aforementioned second UE capability condition.

[0137] Furthermore, the combination of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouping window can be defined as another window that is always larger than the grouping window (i.e., at least by the minimum group time gap). In accordance with the above definition of the second UE capability condition, monitoring opportunities should be set by the base station only within the grouping window, but monitoring opportunities should not be set by the base station within the minimum group time gap. The gNB should expect the UE to monitor monitoring opportunities within the grouping window, but should not expect the UE to monitor monitoring opportunities within the minimum group time gap. Exceptions to this second UE capability condition are described below in connection with overbooking mechanisms that can be performed by the base station.

[0138] This larger window that includes the grouping window and the minimum group time gap can therefore be referred to as the multi-slot monitor window because the UE does not need to monitor all slots in this multi-slot monitor window, but at most the slots of the time span grouping window (see above discussion on multi-slot monitor in Rel. 17). The multi-slot monitor window can be repeated in time such that consecutive multi-slot monitor windows exist with no additional gaps between the multi-slot monitor windows.

[0139] Independent of the first UE capability condition, this second UE capability condition ensures that after a grouping window monitoring opportunity, the UE has some processing time (e.g., at least one slot) before the UE has to start processing the next grouping window monitoring opportunity (see also the next multi-slot monitor window).

[0140] By additionally using the second UE capability condition in the first solution to reserve some additional processing time for the UE, the first UE capability condition does not have to be as strict, e.g. compared to the second solution (see below), which relies primarily only on the first UE capability condition but has a stricter condition that the minimum span time gap is at least one slot.

[0141] According to a further variant of the second UE capability condition, there are several possibilities for where to place the grouping window within the larger multi-slot monitor window. For example, the grouping window can be placed at the beginning of the multi-slot monitor window, i.e., the grouping window and the multi-slot monitor window start at the same OFDM symbol. As a further example, the grouping window can be shifted from the beginning (e.g., to the middle) of the larger multi-slot monitor window while still complying with the minimum group time gap until the beginning of the next grouping window. As a further example, the grouping window can be placed at the end of the larger multi-slot monitor window. As long as the position of the grouping window relative to the multi-slot monitor window does not change over time (in other words, does not fluctuate), the minimum group time gap can be ensured.

[0142] The first UE capability condition can be indicated to the base station in a variety of different ways. In general, the first UE capability condition is indicated through information about two parameters: a minimum span time gap (which may be referred to as parameter QP) and a length of the time span (which may be referred to as parameter P).

[0143] According to a first exemplary implementation of the method for indicating a first UE capability condition to a base station, the minimum span time gap and the span length of the time span can be directly indicated as corresponding values ​​such as the number of OFDM symbols. Thus, the capability indication of this first UE capability condition includes two values ​​indicating the minimum span time gap (QP) and the span length of the time span (P), respectively.

[0144] According to a second exemplary implementation of the method for indicating a first UE capability condition to a base station, instead of signaling a minimum span time gap as in the first exemplary implementation, it is also possible to indicate a minimum span time interval (which may be referred to as a parameter Q) between the beginning of a time span and the beginning of a subsequent time span. The minimum span time gap (QP) can be derived directly from the minimum span time interval and the time span length, e.g., by subtracting the time span length (P) from the minimum span time interval (Q), i.e., QP. Thus, the capability indication of the first UE capability condition includes two values ​​indicating the minimum span time interval (Q) and the span length (P) of the time span, respectively.

[0145] A third exemplary implementation of the method for indicating a first UE capability condition to the base station is based on indirectly indicating the relevant parameters already presented above in the first and second exemplary implementations, namely the minimum span time gap (QP) and the span length of the time span (P) in the first implementation or the minimum span time interval (Q) and the span length of the time span (P) in the second implementation.

[0146] More specifically, the capability indication indicates a combination of a minimum span time gap (or a minimum span time interval) and a span time length. Correspondingly, a number of different combinations of the minimum span time gap (or a minimum span time interval) and the span time length are predefined in the UE and the base station. For example, a minimum span time gap of 10 OFDM symbols can be indicated as (QP,P)=(10,3) with a span length of 3 OFDM symbols. The UE then determines its first UE capability condition and selects one or more combinations corresponding to its capability.

[0147] The selected combination or combinations can then be indicated in a capability indication sent to the base station. For example, the capability indication may include a bitmap, with each bit representing one possible combination (e.g., (Q,P)) for the first UE capability condition, with a bit value of 1 meaning that the UE indicates the corresponding combination and a bit value of 0 meaning that the UE does not indicate the corresponding combination. In another variant, each combination can be explicitly associated with an index, such that the capability indication includes one or more indices of the selected combination or combinations.

[0148] Independently of the first to third implementations above, the minimum span time gap (QP) (and also the minimum span time interval (Q)) can be indicated as one or more OFDM symbols, which allows finer granularity on how the first UE capability condition can be determined and indicated. On the other hand, the minimum span time gap (QP) (and also the minimum span time interval (Q)) can be indicated as one or more slots, which allows saving bits for indicating the first UE capability compared to the above OFDM symbol-based indication. For example, it is envisaged that for high subcarrier spacing, a large minimum span time gap (QP) needs to be indicated. Thus, using slots rather than OFDM symbols allows reducing the number of bits required to indicate the minimum span time gap.

[0149] On the other hand, the span time length (P) may be indicated as one or more OFDM symbols, taking into account that the span duration may be short (e.g., equal to the duration of the CORESET) to reduce the monitoring effort of the UE for monitoring the downlink control channel during the monitoring opportunity of the time span.

[0150] In a similar manner as described above for the first UE capability condition, the second UE capability condition may also be indicated to the base station in a variety of different ways. In general, the second UE capability condition is indicated through information about two parameters: a minimum group time gap (which may be referred to as parameter NM) and a grouping window length (which may be referred to as parameter M).

[0151] According to a first exemplary implementation of the method for indicating a second UE capability condition to a base station, the minimum group time gap (NM) and the length of the grouping window (M) can be directly indicated as corresponding values ​​such as number of slots. Thus, the capability indication of this second UE capability condition includes two values ​​indicating the minimum group time gap (NM) and the length of the grouping window (M), respectively.

[0152] According to a second exemplary implementation of the method for indicating the second UE capability condition to the base station, instead of signaling a minimum group time gap as in the first exemplary implementation, it is also possible to indicate a minimum group time interval (which may be referred to as N) between the beginning of one grouping window and the beginning of a subsequent grouping window. In that case, the minimum group time gap (NM) can be derived directly from the minimum group time interval (N) and the length (M) of the grouping window, e.g., by subtracting the length (M) of the grouping window from the minimum group time interval (N), i.e., NM. Thus, the capability indication of the second UE capability condition includes two values ​​indicating the minimum group time interval (N) and the length (M) of the grouping window, respectively.

[0153] The minimum group time interval and the length of the grouping window may each be expressed as a number of one or more slots.

[0154] A third exemplary implementation of the method for indicating the second UE capability condition to the base station is based on indirectly indicating the relevant parameters already presented above for the first and second exemplary implementations, namely the minimum group time gap (NM) and the grouping window length (M) for the first exemplary implementation, or the minimum group time gap (N) and the grouping window length (M) for the second exemplary implementation.

[0155] More specifically, the capability indication indicates a combination of a minimum group time gap (or a minimum group time interval) and a length of a grouping window. Correspondingly, a number of different combinations of the minimum group time gap (or a minimum group time interval) and a length of a grouping window are predefined in the UE and the base station. For example, a minimum group time gap of 2 slots can be indicated as (NM,M)=(2,2) together with a length of a grouping window of 2 slots. The UE then determines a second UE capability condition and selects one or more combinations corresponding to its capability.

[0156] The selected combination or combinations can then be indicated in a capability indication sent to the base station. For example, the capability indication may include a bitmap, with each bit representing one possible combination (e.g., (N,M)) for the second UE capability condition, with a bit value of 1 meaning that the UE indicates the corresponding combination and a bit value of 0 meaning that the UE does not indicate the corresponding combination. In another variant, each combination can be explicitly associated with an index, such that the capability indication includes one or more indices of the selected combination or combinations.

[0157] According to a further implementation of the second UE capability condition, the second UE capability condition additionally requires a maximum number of time spans in each group of time spans. Alternatively, the second UE capability condition additionally requires a maximum number of monitoring opportunities in a group. In other words, the second UE capability condition not only defines the length of the grouping window and the minimum group time gap, but also sets an upper limit on the number of time spans / monitoring opportunities that the UE can handle / support within the grouping window.

[0158] Thus, the UE may further reduce its processing requirements since it only has to process downlink control information received from a maximum number of time spans / monitoring occasions.

[0159] In addition to or instead of the above-mentioned indication of the second UE capability condition, another implementation of the first solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure does not rely on such a transmission of the second UE capability condition from the UE to the base station. Instead, the second UE capability condition is determined by the UE and the gNB individually, for example, based on the stored information and the subcarrier spacing of the downlink control channel, respectively. Specifically, the UE and the gNB have pre-stored information including an association between different subcarrier spacings and different second UE capability conditions, where the associated second UE capability can be one of the implementations described above, for example, a combination of a minimum group time gap and a length of a grouping window, or a combination of a minimum group time interval and a length of a grouping window, or can additionally include a maximum number of time spans / monitoring opportunities in each group of time spans / monitoring opportunities.

[0160] For example, a combination of a grouping window length of 2 slots and a minimum group time gap of 2 slots (2,2) may be associated with a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. As another example, a combination of a grouping window length of 3 slots and a minimum group time gap of 5 slots (3,5) may be associated with a subcarrier spacing of 960 kHz. Thus, both the UE and the base station determine the same second UE capability condition for a downlink control channel that uses an SCS of 480 kHz or 960 kHz.

[0161] In one example, the stored information including the association between the subcarrier spacing and the second UE capability can be pre-determined by the base station and provided to the UE, for example in system information or a UE-specific message (for example, a message of the RRC protocol). Thus, the same stored information can be applied to all UEs in the radio cell. Alternatively, the stored information can be defined in the 3GPP standard and be, for example, part of the operating system of the UE and the base station. According to yet another alternative, the stored information can be defined by the operator of the UE and provided, for example, as subscriber information in the SIM card (or e-SIM information) of the UE.

[0162] According to one exemplary implementation of this first solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, the capability indication pdcch-monitoring-r16 described above as already defined in 3GPP TS38.306 may be used as the basis for the first UE capability condition. Specifically, the pdcch-monitoring-r16 indication defines various combinations of parameters X (the interval between two consecutive time spans) and Y (the length of the time span). Since the exact same pdcch-monitoring-16 indication can be reused, three different combinations (X,Y)=(2,2), (4,5), or (7,3) of indications are possible as the first UE capability condition of the first solution. The parameter X of the pdcch-monitoring-16 indication corresponds to the minimum time span interval (Q), and the parameter Y of the pdcch-monitoring-16 indication corresponds to the span time length (P). Alternatively, the pdcch-monitoring-r16 instruction may be extended to indicate further combinations, such as (10,2), (14,2), (10,3), (14,3), etc., as the first UE capability condition combination (Q,P) for the first solution.

[0163] According to one exemplary implementation of this first solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure described above and below, the first and second UE capabilities are specific to a particular scenario, such as the high SCS and new frequency ranges discussed in the background section. For example, the first and second UE capabilities may apply primarily only to downlink control channel subcarrier spacings higher than 120 kHz, e.g., 480 kHz and / or 960 kHz subcarrier spacings. Additionally or alternatively, the first and second UE capability conditions may apply primarily only to new frequency ranges above 52.6 GHz, e.g., 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz frequency ranges.

[0164] As discussed in connection with the Background section, the higher subcarrier spacing used in conjunction with the new higher frequency ranges results in shorter slot and OFDM symbol durations, which in turn increases the requirements for downlink control channel monitoring processing by the UE.

[0165] Figure 20 shows an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for four different UEs, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4. It is assumed for the sake of illustration that the monitoring conditions should meet both UE capability conditions. It is assumed for the sake of illustration that the common search space (common to each UE, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4) has a period of 4 slots. The monitoring opportunities in slots 0, 4, and 8 of the common search space CSS are shown at the bottom of Figure 20.

[0166] Let us exemplarily assume that all four UEs need to comply with a second UE capability condition that there is a minimum group time gap of two slots (NM=2 slots) between two consecutive groups of time span within a grouping window of length two slots (M=2 slots).

[0167] Furthermore, UE1 needs to comply with a first UE capability condition according to a minimum span time gap (QP) of 11 symbols and a span length of 3 symbols, i.e. (Q,P)=(14,3). UE2 needs to comply with a first UE capability condition according to a minimum span time gap (QP) of 4 symbols and a span length of 3 symbols, i.e. (Q,P)=(7,3). UE3 needs to comply with a first UE capability condition according to a minimum span time gap (QP) of 7 symbols and a span length of 3 symbols, i.e. (Q,P)=(10,3).

[0168] Further, it is exemplarily assumed that UE4 has a restriction as a first UE capability that UE4 can monitor PDCCH monitoring opportunities that meet a minimum span time interval of 4 slots, i.e., Q=4 slots. Therefore, since the CSS has a period of 4 slots, the gNB configures a monitoring opportunity of the UE-specific search space of UE4, which has a period of 4 slots*X (X is an integer equal to or greater than 1) and is located at the same position as the CSS MO. In FIG. 20, it is also assumed that the USS of UE4 has a period of 4 slots. To show that the CSS MO and the USS MO of UE4 are located at the same position, the CSS MO is shown above the USS MO. Further, it is exemplarily assumed that UE1, UE2, and UE4 have one UE-specific search space, and UE3 has two UE-specific search spaces.

[0169] In this example, to further limit the monitoring process, the UE 2 can indicate up to two MOs per grouping window, which is particularly useful in scenarios where the minimum span time gap is small and, for example, the grouping window is long.

[0170] An exemplary result of a possible configuration of the monitoring opportunities of the four UEs is shown in Figure 20. As is clear from Figure 20, the USS and CSS monitoring opportunities of UE1 are grouped within a grouping window having a length of two slots, and the CSS MO and USS MO are separated by a minimum span time gap of 11 symbols. In practice, the CSS MO and USS MO are each at the beginning of two slots of the grouping window.

[0171] Similarly, the USS and CSS monitoring opportunities for UE2 are grouped within a grouping window having a length of two slots. The CSS MO and USS MO are separated by a minimum span time gap of four symbols. The three USS and CSS monitoring opportunities for UE3 are also grouped within a grouping window of two slots. Both gaps, i.e., between the CSS MO and the first USS, and between the first USS and the second USS, are well separated by a minimum span time gap of at least seven symbols.

[0172] The third and fourth slots of all UEs' N-slot windows do not contain monitoring opportunities and may be used by the UEs to complete processing related to the monitoring opportunities of the first two slots or to conserve power.

[0173] The first UE capabilities of UE1, UE2, and UE3 are more advanced compared to UE4, so they can stagger monitoring opportunities for different search spaces and do not need to be co-located. Correspondingly, gNBs have more flexibility in scheduling downlink control channels. This is especially useful in higher frequency ranges and when using analog beamforming.

[0174] Furthermore, UE3 has higher capacity since it is capable of three monitoring opportunities within the grouping window (instead of only two monitoring opportunities for UE1, UE2, and UE4), which allows the gNB even more flexibility in scheduling the downlink control channel.

[0175] Second solution In another second solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, the capability of the UE is: a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, where each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; It can be said that:

[0176] This second solution therefore relies primarily on one capability condition, which is similar to the first UE capability condition of the first solution, but is more stringent in that the minimum span time gap is at least one slot. Thus, the first UE capability condition of this second solution gives the UE at least some processing time (at least one slot) to monitor and process one or more monitoring opportunities of a time span, e.g., to process downlink control information that may be received from a base station, before having to perform the same processing in the next time span.

[0177] The first UE capability condition of this second solution can be the same as that detailed in relation to the first solution, except for the additional, more stringent aspect that the minimum span time gap is at least one slot. Whereas in the first solution a shorter minimum span time gap of only a few OFDM symbols was allowed in the first UE capability condition of the first solution, in the second solution a minimum span time gap of one slot is always ensured. Thus, the implementations regarding the first UE capability condition already detailed in relation to the first solution apply equally to this second solution.

[0178] For example, the various ways of indicating the first UE capability condition from the UE to the base station can be exactly the same as those described with respect to the first solution, e.g. according to a first exemplary implementation of directly indicating values ​​of parameters QP and P, according to a second exemplary implementation of directly indicating parameters Q and P, and according to a third exemplary implementation of indirectly indicating parameters through a combination of parameters such as the combination (QP,P) or (Q,P).

[0179] Furthermore, the second solution can also make use of the above-described capability indication pdcch-monitoring-r16 already defined in 3GPP TS 38.306, which can be extended to indicate further combinations, e.g. (28,2), (28,3), (42,3), etc., that allow for more stringent combinations (Q,P) of the first capability condition of the second solution.

[0180] Again, as detailed in the first solution, the first UE capability condition of this second solution may also be defined as specific to a particular scenario, applying only to high SCS and / or new frequency ranges, e.g., subcarrier spacing of the downlink control channel higher than 120 kHz, such as 480 kHz and 960 kHz. Furthermore, the first UE capability condition of this second solution may be defined to apply only to new frequency ranges above 52.6 GHz, e.g., the frequency range from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz.

[0181] Figure 21 shows an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for three different UEs, UE1, UE2, and UE3. Assume for the sake of example that the common search space (common to each UE, UE1, UE2, and UE3) has a period of 4 slots. The monitoring opportunities in slots 0, 4, and 8 of the common search space CSS are shown at the bottom of Figure 21.

[0182] Let us exemplarily assume that UE1 needs to comply with a first UE capability condition subject to a minimum span time interval Q of 2 slots, which may in turn mean a minimum span time gap QP=1 slot (not shown in FIG. 21). Correspondingly, for UE2 the first UE capability condition is a minimum span time interval Q of 3 slots (e.g., QP=2 slots) and for UE3 the first UE capability condition is a minimum span time interval Q of 4 slots (e.g., QP=3 slots).

[0183] An exemplary result of a possible configuration of monitoring opportunities for three UEs is shown in Figure 21. In Figure 21, it is assumed that the USS of UE3 also has a period of 4 slots. Since the CSS has a period of 4 slots, the gNB configures a monitoring opportunity for the UE-specific search space of UE3 with a period of 4 slots*X (X is an integer equal to or greater than 1) and co-located with the CSS MO. The USS MO is shown above the CSS MO to show that the CSS MO and the USS MO of UE3 are co-located.

[0184] As with UE3, the CSS and USSs of UE2 are co-located so that they can meet the minimum span time interval of at least 3 slots. As can be seen, the CSS and USSs of UE1 are far enough apart to meet the minimum span time interval of 2 slots, respectively.

[0185] Third solution In another third solution of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, the UE capability is: - the minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots It can be said that:

[0186] In other words, the third solution is based only on the second UE capability condition of the first solution. In one example, the exact same second UE capability condition as the first solution can be used. In this third solution, the rest of the first solution can remain the same, except that the first UE capability condition of the first solution is not necessarily used.

[0187] Therefore, the implementations regarding the second UE capability condition already detailed in relation to the first solution apply equally to this third solution.

[0188] For example, the grouping window may be positioned in a variety of different ways within the larger multi-slot monitor window, eg, at the beginning, middle, or end, while still conforming to a minimum group time gap.

[0189] For example, various ways of indicating the second UE capability condition from the UE to the base station can be exactly the same as those described for the first solution, e.g. according to a first exemplary implementation of directly indicating the values ​​of the parameters NM and M, according to a second exemplary implementation of directly indicating the parameters N and M, and according to a third exemplary implementation of indirectly indicating the parameters through a combination of parameters such as the combination (NM,M) or (N,M).

[0190] Additionally, the third solution may also extend the second UE capability as detailed in the first solution to also require a maximum number of time spans within each group of time spans or a maximum number of monitoring opportunities within a group of monitoring opportunities.

[0191] Furthermore, the third solution may also not require transmission of the second UE capabilities from the UE to the base station as detailed in the first solution. Instead, the second UE capabilities may be determined separately by the UE and the gNB based on the stored information and the subcarrier spacing used for the downlink control channel.

[0192] Again, as detailed in the first solution, the second UE capability condition of this third solution may also be defined as specific to a particular scenario, applying only to high SCS and / or new frequency ranges, e.g., subcarrier spacing of the downlink control channel higher than 120 kHz, such as 480 kHz and 960 kHz. Furthermore, the second UE capability condition of this third solution may be defined to apply only to new frequency ranges above 52.6 GHz, e.g., the frequency range from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz.

[0193] Figure 22 shows an exemplary determination of various monitoring opportunities for four different UEs, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4. Assume for the sake of example that the common search space (common to each UE, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4) has a period of 4 slots. The monitoring opportunities of the common search space CSS are shown at the bottom of Figure 22.

[0194] Let us exemplarily assume that all four UEs need to comply with a second UE capability condition that there is a minimum group time gap of two slots (NM=2 slots) between two consecutive groups of time span within a grouping window of length two slots (M=2 slots).

[0195] Furthermore, in comparison with the example of FIG. 20 of the first solution, since it is not necessary to comply with the first UE capability condition, the respective time spans / MOs within the (2 slot) grouping window can, but are not required to, be completely separate from each other. The monitoring opportunities of the CSS and USS1 of UE2 are not separated within the grouping window, but rather directly consecutive to each other, with no gaps between them. Similarly, the two USS1 and USS2 of UE3 are not separated within the grouping window, but rather directly consecutive to each other, with no gaps between them. Meanwhile, although not required by the first UE capability condition, the USSs of CSS and UE1 are separated, and the first USS of CSS and UE3 are also separated.

[0196] Some of the various implementations of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedures described above and below in relation to the first, second, and third solutions are based on the definition of a time span. An exemplary definition of a time span is that it is a number of consecutive symbols that includes one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel. The time span starts with the first symbol of a monitoring opportunity and ends with the last symbol of a monitoring opportunity, which may be, but is not required to be, the same as the monitoring opportunity with which the time span begins. Furthermore, each monitoring opportunity may be entirely within one time span.

[0197] Various implementations of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedures described above and below in relation to the first, second and third solutions include the UE and the base station determining monitoring opportunities at which the UE monitors the downlink control channel.

[0198] As described above, the determination of the downlink control channel monitoring opportunity may take into account the UE capabilities discussed above. In a more detailed exemplary implementation, the UE and the base station may apply a mapping rule based on the search space and search space set configured in the UE, and in particular, may map the PDCCH candidates to the monitoring opportunities of the search space set according to the mapping rule.

[0199] One mapping rule is that the PDCCH candidates in the monitoring occasions associated with the common search space are mapped first, and then the PDCCH candidates in the monitoring occasions associated with the UE-specific search space sets are determined, for example, in ascending order of the indices assigned to the UE-specific search space sets.

[0200] Limits on this mapping process are provided by the maximum number of blind decoding attempts (e.g., the number of PDCCH candidates) and CCE limits that can be configured for the UE. Consequently, when the UE reaches the maximum number of blind decoding attempts or the maximum number of CCEs, the UE stops and does not map further PDCCH candidates to the monitoring opportunities of the UE-specific search space set.

[0201] And further restrictions on the mapping process are provided by the UE capability conditions discussed above. For example, if the UE and gNB determine that a certain monitoring opportunity of a particular search space set (e.g., USS set) does not comply with one of the UE capability conditions discussed above (see the first, second, or third solution), the UE and gNB are allowed to skip mapping the entire search space set (i.e., all monitoring opportunities of the search space set) that includes the non-compliant monitoring opportunity, or to skip mapping only the non-compliant monitoring opportunity (so that the UE and gNB can still map other monitoring opportunities of the search space set to the UE). In the case where one or more monitoring opportunities are skipped rather than the entire search space set, the skipping can be performed on a grouping window basis if the second condition applies. For example, all monitoring opportunities in the grouping window associated with the search space set are skipped.

[0202] The skipping (or dropping) mechanisms discussed above can be applied by the UE and the gNB in ​​a similar manner, with the added advantage that the UE can receive downlink control information transmitted from the gNB, since both entities have the same common understanding of the available monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel.

[0203] In addition to or independently of the above skipping mechanism performed by both the UE and the gNB, the gNB can apply an overbooking mechanism when determining monitoring opportunities for the downlink control channel. Specifically, when a situation is identified in which the monitoring opportunities mapped according to the search space set do not comply with one or more of the UE capability conditions discussed above, the non-compliant monitoring opportunities are still set despite not complying with the UE capability. Thus, the gNB is permitted to set a number of monitoring opportunities for the UE that exceeds the UE capability.

[0204] The skipping mechanism as well as the overbooking mechanism facilitates the gNB to determine the monitoring opportunity since it is permitted not to strictly follow the UE capability. Furthermore, since the monitoring opportunities of different search spaces may have different periodicities, the overbooking and skipping mechanisms facilitate the gNB to make the most of the UE capability.

[0205] Figure 23 shows an example of how the overbooking mechanism discussed above can be applied. Assume that the monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel need to comply with the following first and second UE capability conditions: According to the first UE capability condition, the UE supports a minimum span time interval Q of 7 OFDM symbols for a time span P of 3 OFDM symbols, i.e., a minimum span time gap (QP) of 4 OFDM symbols. Furthermore, according to the second UE capability condition, the UE supports a maximum of 2 monitoring opportunities within a grouping window of length M = 2 slots (so that the minimum group time gap NM is 2 slots) with a minimum group time interval N of 4 slots.

[0206] There are two UE-specific search spaces and a common search space in which monitoring opportunities need to be configured. The gNB and UE can, for example, follow the mapping rules discussed above, and the CSS monitoring opportunities (and PDCCH candidates, etc.) with a period of 8 slots are configured first. The resulting CSS MO configuration is shown in the bottom row of Figure 23.

[0207] Then, the first USS1 monitoring opportunity (and PDCCH candidate, etc.) is determined, where it is assumed that USS1 has a period of 4 slots. The USS1 MO is determined such that the first UE capability condition of Q=7 OFDM symbols is satisfied. Correspondingly, the top row of Figure 23 shows the USS1 monitoring opportunity.

[0208] Then, the monitoring opportunity for USS2 with the next index is determined, where USS2 also has a period of 4 slots. Therefore, there is a problem that the requirement that there be a maximum of two MOs in a grouping window cannot be met because there are three MOs, namely, CSS, USS1, and USS2, in at least some grouping windows (e.g., N-slot windows 1, 3, and 5 in FIG. 23).

[0209] One way to handle this situation would be to skip the entire USS2 completely, so that only the CSS MO and USS1 MO (and corresponding PDCCH candidates etc.) are determined for this UE. This is the worst case scenario where the first and second UE capability conditions are strictly followed and no overbooking and skipping is allowed.

[0210] Another way to handle this situation would be to apply overbooking and skip only those monitoring opportunities that do not comply with the second UE capability condition, i.e., determine the USS2 MO for N-slot windows 2 and 4 (for slots 5 and 13) while skipping the USS2 MO in N-slot windows 1, 3, and 5 (i.e., OFDM symbols 1, 9, and 17), etc. Such a solution would not be possible without the overbooking and skipping mechanism described above.

[0211] Further exemplary refinements of how the monitoring opportunities can be determined according to the UE capability conditions discussed above are described below, which revolve around the idea that these UE capability conditions are not applied to all search spaces, but only to some search spaces for which the monitoring opportunities are determined. In other words, the UE capability conditions (see the first, second, or third solutions above) do not need to be applied when determining the monitoring opportunities for some search spaces, but should be applied when determining the monitoring opportunities for the remaining search spaces.

[0212] According to one exemplary implementation, the first set of search spaces to which the UE capability condition should not be applied includes a common search space configured for all UEs in the cell. In addition, the UE should apply the UE capability condition when determining a monitoring opportunity for the UE-specific search space, the common search space configured in a dedicated message to the UE, and the common search space configured commonly for a group of UEs.

[0213] In a 5G NR compliant implementation of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure, the 5G NR Type1-PDCCH common search space (see Background section above) is a common search space that can be configured by a dedicated message (RRC) to the UE and for which UE capability conditions can be applied by the UE and the base station. Additionally, the Type3-PDCCH common search space is a group-common search space (i.e., a common search space that is assigned to a group of UEs, e.g., not necessarily to all UEs), for which UE capability conditions can be applied by the UE and the base station. Conversely, the UE is thus not required to apply UE capability conditions to the Type1-PDCCH common search space, Type0, Type0A, and Type2 common search spaces that were not configured by a dedicated RRC message.

[0214] In one example, the UE may be required to monitor Type 1-PDCCH common search space, Type 0, Type 0A, and Type 2 common search spaces that were not configured in a dedicated RRC message at any symbol for a given duration.

[0215] The above exception allows the base station further flexibility in scheduling since the base station does not need to align monitoring opportunities for some search spaces (e.g., USS) with monitoring opportunities for a particular common search space (e.g., common to all UEs in a cell).

[0216] Various implementations of the improved downlink control channel monitoring procedure described above and below in relation to the first, second and third solutions include the base station sending configuration information to the UE for configuring the monitoring capability in the UE. According to one example in accordance with the 5G NR standard, this process may be based on the information elements ControlResourceSet and SearchSpace discussed above, for example as defined in 3GPP TS38.331v16.5.0 section 6.3.2 and discussed above.

[0217] Further Aspects According to a first aspect, there is provided a user equipment including: a processor of the UE determines a capability of the UE for operating a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for receiving a downlink control information message. The determined capability of the UE is determined based on two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitoring function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; Includes. A transmitter of the UE sends a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE for operating a monitoring function. The capability indication indicates a first capability condition of the UE and optionally includes a second capability condition of the UE. A receiver of the UE receives configuration information from the base station for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel.

[0218] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the time span is a number of consecutive symbols including one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel, each monitoring opportunity being entirely within one time span, the time span starting with a first symbol of the monitoring opportunity and ending with a last symbol of the monitoring opportunity.

[0219] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, the minimum span time gap is between the end of one time span and the beginning of the subsequent time span. In an optional implementation, the capability indication indicates a value of the minimum span time gap and a span length of the time span, or the capability indication indicates a span length of the time span and a minimum span time interval between the beginning of one time span and the beginning of the subsequent time span. In an optional implementation, the minimum span time gap and the minimum span time interval are indicated as one or more symbols. In an optional implementation, the minimum span time gap or the minimum span time interval is indicated as one or more slots, and optionally the span length is indicated in symbols. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length that correspond to the capability of the UE from among a plurality of different combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length in the capability indication. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations from among multiple different combinations of minimum span time interval and span length that correspond to the capabilities of the UE, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of minimum span time interval and span length in the capability indication.

[0220] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to any of the first to third aspects, the minimum group time gap is between the end of one grouping window and the beginning of the subsequent grouping window. In an optional implementation, the capability indication indicates a value of the minimum group time gap and a length of the grouping window, or the capability indication indicates a length of the grouping window and a minimum group time interval between the beginning of one grouping window and the beginning of the subsequent grouping window. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouping window corresponding to the capability of the UE from among a plurality of different combinations of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouping window, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouping window in the capability indication. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations of the minimum group time interval and the length of the grouping window corresponding to the capability of the UE from among a plurality of different combinations of the minimum group time interval and the length of the grouping window, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum group time interval and the length of the grouping window in the capability indication. In an optional implementation, the capability condition further requires a maximum number of time spans in each group of time spans, and a second capability indication of the capability condition further indicates a maximum number of time spans in each group of time spans. In an optional implementation, the length of the grouping window is indicated in slots, optionally the minimum group time gap is indicated in slots, and optionally the minimum group time interval is indicated in slots.

[0221] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to any of the first to fourth aspects, the processor, when determining the second capability condition, determines one or more of a minimum group time gap and a grouping window length from the stored information based on a subcarrier spacing used for the downlink control channel. In an optional implementation, the stored information includes an association of different subcarrier spacings with one or more of different minimum group time gap values ​​and different grouping window lengths.

[0222] According to a sixth aspect, provided in addition to any of the first to fifth aspects, the time spans grouped within the grouping window are repeated every N slots, and the grouping window containing the grouped time spans starts at the beginning of the N slot.

[0223] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to any of the first to sixth aspects, the determined capability of the UE including one or more of the first and second capability conditions is: Subcarrier spacing used for downlink control channels above 120 kHz, optionally subcarrier spacings of 480 kHz and 960 kHz or greater; and The frequency range in which the downlink control channel is transmitted above 52.6 GHz, optionally in the frequency range 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz applies to one or more of the following:

[0224] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to any of the first to seventh aspects, the determined capabilities of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, are not applied to a first set of common search spaces, and optionally, the first set of common search spaces is configured for all UEs in the cell. In an optional implementation, the determined capabilities of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, are: UE-specific search space, and A second set of common search spaces applies to one or more of the following:

[0225] In an optional implementation, the second set of common search spaces includes one or more of a common search space configured in a dedicated message to the UE and a common search space configured in common for a group of UEs.

[0226] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to any of the first to eighth aspects, during operation, the processor determines, based on the received configuration information, one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel. In an optional implementation, the processor further maps the monitoring candidates of the downlink control channel to the one or more monitoring opportunities based on a mapping rule, the mapping rule comprising: - First, the monitor candidates of the monitor opportunities associated with the common search space are mapped; - then, the monitoring candidates for the monitoring opportunity associated with the UE-specific search space shall be determined in ascending order of the indices assigned to the UE-specific search space; Includes. The optional implementation further comprises: - the processor determines one or more of a maximum number of blind decode attempts and a maximum number of control channel elements for the UE, and when the processor determines that the maximum number of blind decode attempts or the maximum number of control channel elements has been reached for the UE, the processor not maps further monitor candidates to the monitor opportunity for the UE. Includes.

[0227] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to any of the first to ninth aspects, if the processor determines that a monitoring opportunity for a search space does not comply with one or more of the first and second capability conditions of the UE, the processor decides to skip the non-compliant monitoring opportunity, or decides to skip all monitoring opportunities for the search space with which the non-compliant monitoring opportunity is associated.

[0228] According to an eleventh aspect provided in addition to any of the first to tenth aspects, the processor determines a capability of the UE from information stored in the UE.

[0229] According to a twelfth aspect, a method, executed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The determined capability of the UE is based on the following two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitor function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; Includes. The method includes the steps of: transmitting a capability indication to a base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE and optionally including a second capability condition of the UE; receiving configuration information from a base station for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel; Further includes:

[0230] According to a thirteenth aspect, a UE is provided comprising a processor that, during operation, determines a capability of the UE to operate a monitor function, the monitor function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitor occasions for receiving a downlink control information message. The determined capability of the UE includes a first capability condition of the UE for operating the monitor function: The first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitor occasions of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots. The transmitter sends a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE for operating a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE. The receiver receives configuration information for configuring the monitoring function in the UE from the base station, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel.

[0231] According to a fourteenth aspect provided in addition to the thirteenth aspect, the minimum span time gap is between the end of one time span and the beginning of the subsequent time span. In an optional implementation, the capability indication indicates a value of the minimum span time gap and a span length of the time span, or the capability indication indicates a span length of the time span and a minimum span time interval between the beginning of one time span and the beginning of the subsequent time span. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length corresponding to the capability of the UE from among a plurality of different combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum span time gap and the span length in the capability indication. In an optional implementation, the processor, during operation, determines one or more combinations from among multiple different combinations of minimum span time interval and span length that correspond to the capabilities of the UE, and the transmitter, during operation, indicates the determined one or more combinations of minimum span time interval and span length in the capability indication.

[0232] According to a fifteenth aspect provided in addition to the thirteenth or fourteenth aspect, a processor, during operation, - a second capability condition on a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots. The UE further determines the capabilities of the UE, including: The processor, when determining the second capability condition, determines one or more of the minimum group time gap and the grouping window length from the stored information based on the subcarrier spacing used for the downlink control channel. In an optional implementation, the stored information includes an association of different subcarrier spacings used for the downlink control channel with one or more of different minimum group time gap values ​​and different grouping window lengths.

[0233] According to a sixteenth aspect provided in addition to any of the thirteenth to fifteenth aspects, the determined capability of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, is Subcarrier spacing used for downlink control channels above 120 kHz, optionally subcarrier spacings of 480 kHz and 960 kHz or greater; and The frequency range in which the downlink control channel is transmitted above 52.6 GHz, optionally in the frequency range 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz applies to one or more of the following:

[0234] According to a seventeenth aspect provided in addition to any of the thirteenth to sixteenth aspects, the determined capability of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, is not applied to a first set of common search spaces, and optionally, the first set of common search spaces is configured for all UEs in the cell. In an optional implementation, the determined capability of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, is: UE-specific search space, and A second set of common search spaces applies to one or more of the following: In an optional implementation, the second set of common search spaces includes one or more of a common search space configured in a dedicated message to the UE and a common search space configured in common for a group of UEs.

[0235] According to an eighteenth aspect, a method for transmitting a signal to a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The determined capability of the UE includes a first capability condition of the UE for operating the monitor function: - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; determining sending a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information on a determined capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE; receiving configuration information from a base station for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel; A method is provided, comprising:

[0236] According to a nineteenth aspect, a base station, the receiver comprising: a base station, the base station comprising: a receiver configured to receive, during operation, a capability indication from one or more user equipments UE, respectively, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel; A receiver is provided. The processor, during operation, determines, from information indicated by the received capability indication or from the stored information and a subcarrier spacing used by the respective UE for the downlink control channel, a second capability condition of the one or more UEs related to a minimum group time gap between two successive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; The base station further comprises: a processor that, during operation, determines, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring opportunities to be monitored on the downlink control channel based on the first and second capability conditions determined for all of the one or more UEs; a transmitter that, during operation, transmits configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; A base station is provided, comprising:

[0237] According to a twentieth aspect provided in addition to the nineteenth aspect, the stored information for determining the second capability condition includes an association between different subcarrier spacings used for the downlink control channel and one or more of different minimum group time gap values ​​and different grouping window lengths.

[0238] According to a twenty-first aspect provided in addition to the nineteenth or twentieth aspect, the processor, when determining one or more monitor opportunities, considers that the determined capabilities of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, do not apply to one or more of the first set of common search spaces, and optionally, the first set of common search spaces is set for all UEs in the cell. In an optional implementation, the processor, when determining one or more monitor opportunities, considers that the determined capabilities of the UE, including one or more of the first and second capability conditions, do not apply to one or more of the first set of common search spaces. UE-specific search space, and A second set of common search spaces The present invention is intended to be applicable to one or more of the following: In an optional implementation, the second set of common search spaces includes one or more of a common search space configured in a dedicated message to the UE and a common search space configured in common for a group of UEs.

[0239] According to a 22nd aspect provided in addition to any of the 19th to 21st aspects, a processor maps monitor candidates of a downlink control channel to one or more monitor opportunities based on a mapping rule, the mapping rule comprising: - first, monitor candidates for a monitor opportunity associated with a common search space are determined; - then, the monitoring candidates for the monitoring opportunity associated with the UE-specific search space shall be determined in ascending order of the indices assigned to the UE-specific search space; Includes. In an optional implementation, the mapping rules are: - the processor determines one or more of a maximum number of blind decode attempts and a maximum number of control channel elements for the UE, and when the processor determines that the maximum number of blind decode attempts or the maximum number of control channel elements has been reached for the UE, the processor not maps further monitor candidates to the monitor opportunity for the UE. Includes.

[0240] According to a 23rd aspect provided in addition to any of the 19th to 22nd aspects, if the processor determines that a monitoring opportunity for a search space does not comply with one or more of the UE's first and second capability conditions, the processor decides to skip the non-compliant monitoring opportunity, or decides to skip all monitoring opportunities for the search space with which the non-compliant monitoring opportunity is associated.

[0241] According to a 24th aspect, provided in addition to any of the 19th to 23rd aspects, when the processor determines that a monitoring opportunity of the search space does not comply with one or more of the first and second capability conditions of each UE, the processor sets a monitoring opportunity for the UE that does not comply with one or more capabilities of each UE.

[0242] According to a twenty-fifth aspect, a method for transmitting a signal to a base station, the method comprising: receiving a capability indication from each of one or more user equipments UE, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel; receiving the signal; determining a second capability condition of the one or more UEs with respect to a minimum group time gap between two successive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots from information indicated by the received capability indication or from the stored information and a subcarrier spacing used by the respective UE for the downlink control channel; determining, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on a downlink control channel based on the first and second capability conditions determined for all of the one or more UEs; sending configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; A method is provided, comprising:

[0243] According to a twenty-sixth aspect, there is provided a base station, comprising: a receiver for receiving, during operation, a capability indication from one or more user equipments UE respectively, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; A receiver; a processor that, during operation, determines, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on the downlink control channel based on a first capability condition determined for all of the one or more UEs; a transmitter that, during operation, transmits configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; A base station is provided, comprising:

[0244] According to a twenty-seventh aspect, a method for transmitting a signal to a base station, the method comprising: receiving a capability indication from each of one or more user equipments UE, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; receiving the signal; determining, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on a downlink control channel based on the first capability condition determined for all of the one or more UEs; sending configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; A method is provided, comprising:

[0245] According to a twenty-eighth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a user equipment, in operation, the processing being performed by the user equipment, determining a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The determined capability of the UE is determined based on the following two capability conditions of the UE for operating the monitor function: - a first capability condition regarding a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of a downlink control channel; and - a second capability condition regarding a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots; determining, sending a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information on the determined capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE and optionally including a second capability condition of the UE; receiving configuration information from a base station for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel; An integrated circuit is provided, comprising:

[0246] According to a twenty-ninth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a user equipment, in operation, the processing being performed by the user equipment, determining a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The determined capability of the UE includes a first capability condition of the UE for operating the monitor function: - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; determining sending a capability indication to the base station, the capability indication including information regarding a determined capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the capability indication indicating a first capability condition of the UE; receiving configuration information from a base station for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring occasions for the UE to monitor a downlink control channel; An integrated circuit is provided, comprising:

[0247] According to a 30th aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station, in operation, the processing being performed by the base station, receiving a capability indication from each of one or more user equipments UE, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel; receiving the signal; determining a second capability condition of the one or more UEs with respect to a minimum group time gap between two successive groups of time spans within a grouping window having a length of one or more slots from information indicated by the received capability indication or from the stored information and a subcarrier spacing used by the respective UE for the downlink control channel; determining, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on a downlink control channel based on the first and second capability conditions determined for all of the one or more UEs; sending configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; An integrated circuit is provided, comprising:

[0248] According to a thirty-first aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station, in operation, the processing being performed by the base station, receiving a capability indication from each of one or more user equipments UE, the capability indication indicating a capability of the UE to operate a monitoring function, the monitoring function being operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel at one or more monitoring occasions for the purpose of receiving downlink control information messages; The capability indication from each UE indicates a first capability condition as a capability of the UE; - the first capability condition relates to a minimum span time gap between two consecutive time spans having a span length of one or more consecutive symbols, each time span may include one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, the minimum span time gap being denoted as one or more slots; receiving the signal; determining, for each of the one or more UEs, one or more monitoring occasions to be monitored on a downlink control channel based on the first capability condition determined for all of the one or more UEs; sending configuration information to each of the one or more UEs for configuring a monitoring function in the UE, including configuring one or more monitoring occasions for each UE to monitor a downlink control channel; An integrated circuit is provided, comprising:

[0249] Further variations, including hardware and software implementations of the present disclosure The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software interlocked with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment above can be partially or entirely realized by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment can be partially or entirely controlled by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be formed as an individual chip, or a single chip may be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may include data input / output coupled thereto. Here, the LSI may be called an IC (integrated circuit), a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on the degree of integration. However, the technology for realizing the integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI, and may be realized using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a processor for a specific application. Furthermore, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after the manufacture of an LSI or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and settings of the circuit cells arranged inside the LSI may be used. The present disclosure can be realized as digital processing or analog processing. If future integrated circuit technologies replace LSI as a result of advances in semiconductor technology and other derived technologies, the functional blocks can be integrated using the future integrated circuit technologies. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0250] The present disclosure may be implemented by any type of apparatus, device or system having communication capabilities, referred to as a communications apparatus.

[0251] A communication device may include a transceiver and processing / control circuitry. The transceiver may include and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver as a transmitter and receiver may include a Radio Frequency (RF) module including amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0252] Some non-limiting examples of such communications devices include telephones (e.g., mobile (cell) phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, netbooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine (remote health and remote medical) devices, and vehicles (e.g., automobiles, airplanes, ships) that provide communications capabilities, and various combinations thereof.

[0253] The communications apparatus is not limited to being portable or mobile, but may include any type of apparatus, device or system that is non-portable or fixed, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lighting, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "thing" in an "Internet of Things (IoT)" network.

[0254] Communications may include, for example, exchanging data via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, and the like, as well as various combinations thereof.

[0255] A communications apparatus may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications apparatus may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0256] Additionally, the communications equipment may include infrastructure facilities such as, for example, base stations, access points, and any other equipment, devices, or systems that communicate with or control equipment such as those in the non-limiting examples above.

[0257] (Control signal) In this disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC control element (CE) or RRC of a higher layer. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0258] The uplink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PUCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC CE or RRC of a higher layer. Also, the uplink control signal may be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be replaced by uplink control information (UCI), first stage sidelink control information (SCI), or second stage SCI.

[0259] (base station) In the present disclosure, the base station may be, for example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a Base Station (BS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Also, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be employed instead of the base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit.

[0260] (uplink / downlink / sidelink) The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0261] The present disclosure may apply, for example, to uplink channels such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and sidelink channels such as the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), and the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0262] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0263] (Data Channel / Control Channel) The present disclosure may be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0264] (reference signal) In this disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or, in some cases, a pilot signal. A reference signal may be any of a DMRS, a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

[0265] (Time Interval) In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of a slot and a symbol, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a time slot subslot, a minislot, or a time resource unit such as a symbol, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or other time resource unit. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to any number of symbols exemplified in one or more embodiments described above, and may be other numbers of symbols.

[0266] (Frequency Band) The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands.

[0267] (communication) The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and vehicle to everything (V2X) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0268] The present disclosure may also be applied to any of terrestrial networks and non-terrestrial networks (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Networks) using satellites or High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS). The present disclosure may also be applied to networks with large cell sizes and terrestrial networks with large delays compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as ultra-wideband transmission networks.

[0269] (Antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed by one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna formed by multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas forming an antenna port is not defined, and instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit by which a terminal can transmit a reference signal. Also, an antenna port may be defined as the smallest unit for multiplying the weighting of a precoding vector.

[0270] Furthermore, the various embodiments may be implemented by means of software modules which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementations may also be possible. The software modules may be stored in any kind of computer-readable storage medium, for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. Furthermore, it should be noted that individual features of the different embodiments may be the subject of another embodiment, either individually or in any combination.

[0271] Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous changes and / or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as shown in the specific embodiments, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor for determining the UE's capabilities for operating a monitoring function, wherein the monitoring function is operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel in one or more monitoring opportunities for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message; the determined capabilities of the UE include the following UE capability conditions for operating the monitoring function; the capability condition relates to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouped window having a length of one or more slots; a processor; a transmitter for transmitting a capability indication to a base station, the capability indication including information regarding the determined capabilities of the UE for operating the monitoring function, the capability indication indicating the capability condition of the UE; a receiver for receiving, from the base station, configuration information for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, the configuration information configuring one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel; a UE comprising the above components.

2. The time span is a plurality of consecutive symbols including one or more monitoring opportunities of the downlink control channel, each monitoring opportunity being entirely within one time span, the time span starting from the first symbol of the monitoring opportunity and ending at the last symbol of the monitoring opportunity. The UE according to claim 1.

3. The minimum group time gap is between the end of one grouped window and the start of a subsequent grouped window; Optionally, the capability indication indicates the value of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouped window, or the capability indication indicates the length of the grouped window and the minimum group time interval between the start of one grouped window and the start of a subsequent grouped window; Optionally, the processor determines one or more combinations corresponding to the capabilities of the UE from a plurality of different combinations of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouped window, and the transmitter indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouped window in the capability indication. Optionally, the processor determines one or more combinations corresponding to the capabilities of the UE from among a plurality of different combinations of a minimum group time interval and a length of a grouping window, and the transmitter indicates the determined one or more combinations of the minimum group time interval and the length of the grouping window within the capability indication. Optionally, the capability condition further requires a maximum number of time spans within each group of a time span, and the capability indication of the capability condition further indicates the maximum number of time spans within each group of the time span. Optionally, the length of the grouping window is indicated in slot units, optionally, the minimum group time gap is indicated in slot units, and optionally, the minimum group time interval is indicated in slot units. The UE according to claim 1.

4. When determining the capability condition, the processor determines one or more of the minimum group time gap and the length of the grouping window from stored information based on a subcarrier spacing used for the downlink control channel. Optionally, the stored information includes an association between different subcarrier spacings and one or more of different minimum group time gap values and different lengths of the grouping window. The UE according to claim 1.

5. The time spans grouped within the grouping window are repeated every N slots, and the grouping window including the grouped time spans starts from the beginning of the N slots. The UE according to claim 1.

6. The determined capabilities of the UE including the capability condition are subcarrier spacings used for the downlink control channel exceeding 120 kHz, optionally subcarrier spacings of 480 kHz and 960 kHz or more, and frequency ranges in which the downlink control channel is transmitted exceeding 52.6 GHz, optionally frequency ranges from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz applied to one or more of The UE according to claim 1.

7. The determined capabilities of the UE including the capability condition are not applied to the first set of common search spaces, and optionally, the first set of common search spaces is configured for all UEs within a cell. Optionally, the determined capabilities of the UE including the capability condition are applied to one or more of a UE-specific search space, and a second set of common search spaces. Optionally, the second set of common search spaces includes one or more of a common search space configured by a dedicated message to the UE and a common search space configured commonly for a group of UEs. The UE according to claim 1.

8. The processor determines one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel based on the received configuration information. Optionally, the processor further maps monitoring candidates of the downlink control channel to the one or more monitoring opportunities based on a mapping rule, and the mapping rule first maps monitoring candidates of monitoring opportunities associated with a common search space, and then determines monitoring candidates of monitoring opportunities associated with a UE-specific search space in ascending order of indexes assigned to the UE-specific search space. Optionally, further, the processor determines one or more of a maximum number of blind decoding attempts for the UE and a maximum number of control channel elements, and when the processor determines that the UE has reached the maximum number of blind decoding attempts or the maximum number of control channel elements, the processor does not map further monitoring candidates to the monitoring opportunities for the UE. The UE according to claim 1.

9. When the processor determines that a monitoring opportunity of a search space does not meet the capability condition of the UE, the processor determines to skip the non-conforming monitoring opportunity, or determines to skip all monitoring opportunities of the search space associated with the non-conforming monitoring opportunity. The UE according to claim 1.

10. The processor determines the capabilities of the UE from information stored in the UE. The UE according to claim 1.

11. A step of determining the capabilities of the UE for operating a monitoring function, which is executed by a user equipment (UE), where the monitoring function is operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel in one or more monitoring opportunities for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message, A step of determining the capabilities of the UE for operating a monitoring function, which is executed by a user equipment (UE), where the monitoring function is operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel in one or more monitoring opportunities for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message, The determined capabilities of the UE include the following UE capability conditions for operating the monitoring function, The capability condition relates to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouped window having a length of one or more slots, A step; A step of transmitting a capability indication to a base station, where the capability indication includes information regarding the determined capabilities of the UE for operating the monitoring function, and the capability indication indicates the UE's capability condition, A step of receiving, from the base station, configuration information for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, where the configuration information configures one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel, A method comprising the above. A 12th aspect: An integrated circuit for controlling the processing of a user equipment (UE), where the processing is executed by the UE, A step of determining the capabilities of the UE for operating a monitoring function, which is executed by a user equipment (UE), where the monitoring function is operated by the UE to monitor a downlink control channel in one or more monitoring opportunities for the purpose of receiving a downlink control information message, The determined capabilities of the UE include the following UE capability conditions for operating the monitoring function, The capability condition relates to a minimum group time gap between two consecutive groups of time spans within a grouped window having a length of one or more slots, A step; A step of transmitting a capability indication to a base station, where the capability indication includes information regarding the determined capabilities of the UE for operating the monitoring function, and the capability indication indicates the UE's capability condition, A step of receiving, from the base station, configuration information for configuring the monitoring function in the UE, where the configuration information configures one or more monitoring opportunities for the UE to monitor the downlink control channel, Including the above, An integrated circuit.

Images