SELECTION OF DIFFERENT INITIAL BANDWIDTH PORTIONS FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system, method, and apparatus, including a computer program encoded on a computer storage medium, for a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) and supporting cell. The RedCap UE is configured with multiple bandwidth portions (BWPs). The maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE is lower than the maximum bandwidth of multiple non-RedCap UEs. The UE receives a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) that defines a shared initial downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and multiple non-RedCap UEs. The UE switches to separate initial downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs. The UE accesses a cell via the separate initial downlink BWPs. The UE receives configurations of active downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs. The UE determines whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain information such as updated system information, system measurements, and uplink configuration information.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 234,966, entitled "SELECTION OF DIFFERENT INITIAL BANDWIDTH PARTS FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT," filed on August 19, 2021, and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 820,371, entitled "SELECTION OF DIFFERENT INITIAL BANDWIDTH PARTS FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT," filed on August 17, 2022, which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications involving selection of different initial bandwidth portions for reduced capability user equipment. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may utilize multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0004] These multiple access technologies are being adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that allows various wireless devices to communicate at city, national, regional, and even global levels. An exemplary telecommunications standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continuing mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single aspect of which is solely responsible for the desirable properties disclosed herein.

[0006] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be embodied in a method for acquiring information in a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE). The method includes receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. The method includes switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes accessing a cell via the separate initial downlink BWPs. The method includes receiving a configuration of an active downlink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes determining whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire the information.

[0007] In another innovative aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for initiating a random access procedure. The method includes receiving, at a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) that defines a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. The method includes receiving, at the RedCap UE, a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes selecting one of the CD-SSB or the non-CD-SSB for transmitting a random access message based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0008] In another innovative aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for configuring BWP-specific uplink parameters. The method includes receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) that defines a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. The method includes switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs or active uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs, where the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0009] The present disclosure also provides an apparatus (e.g., a UE) including a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform at least one of the above methods, an apparatus including means for performing at least one of the above methods, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing at least one of the above methods.

[0010] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in a method of supporting RedCap UEs (e.g., by a base station). The method includes transmitting a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. The method includes transmitting a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE that includes a paging search space. The method includes transmitting a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated. The method includes transmitting the updated system information on the shared initial downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the active downlink BWP as indicated by the paging PDCCH.

[0011] In another innovative aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for supporting RedCap UEs with BWP-specific uplink parameters. The method includes transmitting a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. The method includes transmitting a separate initial downlink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs and a non-CD-SSB for the initial uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs. The method includes transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs or the active uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs, where the initial uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0012] The present disclosure also provides an apparatus (e.g., a BS) including a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform at least one of the above methods, an apparatus including means for performing at least one of the above methods, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing at least one of the above methods.

[0013] The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. It should be noted that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system and access network. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a first frame. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a DL channel in a subframe. [Figure 2C] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a second frame. [Figure 2D] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a subframe. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a base station (BS) and user equipment (UE) in an access network. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a cell configuration including a separate initial bandwidth portion (BWP) for reduced capability (RedCap) UEs and an active BWP. [Diagram 5] A figure showing another example of a cell configuration including active BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an example technique for obtaining updated system information in a configuration having multiple BWPs. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a message diagram illustrating an example message for managing multiple BWPs. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating data flow between different means / components in an exemplary BS. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating data flow between different means / components in an exemplary UE. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart of an example of a method for a UE to obtain information in a configuration having multiple BWPs. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart of an example of a method for a UE to initiate a random access procedure in a configuration having multiple BWPs. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart of an example of a method for configuring BWP-specific uplink parameters in a configuration in which a UE has multiple BWPs. [Figure 13] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for a BS to support a RedCap UE with multiple BWPs. [Figure 14]1 is a flowchart of an example method for configuring BWP-specific uplink parameters in a configuration in which a BS has multiple BWPs.

[0015] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] The following description is directed to several implementations for the purpose of describing the inventive aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. Some of the examples in this disclosure are based on wireless and wired local area network (LAN) communication according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless standard, the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, and the IEEE 1901 Power Line Communication (PLC) standard. However, the described implementations may be based on any of the IEEE 802.11 standards, the Bluetooth standard, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Based Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B. It may be implemented in any device, system or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to any of the wireless communications standards including High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or other known signals used to communicate within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IOT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G or 5G technologies, or further implementations thereof.

[0017] A user equipment (UE) may utilize a subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell, called a bandwidth portion (BWP). For example, in 5G NR Release 15 and 16, the maximum BWP size is 100 MHz. In higher frequency ranges (e.g., FR 2), the size of the bandwidth portion may increase. Such larger bandwidths may be designed to meet the demands of premium smartphones utilizing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and other use cases such as ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) and vehicle to anything (V2X). For some devices, called reduced capability or multiple RedCap devices, the maximum size of the BWP may be reduced to provide power savings and complexity reduction. That is, a first type of UE may use a BWP of the maximum BWP size, and a RedCap UE may be a second type of UE that has a lower maximum BWP size for a frequency range than the first type of UE. Exemplary RedCap devices may include wearables, industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs), surveillance cameras, and low-end smartphones. In some cases, data rates for RedCap devices may be achieved with BWP sizes of less than 100 MHz. In an exemplary implementation, in FR1, the maximum device bandwidth of non-RedCap devices may be 100 MHz and the maximum device bandwidth of RedCap devices may be 20 MHz. In FR2, the maximum device bandwidth of non-RedCap devices may be 200 MHz and the maximum device bandwidth of RedCap devices may be 100 MHz. Other maximum device bandwidths may be applied in other implementations.

[0018] Multiple RedCap devices can coexist with multiple non-RedCap devices on the same cell. However, the reduced bandwidth of multiple RedCap devices may not be compatible with some system configurations. For example, the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is typically assigned to the edge of the uplink BWP to enable continuous physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and random access channel (RACH) transmissions near the center of the uplink BWP. Broadcast signaling for initial access (e.g., channel raster and synchronization signal block (SSB)) is typically transmitted near the center of the downlink BWP. Thus, a RedCap UE with a reduced BWP size may not be able to transmit on the PUCCH and receive the SSB. One proposal to accommodate multiple RedCap UEs is to provide separate initial BWPs for multiple RedCap devices that carry downlink signaling. The separate initial BWPs for multiple RedCap devices may be placed near the edge of the carrier bandwidth such that the PUCCH resources overlap with the PUCCH resources for multiple non-RedCap devices. In some proposals, an active BWP may also be configured for multiple RedCap devices. Multiple BWPs can provide flexibility for multiple RedCap devices, but cause additional problems with signaling. Generally, a RedCap UE may monitor one BWP at a time, but signaling may occur on different BWPs. For example, paging for system information updates, system measurements, random access procedures, radio resource control (RRC) re-establishment, and uplink configuration may be affected by the presence of multiple BWPs.

[0019] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides signaling using multiple BWPs for RedCap UEs. A RedCap UE may receive a cell-defined SSB (CD-SSB) on a shared initial BWP that is applicable to both multiple RedCap UEs and multiple non-RedCap UEs. A CD-SSB refers to a set of SSBs located on an SSB raster point. Thus, the CD-SSB may be detected by a UE performing initial access. A RedCap UE may receive non-CD SSBs on separate initial BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs. Non-CD-SSBs are not located on a raster point. A UE knows the location of non-CD SSBs only after connecting to a network (e.g., a shared initial BWP). A RedCap UE may further be configured with an active BWP for multiple RedCap UEs. A RedCap UE may determine whether to switch from an active BWP to either a shared initial BWP or a separate initial BWP. For example, if the active BWP is configured with a paging search space, the RedCap UE may receive a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and determine whether to receive updated system information on a shared initial BWP, a separate initial BWP, or an active BWP. If the active BWP is not configured with a paging search space, the RedCap UE may periodically switch to a separate initial BWP to receive paging messages. Similarly, the configuration of the active BWP may indicate measurement resources (e.g., for Layer 3 measurements) on either the shared initial BWP, the separate initial BWP, or the active BWP, and measurement gaps on the active BWP. For example, the RedCap UE may measure both CD-SSB on a shared initial downlink BWP and non-CD-SSB on a separate initial downlink BWP. For fallback during RRC re-establishment or RRC release with redirection, a default initial downlink BWP may be standardized or the network may indicate when separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs are available on neighboring cells.

[0020] For a random access procedure, the system information may specify whether the RedCap UE should use CD-SSB or non-CD-SSB to transmit the initial random access message. The RedCap UE may use CD-SSB for the initial transmission of the random access message and switch to non-CD-SSB if a retransmission is required and there is time to measure the non-CD-SSB before the retransmission. More generally, the uplink transmission parameters may be BWP specific (e.g., may differ between an initial uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and an active initial uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs). The RedCap UE may receive the BWP specific uplink parameters in a BWP configuration, a BWP switch command, or a system information update for multiple RedCap UEs.

[0021] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages: RedCap devices may use a narrower bandwidth, which may save power, while coexisting on the same carrier bandwidth as non-RedCap UEs. RedCap UEs may be configured with multiple BWPs and may switch BWPs to obtain information without interfering with the operation of non-RedCap UEs.

[0022] Certain aspects of a telecommunications system are now presented with respect to various apparatus and methods that are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0023] As an example, an element or any portion of an element or any combination of elements may be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on a chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. The processor may include or be coupled to an interface that can obtain or output a signal. The processor may obtain a signal through the interface and output a signal through the interface. In some implementations, the interface may be a printed circuit board (PCB) transmission line. In some other implementations, the interface may include a wireless transmitter, a wireless transceiver, or a combination thereof. For example, the interface may include a radio frequency (RF) transceiver that may be implemented to receive or transmit signals, or both. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0024] Thus, in one or more exemplary implementations, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on a computer-readable medium or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media, which may be referred to as non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media may exclude transitory signals. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the above types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (such as 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (high power cellular base station) or a small cell (low power cellular base station). A macro cell includes a base station. A small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. A small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell. The base station 102 may be configured in a disaggregated (D-RAN) or open RAN (O-RAN) architecture, where functionality is divided among multiple units, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DUs), or a radio unit (RU). Such an architecture may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is logically divided among one or more units (such as one or more CUs and one or more DUs). In some aspects, the CU may be implemented in an edge RAN node, and in some aspects, one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU or geographically distributed throughout one or more RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs.

[0026] In some implementations, one or more of the UEs 104 may include a RedCap BWP component 140 that manages multiple BWPs for RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP component 140 may include a shared initial BWP component 142 configured to receive a CD-SSB that defines a shared initial BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and multiple non-RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP component 140 may include a separate initial BWP component 144 configured to switch to separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs. For example, the separate initial BWP component 144 may be configured to receive a non-CD-SSB for separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP component 140 may access a cell via the separate initial downlink BWP. The RedCap BWP component 140 may include an active BWP component 146 configured to receive a configuration of an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP component 140 may include a BWP switching component configured to determine whether to switch from an active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to obtain information. In some implementations, the RedCap BWP component 140 may include a random access component 910 configured to select one of a CD-SSB or a non-CD-SSB for transmitting a random access message based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP. In some implementations, the RedCap BWP component 140 may optionally include an uplink configuration component 920 (FIG. 9) configured to receive BWP-specific uplink parameters for an initial uplink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs or an active uplink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs.The initial uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs may be configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth.

[0027] In some implementations, one or more of the base stations 102 may include a RedCap BWP control component 120 configured to manage multiple BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs. As shown in FIG. 8, the RedCap BWP control component 120 may include a shared initial BWP component 810 configured to transmit a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and multiple non-RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may include a separate initial BWP component 820 configured to transmit a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may include an active BWP component 830 configured to configure an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UEs including a paging search space. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may include a paging component 840 configured to transmit a paging PDCCH indicating that system information has been updated. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may include a system information update component 850 configured to transmit updated system information on a shared initial downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or an active downlink BWP as indicated by a paging PDCCH. In some implementations, the RedCap BWP control component 120 may optionally include an uplink configuration component 860 configured to transmit BWP-specific uplink parameters for an initial uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs or an active uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs. The initial uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs may be configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth.

[0028] A base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 through a first backhaul link 132 (such as an S1 interface), which may be wired or wireless. A base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the core network 190 through a second backhaul link 184, which may be wired or wireless. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: forwarding user data, encryption and decryption of radio channels, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (such as handover, dual connectivity, etc.), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (such as through the EPC 160 or the core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (such as an X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0029] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UE 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB) that may serve a restricted group called a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG). A communication link 112 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include a UL (also called a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102, or a DL (also called a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 112 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, or transmit diversity. The communication link may be over one or more carriers. The base station 102 / UE 104 may use spectrum with bandwidth up to Y MHz (5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, etc.) per carrier, allocated in carrier aggregation with up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (such that more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0030] Several UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0031] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 in communication with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in the 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0032] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and may use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. A small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to or increase capacity of an access network.

[0033] The base stations 102, whether small cells 102' or large cells (such as macro base stations), may include eNBs, gNode Bs (gNBs), or other types of base stations. Some base stations, such as the gNB 180, may operate within one or more frequency bands in the electromagnetic spectrum.

[0034] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands are identified with frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is higher than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" (mmW) band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

[0035] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be in FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be in FR2, or may be in the EHF band. Communications using mmW radio frequency bands have significant path loss and short distances. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for path loss and short distances.

[0036] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Mobility Management Entity (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to an IP service 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may act as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services in a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions.The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to deliver MBMS traffic to base stations 102 that belong to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related charging information.

[0037] The core network 190 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be in communication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. In general, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides IP address allocation for the UE as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to IP services 197. The IP services 197 may include the Internet, intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, or other IP services.

[0038] A base station may include or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit reception point (TRP), or some other suitable term. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 or core network 190 for the UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (such as an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small cooking appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similar function device. Some of the UE 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0039] The following description may focus on 5G NR, however, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar domains, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies, including future 6G technologies.

[0040] FIG. 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a first frame. FIG. 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of a DL channel in a subframe. FIG. 2C is a diagram 250 illustrating an example of a second frame. FIG. 2D is a diagram 280 illustrating an example of a subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be FDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL, or may be TDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. A subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell is called a bandwidth portion (BWP), and bandwidth adaptation is achieved by configuring a UE with a BWP(s) and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is the currently active one. In one aspect, a narrow bandwidth portion (NBWP) refers to a BWP that has a bandwidth less than or equal to the maximum configurable bandwidth of the BWP. The bandwidth of the NBWP is less than the carrier system bandwidth. The NBWP may hop across the carrier system bandwidth. Hopping can provide frequency diversity gain without increasing the BWP size or by using a narrower active BWP.

[0041] In the example provided by Figures 2A, 2C, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (with mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexible for use between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (with mostly UL). Subframes 3 and 4 are shown with slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, but any particular subframe may be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL, UL, respectively. The other slot formats 2-61 include a mix of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with the slot format through a received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically through DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically through radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to 5G NR frame structures that are TDD.

[0042] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures or different channels. A frame (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) may be divided into 10 subframes (1 ms) of equal size. Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a minislot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols depending on the slot configuration. In slot configuration 0, each slot may include 14 symbols, and in slot configuration 1, each slot may include 7 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be Cyclic Prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also called single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios, restricted to single stream transmission). The number of slots in a subframe is based on the slot configuration and numerology. In slot configuration 0, the different numerologies μ0-5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. In slot configuration 1, the different numerologies 0-2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Thus, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols / slots and 2 μ There are slots / subframes. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of numerology. The subcarrier spacing is 2 μ*The symbol length / duration may be equal to 15 kHz, where μ is the numerology 0-5. Thus, numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and numerology μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely proportional to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D provide an example of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot, and numerology μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 microseconds (μs).

[0043] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot contains a resource block (RB), also called physical RB (PRB), spanning 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into resource elements (RE). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 2A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RSs) for the UE. The RSs are demodulation RSs (DM-RSs) (for a particular configuration, 100x is the port number) for channel estimation at the UE. x DM-RS (shown as DM-RS in FIG. 1, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS). The RS may also include Beam Measurement RS (BRS), Beam Improvement RS (BRRS), and Phase Tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0045] FIG. 2B illustrates an example of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame. A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including 9 RE groups (REGs), each REG including 4 consecutive REs within an OFDM symbol. A primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by the UE 104 to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS mentioned above. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), which carries the Master Information Block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form the Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH Block (SSB). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as the System Information Block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 2C, some of the REs carry DM-RS (denoted as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may transmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the particular PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0047] 2D shows an example of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH, in one configuration, may be located as shown. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), or UCI.

[0048] 3 is a diagram of an example of a base station 310 and a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions. Layer 3 includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, and Layer 2 includes a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (MIBs, SIBs, etc.), RRC connection control (such as RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and broadcast of measurement configurations for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with forwarding of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0049] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and receive (RX) processor 370 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.). The coded and modulated symbols may be split into parallel streams. Each stream may be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (such as a pilot) in the time or frequency domain, and combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM streams may be spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0050] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal via its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement Layer 1 functionality related to various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 350. Multiple spatial streams may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356 if they are destined for the UE 350. The RX processor 356 converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 310. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 310 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are provided to a controller / processor 359, which implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions.

[0051] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0052] Similar to the functionality described in connection with DL transmissions by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (MIBs, SIBs, etc.) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with forwarding of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto the TB, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from the TB, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0053] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used by the TX processor 368 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme as well as to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0054] The UL transmission is processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described for the receiver functions at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal via its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the RX processor 370.

[0055] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 performs demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0056] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform aspects associated with the RedCap BWP component 140 of FIG. 1. For example, the memory 360 may include executable instructions that define the RedCap BWP component 140. The TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 may be configured to execute the RedCap BWP component 140.

[0057] At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform aspects related to the RedCap BWP control component 120 of FIG. 1. For example, the memory 376 may include executable instructions that define the RedCap BWP control component 120. The TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and / or the controller / processor 375 may be configured to execute the RedCap BWP control component 120.

[0058] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a configuration 400 of multiple BWPs for RedCap UEs on a carrier bandwidth 410. The carrier bandwidth 410 may be, for example, a maximum system bandwidth. For example, in 5G NR FR1, the maximum system bandwidth may be 100 MHz. A cell may be configured with a shared initial UL BWP 420 and a shared initial DL BWP 430. The shared initial UL BWP 420 and the shared initial DL BWP 430 may be used by both RedCap UEs and non-RedCap UEs. A non-RedCap UE or baseline device may refer to a first type of UE capable of using a BWP of a maximum BWP size, and a RedCap UE may refer to a second type of UE that has a lower maximum BWP size for a frequency range than the first type of UE. The description herein of non-RedCap UEs and RedCap UEs may be equally applicable to the first type of UEs and the second type of UEs.

[0059] Differences between a first type of UE (e.g., non-RedCap UEs) and a second type of UE (e.g., RedCap UEs) may result in different usage of the shared initial UL BWP 420 and the shared initial DL BWP 430. In particular, non-RedCap UEs may continue to use the shared initial UL BWP 420 and the shared initial DL BWP 430 as the initial BWP after cell acquisition. For example, the maximum BWP size for non-RedCap UEs may be equal to or greater than the size of the shared initial UL BWP 420 and the shared initial DL BWP 430. In contrast, the maximum BWP size for RedCap UEs may be smaller than the size of the shared initial UL BWP 420 and / or the size of the shared initial DL BWP 430. For example, RedCap UEs may not be able to communicate over a portion of the shared initial UL BWP 420 and / or the size of the shared initial DL BWP 430. For example, the shared initial UL BWP 420 may include PUCCH resources 422 configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth 410, and the shared initial DL BWP 430 may carry a CD-SSB 432 near the center of the carrier bandwidth 410. The CD-SSB 432 may be transmitted according to a channel raster such that the shared initial DL BWP 430 may be located during cell search. Thus, the CD-SSB 432 defines a cell. In one aspect, multiple RedCap UEs may receive a portion of the initial DL BWP 430 (e.g., an initial control resource set (CORESET)) that carries the CD-SSB 432, but may not be able to transmit on the PUCCH resources 422 of the shared initial UL BWP 420.

[0060] In one aspect, the CD-SSB 432 includes or identifies system information of a separate initial DL BWP 450 for multiple RedCap UEs. The separate initial DL BWP 450 may carry a non-CD-SSB 452. The non-CD-SSB 452 may carry some or all of the cell's information and the separate initial DL BWP 450's information. The non-CD-SSB 452 may include information of a separate UL BWP 440 for multiple RedCap UEs. The separate UL BWP 440 may include PUCCH resources 442 located at the edge of the carrier bandwidth 410 and overlapping with the PUCCH resources 422 of the shared initial UL BWP 420. The RedCap UE 104 may connect to the cell via the separate initial DL BWP 450 and the separate initial UL BWP 440. For example, the RedCap UE 104 may receive non-CD-SSB 452 to obtain system information and perform measurements. The RedCap UE 104 may perform a random access procedure on a separate initial UL BWP 440. For example, the separate initial UL BWP 440 may include a physical random access channel (PRACH) occasion for transmitting an initial random access message. The separate initial DL BWP 450 may include a common search space for receiving subsequent random access messages.

[0061] When the RedCap UE 104 accesses the cell, the network can configure the RedCap UE 104 with an active UL BWP 460 for multiple RedCap UEs and an active DL BWP 470 for multiple RedCap UEs. The active DL BWP 470 may be outside the shared initial DL BWP 430 and / or the separate initial DL BWP 450. In an aspect, the active DL BWP 470 may be configured with signaling to facilitate the operation of the RedCap UE. For example, the active DL BWP 470 may carry periodic reference signals, such as a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and / or a positioning reference signal (PRS). The active DL BWP 470 may include a common search space (CSS) for paging and wake-up signals (WUS). The active DL BWP 470 may include dedicated RRC signaling for system information updates if a paging search space is not configured. The active DL BWP 470 may include Layer 3 intra-frequency measurement gaps for measuring neighboring cells and / or reference signals on other BWPs (eg, the shared initial DL BWP 430 and / or the separate initial DL BWP 450).

[0062] 5 illustrates another example of a configuration 500 of multiple BWPs for RedCap UEs on a carrier bandwidth 510. Similar to the configuration 400, the configuration 500 may include a shared initial UL BWP 520 and a shared initial DL BWP 530 that may be used by both a first type of UEs (e.g., non-RedCap UEs) and a second type of UEs (e.g., RedCap UEs). The shared initial UL BWP 520 may include PUCCH resources 522 located at the edge of the shared initial UL BWP 520. The shared initial DL BWP 530 may include a CORESET0 carrying a CD-SSB 532.

[0063] The RedCap UE 104 can access the cell via a shared initial DL BWP 530. The network can configure the RedCap UE 104 with an active UL BWP 540 for multiple RedCap UEs and an active DL BWP 550 for multiple RedCap UEs. The active DL BWP 470 may be external to the shared initial DL BWP 530. In an aspect, the active DL BWP 470 may be configured with signaling to facilitate the operation of the RedCap UE. For example, the active DL BWP 470 may carry periodic reference signals such as TRS, CSI-RS, and / or PRS. The active DL BWP 470 may include CSS for paging and wake-up signals (WUS). The active DL BWP 470 may include dedicated RRC signaling for system information updates. The active DL BWP 470 may include Layer 3 intra-frequency measurement gaps for measuring neighboring cells and / or reference signals on other BWPs (eg, the shared initial DL BWP 530).

[0064] In one aspect, a RedCap UE configured with an active DL BWP 460, 540 under configuration 400 or configuration 500 can obtain various information from the active DL BWP 460, 540, the shared DL BWP 430, 530, and / or the separate initial DL BWP 450. For simplicity, further description will refer to configuration 400 but may also be applicable to configuration 500. Examples of information that a RedCap UE can obtain include paging messages, updated system information, measurements such as Layer 3 measurements and neighbor cell measurements, and neighbor cell system information during RRC re-establishment or release with redirection.

[0065] In connected mode, the UE 104 may receive updated system information. When the cell updates the system information, the cell may send a paging message to notify the connected UE to get the updated system information. For multiple non-RedCap UEs, the UE may receive the paging information on the CSS of the initial DL BWP, obtain the management information block (MIB) from the CD-SSB 432, and place the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) from the MIB. In configurations 400 and 500, the active BWP of the RedCap UE may not overlap with the CSS of the initial DL BWP or the CD-SSB.

[0066] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating a technique for obtaining updated system information for a RedCap UE 104 configured with an active DL BWP 470, 550 for multiple RedCap UEs. The active DL BWP 470, 550 may be configured with a paging search space 610. The paging search space 610 may be part of a CSS. The paging search space 610 may be configured together or separately from the WUS search space. The UE 104 may monitor the paging search space 610 for a paging PDCCH 612. When the RedCap UE 104 operates in half-duplex frequency domain duplex (HD-FDD) on an active downlink BWP, receiving the paging search space may be prioritized over the uplink transmission when a paging occasion overlaps with a semi-statically or dynamically configured uplink transmission. If the paging PDCCH 612 indicates that the system information has been updated, the UE can switch to either the shared initial DL BWP 430, 530 or the separate initial DL BWP 450 to receive the system information update, or can remain in the active DL BWP 470, 550 and decode the broadcast / multicast PDSCH.

[0067] For example, in block 620, the paging PDCCH 612 may indicate to switch BWPs to receive system information updates. In block 622, the paging PDCCH notifies the RedCap UE to switch to another DL BWP to receive system information updates. The UE may receive an indication of whether the initial downlink BWP for obtaining updated system information is a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP. For example, the indication may be one of the following: presence of system information in a separate initial downlink BWP, radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH 612, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH 612, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH 612, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH 612. Based on the indication, the UE 104 may switch to the initial shared DL BWP 430 , 530 in block 622 or switch to a separate initial DL BWP 450 in block 624 .

[0068] As another example, in block 630, the paging PDCCH 612 may indicate that the RedCap UE should receive a system information update without switching DL BWPs. The paging PDCCH 612 may schedule the system information update on the active DL BWPs 470, 550. For example, the paging PDCCH may indicate a PDSCH on the active downlink BWPs 470, 550 for the multiple RedCap UEs via one of the following: RNT (return plus subtraction) scrambling of the CRC of the paging PDCCH, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH. In block 632, the system information update is broadcast or multicast to the multiple RedCap UEs on the PDSCH scheduled by the paging PDCCH using a group RNTI, which may be a function of a cell ID, a BWP ID, or a group common parameter.

[0069] 7 is a message diagram 700 illustrating example messages between a base station 102 and a UE 104 to obtain information with multiple BWPs for a RedCap UE. The base station 102 may broadcast a CD-SSB 710 for the shared initial DL BWP 430, 530. In some implementations, the base station 102 may also broadcast a non-CD-SSB 720 for a separate DL BWP 450.

[0070] The UE 104 may transmit a random access message 730. For example, the random access message 730 may be a first random access message, such as Msg1 in a four-step random access procedure or MsgA in a two-step random access procedure. If the cell is configured with both a shared initial DL BWP 430 and a separate initial DL BWP 450, the UE 104 may select between a CD-SSB 710 and a non-CD-SSB 720 to transmit the first random access message. In some implementations, system information indicated by the CD-SSB 710 and / or the non-CD-SSB 720 may explicitly indicate which SSB to use. In some implementations, the rules may identify a preference or ranking of the SSBs. For example, the UE 104 may initially transmit a first random access message based on a CD-SSB 710 and, if the time between the initial transmission and the retransmission is greater than a threshold, transmit a retransmission of the first random access message based on a non-CD-SSB 720 (thereby allowing the UE to measure the non-CD-SSB 720).

[0071] After the random access procedure, the base station 102 may transmit an active RedCap BWP configuration 740 for the active DL BWP 470, 550 and the active UL BWP 460, 540. For example, the active RedCap BWP configuration 740 may be an RRC configuration. In some implementations, the active RedCap BWP configuration 740 may include a configuration of a paging search space 610. The RedCap UE 104 may switch to the active DL BWP 470, 550 and the active UL BWP 460, 540 for communication in a connected mode.

[0072] In some implementations, the base station 102 may transmit BWP-specific uplink parameters 745. For example, the transmit BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 may include BWP-specific power control parameters, frequency hopping flags, coverage extension parameters, and / or waveform configurations for UL channels (e.g., PRACH / PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS) for one or more of the UL BWPs (e.g., the shared UL BWP 420, the separate UL BWP 440, or the active UL BWP 460). The BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 may be communicated as BWP configuration or reconfiguration information (e.g., in the active RedCap BWP configuration 740). The BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 may be communicated as a BWP switch command (e.g., on the DCI or MAC-CE). The BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 may be communicated as system information updated specifically for multiple RedCap UEs (e.g., on the separate DL BWP 450 or the active DL BWP 470, 550).

[0073] The base station 102 may transmit a paging PDCCH 612. If the paging search space 610 is configured on the active DL BWP 470, 550, the UE 104 may receive the paging PDCCH 612 without switching BWPs. As described above with respect to FIG. 6, the RedCap UE 104 may switch to the shared DL BWP 430, 530 or a separate initial DL BWP 550 to receive the updated system information 750. Alternatively, if indicated by the paging PDCCH 612, the RedCap UE 104 may remain on the active DL BWP 470, 550 to receive the PDSCH carrying the updated system information.

[0074] If the active DL BWP 470, 550 is not configured with a paging search space 610, the RedCap UE 104 may periodically switch to a separate initial DL BWP 550 to receive the paging PDCCH 612 and / or updated system information 750. In a first option, the RedCap UE 104 may receive the paging PDCCH 612 on the separate initial DL BWP 550. If the paging PDCCH 612 indicates updated system information, the RedCap UE 104 may switch to the shared DL BWP 430 to receive the updated system information 750. In a second option, the updated system information 750 may be broadcast on the separate initial DL BWP 550, and the RedCap UE 104 may periodically receive the updated system information 750 to determine if an update has occurred (e.g., without receiving the paging PDCCH 612). In a third option, the RedCap UE 104 may receive the paging PDCCH 612 on a separate initial DL BWP 550 and receive updated system information 750 on the separate early DL BWP 550 based on the paging PDCCH 612.

[0075] The base station 102 may transmit a reference signal (RS) indication 760. The RS indication 760 may identify a measurement resource on one of an active downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or a shared initial downlink BWP. For example, the measurement resource may be for a layer 3 measurement, such as a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or a combination thereof. The measurement resource may be one or more of an SSB, a CSI-RS, or a PRS. The base station 102 may transmit an indicated reference signal 770 on the indicated measurement resource.

[0076] The RS indication 760 may be communicated through one or more combinations of system information, RRC signaling, MAC-CE, and DCI. If the measurement resource is on a separate initial downlink BWP or a shared initial downlink BWP, the RS indication 760 may configure a measurement gap on the active DL BWP 470, 550 for the RedCap UE 104 to switch the BWP to perform measurements. In some implementations, the measurements include neighbor cell measurements based on the neighbor cell's system information. The neighbor cell's system information may be provided in the active RedCap BWP configuration 740. Thus, the RedCap UE may be able to acquire the neighbor cell's system information even if the complete system information is not transmitted in the neighbor cell's separate initial DL BWP 450.

[0077] In some implementations, the base station 102 may transmit a neighboring cell indication 780. The neighboring cell indication 780 may indicate whether the neighboring cell is configured with a separate DL BWP 450 for multiple RedCap UEs carrying system information. The neighboring cell indication 780 may indicate whether the separate DL BWP 450 should be used for RRC re-establishment with redirection or RRC release. For example, the default configuration may be to use the shared initial downlink BWP 430 as a fallback BWP during RRC re-establishment with redirection or RRC release. If the RedCap UE 104 receives the neighboring cell indication 780, the RedCap UE 104 may use the neighboring cell's separate DL BWP 450 as a fallback BWP.

[0078] In some implementations, the active RedCap BWP configuration 740 includes different measurement gaps for measuring the CD-SSB 710 of the shared initial downlink BWP and the non-CD-SSB 720 of the separate initial downlink BWP. The base station 102 may transmit SSB Tx power indications 790 for the CD-SSB 710 and the non-CD-SSB 720. The SSB Tx power indications 790 may include an indication of the absolute transmit power of the CD-SSB 710 of the shared initial downlink BWP 430, 530 and the differential transmit power of the non-CD-SSB 720 of the separate initial downlink BWP 450.

[0079] 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram 800 illustrating data flow between different means / components in an exemplary base station 102, which may be an example of a base station 802 including a RedCap BWP control component 120. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may be implemented by the memory 376, and the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and / or the controller / processor 375 of FIG. 3. For example, the memory 376 may store executable instructions defining the RedCap BWP control component 120, and the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and / or the controller / processor 375 may execute the instructions.

[0080] The base station 102 may include a receiver component 870, which may include, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver for receiving signals described herein. The base station 102 may include a transmitter component 872, which may include, for example, an RF transmitter for transmitting signals described herein. In one aspect, the receiver component 870 and the transmitter component 872 may be co-located within a transceiver such as illustrated by TX / RX 318 of FIG. 3.

[0081] 1, the RedCap BWP control component 120 may include a shared initial BWP component 810, a separate initial BWP component 820, an active BWP component 830, a paging component 840, and a system information update component 850. The RedCap BWP control component 120 may optionally include an uplink configuration component 860.

[0082] The receiver component 870 may receive UL signals including UL communications from the UE 104. In some implementations, the receiver component 870 may optionally receive a random access message from the UE 104 attempting to connect to the base station 802. The receiver component 870 may provide an identification of the UE 104 to the active BWP component 830.

[0083] The shared initial BWP component 810 may transmit, via a transmitter component 872, a CD-SSB 710 that defines a shared initial downlink BWP 430, 530 for multiple RedCap UEs and multiple non-RedCap UEs. For example, the CD-SSB 710 may include or identify system information. The shared initial BWP component 810 may update the system information and provide an indication of the update to the paging component 840.

[0084] The separate initial BWP component 820 may transmit a non-CD-SSB 720 for a separate initial downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs via a transmitter component 872. For example, the non-CD-SSB 710 may include or identify unique system information for multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, the system information transmitted by the separate initial BWP component 820 on the separate initial downlink BWP 550 may include some or all of the system information transmitted by the shared initial BWP component 810. The separate initial BWP component 820 may update the system information and provide an indication of the update to the paging component 840.

[0085] The active BWP component 830 may receive a random access message and / or an identification of the RedCap UE 104 from the receiver component 870. The active BWP component 830 may configure an active DL BWP 470, 550 and an active UL BWP 460, 540 for the RedCap UE 104. For example, the active BWP component 830 may transmit an RRC configuration message via the transmitter component 872 including configuration of the active DL BWP 470, 550 and the active UL BWP 460, 540.

[0086] The paging component 840 may receive an indication from the shared initial BWP component 810 and / or the separate initial BWP component 820 indicating that the system information has been updated. The paging component 840 may transmit a paging PDCCH 612 via a transmitter component 872 indicating the update to the system information. If the updated system information is to be transmitted as a PDSCH on the active DL BWP 470, 550, the paging component 840 may schedule the PDSCH and include the scheduling information in the paging PDCCH 612. The paging component 840 may provide resources for the PDSCH to the system information update component 850.

[0087] The system information update component 850 may transmit updated system information on a shared initial downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or an active downlink BWP, as indicated by the paging PDCCH 612. For example, the system information update component 850 may receive resources for a PDSCH from the paging component 840 and transmit updated system information 750 as a PDSCH on the active DL BWP 470, 550.

[0088] The uplink configuration component 860 may send BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 for an initial uplink BWP 460 for multiple RedCap UEs or active uplink BWPs 440, 540 for multiple RedCap UEs.

[0089] 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram 900 illustrating data flow between different means / components in an exemplary UE 904, which may be an example of a UE 104 and may include a RedCap BWP component 140. The RedCap BWP component 140 may be implemented by the memory 360, and the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359. For example, the memory 360 may store executable instructions that define the RedCap BWP component 140, and the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 may execute the instructions.

[0090] The UE 104 may include a receiver component 970, which may include, for example, an RF receiver for receiving signals described herein. The UE 104 may include a transmitter component 972, which may include, for example, an RF transmitter for transmitting signals described herein. In one aspect, the receiver component 970 and the transmitter component 972 may be co-located within a transceiver, such as the TX / RX 352 of FIG. 3.

[0091] 1, the RedCap BWP component 140 may include a shared initial BWP component 142, a separate initial BWP component 144, an active BWP component 146, and a BWP switching component 148. In some implementations, the RedCap BWP component 140 may optionally include a random access component 910 and / or an uplink configuration component 920.

[0092] The receiver component 970 may receive DL signals described herein, such as CD-SSB 710, non-CD-SSB 720, active RedCap BWP configuration 740, BWP-specific uplink parameters 745, paging PDCCH 612, updated system information 750, RS indication 760, RS 770, neighbor cell indication 780, and SSB Tx power indication 790. The receiver component 970 may provide the CD-SSB 710 to the shared initial BWP component 142. The receiver component 970 may provide the non-CD-SSB 720 to the separate initial BWP component 144. The receiver component 970 provides the active RedCap BWP configuration 740, updated system information 750, RS indication 760, RS 770, neighbor cell indication 780, and SSB Tx power indication 790 to the active BWP component 146. The receiver component 970 may provide the BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 to the uplink configuration component 920. The receiver component 970 may provide the paging PDCCH 612 to the BWP switching component 148.

[0093] The shared initial BWP component 142 may receive the CD-SSB 710 via the receiver component 970. The shared initial BWP component 142 may obtain system information based on the CD-SSB 710. The system information may include the location of the non-CD-SSB 720. The shared initial BWP component 142 may control the receiver component 970 to receive the non-CD-SSB 720.

[0094] The separate initial BWP component 144 may receive the non-CD-SSB 720 via the receiver component 970. The separate initial BWP component 144 may receive system information for multiple RedCap UEs based on the non-CD-SSB 720. For example, the separate initial BWP component 144 may determine a RACH occasion on the separate initial uplink BWP 440. The separate initial BWP component 144 may provide the RACH occasion to the random access component 910.

[0095] The random access component 910 may receive a RACH occasion from the separate initial BWP component 144. In some implementations, the random access component 910 may receive CD-SSB 710 and non-CD-SSB 720 or measurements thereof. The random access component 910 may access a cell via a separate initial downlink BWP 450 (e.g., based on the identified RACH occasion). For example, the random access component 910 may transmit a random access message on the RACH occasion. The random access component 910 may select one of the CD-SSB 710 or non-CD-SSB 720 to transmit a random access message based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0096] The active BWP component 146 may receive the active RedCap BWP configuration 740 via the receiver component 970. The active RedCap BWP configuration 740 may be in response to a random access procedure (e.g., a UE connecting to a cell). The active BWP component 146 may forward the signaling received on the active downlink BWP 470 to the BWP switching component 148.

[0097] The BWP switching component 148 can switch the UE 904 between BWPs including the shared initial downlink BWP 430, the separate initial downlink BWP 450, and the active downlink BWP 470. For example, the BWP switching component 148 can select a BWP for receiving various information. For example, the BWP switching component 148 can control the UE 904 to receive a paging PDCCH on the separate initial downlink BWP 450 or the active downlink BWP 470 depending on the configuration of the paging search space 610. If the paging PDCCH 612 is received, the BWP switching component 148 can control the UE 904 to receive updated system information 750 on the BWP indicated by the paging PDCCH.

[0098] 10 is a flow chart of an example method 1000 for a RedCap UE configured with multiple BWPs to obtain information. The method 1000 may be performed by a UE (such as the UE 104, which may include memory 360 and may be the entire UE 104 or a component of the UE 104, such as the RedCap BWP component 140, the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359). The method 1000 may be performed by the RedCap BWP component 140 in communication with the RedCap BWP control component 120 of the base station 102. Optional blocks are indicated with dashed lines.

[0099] At block 1010, the method 1000 may include receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 to receive the CD-SSB 720 defining the shared initial downlink BWP 430 for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 may provide a means for receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0100] At block 1020, the method 1000 may include switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 to switch to the separate initial downlink BWPs 450 for the multiple RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 may provide a means for switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0101] At block 1030, the method 1000 may include accessing a cell via a separate initial downlink BWP. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the random access component 910 to access a cell via the separate initial downlink BWP 450. Thus, the UE 104, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the random access component 910 may provide a means to access a cell via a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0102] At block 1040, the method 1000 may include receiving configurations of active downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the active BWP component 146 to receive configurations 740 of active downlink BWPs 470 for the multiple RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the active BWP component 146 may provide a means for receiving configurations of active downlink BWPs for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0103] At block 1050, the method 1000 may include determining whether to switch from an active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to obtain the information. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the BWP switching component 148 to determine whether to switch from an active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to obtain the information. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the BWP switching component 148 may provide a means for determining whether to switch from an active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to obtain the information.

[0104] 11 is a flow chart of an example method 1100 for a RedCap UE configured with multiple BWPs to initiate random access. The method 1100 may be performed by a UE (such as the UE 104, which may include memory 360 and may be the entire UE 104 or a component of the UE 104, such as the RedCap BWP component 140, the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359). The method 1100 may be performed by the RedCap BWP component 140 in communication with the RedCap BWP control component 120 of the base station 102. Optional blocks are indicated with dashed lines.

[0105] At block 1110, the method 1100 may include receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 to receive the CD-SSB 720 defining the shared initial downlink BWP 430 for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 may provide a means for receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0106] At block 1120, the method 1100 may include receiving a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 to receive a non-CD-SSB 720 for a separate initial downlink BWP 450 for a plurality of RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 may provide a means for receiving a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0107] At block 1130, the method 1100 may include selecting one of the CD-SSBs or the non-CD-SSBs for transmitting the random access message based on the system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the random access component 910 to select one of the CD-SSBs or the non-CD-SSBs for transmitting the random access message based on the system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP. Thus, the UE 104, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the random access component 910 may provide a means for selecting one of the CD-SSBs or the non-CD-SSBs for transmitting the random access message based on the system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0108] 12 is a flow chart of an example method 1200 for a RedCap UE configured with multiple BWPs to configure BWP-specific uplink parameters. The method 1200 may be performed by a UE (such as the UE 104, which may include memory 360 and may be the entire UE 104 or a component of the UE 104, such as the RedCap BWP component 140, the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359). The method 1000 may be performed by the RedCap BWP component 140 in communication with the RedCap BWP control component 120 of the base station 102. Optional blocks are indicated with dashed lines.

[0109] At block 1210, the method 1200 may include receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 to receive the CD-SSB 720 defining the shared initial downlink BWP 430 for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the shared initial BWP component 142 may provide a means for receiving a CD-SSB defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0110] At block 1220, the method 1200 may include switching to a separate initial downlink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs and an initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 to switch to a separate initial downlink BWP 450 for the multiple RedCap UEs and an initial uplink BWP 440 for the multiple RedCap UEs. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the separate initial BWP component 144 may provide a means for switching to a separate initial downlink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs and an initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0111] At block 1230, the method 1200 may include receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters for an initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs configured at an edge of the carrier bandwidth or an active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may execute the RedCap BWP component 140 or the uplink configuration component 920 to receive BWP-specific uplink parameters 745 for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs 440 configured at an edge of the carrier bandwidth 410 or the active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs 460. Thus, the UE 104, the RX processor 356, the TX processor 368, or the controller / processor 359 executing the RedCap BWP component 140 or the uplink configuration component 920 may provide a means for receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters for an initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs configured at an edge of the carrier bandwidth or an active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0112] 13 is a flow chart of an example method 1300 for a base station to control multiple BWPs for a RedCap UE. The method 1300 may be performed by a base station (e.g., such as the base station 102, which may include memory 376 and may be the entire base station 102 or a component of the base station 102, such as the RedCap BWP control component 120, the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, or the controller / processor 375). The method 1300 may be performed by the RedCap BWP control component 120 in communication with the RedCap BWP component 140 of the UE 104.

[0113] At block 1310, the method 1300 may include transmitting a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the shared initial BWP component 810 to transmit a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the shared initial BWP component 810 may provide a means for transmitting a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0114] At block 1320, the method 1300 may include transmitting a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the separate initial BWP component 820 to transmit a non-CD-SSB 720 for a separate initial downlink BWP 450 for a plurality of RedCap UEs. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the separate initial BWP component 820 may provide a means for transmitting a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0115] At block 1330, the method 1300 may include configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE that includes the paging search space. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the RX processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the active BWP component 830 to configure the active downlink BWP 570 for the RedCap UE that includes the paging search space 610. Thus, the base station 102, the RX processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the active BWP component 830 may provide a means for configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE that includes the paging search space.

[0116] At block 1340, the method 1300 may include transmitting a paging PDCCH indicating that the system information has been updated. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the paging component 840 to transmit the paging PDCCH 612 indicating that the system information has been updated. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the paging component 840 may provide a means for transmitting the paging PDCCH indicating that the system information has been updated.

[0117] At block 1350, the method 1300 may include transmitting updated system information on a shared initial downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or an active downlink BWP, as indicated by a paging PDCCH. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the system information update component 850 to transmit updated system information 750 on the shared initial downlink BWP 430, the separate initial downlink BWP 450, or the active downlink BWP 470, as indicated by a paging PDCCH. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the system information update component 850 may provide a means for transmitting updated system information on a shared initial downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or an active downlink BWP, as indicated by a paging PDCCH.

[0118] 14 is a flow chart of an example method 1400 for a base station to control multiple BWPs for a RedCap UE. The method 1300 may be performed by a base station (e.g., a base station 102, which may include memory 376 and may be the entire base station 102 or a component of the base station 102, such as the RedCap BWP control component 120, the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, or the controller / processor 375). The method 1000 may be performed by the RedCap BWP control component 120 in communication with the RedCap BWP component 140 of the UE 104.

[0119] At block 1410, the method 1400 may include transmitting a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the shared initial BWP component 810 to transmit a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the shared initial BWP component 810 may provide a means for transmitting a CD-SSB defining a shared initial BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0120] At block 1420, the method 1400 may include transmitting a separate initial downlink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs and a non-CD-SSB for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the separate initial BWP component 820 to transmit the separate initial downlink BWP 450 for the multiple RedCap UEs and the non-CD-SSB 720 for the initial uplink BWP 440 for the multiple RedCap UEs. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the separate initial BWP component 820 may provide a means for transmitting the separate initial downlink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs and the non-CD-SSB for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0121] At block 1430, the method 1400 may include transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth or the active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs. In some implementations, for example, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 may execute the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the uplink configuration component 860 to transmit BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs 440 configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth 410 or the active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs 460. Thus, the base station 102, the TX processor 316, or the controller / processor 375 executing the RedCap BWP control component 120 or the uplink configuration component 860 may provide a means for transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs configured at the edge of the carrier bandwidth or the active uplink BWP for the multiple RedCap UEs.

[0122] The following provides a summary of aspects of the disclosure. Aspect 1: A method, comprising: receiving, in a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs; accessing a cell via the separate initial downlink BWPs; receiving configurations of active downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs; and determining whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain information.

[0123] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the configuration of an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs includes a paging search space, and determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information includes receiving a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated.

[0124] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information includes switching from an active downlink BWP to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire updated system information.

[0125] Aspect 4: The method of aspect 3, further comprising receiving an indication of whether an initial downlink BWP for obtaining updated system information is a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0126] Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein the indication is one of the following: presence of system information in a separate initial downlink BWP, radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH.

[0127] Aspect 6: The method of aspect 2, wherein determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to obtain information includes decoding a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying updated system information scheduled by a paging PDCCH on an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs.

[0128] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein the paging PDCCH indicates a PDSCH on an active downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs via one of a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH.

[0129] Aspect 8: The method of aspect 6 or 7, wherein the broadcast or multicast PDSCH is scrambled by a group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI), which is a function of a cell ID, a BWP ID, or a group common parameter.

[0130] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 2-8, wherein the paging search space is configured together with or separately from the wake-up signal search space.

[0131] Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 2-8, wherein when a RedCap UE operates in half-duplex frequency domain duplex (HD-FDD) on an active downlink BWP and a paging occasion overlaps with a semi-statically or dynamically configured uplink transmission, receiving a paging search space is prioritized over the uplink transmission.

[0132] Aspect 11: The method of aspect 1, wherein the paging search space is not configured on active downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs, and determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information includes switching to a separate initial downlink BWP to receive a paging PDCCH.

[0133] Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, further comprising: switching to a shared initial BWP in response to the paging PDCCH indicating updated system information.

[0134] Aspect 13: The method of aspect 11, further comprising receiving updated system information broadcast on a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0135] Example 14: The method of example 11, further comprising receiving updated system information scheduled by a paging PDCCH on a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0136] Aspect 15: A method according to any of aspects 1 to 14, wherein determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information includes determining whether to switch to perform measurements based on an indication of measurement resources on one of the active downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the shared initial downlink BWP.

[0137] Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, wherein the measurement resource is one or more of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0138] Aspect 17: The method of aspect 15 or 16, wherein the measurement is a Layer 3 measurement including a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), a Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR), a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), or a combination thereof.

[0139] Example 18: The method of any of Examples 15 to 17, wherein the measurement includes neighbor cell measurements based on system information of neighbor cells received in an active downlink BWP configuration for a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0140] Example 19: The method of any of Examples 1 to 18, wherein the configuration of an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs includes different measurement gaps for measuring CD-SSB of a shared initial downlink BWP and non-CD-SSB of a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0141] Aspect 20: The method of aspect 19, further comprising receiving an indication of absolute transmit power of CD-SSBs of the shared initial downlink BWP and differential transmit power of non-CD-SSBs of the separate initial downlink BWP.

[0142] Aspect 21: A method according to any of aspects 1 to 20, wherein determining whether to switch to a shared initial BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information includes determining a fallback BWP for RRC re-establishment or RRC release with redirection.

[0143] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the fallback BWP is a shared initial downlink BWP.

[0144] Aspect 23: The method of aspect 21, wherein determining the fallback BWP includes receiving an indication that all neighboring cells transmit system information on separate initial BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs, and the fallback BWP is a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0145] Aspect 24: A method, comprising: receiving, at a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; receiving non-CD-SSBs for separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs; and selecting one of the CD-SSBs or the non-CD-SSBs for transmitting a random access message based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0146] Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, wherein the selecting is based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0147] Example 26: The method of example 25, wherein the selecting includes selecting a CD-SSB for the initial transmission of the random access message.

[0148] Aspect 27: The method of aspect 26, wherein the selecting further includes selecting a CD-SSB for a subsequent transmission of the random access message if the time for retransmission is less than a threshold, or selecting a non-CD-SSB for a subsequent transmission of the random access message if the time for retransmission is greater than or equal to the threshold.

[0149] Aspect 28: A method, comprising: receiving, in a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and an initial uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs; and receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs or an active uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs, wherein the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0150] Aspect 29: The method of aspect 28, wherein the BWP-specific uplink parameters include one or more of a power control parameter, a frequency hopping flag, a coverage extension parameter, or a waveform configuration for an uplink channel.

[0151] Example 30: The method of example 28 or 29, wherein receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters includes receiving a configuration of active uplink BWPs for a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0152] Aspect 31: The method of aspect 28 or 29, wherein receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters includes receiving a BWP switch command.

[0153] Example 32: The method of example 28 or 29, wherein receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters includes receiving a system information update specific to a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0154] Aspect 33: A method for supporting reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: transmitting a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; transmitting non-CD-SSBs for separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs; configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE including a paging search space; transmitting a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated; and transmitting the updated system information on the shared initial downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the active downlink BWP as indicated by the paging PDCCH.

[0155] Aspect 34: The method of aspect 33, further comprising sending an indication of whether an initial downlink BWP for obtaining updated system information is a shared initial downlink BWP or a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0156] Aspect 35: The method of aspect 34, wherein the indication is one of the following: presence of system information in a separate initial downlink BWP, radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH.

[0157] Aspect 36: The method of aspect 33, in which a paging PDCCH schedules a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) that carries updated system information on an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs.

[0158] Aspect 37: The method of aspect 36, wherein the paging PDCCH indicates a PDSCH on an active downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs via one of a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH, a BWP identifier in the paging PDCCH, a DMRS configuration of the paging PDCCH, or a paging occasion configuration of the paging PDCCH.

[0159] Aspect 38: The method of aspect 36 or 37, wherein the broadcast or multicast PDSCH is scrambled by a group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that is a function of a cell ID, a BWP ID, or a group common parameter.

[0160] Example 39: The method of any of examples 33 to 38, wherein the paging search space is configured together with or separately from the wake-up signal search space.

[0161] Aspect 40: The method of aspect 33, wherein a paging search space is not configured on an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs, and transmitting the updated system information includes transmitting a paging PDCCH on a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0162] Example 41: The method of any of examples 33 to 40, further comprising transmitting an indication of measurement resources on one of an active downlink BWP, a separate initial downlink BWP, or a shared initial downlink BWP.

[0163] Aspect 42: The method of aspect 41, wherein the measurement resource is one or more of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0164] Aspect 43: The method of aspect 41 or 42, wherein the measurement is a Layer 3 measurement including a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), a Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR), a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), or a combination thereof.

[0165] Example 44: The method according to any of examples 41 to 43, wherein the configuration of the active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE includes system information of the neighboring cells to measure.

[0166] Example 45: The method of any of examples 33 to 44, wherein the configuration of an active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs includes different measurement gaps for measuring CD-SSB of a shared initial downlink BWP and non-CD-SSB of a separate initial downlink BWP.

[0167] Aspect 46: The method of aspect 45, further comprising transmitting an indication of absolute transmit power of CD-SSBs of the shared initial downlink BWP and differential transmit power of non-CD-SSBs of the separate initial downlink BWP.

[0168] Aspect 47: The method of any of aspects 33 to 46, further comprising: sending an indication that all neighboring cells send system information on a separate initial BWP for multiple RedCap UEs, the separate initial BWP being available as a fallback BWP for RRC re-establishment or RRC release with redirection.

[0169] Aspect 48: A method for supporting reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: transmitting a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; transmitting a non-CD-SSB for separate initial downlink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and an initial uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs; and transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs or an active uplink BWP for the plurality of RedCap UEs, wherein the initial uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs and the active uplink BWPs for the plurality of RedCap UEs are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0170] Aspect 49: The method of aspect 48, wherein the BWP-specific uplink parameters include one or more of a power control parameter, a frequency hopping flag, a coverage extension parameter, or a waveform configuration for an uplink channel.

[0171] Aspect 50: The method of aspect 48 or 49, wherein transmitting the BWP-specific uplink parameters transmits a receipt of a configuration of an active uplink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0172] Aspect 51: The method of aspect 48 or 49, wherein transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters includes transmitting a BWP switch command.

[0173] Aspect 52: The method of aspect 48 or 49, wherein transmitting the BWP-specific uplink parameters includes transmitting a system information update specific to a plurality of RedCap UEs.

[0174] Aspect 53: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 52, wherein the maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE is lower than the maximum bandwidth of a plurality of non-RedCap UEs.

[0175] Aspect 54: An apparatus for wireless communication comprising: a transceiver; a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform a method according to any of aspects 1 to 32.

[0176] Example 55: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of examples 1 to 32.

[0177] Aspect 56: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform a method according to any of aspects 1 to 32.

[0178] Aspect 57: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a transceiver; a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform a method described in any of aspects 33 to 52.

[0179] Example 58: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of examples 33 to 52.

[0180] Aspect 59: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform a method according to any of aspects 33 to 52.

[0181] Aspect 60: A method, comprising: receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a first type user equipment (UE) and a second type UE having a maximum BWP size smaller than the first type UE; switching to a separate initial downlink BWP for the second type UE; accessing a cell via the separate initial downlink BWP; receiving a configuration of an active downlink BWP for the second type UE; and determining whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain information.

[0182] Aspect 61: A method, comprising: receiving a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a first type user equipment (UE) and a second type UE having a maximum BWP size smaller than the first type UE; receiving a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for the second type UE; and selecting one of the CD-SSB or the non-CD-SSB for transmitting a random access message based on system information received on the shared initial BWP or the separate initial BWP.

[0183] Aspect 62: A method, comprising: receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a first type user equipment (UE) and a second type UE having a maximum BWP size smaller than the first type UE; switching to a separate initial downlink BWP for the second type UE and an initial uplink BWP for the second type UE; and receiving BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the second type UE or an active uplink BWP for the second type UE, wherein the initial uplink BWP for the second type UE and the active uplink BWP for the second type UE are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0184] Aspect 63: A method, comprising: transmitting a cell defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a first type user equipment (UE) and a second type UE having a smaller maximum BWP size than the first type UE; transmitting a non-CD-SSB for the second type UE to a separate initial downlink BWP for the UE; configuring an active downlink BWP for the UE including a paging search space; transmitting a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated; and transmitting the updated system information on the shared initial downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the active downlink BWP as indicated by the paging PDCCH.

[0185] Aspect 64: A method for supporting a user equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink BWP for a first type UE and a second type UE having a maximum bandwidth portion (BWP) size smaller than the first type UE; transmitting a non-CD-SSB for a separate initial downlink BWP for the second type UE and an initial uplink BWP for the second type UE; and transmitting BWP-specific uplink parameters for the initial uplink BWP for the second type UE or an active uplink BWP for the second type UE to the UE, wherein the initial uplink BWP for the second type UE and the active uplink BWP for the second type UE are configured at an edge of a carrier bandwidth.

[0186] Example 65: The method of any of examples 59 to 64, wherein the maximum BWP size for the first type UE is greater than or equal to the size of the shared initial downlink BWP.

[0187] Example 66: The method according to any of examples 59 to 65, wherein the maximum BWP size for the second type UE is smaller than the size of the shared initial downlink BWP.

[0188] Aspect 67: The method of aspect 66, wherein the second type UE only receives signaling on a control resource set (CORESET) of the shared initial downlink BWP.

[0189] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc.

[0190] The various example logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Interchangeability of hardware and software has been described generally in terms of functionality and illustrated in the various example components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0191] The hardware and data processing devices used to implement the various example logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using general purpose single-chip or multi-chip processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, certain processes and methods may be performed by circuitry specific to a given function.

[0192] In one or more aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof, including the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents. Implementations of the subject matter described herein may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., as one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by or to control the operation of a data processing apparatus.

[0193] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. The processes of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein may be executed in processor-executable software modules that may reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that may enable a computer program to be transferred from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. Disk and disc as used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media. Additionally, operations of a method or algorithm may reside on machine readable and computer readable media, which may be embodied in a computer program product as one or any combination or set of code and instructions.

[0194] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0195] In addition, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the terms "upper" and "lower" may be used to facilitate description of the figures, and refer to relative positions that correspond to the orientation of the figure on a properly oriented page, and may not reflect the proper orientation of any implemented device.

[0196] Some features described in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features may be described above as working in some combinations and may even be initially claimed as such, one or more features from the claimed combination may in some cases be deleted from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or a variation of the subcombination.

[0197] Similarly, although operations are shown in the figures in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order or sequential order shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed, in order to achieve desirable results. Furthermore, the figures may generally depict another exemplary process in the form of a flow diagram. However, other operations not shown may be incorporated into the exemplary process depicted in the schematic. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any of the depicted operations. In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged in multiple software products. In addition, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus for wireless communication for a reduced capabilities (RedCap) user equipment (UE), comprising: A transceiver; a memory storing computer-executable instructions; a computer coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the computer being able to execute the computer-executable instructions to: receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; Switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs; accessing a cell via said separate initial downlink BWP; receiving active downlink BWP configurations for a plurality of RedCap UEs; and a processor configured to determine whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information; An apparatus comprising:

2. the configuration of the active downlink BWP for a plurality of RedCap UEs includes a paging search space; 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated to determine whether to switch to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain the information.

3. To determine whether to switch to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain the information, the processor: Switching from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to obtain updated system information; or Decoding a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying updated system information scheduled by the paging PDCCH on the active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs. The device of claim 2 , configured to:

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the paging search space is configured together with or separately from a wake-up signal search space.

5. the RedCap UE operates in half-duplex frequency domain duplex (HD-FDD) on the active downlink BWP; 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when a paging occasion overlaps with a semi-statically or dynamically configured uplink transmission, receiving the paging search space is prioritized over the uplink transmission.

6. a paging search space is not configured on the active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs; 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein to determine whether to switch to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information, the processor is configured to switch to the separate initial downlink BWP to receive a paging PDCCH.

7. To determine whether to switch to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information, the processor is configured to determine whether to switch to perform measurements based on an indication of measurement resources on one of the active downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the shared initial downlink BWP; the measurement resource is one or more of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a positioning reference signal (PRS); and / or the measurements are Layer 3 measurements including Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), or a combination thereof; and / or The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurements include neighbor cell measurements based on system information of neighbor cells received in the configuration of the active downlink BWP for multiple RedCap UEs.

8. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration of the active downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs includes different measurement gaps for measuring the CD-SSB of the shared initial downlink BWP and non-CD-SSB of the separate initial downlink BWPs.

9. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine a fallback BWP for RRC re-establishment or RRC release with redirection to determine whether to switch to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information.

10. A method in a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: receiving a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; Switching to separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs; and accessing a cell via the separate initial downlink BWP; receiving active downlink BWP configurations for a plurality of RedCap UEs; determining whether to switch from the active downlink BWP to the shared initial downlink BWP or the separate initial downlink BWP to acquire information; A method comprising:

11. 1. An apparatus for a base station to support reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: A transceiver; a memory storing computer-executable instructions; a computer coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the computer being able to execute the computer-executable instructions to: transmitting a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; Transmitting non-CD-SSB for separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs; configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE that includes a paging search space; transmitting a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that the system information has been updated; a processor configured to transmit updated system information on the shared initial downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the active downlink BWP, as indicated by the paging PDCCH; An apparatus comprising:

12. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to send an indication of measurement resources on one of the active downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the shared initial downlink BWP.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the configuration of the active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE includes system information of neighboring cells to measure.

14. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting an indication that all neighbor cells transmit system information on the separate initial BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs, the separate initial BWPs being available as fallback BWPs for RRC re-establishment or RRC release with redirection.

15. 1. A method for supporting reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: transmitting a cell-defined synchronization signal block (CD-SSB) defining a shared initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) for a plurality of RedCap UEs and a plurality of non-RedCap UEs; transmitting non-CD-SSB for separate initial downlink BWPs for multiple RedCap UEs; configuring an active downlink BWP for the RedCap UE that includes a paging search space; transmitting a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) indicating that system information has been updated; transmitting updated system information on the shared initial downlink BWP, the separate initial downlink BWP, or the active downlink BWP as indicated by the paging PDCCH; A method comprising:

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