Identifying control channel resources

Abstract

Aspects relate to transmission of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) information. A user equipment may receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate carried by a control resource set that also carries a second PDCCH candidate, where these PDCCH candidates are associated with different aggregation levels. The user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource for transmission of information (e.g., an ACK or NACK) associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission scheduled by the first PDCCH candidate. For example, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based on a control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims priority to and the benefit of pending U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 17 / 956,557, entitled "IDENTIFICATION OF CONTROL CHANNEL RESOURCE," filed on Sep. 29, 2022, and assigned to the assignee of this patent application, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in its entirety below, and for all applicable purposes. Application Ser. No. 17 / 956,557 claims priority to and the benefit of pending U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63 / 285,943, entitled "IDENTIFICATION OF CONTROL CHANNEL RESOURCE," filed on Dec. 3, 2021, and assigned to the assignee of this patent application, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in its entirety below, and for all applicable purposes.

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The technology discussed below relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to identifying resources for transmission of physical uplink control channel information.

[0003] introduction

[0003] Next-generation wireless communication systems (e.g., 5GS) may include a 5G core network and a 5G radio access network (RAN), such as a new radio (NR)-RAN. The NR-RAN supports communication through one or more cells. For example, a wireless communication device, such as a user equipment (UE), may access a first cell of a first base station (BS), such as a gNB, and / or access a second cell of a second base station.

[0004]

[0004] A base station may schedule access to a cell to support access by multiple UEs. For example, the base station may allocate different resources (e.g., time domain and frequency domain resources) for different UEs operating within the base station's cell. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all of the contemplated features of the present disclosure, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the present disclosure or to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0006] In some examples, a user equipment may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and memory may be configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set. The processor and memory may also be configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0007] In some examples, a method for wireless communication in a user equipment is disclosed. The method may include receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level and configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set. The method may also include transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0008] In some examples, a user equipment may include means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, the first PDCCH candidate being configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set. The user equipment may also include means for transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0009] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store executable instructions, by one or more processors of a user equipment, for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also store executable instructions, by one or more processors of the user equipment, for transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0010]

[0010] In some examples, a user equipment may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated at a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated at a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. The processor and memory may also be configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0011] In some examples, a method for wireless communication in a user equipment is disclosed. The method may include receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts in a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. The method may also include transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0012]

[0012] In some examples, the user equipment may include means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having delivery acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts on the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is higher than the first aggregation level. The user equipment may also include means for transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0013]

[0013] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores executable instructions, by one or more processors of a user equipment, to receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having delivery acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is higher than the first aggregation level. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also store executable instructions for transmitting, by one or more processors of the user equipment, a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0014]

[0014] In some examples, a user equipment may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated at a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated at a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. The processor and memory may also be configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level.

[0015] In some examples, a method for wireless communication in a user equipment is disclosed. The method may include receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts in a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. The method may also include transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level.

[0016]

[0016] In some examples, the user equipment may include means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having delivery acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts on the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is higher than the first aggregation level. The user equipment may also include means for transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level that is lower than the second aggregation level.

[0017]

[0017] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores executable instructions, by one or more processors of a user equipment, to receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having delivery acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is higher than the first aggregation level. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also store executable instructions for transmitting, by one or more processors of the user equipment, a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level that is lower than the second aggregation level.

[0018]

[0018] In some examples, a user equipment may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information and starts at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated at a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated at a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with the first starting CCE, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE that is higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set. The processor and memory may also be configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index that corresponds to the second starting CCE.

[0019] In some examples, a method for wireless communication in a user equipment is disclosed. The method may include receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with acknowledgement information and starts on a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated on a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated on a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first starting CCE, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set. The method may also include transmitting the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE.

[0020] In some examples, the user equipment may include means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with acknowledgement information and starts on a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated on a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated on a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first starting CCE, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set. The user equipment may also include means for transmitting the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE.

[0021]

[0021] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores executable instructions for receiving, by one or more processors of a user equipment, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having delivery acknowledgement information and starts in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first starting CCE, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE that is higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also store executable instructions for transmitting, by one or more processors of the user equipment, a PUCCH having delivery confirmation information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a second starting CCE.

[0022]

[0022] These and other aspects of the present disclosure will be more fully understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the present disclosure. Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description of certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure together with the accompanying drawings. Although the features of the present disclosure may be described with respect to some embodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features described herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be described as having some advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure described herein. Similarly, although an exemplary embodiment may be described below as an embodiment of a device, system, or method, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiment may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1]

[0023] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some aspects. [Diagram 2]

[0024] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example radio access network in accordance with some aspects. [Diagram 3]

[0025] 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of wireless resources in an air interface utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 4]

[0026] 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a downlink control region of a slot in accordance with some aspects. [Diagram 5]

[0027] 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a control channel element structure in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 6]

[0028] 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of downlink time-frequency resources in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 7]

[0029] 1 illustrates an example of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetition in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 8]

[0030] 1 illustrates an example of linked PDCCH candidates in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 9]

[0031] 1 illustrates an example of a starting control channel element (CCE) for linked PDCCH candidates in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 10]

[0032] 1 illustrates an example of a starting control channel element (CCE) selected to identify a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 11]

[0033] 1 illustrates another example of starting CCEs selected to identify physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 12]

[0034] 1 is a signaling diagram illustrating an example of PUCCH resource identification related signaling in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 13]

[0035] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a user equipment employing a processing system, in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 14]

[0036] 1 is a flowchart of a first exemplary method for transmitting Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) information in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 15]

[0037] 11 is a flowchart of a second example method for transmitting Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) information in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 16]

[0038] 11 is a flowchart of a third example method for transmitting Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) information in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 17]

[0039] 11 is a flowchart of a fourth example method for transmitting Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) information in accordance with some aspects. [Figure 18]

[0040] FIG. 1 provides a high-level view of an example of a split base station configuration in accordance with some aspects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024]

[0041] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The Detailed Description includes specific details intended to provide a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0025]

[0042] Although aspects and examples are described in this application by illustrating some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may occur in many different configurations and scenarios. The innovations described herein may be realized across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging configurations. For example, aspects and / or applications may occur with integrated chip examples and other non-modular component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, artificial intelligence-enabled (AI-enabled) devices, etc.). Some examples may or may not be specifically targeted to a use case or application, but a wide variety of applicability of the described innovations may occur. Implementations may range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and even aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for the implementation and practice of the claims and described examples. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes numerous components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processor(s), interleavers, summers / analog summers, etc.). It is contemplated that the innovations described herein may be implemented in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed configurations, separate configurations (e.g., base stations and / or UEs), end user devices, etc. of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0026]

[0043] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to transmission of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) information. A user equipment (UE) may receive physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates carrying downlink control information (DCI) from a network entity, such as a base station, over at least one control resource set. In some circumstances, these PDCCH candidates may be repeated (e.g., within different control resource sets) and associated with different aggregation levels.

[0027]

[0044] The UE may identify a PUCCH resource for transmission of information (e.g., an acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK)) to be transmitted in response to the DCI carried by at least one of the PDCCH candidates. In some examples, such identification of a PUCCH resource may be based at least in part on a control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the PDCCH candidate carrying the DCI. In certain situations (e.g., situations where PDCCH candidates are repeated and have different aggregation levels), ambiguity may arise as to which starting CCE should be used as a basis for the PUCCH resource determination.

[0028]

[0045] The present disclosure relates in some aspects to various rules for designating a particular starting CCE for determining a PUCCH resource. In some examples, the UE may identify a PUCCH resource based on a CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a first PDCCH candidate and a second PDCCH candidate (i.e., the PDCCH candidates have the same starting CCE). In some examples, the UE may identify a PUCCH resource based on a CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a PDCCH candidate associated with a higher aggregation level than another PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the UE may identify a PUCCH resource based on a CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a PDCCH candidate associated with a lower aggregation level than another PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the UE may identify a PUCCH resource based on a CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a PDCCH candidate having a higher starting CCE than another PDCCH candidate.

[0029]

[0046] Various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a wide range of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Referring now to FIG. 1, by way of non-limiting illustrative example, various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated with respect to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. The wireless communication system 100 may enable the UE 106 to conduct data communications with an external data network 110, such as (but not limited to) the Internet.

[0030]

[0047] The RAN 104 may implement any suitable wireless communication technology or technologies for providing radio access to the UEs 106. As an example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specification, often referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a hybrid of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards, often referred to as Long-Term Evolution (LTE). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as Next Generation RAN or NG-RAN. In another example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with both LTE and 5G NR standards. Of course, many other examples may be used within the scope of this disclosure.

[0031]

[0048] As shown, the RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. Generally, a base station is a network element (e.g., a network entity) in a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from a UE. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may be variously referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an enhanced service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a Node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), a gNode B (gNB), a transmit / receive point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology. In some examples, a base station may include two or more TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. Each TRP may communicate at the same or different carrier frequencies in the same or different frequency bands. In examples where the RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, one of the base stations 108 may be an LTE base station and another base station may be a 5G NR base station.

[0032]

[0049] Further shown is a radio access network 104 supporting wireless communication for a plurality of mobile devices. The mobile devices may be referred to as user equipment (UE) 106 in 3GPP standards, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as mobile stations (MS), subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, remote devices, mobile subscriber stations, access terminals (ATs), mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, handsets, terminals, user agents, mobile clients, clients, or any other suitable terminology. The UE 106 may be a device that provides a user with access to network services. In an example where the RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, the UE 106 may be an Evolved-Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network - New Radio dual connectivity (EN-DC) UE that is capable of simultaneously connecting to an LTE base station and an NR base station to receive data packets from both the LTE base station and the NR base station.

[0033]

[0050] In this document, a mobile device does not necessarily have to be capable of moving and may be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile device broadly refers to a diverse range of devices and technologies. A UE may include a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to facilitate communication, such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc., electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile, cellular (cell) phones, smartphones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide range of embedded systems, for example, those supporting the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0034]

[0051] In addition, the mobile device may be an automobile or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multicopter, a quadcopter, a remote control device, a consumer and / or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. In addition, the mobile device may be a home audio, video, and / or multimedia device, a digital home device or a smart home device, such as an appliance, a vending machine, an intelligent lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. In addition, the mobile device may be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a city infrastructure device (e.g., smart grid) that controls power, lighting, water, etc., an industrial automation and enterprise device, a logistics controller, an agricultural equipment, etc. Still further, the mobile device may provide support for connected medicine or telemedicine, i.e., remote healthcare. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth management devices, whose communications may be given preferential treatment or priority access over other types of information, e.g., with respect to priority access for the transport of critical service data and / or associated QoS for the transport of critical service data.

[0035]

[0052] The wireless communication between the RAN 104 and the UE 106 may be described as utilizing an air interface. A transmission over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) may be referred to as a downlink (DL) transmission. In some examples, the term downlink may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating at a base station (e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this point-to-multipoint transmission scheme may be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. A transmission from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) may be referred to as an uplink (UL) transmission. In some examples, the term uplink may refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a UE (e.g., UE 106).

[0036]

[0053] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, with a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocating resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its coverage area or cell. As described further below within this disclosure, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). That is, for scheduled communication, multiple UEs 106, which may be scheduled entities, may utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108).

[0037]

[0054] The base station 108 is not the only entity that may act as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may act as a scheduling entity that schedules resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, a UE may communicate with other UEs in a peer-to-peer or device-to-device manner and / or in a relay configuration.

[0038]

[0055] 1, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108) may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs 106). Generally, a scheduling entity is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, including the downlink traffic 112, and in some examples, uplink traffic 116 and / or uplink control information 118 from one or more scheduled entities to the scheduling entity. On the other hand, a scheduled entity is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114, including scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information, or other control information, from another entity in the wireless communication network, such as, but not limited to, the scheduling entity.

[0039]

[0056] Additionally, the uplink control information 118 and / or downlink control information 114, the downlink traffic 112, and / or the uplink traffic 116 may be time-divided into frames, subframes, slots, and / or symbols. A symbol, as used herein, may refer to a unit of time that carries one resource element (RE) per subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. In some examples, a slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a time length of 1 millisecond (ms). Multiple subframes or slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Within this disclosure, a frame may refer to a predetermined duration for wireless transmission (e.g., 10 ms), with each frame consisting of, for example, 10 subframes of 1 ms each. Of course, these definitions are not required and any suitable scheme for organizing a waveform may be utilized and various time divisions of the waveform may have any suitable time length.

[0040]

[0057] In general, the base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communication with a backhaul 120 of a wireless communication system. The backhaul 120 may provide a link between the base stations 108 and the core network 102. Additionally, in some examples, the backhaul network may provide interconnection between each base station 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be utilized, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, etc., using any suitable transport network.

[0041]

[0058] The core network 102 may be part of the wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured in accordance with a 5G standard (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured in accordance with a 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC), or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0042]

[0059] 2, by way of example and not limitation, a schematic diagram of a radio access network (RAN) 200 is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be the same as the RAN 104 described above and shown in FIG.

[0043]

[0060] The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that may be uniquely identified by user equipment (UE) based on an identification broadcasted from one access point or base station. Figure 2 shows cells 202, 204, 206, and 208, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a subarea of ​​a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. Radio links within a sector may be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within a cell may be formed by a group of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0044]

[0061] Various base station arrangements may be utilized. For example, in FIG. 2, two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in cells 202 and 204, and a base station 214 is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, the base station may have an integrated antenna or be connected to the antenna or RRH by a feeder cable. In the illustrated example, cells 202, 204, and 206 may be referred to as macro cells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells having a large size. Furthermore, a base station 218 is shown in cell 208, which may overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell (e.g., a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, a home base station, a home node B, a home enode B, etc.) because base station 218 supports a cell having a relatively small size. Cell size determination may be made according to system design as well as component constraints.

[0045]

[0062] It should be appreciated that the RAN 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells. Additionally, relay nodes may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. The base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to a core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, the base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be the same as the base stations / scheduling entities described above and shown in FIG. 1.

[0046]

[0063] 2 further includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220, which may be a drone or a quadcopter. The UAV 220 may be configured to function as a base station, or more specifically, as a mobile base station. That is, in some examples, the cells may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cells may move according to the location of a mobile base station, such as the UAV 220.

[0047]

[0064] Within the RAN 200, cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. Additionally, each base station 210, 212, 214, and 218 may be configured to provide an access point to the core network 102 (see FIG. 1) for all UEs within their respective cells. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may communicate with base station 210, UEs 226 and 228 may communicate with base station 212, UEs 230 and 232 may communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216, and UE 234 may communicate with base station 218. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and / or 242 may be the same as the UE / scheduled entities described above and shown in FIG. 1. In some examples, UAV 220 (e.g., a quadcopter) may be a mobile network node and may be configured to function as a UE. For example, UAV 220 may operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0048]

[0065] In further aspects of the RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. Sidelink communications may be utilized, for example, in device-to-device (D2D) networks, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, and / or other suitable sidelink networks. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals 237 without relaying the communications through a base station. In some examples, UEs 238, 240, and 242 may each function as a scheduling entity or transmitting sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and communicate sidelink signals 237 therebetween without relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. In another example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) may communicate sidelink signals 227 over a direct link (sidelink) without conducting their communications through the base station 212. In this example, the base station 212 may allocate resources to the UEs 226 and 228 for sidelink communication.

[0049]

[0066] In the RAN 200, the ability of a UE to communicate while moving, independent of its location, is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are generally set up, maintained, and released under the control of an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF, not shown, part of the Core Network 102 in FIG. 1), which may include a Security Context Management Function (SCMF), which manages security contexts for both control plane functions and user plane functions, and a Security Anchor Function (SEAF), which performs authentication.

[0050]

[0067] The RAN 200 may utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable mobility and handover (i.e., transition of a UE's connection from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, a UE may monitor various parameters of a signal from its serving cell, as well as various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may undertake a handoff or handover from the serving cell to a neighboring (target) cell. For example, a UE 224 (shown as a vehicle, although any suitable form of UE may be used) may move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell (e.g., cell 202) to a geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell (e.g., cell 206). When the signal strength or quality from a neighbor cell exceeds that of the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE 224 may send a report message indicating this condition to its serving base station (e.g., base station 210). In response, the UE 224 may receive a handover command and the UE may undergo a handover to the cell 206.

[0051]

[0068] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, a UL reference signal from each UE may be utilized by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, the base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may broadcast a combined synchronization signal (e.g., a combined Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a combined Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a combined Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)). The UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 may receive the combined synchronization signal, derive carrier frequency and slot timing from the synchronization signal, and transmit uplink pilot or reference signals in response to the derivation of the timing. An uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) may be received simultaneously by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) in the RAN 200. Each of the cells may measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of the base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or central nodes in the core network) may determine the serving cell for the UE 224. As the UE 224 moves through the RAN 200, the network may continue to monitor the uplink pilot signals transmitted by the UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the RAN 200 may handover the UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell, with or without informing the UE 224.

[0052]

[0069] Although the synchronization signals transmitted by base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may be integrated, the synchronization signals may not identify a particular cell, but rather a zone of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or at the same timing. The use of zones in 5G networks or other next generation communication networks enables an uplink-based mobility framework, improving the efficiency of both the UE and the network as the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network may be reduced.

[0053]

[0070] In various implementations, the air interface in the RAN 200 may use licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum generally provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum by a mobile network operator by purchasing a license from a government regulatory body. Unlicensed spectrum provides sharing of a portion of the spectrum without the need for a license granted by a government. Compliance with some technical rules is also generally required to access unlicensed spectrum, but generally any operator or device can gain access. Shared spectrum may be between licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum, and although technical rules or restrictions may be required to access the spectrum, the spectrum may also be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple radio access technologies (RATs). For example, a holder of a license to a portion of licensed spectrum may offer a Licensed Shared Access (LSA) to share the spectrum with other parties, e.g., with conditions determined by the appropriate licensee to gain access.

[0054]

[0071] The air interface in the RAN 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices. For example, the 5G NR standard provides multiple access for UL transmissions from the UEs 222 and 224 to the base station 210, and multiplexing for DL ​​transmissions from the base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224 that utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with Cyclic Prefix (CP). In addition, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR standard provides support for Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP, also referred to as Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). However, within the scope of this disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes and may be provided utilizing time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spreading multiple access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes. Additionally, multiplexing DL transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be performed utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

[0055]

[0072] The air interface in the RAN 200 may further utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full duplex means that both endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half duplex means that only one endpoint at a time can send information to the other. Half duplex emulation is frequently performed for wireless links utilizing time division duplexing (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division duplexing. That is, at some times the channel is dedicated for transmission in one direction and at other times the channel is dedicated for transmission in the other direction, where the direction may change very rapidly, e.g., several times per slot. In wireless links, full duplex channels generally rely on physical separation of the transmitter and receiver and suitable interference cancellation techniques. Full duplex emulation is frequently performed for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplexing (FDD) or spatial division duplexing (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate on different carrier frequencies. In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication may be performed in an unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur in different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be called sub-band full-duplex (SBFD), cross-division duplex (xDD), or flexible duplex.

[0056]

[0073] Various aspects of the present disclosure are described with reference to OFDM waveforms, an example of which is shown generally in Figure 3. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described herein below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles may be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms as well.

[0057]

[0074] 3, an expanded view of an example subframe 302 is shown illustrating an OFDM resource grid, although as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the physical (PHY) layer transmission structure for any particular application may differ from the example described herein depending on any number of factors, where time is in units of OFDM symbols horizontally and frequency is in units of subcarriers of a carrier vertically.

[0058]

[0075] The resource grid 304 may be used to generally represent time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple available antenna ports, a corresponding number of resource grids 304 may be available for communication. The resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE, which is 1 subcarrier by 1 symbol, is the smallest individual portion of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation employed in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply a resource block (RB) 308, which includes any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, a number that is independent of the numerology used. In some examples, depending on the numerology, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within this disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB, such as RB 308, corresponds entirely to a single direction of communication (either transmit or receive for a given device).

[0059]

[0076] A set of contiguous or non-contiguous resource blocks may be referred to herein as a resource block group (RBG), subband, or bandwidth portion (BWP). A set of subbands or BWPs may span the entire bandwidth. Scheduling of a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) for downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmission generally involves scheduling one or more resource elements 306 in one or more subbands or bandwidth portions (BWPs). Thus, a UE generally uses only a subset of the resource grid 304. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resource that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE and the higher the modulation scheme chosen for the air interface, the higher the data rate of the UE. The RBs may be scheduled by a scheduling entity, such as a network entity (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.), or may be self-scheduled by the UE performing D2D sidelink communication.

[0060]

[0077] In this figure, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of the subframe 302, with several subcarriers shown above and below the RB 308. In a given implementation, the subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. Additionally, in this figure, the RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of the subframe 302, although this is just one possible example.

[0061]

[0078] Each 1 ms subframe 302 may consist of one or more contiguous slots. In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310 as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples may include minislots, sometimes referred to as reduced transmission time intervals (TTIs), having a shorter duration (e.g., 1 to 3 OFDM symbols). These minislots or reduced transmission time intervals (TTIs) may be transmitted occupying resources scheduled for ongoing slot transmissions for the same UE or different UEs, as the case may be. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or slot.

[0062]

[0079] An expanded view of one of the slots 310 shows the slot 310 including a control region 312 and a data region 314. In general, the control region 312 may carry a control channel and the data region 314 may carry a data channel. Of course, a slot may include all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. The structure shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and different slot structures may be utilized and may include one or more of each of the control region(s) and data region(s).

[0063]

[0080] 3, various REs 306 in the RB 308 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including a control channel, a shared channel, a data channel, etc. Other REs 306 in the RB 308 may also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals may enable a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channels, which may enable coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels in the RB 308.

[0064]

[0081] In some examples, the slots 310 may be utilized for broadcast, multicast, groupcast, or unicast communications. For example, broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communications may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission by one device (e.g., a network entity, UE, or other similar device) to other devices, where a broadcast communication is delivered to all devices, while a multicast or groupcast communication is delivered to multiple intended receiving devices. A unicast communication may refer to a point-to-point transmission by one device to a single other device.

[0065]

[0082] In one example of cellular communication on a cellular carrier over a Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a network entity) may allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., in the control region 312) to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs) for carrying DL control information including one or more DL control channels such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) including, but not limited to, power control commands (e.g., one or more open loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or allocation of REs for DL ​​and UL transmissions. The PDCCH may further carry a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback transmission such as an ACK or NACK. HARQ is a technique well known to those skilled in the art, and the integrity of the packet transmission may be checked at the receiving side using any suitable integrity checking mechanism, such as, for example, a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), to ensure accuracy. If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK may be sent, otherwise a NACK may be sent. In response to the NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may implement chase combining, incremental redundancy, etc.

[0066]

[0083] The network entity may further allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., in the control region 312 or data region 314) to carry other DL signals, such as a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a phase-tracking reference signal (PT-RS), a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS), and a synchronization signal block (SSB). The SSB may be broadcast at regular intervals based on a periodicity (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 30, 80, or 130 ms). The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). The UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0067]

[0084] The PBCH in the SSB may further include a Master Information Block (MIB) that includes various system information along with parameters for decoding the System Information Block (SIB). For example, the SIB may be System Information Type 1 (SIB1) that may include various additional (remaining) system information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide the minimum system information (SI) for initial access. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing (e.g., default downlink numerology), system frame number, PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) configuration (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), cell barred indicator, cell reselection indicator, raster offset, and search space (SS) for SIB1. Examples of remaining minimum system information (RMSI) transmitted in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, paging search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The network entity may also transmit other system information (OSI).

[0068]

[0085] In an UL transmission, a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) may utilize one or more REs 306 to convey UL control information (UCI) including one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), to the scheduling entity. The UCI may include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding an uplink data transmission. Examples of uplink reference signals may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) and an uplink DMRS. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for the scheduling entity to schedule an uplink transmission. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information (DCI) that may schedule resources for an uplink packet transmission. The UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF), such as a CSI report, or any other suitable UCI.

[0069]

[0086] In addition to control information, one or more REs 306 (e.g., in the data region 314) may be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions. In some examples, one or more REs 306 in the data region 314 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and a DMRS.

[0070]

[0087] In the example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via a Proximity Services (ProSe) PC5 interface, the control area 312 of the slot 310 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) containing sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g. a transmitting (Tx) V2X device or other Tx UE) towards a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices (e.g. a receiving (Rx) V2X device or some other Rx UE). The data area 314 of the slot 310 may include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) containing sidelink data traffic transmitted by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device in resources reserved on the sidelink carrier by the transmitting sidelink device via the SCI. Other information may also be transmitted on various REs 306 within the slot 310. For example, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted from a receiving sidelink device to a transmitting sidelink device in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) in slot 310. In addition, one or more reference signals, such as sidelink SSB, sidelink CSI-RS, sidelink SRS, and / or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS), may be transmitted in slot 310.

[0071]

[0088] These physical channels described above are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The transport channels carry blocks of information called Transport Blocks (TBs). The Transport Block Size (TBS), which may correspond to a number of bits of information, may be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission.

[0072]

[0089] The channels or carriers described above with reference to Figures 1-3 are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that may be utilized between the scheduling entity and the scheduled entity, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized, such as other traffic channels, control channels, and feedback channels, in addition to the channels or carriers shown.

[0073]

[0090] As described above, a network entity (e.g., a base station) may use the downlink control region of a slot to transmit PDCCH information to a UE. In some examples, the PDCCH information may be a scheduling DCI that schedules a downlink transmission to the UE, an uplink transmission by the UE, or some other transmission. In some examples, the PDCCH information may be a non-scheduling DCI (e.g., a DCI that carries information but does not schedule a transmission). Figures 4 and 5 illustrate example resource configurations that may be used to carry such PDCCH information.

[0074]

[0091] 4 is a schematic diagram of an example downlink (DL) control region 402 of a slot in accordance with some aspects. The DL control region 402 may correspond, for example, to the control region 312 of the slot 310 shown in FIG. 3. As discussed above, the DL control region 402 may carry a PDCCH that includes one or more DCIs.

[0075]

[0092] The DL control region 402 includes multiple CORESETs 404 indexed CORESET #1 through CORESET #N. Each CORESET 404 includes multiple subcarriers in the frequency domain as well as one or more symbols in the time domain. In the example of FIG. 4, each CORESET 404 includes at least one control channel element (CCE) 406 having dimensions in both frequency and time that are sized to span at least three OFDM symbols. A CORESET 404 with a size spanning two or more OFDM symbols may be beneficial for use in a relatively narrow system bandwidth (e.g., 5 MHz). However, a one-symbol CORESET may also be possible.

[0076]

[0093] In some examples, a network entity may configure a CORESET 404 to carry group common control information or UE-specific control information, such that the CORESET 404 may be used for transmission of a PDCCH that includes the group common control information or the UE-specific control information to one or more UEs. Each UE may be configured to monitor one or more CORESETs 404 for UE-specific or group common control information (e.g., on a PDCCH).

[0077]

[0094] In some examples, the PDCCH may consist of a variable number of CCEs depending on the PDCCH format (e.g., aggregation level). Each PDCCH format (e.g., aggregation level) supports a different DCI length. In some examples, PDCCH aggregation levels of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 may be supported, corresponding to 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 consecutive CCEs, respectively.

[0078]

[0095] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of a CCE structure 500 in a DL control region 506 of a slot according to some aspects. The DL control region 506 may correspond, for example, to the control region 312 of the slot 310 shown in FIG. 3. The CCE structure 500 includes a number of REs 502 that may be grouped into at least one RE group (REG) 504. Each REG 504 may generally include, for example, 12 consecutive REs 502 (or 9 REs 502 and 3 DMRS REs) within the same OFDM symbol and the same RB. In the example of FIG. 5, the CCE structure 500 includes at least 6 REGs 504 (not shown in their entirety) distributed across 3 OFDM symbols. However, as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the CCE structure 500 for any particular application may differ from the examples described herein depending on any number of factors. For example, the CCE structure 500 may include any suitable number of REGs.

[0079]

[0096] In some examples, the UE may not know the specific aggregation level of the PDCCH or whether multiple PDCCHs may be present for the UE in a slot. Therefore, the UE may perform blind decoding of various PDCCH candidates in the first N control OFDM symbols of the slot (as dictated by the slot format of the slot) and / or other OFDM symbols of the slot. In some examples, this decoding is based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (e.g., a UE-specific RNTI or a group RNTI) that the network entity is expected to use in encoding the PDCCH. Each PDCCH candidate includes a set of one or more contiguous CCEs based on the expected DCI length (e.g., PDCCH aggregation level). The term PDCCH candidate is used herein to emphasize that the UE may not be configured with information that indicates exactly what kind of PDCCH is carried in a slot or where a particular PDCCH is carried in a slot. Therefore, with blind decoding, the UE decodes signals received on different resource sets (e.g., corresponding to different PDCCH candidates) and attempts to determine whether those resources actually carry a PDCCH.

[0080]

[0097] To limit the number of blind decodes performed by a UE, a network entity may configure certain search spaces, such as UE-specific search spaces (USSs) and common search spaces (CSSs). Here, the network entity may transmit PDCCH to a UE or set of UEs only on resources designated for the configured search space(s). The UE or set of UEs may therefore limit their blind decodes to the configured search space(s). In some examples, the network entity may configure one or more search space sets, each including at least one search space. In some examples, different search space sets may be assigned different search space set identifiers (IDs). In some examples, the search space set ID may be referred to as a search space set index.

[0081]

[0098] A UE-specific search space set consists of CCEs used to send control information to a particular UE. The starting point (offset or index) of a UE-specific search space may be different for each UE. In addition, each UE may have multiple UE-specific search spaces (e.g., one for each aggregation level).

[0082]

[0099] A common search space set consists of CCEs used to send control information common to a group of UEs or to all UEs. Therefore, the common search space set is monitored by multiple UEs in a cell. The starting point (offset or index) of the search space set for the group common control information may be the same for all UEs in the group, and there may be multiple search space sets defined for the group common control information (e.g., one per configured aggregation level for a group of UEs).

[0083]

[0100] The UE may perform blind decoding across all aggregation levels and corresponding UE-specific search spaces (USSs) or common search spaces (CSSs) to determine whether at least one valid DCI is carried by the USSs or CSSs for the UE. By using a search space set (e.g., USSs and CSSs) configured for the UE for this blind decoding, the number of blind decodings that the UE performs for each PDCCH format combination may be reduced.

[0084]

[0101] The UE may monitor the search space for downlink assignments and uplink grants related to a particular component carrier for the UE. For example, the UE may monitor the search space for a PDCCH that includes DCI that schedules a PDSCH in the same slot or in a different slot for that component carrier. In this case, the DCI includes frequency and time domain resource assignments for the PDSCH as well as other information (e.g., MCS, etc.) that enables the UE to decode the PDSCH.

[0085]

[0102] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of downlink time-frequency resources 600 according to some aspects, where the search space is defined within a CORESET. In FIG. 6, time is in the horizontal direction in units of OFDM symbols, and frequency is in the vertical direction in units of CCEs. For example, the vertical dimension of each large solid rectangle represents one CCE 602. Each CCE 602 includes six resource element groups (REGs). Each REG may correspond to one physical resource block (PRB), which includes 12 resource elements (REs) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The six REGs of each CCE 602 are each represented by a small dashed rectangle. One slot 604 in the time domain is shown. In other examples, other resource configurations may also be used.

[0086]

[0103] FIG. 6 illustrates a bandwidth part (BWP) 606 within a carrier bandwidth (CBW) 605. According to some aspects, the BWP 606 is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) on a given carrier. In FIG. 6, the contiguous set of PRBs is represented by a contiguous set of CCEs 602. In the example of FIG. 6, the BWP 606 corresponds to a set of 64 PRBs, which represent 648 subcarriers (i.e., 12 REs / REG x 6 REGs / CCE x 9 CCEs). A network entity may configure different sets of these CCEs as common CCEs or UE-specific CCEs.

[0087]

[0104] 6, for example, CORESET 608 includes 48 REGs in a set of 8 CCEs (where each CCE may be similar to CCE 602). The 8 CCEs may be grouped as a first DCI.

[0088]

[0105] A CORESET may include one or more search spaces. A search space 618 includes all or a portion of a CORESET. A CORESET may be associated with a common search space, a UE-specific search space, or a combination of both. In the example of Figure 6, one search space (SS) 618 is designated for the CORESET 608 (represented by the diagonal line).

[0089]

[0106] A search space may include multiple PDCCH candidates. As mentioned above, the UE may attempt to blindly decode the PDCCH candidates in each search space even if the network entity did not schedule the PDCCH in any given search space.

[0090]

[0107] The following relationships between CORESET, BWP, and search space are made with reference to some examples of NR, however, the following are exemplary and non-limiting, and other relationships between CORESET, BWP, and search space (or their equivalents in other radio technologies, for example) are also within the scope of the present disclosure. In some examples, for a given UE, the network entity may configure up to three CORESETs in the BWP (e.g., component carrier (CC)) of the serving cell, including both common and UE-specific CORESETs. In addition, the network entity may configure up to four BWPs per serving cell, where one of the BWPs is active at a given time. Thus, in these examples, the maximum number of CORESETs for a UE per serving cell may be 12 (e.g., three CORESETs per BWP x four BWPs per serving cell). Resource elements of a CORESET may be mapped to one or more CCEs. One or more CCEs from one CORESET may be aggregated to form resources used by one PDCCH. In some examples, the maximum number of search spaces per BWP may be ten (10). In some examples, multiple search spaces may use time-frequency resources of one CORESET.

[0091]

[0108] A network entity may send a PDCCH to the UE over downlink time-frequency resources 600 (e.g., within a configured search space). In some examples, the network entity may calculate a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the payload of the DCI carried by the PDCCH. The CRC may be scrambled using an identifier of the UE. One example of such an identifier may be a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), such as a random access-radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI).

[0092]

[0109] During blind decoding of the search space, the UE may attempt to descramble the CRC of the PDCCH candidate using the RNTI. For example, the UE may calculate the CRC on the payload of the corresponding DCI using the same procedure used by the network entity and then compare the CRCs. If the CRCs are equal, the DCI was intended for the UE. If the payload is corrupted or the CRC was scrambled using the RNTI of another UE, then the CRCs will not match and the UE may ignore the DCI.

[0093]

[0110] As mentioned above, a network entity may configure a UE with up to three CORESETs per BWP, and each CORESET may be associated with one active transmission configuration indication (TCI) state. As part of each CORESET configuration, the network entity may use radio resource control (RRC) configuration messages to configure the RBs of the CORESET in the frequency domain, as well as the number of symbols of the CORESET (e.g., 1, 2, 3, or OFDM symbols). In addition, an SS set may be associated to a CORESET.

[0094]

[0111] A network entity may use an RRC configuration message to configure various parameters as part of the SS set configuration, including, but not limited to, the associated CORESET, the periodicity and offset of the monitoring slots, the monitoring symbols within the slots (e.g., used to determine the PDCCH monitoring occasions (MOs) for the SS set), the SS set type (e.g., common SS (CSS) or UE-specific SS (USS)), the DCI format to monitor, and the number of PDCCH candidates for a given aggregation level (e.g., corresponding to the number of CCEs).

[0095]

[0112] In some examples, PDCCH candidates are defined as part of an SS set configuration, for example, PDCCH candidates having a given aggregation level (AL) and a given candidate index may be defined within a given SS set.

[0096]

[0113] As described above, the UE may receive the DCI via the PDCCH candidates. For example, the UE may monitor for PDCCH candidates in a specified SS set by blindly decoding the SS set. When one or more of the PDCCH candidates pass a CRC check (successful decoding), at least one DCI will be successfully decoded.

[0097]

[0114] In some examples, a network entity may use PDCCH repetitions, where each repetition is a PDCCH candidate. For example, two PDCCH candidates may be linked together for repetitions of the same DCI. The two PDCCH candidates may have the same aggregation level (e.g., the same number of CCEs), and the DCI payload transmitted using the two PDCCH candidates may be the same. Therefore, a UE informed of the linked PDCCH candidates may perform soft combining to decode the DCI, or the UE may decode the two PDCCH candidates individually.

[0098]

[0115] 7 illustrates a first example of linked PDCCH candidates 702 and a second example of linked PDCCH candidates 704. The first example 702 includes a first SS set 706 and a second SS set 708. A PDCCH candidate in a monitoring opportunity (MO1) of the first SS set 706 is linked to a PDCCH candidate in a monitoring opportunity (MO1) of the second SS set 708. For example, a first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set 706 is linked to a first PDCCH candidate of the second SS set 708, a second PDCCH candidate of the first SS set 706 is linked to a second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set 708, and so on. In some aspects, the first SS set 706 and the second SS set 708 may be referred to as linked SS sets (e.g., linked for PDCCH repetition) in this example.

[0099]

[0116] The second example 704 includes a first SS set 710 and a second SS set 712. A PDCCH candidate in a first monitoring occasion (MO1) of the first SS set 710 is linked to a PDCCH candidate in a first monitoring occasion (MO1) of the second SS set 712. In addition, a PDCCH candidate in a second monitoring occasion (MO2) of the first SS set 710 is linked to a PDCCH candidate in a second monitoring occasion (MO2) of the second SS set 712.

[0100]

[0117] In some examples, the following linking rules may be used: Two SS sets are linked by RRC configuration. In this case, the MOs of the two linked SS sets are mapped one-to-one, and PDCCH candidates with the same aggregation level and the same candidate index for the two linked SS sets are linked. Here, the two linked SS sets may be configured to have the same number of candidates per aggregation level.

[0101]

[0118] In some examples, a DCI carried by a PUCCH may schedule resources for one or more of a PDSCH transmission, a PUSCH transmission, a PUCCH transmission, or some other type of transmission. For example, the DCI may schedule a PDSCH transmission and a PUCCH transmission for an associated HARQ-Ack (e.g., an ACK or NACK). As another example, a DCI that does not schedule a PDSCH or a PUSCH may still schedule a PUCCH transmission for a HARQ-Ack associated with the DCI (e.g., so that a UE can send an ACK or NACK to respond to the DCI).

[0102]

[0119] A PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) in a DCI (e.g., a DCI that schedules a HARQ-Ack on a PUCCH) may signal the likelihood that a PUCCH resource in a PUCCH resource set will be used by the UE for a PUCCH transmission. In some examples, the PRI has 3 bits. Therefore, this PCI may signal up to 8 possibilities for PUCCH resources in a PUCCH resource set. However, in some examples, the first PUCCH resource set (out of a set of four) may encompass up to 32 PUCCH resources. In this case, the PRI alone does not determine the PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmission. To address this issue, the determination of the PUCCH resource may be a function of the PRI, the number of CCEs in the CORESET in which the DCI is received, and the index of the first CCE of DCI reception in the CORESET. For example, if Equation 1 is expressed as PUCCH ) PUCCH resource index (r PUCCH ), where this determination can be used to determine PRI(Δ PRI ), the number of CCEs in the CORESET where DCI is received (N CCE,p ), and the index of the first CCE of DCI reception in the CORESET (n CCE,p ) based on

[0103]

number

[0104]

[0120] When a UE receives DCI in multiple PDCCH candidates linked for repetition, ambiguity may occur in identifying the PUCCH resource. This ambiguity may occur because a network entity may decode DCI only in the first linked candidate, only in the second linked candidate, or in both linked candidates. In this case, the starting DCI used by the UE to identify the PUCCH resource for HARQ-Ack (e.g., in Equation 1) may differ depending on whether the UE decodes DCI only in the first linked candidate, only in the second linked candidate, or in both linked candidates.

[0105]

[0121] In some examples, when a UE receives DCI within a linked PDCCH candidate for repetition, the following rules may be used to avoid the above-mentioned ambiguity: When DL DCI is transmitted via PDCCH repetition, the starting CCE index and the number of CCEs (e.g., for Equation 1) within the CORESET of one of the linked PDCCH candidates are applied for PUCCH resource determination for HARQ-Ack when the corresponding PUCCH resource set has a size larger than 8.

[0106]

[0122] In some examples, the PDCCH candidate with the lowest SS set ID (e.g., the lowest search space index) may be applied. In this case, the UE may set the starting CCE and the number of CCEs of the PDCCH candidate of the CORESET associated with the lower SS set ID (SS set 1) to n in Equation 1, respectively. CCE and N CCE It may be used for:

[0107]

[0123] 8 illustrates an example 800 of linked PDCCH candidates for a scenario in which a first CORESET (CORESET 1) 802 is associated with a lower SS set ID than a second CORESET (CORESET 2) 804. Here, a PDCCH candidate 806 in the first CORESET 802 is linked to a PDCCH candidate 808 in the second CORESET 804. In this case, the starting CCE and the number of CCEs of the PDCCH candidate 806 in the first CORESET 802 are respectively n in Equation 1. CCE For, and N CCE It can be used for.

[0108]

[0124] In some examples, ambiguity may arise in identifying a PUCCH resource when a UE receives DCI within multiple PDCCH candidates that are linked for repetition and have different aggregation levels, for example, when the UE attempts to decode a search space that includes a first PDCCH candidate with a first aggregation level and a second PDCCH candidate with a second aggregation level.

[0109]

[0125] For example, the UE may use polar coding to transmit the DCI. In polar coding, the mother code length is defined according to the number of coded bits, which depends on the aggregation level (e.g., AL8 with 8 CCEs, AL16 with 16 CCEs, etc.). For both AL8 and AL16, the length of the original mother code length is the same (e.g., 512 bits). However, the number of coded bits for AL8 may be 864 bits (e.g., some of the coded bits are repeated and added to the mother to provide a length of 864 bits). In addition, the number of coded bits for AL16 may be 1728 bits (e.g., the mother code is repeated three times and some repeated coded bits are added to it to provide a length of 1728 bits).

[0110]

[0126] In the above coding scheme, the first eight CCEs of an AL16 candidate may appear as an AL8 candidate to the UE, resulting in ambiguity. It can be observed that this is only an issue when the starting CCE index is the same for two configured PDCCH candidates with AL8 and AL16 (otherwise the UE would decode the PDCCH candidates separately).

[0111]

[0127] In some examples, this ambiguity only becomes an issue when two PDCCH candidates are associated with the same CORESET (e.g., the AL8 and AL16 PDCCH candidates are in the same SS set, or the AL8 and AL16 PDCCH candidates are in different SS sets, but the two SS sets are associated with the same CORESET, have overlapping monitoring opportunities, and have the same DCI size). If the PDCCH candidates are in different CORESETs, this ambiguity may be avoided because different scrambling may be used for the different CORESETs.

[0112]

[0128] In some examples, this ambiguity is only an issue for single-symbol non-interleaved CORESETs, which may otherwise be avoided due to the frequency-domain, first time-domain, and second mapping.

[0113]

[0129] In view of the above, when there are two linked AL8 candidates and two linked AL16 candidates in two linked SS sets (associated with corresponding CORESETs), and in an SS set with a higher ID (e.g., SS set 2), an AL8 PDCCH candidate and an AL16 PDCCH candidate have the same starting CCE and DCI is decoded using one of these two PDCCH candidates, if the CORESET associated with SS set 2 (e.g., CORESET2) is one symbol and non-interleaved, the UE may not be able to distinguish whether the DCI is from the AL8 PDCCH candidate or the AL16 PDCCH candidate.

[0114]

[0130] In the rules described above with respect to Figure 8, the UE uses the starting CCE and number of CCEs of the PDCCH candidate of the CORESET associated with the lower SS set ID (e.g., SS Set 1). However, if the AL8 PDCCH candidate and the AL16 PDCCH candidate do not have the same starting CCE within the SS set with the lower ID (SS Set 1), then ambiguity may arise as to which starting CCE should be used.

[0115]

[0131] 9 illustrates an example 900 of linked PDCCH candidates for a scenario in which a first CORESET (CORESET 1) 902 is associated with a lower SS set ID than a second CORESET (CORESET 2) 904. Here, a first PDCCH candidate 906 of the first CORESET 902 is linked to a first PDCCH candidate 908 of the second CORESET 904. In addition, a second PDCCH candidate 910 of the first CORESET 902 is linked to a second PDCCH candidate 912 of the second CORESET 904. In addition, the first PDCCH candidates 906 and 908 have a lower aggregation level than the second PDCCH candidates 910 and 912. Also, the first PDCCH candidate 908 and the second PDCCH candidate 912 have the same starting CCE, while the first PDCCH candidate 906 and the second PDCCH candidate 910 have different starting CCEs. Therefore, if the rules described above with respect to Figure 8 are applied here, there is ambiguity as to which starting CCE (the first PDCCH candidate 906 or the second PDCCH candidate 910) should be used for Equation 1.

[0116]

[0132] The present disclosure relates in some aspects to procedures for identifying a starting CCE to be used to identify a PUCCH resource. In some aspects, these procedures may be used to address the potential ambiguities discussed above when PDCCH candidate repetition and different aggregation levels are used.

[0117]

[0133] In a first example procedure, the UE may use an SS set in which PDCCH candidates with different aggregation levels (e.g., an AL8 PDCCH candidate and an AL16 PDCCH candidate) have the same starting CCE as a reference for purposes of PUCCH resource determination. In this case, this common starting CCE and the number of CCEs of the CORESET associated with that SS set may be used (e.g., for Equation 1). The use of this procedure may be independent of whether the SS set (e.g., the AL8 and AL16 PDCCH candidates have the same starting CCE) has a lower or higher ID among the two linked SS sets.

[0118]

[0134] In the first example procedure, the following rules may be used to determine the starting CCE: If two PDCCH candidates with different aggregation levels (e.g., AL8 and AL16) have the same starting CCE in a non-interleaved CORESET with one OFDM symbol, and the two PDCCH candidates are in a first SS set linked to a second SS set, and the linked PDCCH candidates (e.g., an AL8 PDCCH candidate and an AL16 PDCCH candidate) in the second SS set do not have the same starting CCE, the first SS set is used as a reference for PUCCH resource determination for HARQ-Ack when the corresponding PUCCH resource set has a size larger than 8.

[0119]

[0135] In this case, the ambiguity caused in the SS set / CORESET does not depend on the reference to be defined in another CORESET / SS set. Therefore, the scheduling of the network entity (e.g., gNB) can be more efficient, and the determination of the PUCCH resource by the UE can be more efficient. In addition, the network entity may not be informed whether one candidate in SS set 1 or one candidate in SS set 2 is decoded. Therefore, in this case, the potential ambiguity that may occur when only the candidate in SS set 1 (AL8 or AL16) is decoded can be avoided.

[0120]

[0136] 10 illustrates an example 1000 in which a first exemplary procedure may be used to identify a starting CCE to be used for Equation 1. The example 1000 illustrates linked PDCCH candidates for a scenario in which a first CORESET (CORESET 1) 1002 is associated with a lower SS set ID than a second CORESET (CORESET 2) 1004. A first PDCCH candidate 1006 of the first CORESET 1002 is linked to a first PDCCH candidate 1008 of the second CORESET 1004. A second PDCCH candidate 1010 of the first CORESET 1002 is linked to a second PDCCH candidate 1012 of the second CORESET 1004. The first PDCCH candidates 1006 and 1008 have a lower aggregation level than the second PDCCH candidates 1010 and 1012. The first PDCCH candidate 1008 and the second PDCCH candidate 1012 have the same starting CCE, while the first PDCCH candidate 1006 and the second PDCCH candidate 1010 have different starting CCEs. In this case, the common starting CCE for the first PDCCH candidate 1008 and the second PDCCH candidate 1012 is the starting CCE (n CCE In addition, the number of CCEs in the second CORESET 1004 may be used as the number of CCEs (N CCE ) can be used as

[0121]

[0137] In the second, third, and fourth exemplary procedures, the UE uses the number of CCEs in a CORESET associated with a lower SS set ID (e.g., CORESET 1) and one of two starting CCEs of PDCCH candidates with different aggregation levels (e.g., AL8 and AL16) in SS set 1 as a reference for PUCCH resource determination.

[0122]

[0138] 11 illustrates an example 1100 in which the second, third, and fourth exemplary procedures may be used to identify a starting CCE to be used for Equation 1. The example 1100 illustrates linked PDCCH candidates for a scenario in which a first CORESET (CORESET 1) 1102 is associated with a lower SS set ID than a second CORESET (CORESET 2) 1104. A first PDCCH candidate 1106 of the first CORESET 1102 is linked to a first PDCCH candidate 1108 of the second CORESET 1104. A second PDCCH candidate 1110 of the first CORESET 1102 is linked to a second PDCCH candidate 1112 of the second CORESET 1104. The first PDCCH candidates 1106 and 1108 have a lower aggregation level than the second PDCCH candidates 1110 and 1112. The first PDCCH candidate 1108 and the second PDCCH candidate 1112 have the same starting CCE, while the first PDCCH candidate 1106 and the second PDCCH candidate 1110 have different starting CCEs.

[0123]

[0139] In the second example procedure, the UE uses (e.g., for Equation 1) a starting CCE associated with a PDCCH candidate of a higher aggregation level (e.g., AL16) in the first CORESET 1102 (associated with a lower SS set ID) to identify a PUCCH resource. Therefore, the starting CCE for the second PDCCH candidate 1110 is the starting CCE (n CCE In addition, the number of CCEs in the first CORESET 1102 may be used as the number of CCEs (N CCE) In some aspects, this procedure may be usefully used in implementations that do not use PDCCH repetition or linked SS sets, in which case AL16 is used as the reference for PDSCH rate matching.

[0124]

[0140] In the third example procedure, the UE uses (e.g., for Equation 1) a starting CCE associated with a PDCCH candidate of a lower aggregation level (e.g., AL8) in the first CORESET 1102 (associated with a lower SS set ID) to identify a PUCCH resource. Therefore, the starting CCE (n CCE ) may be used as the starting CCE for Equation 1. In addition, the number of CCEs in the first CORESET 1102 may be set to the number of CCEs (N CCE ) can be used as

[0125]

[0141] In a fourth exemplary procedure, the UE uses (e.g., for Equation 1) a starting CCE associated with a PDCCH candidate having a higher starting CCE in the first CORESET 1102 (associated with a lower SS set ID) to identify a PUCCH resource. In this case, the starting CCE for the second PDCCH candidate 1110 is the starting CCE (n CCE In addition, the number of CCEs in the first CORESET 1102 may be used as the number of CCEs (N CCE ) can be used as

[0126]

[0142] 12 is a signaling diagram 1200 illustrating an example of PUCCH resource identification related signaling in a wireless communication system including a network entity (e.g., a base station) 1202 and a user equipment (UE) 1204. In some examples, the network entity 1202 may correspond to any of the network entities, base stations, or scheduling entities shown in any of Figures 1, 2, and 18. In some examples, the UE 1204 may correspond to any of the UEs or scheduled entities shown in any of Figures 1, 2, and 13.

[0127]

[0143] 12, the network entity 1202 transmits (e.g., via RRC messaging) a CORESET and SS configuration that the UE 1204 should use to receive information from the network entity 1202. For example, the CORESET configuration for the UE may specify the number of RBs and symbols for each CORESET configured for the UE 1204. In addition, the SS configuration may specify the associated CORESET, PDCCH MO information, PDCCH candidates, etc. for each configured SS set.

[0128]

[0144] At 1208, the UE 1204 repeatedly monitors the configured SS set to determine whether the network entity 1202 has sent any messages to the UE 1204. As described herein, this may include blind decoding for PDCCH candidates within the search space configured for the UE 1204.

[0129]

[0145] At some point in time, at 1210, the network entity 1202 schedules a DCI transmission for the UE 1204. As described herein, in some examples, this DCI may schedule a PDSCH transmission and an associated PUCCH transmission, or the DCI may simply schedule a PUCCH transmission for HARQ-Ack. Thus, at 1212, the network entity 1202 transmits the DCI to the UE 1204 via one or more PDCCH candidates, where the DCI includes a PRI to indicate the scheduled PDSCH transmission and / or identify a PUCCH resource for HARQ-Ack, if applicable. As described herein, the DCI may be transmitted utilizing PDCCH repetition. Additionally, the network entity 1202 may transmit different PDCCH candidates with different aggregation levels on a given CORESET, as described herein. At optional 1214, the network entity 1202 may transmit a PDSCH transmission to the UE 1204.

[0130]

[0146] The UE 1204 may then decode the DCI (and, optionally, the PDSCH) and attempt to generate a HARQ-Ack to be transmitted to the network entity 1202 to indicate whether the UE 1204 successfully received the DCI and / or PDSCH transmission. The UE 1204 will therefore identify a PUCCH resource for sending the HARQ-Ack to the network entity 1202. For example, the UE 1204 may generate a PUCCH resource for sending the HARQ-Ack to the network entity 1202 by using the starting CCE parameters (n CCE ) may be used.

[0131]

[0147] At 1216, the UE 1204 may identify a potential starting CCE ambiguity associated with a PDCCH candidate decoded by the UE 1204. For example, as described herein, if two PDCCH candidates with different aggregation levels are received on the same CORESET and have the same starting CC, and these PDCCH candidates are replicated on another CORESET where the two PDCCH candidates have different starting CCs, ambiguity may arise as to which starting CC should be used to calculate the PUCCH resource for HARQ-Ack (e.g., using Equation 1).

[0132]

[0148] At 1218, the UE 1204 identifies a starting CCE to be used to calculate the PUCCH resource for the HARQ-Ack using one of the example procedures described herein in connection with Figures 10 and 11. For example, the UE 1204 may be configured to use the first example procedure, the second example procedure, the third example procedure, or the fourth example procedure.

[0133]

[0149] At 1220, the UE 1204 identifies a PUCCH resource for the HARQ-Ack based on the starting CCE identified at 1216. For example, the UE may identify a PUCCH resource set (R PUCCH ) PUCCH resource index (r PUCCH ) may be used to identify

[0134]

[0150] At 1222, the UE 1204 may send a PUCCH transmission on the PUCCH resource identified at 1220. For example, the UE 1204 may use the resource indicated by the PUCCH resource index to transmit the HARQ-Ack.

[0135]

[0151] 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a UE 1300 utilizing a processing system 1314. For example, the UE 1300 may be a device configured to wirelessly communicate with network entities described in any one or more of Figures 1-12. In some implementations, the UE 1300 may correspond to any of the UEs or scheduled entities shown in any of Figures 1, 2, and 12.

[0136]

[0152] According to various aspects of the disclosure, the elements, or any portion of the elements, or any combination of the elements, may be implemented using a processing system 1314. The processing system 1314 may include one or more processors 1304. Examples of the processors 1304 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functions described throughout the disclosure. In various examples, the UE 1300 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 1304 utilized in the UE 1300 may be used to perform any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein.

[0137]

[0153] The processor 1304 may be implemented via a baseband or modem chip in some cases, while in other implementations the processor 1304 may include several different devices separate from the baseband or modem chip (e.g., in scenarios that may work in conjunction to achieve the examples described herein). As mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components external to the baseband modem processor may be used in implementations including RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.

[0138]

[0154] In this example, the processing system 1314 may be implemented with a bus architecture generally represented by bus 1302. The bus 1302 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges depending on the particular application and overall design constraints of the processing system 1314. The bus 1302 communicatively couples various circuits including one or more processors (generally represented by processor 1304), memory 1305, and computer readable media (generally represented by computer readable media 1306). The bus 1302 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The bus interface 1308 may provide an interface between the bus 1302 and the transceiver 1310 and between the bus 1302 and the interface 1330. The transceiver 1310 provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other devices over a wireless transmission medium. In some examples, the UE may include two or more transceivers 1310. The interface 1330 provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other apparatus and devices (e.g., other devices housed within the same apparatus as the UE or other external apparatus) via an internal bus or an external transmission medium such as an Ethernet cable. Depending on the nature of the apparatus, the interface 1330 may include a user interface (e.g., a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick). Of course, such a user interface is optional and may be omitted in some examples, such as IoT devices.

[0139]

[0155] The processor 1304 is responsible for overall processing, including managing the bus 1302 and executing software stored on the computer-readable medium 1306. The software, when executed by the processor 1304, causes the processing system 1314 to perform various functions described below for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 1306 and the memory 1305 may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1304 when executing the software. For example, the memory 1305 may store resource information 1315 (e.g., PUCCH resource related information) used by the processor 1304 in cooperation with the transceiver 1310 to transmit and / or receive messages.

[0140]

[0156] The one or more processors 1304 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 modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on computer-readable medium 1306.

[0141]

[0157] The computer readable medium 1306 may be a non-transitory computer readable medium. Non-transitory computer readable media include, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disk (CD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, stick, or key drive), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer readable medium 1306 may be present within the processing system 1314, present outside the processing system 1314, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system 1314. The computer readable medium 1306 may be embodied in a computer program product. By way of example, the computer program product may include the computer readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0142]

[0158] The UE 1300 may be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., described above in connection with FIGS. 1-12 and below in connection with FIGS. 14-17). In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1304 utilized in the UE 1300 may include circuits configured for various functions.

[0143]

[0159] The processor 1304 may include a communication and processing circuit 1341. The communication and processing circuit 1341 may be configured to communicate with a network entity, such as a gNB. The communication and processing circuit 1341 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure to perform various processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuit 1341 may further include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure to perform various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may include two or more transmit / receive chains, each configured to process signals in a different RAT (or RAN) type. The communication and processing circuit 1341 may be further configured to execute communication and processing software 1351, included on the computer-readable medium 1306, to perform one or more functions described herein.

[0144]

[0160] In some implementations where communication involves receiving information, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may obtain information from a component of the UE 1300 (e.g., from the transceiver 1310, which receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may output the information to another component of the processor 1304, to the memory 1305, or to the bus interface 1308. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may receive one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may include functionality for a means of receiving. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may include functionality for a means of decoding.

[0145]

[0161] In some implementations where communication involves sending (e.g., transmitting) information, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may obtain information (e.g., from another component of the processor 1304, the memory 1305, or the bus interface 1308), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may output the information to the transceiver 1310 (e.g., transmit the information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may send one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may send information over one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may include functionality for a means of transmission. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1341 may include functionality for a means of encoding.

[0146]

[0162] The processor 1304 may include a PDCCH processing circuit 1342 configured to perform PDCCH processing related operations as described herein (e.g., one or more of the operations described in connection with FIGS. 4-12). The PDCCH processing circuit 1342 may be configured to execute PDCCH processing software 1352 included on the computer-readable medium 1306 to perform one or more functions described herein.

[0147]

[0163] The PDCCH processing circuitry 1342 may include functionality for means for receiving PDCCH candidates (e.g., as described above in connection with 1212 of FIG. 12). For example, the PDCCH processing circuitry 1342, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310, may monitor a search space for PDCCH candidates and attempt to decode DCI carried by the PDCCH candidates.

[0148]

[0164] The processor 1304 may include a PUCCH processing circuit 1343 configured to perform PUCCH processing related operations as described herein (e.g., one or more of the operations described in connection with FIGS. 4-12). The PUCCH processing circuit 1343 may be configured to execute PUCCH processing software 1353 included on the computer-readable medium 1306 to perform one or more functions described herein.

[0149]

[0165] The PUCCH processing circuitry 1343 may include functionality for identifying PUCCH resources (e.g., as described above in connection with any of FIGS. 8-12). For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343 may identify PUCCH resources for HARQ-Ack transmission (e.g., using Equation 1).

[0150]

[0166] The PUCCH processing circuitry 1343 may include functionality for means for transmitting PUCCH information (e.g., as described above in connection with 1216-1222 of FIG. 12). For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343 may cooperate with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 to transmit a HARQ-Ack on the identified PUCCH resources.

[0151]

[0167] 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1400 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described herein, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the disclosure, and some illustrated examples may not be necessary for the implementation of all features. In some examples, the method 1400 may be performed by the UE 1300 shown in FIG. 13. In some examples, the method 1400 may be performed by any suitable device or means for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0152]

[0168] In block 1402, a user equipment may receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level and configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set. For example, the PDCCH processing circuitry 1342, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for receiving the first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of the first control resource set.

[0153]

[0169] At block 1404, the user equipment may transmit a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate. For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for transmitting a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0154]

[0170] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location (i.e., the same location) within the first control resource set.

[0155]

[0171] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0156]

[0172] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a higher first search space set index than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set.

[0157]

[0173] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources.

[0158]

[0174] In some examples, the second control resource set carries a third PDCCH candidate that is a repeat of the first PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the second control resource set carries a fourth PDCCH candidate that is a repeat of the second PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the second starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0159]

[0175] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition (the first search space set is assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set), the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and a first starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate that is a duplicate of the first PDCCH candidate is different from a second starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate that is a duplicate of the second PDCCH candidate.

[0160]

[0176] In some examples, the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs, and in some examples, the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0161]

[0177] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator. In some examples, the first control resource set includes a prescribed number of control channel elements. In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the prescribed number of control channel elements.

[0162]

[0178] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission. In some examples, the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0163]

[0179] 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1500 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described herein, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the disclosure, and some illustrated examples may not be necessary for the implementation of all features. In some examples, the method 1500 may be performed by the UE 1300 shown in FIG. 13. In some examples, the method 1500 may be performed by any suitable device or means for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0164]

[0180] In block 1502, a user equipment may receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate being associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. For example, the PDCCH processing circuitry 1342, together with the communication and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of the first control resource set.

[0165]

[0181] In block 1504, the user equipment may transmit a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for transmitting a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0166]

[0182] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set.

[0167]

[0183] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0168]

[0184] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a higher first search space set index than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set.

[0169]

[0185] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources.

[0170]

[0186] In some examples, the second control resource set carries a third PDCCH candidate that is a repeat of the first PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the second control resource set carries a fourth PDCCH candidate that is a repeat of the second PDCCH candidate. In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0171]

[0187] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition (the first search space set is assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set), the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and the starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0172]

[0188] In some examples, the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs, and in some examples, the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0173]

[0189] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator. In some examples, the first control resource set includes a prescribed number of control channel elements. In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the prescribed number of control channel elements.

[0174]

[0190] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission. In some examples, the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0175]

[0191] 16 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1600 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described herein, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the disclosure, and some illustrated examples may not be necessary for the implementation of all features. In some examples, the method 1600 may be performed by the UE 1300 shown in FIG. 13. In some examples, the method 1600 may be performed by any suitable device or means for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0176]

[0192] In block 1602, a user equipment may receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is higher than the first aggregation level. For example, the PDCCH processing circuitry 1342, together with the communication and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of the first control resource set.

[0177]

[0193] In block 1604, the user equipment may transmit a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level. For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for transmitting a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate associated with a first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level.

[0178]

[0194] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set.

[0179]

[0195] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0180]

[0196] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a higher first search space set index than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set.

[0181]

[0197] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources.

[0182]

[0198] In some examples, the user equipment, in response to determining that the starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate, identifies the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0183]

[0199] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition (the first search space set is assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set), the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and the starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0184]

[0200] In some examples, the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs, and in some examples, the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0185]

[0201] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator. In some examples, the first control resource set includes a prescribed number of control channel elements. In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the prescribed number of control channel elements.

[0186]

[0202] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission. In some examples, the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0187]

[0203] 17 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1700 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described herein, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the disclosure, and some illustrated examples may not be necessary for the implementation of all features. In some examples, the method 1700 may be performed by the UE 1300 shown in FIG. 13. In some examples, the method 1700 may be performed by any suitable device or means for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0188]

[0204] In block 1702, a user equipment may receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information and starts at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated at a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated at a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, where the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first starting CCE, and where the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE that is higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set. For example, the PDCCH processing circuitry 1342, together with the communication and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of the first control resource set.

[0189]

[0205] At block 1704, the user equipment may transmit a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE. For example, the PUCCH processing circuitry 1343, together with the communications and processing circuitry 1341 and the transceiver 1310 shown and described above with respect to FIG. 13, may provide a means for transmitting a PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE.

[0190]

[0206] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set.

[0191]

[0207] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0192]

[0208] In some examples, the user equipment may identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a higher first search space set index than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set.

[0193]

[0209] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources.

[0194]

[0210] In some examples, the user equipment may, in response to determining that the first starting CCE is different from the second starting CCE, identify a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0195]

[0211] In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition (the first search space set is assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set), the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and the first starting CCE is different from the second starting CCE.

[0196]

[0212] In some examples, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with the first aggregation level, and in some examples, the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level that is different from the first aggregation level.

[0197]

[0213] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator. In some examples, the first control resource set includes a prescribed number of control channel elements. In some examples, the user equipment may identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the prescribed number of control channel elements.

[0198]

[0214] In some examples, the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission. In some examples, the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0199]

[0215] In one configuration, the UE 1300 includes: means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level; and means for transmitting the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate; and means for transmitting the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate. In one configuration, the UE 1300 may select a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts at the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, and where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set. receiving a first PDCCH candidate, wherein a third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level and a fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate associated with the second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.In one configuration, the UE 1300 may select a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starts at the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, where the first PDCCH candidate is repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, and where the second PDCCH candidate is repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set. the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and a means for transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate associated with the first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level. In one configuration, the UE 1300 includes means for receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information and starts on a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as the second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is repeated on a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate is repeated on a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first starting CCE, and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second starting CCE that is higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set; and means for transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE.In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be the processor 1304 shown in FIG. 13 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means (e.g., as described above). In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0200]

[0216] Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the processor 1304 is provided by way of example only, and other means for performing the above-described functions may also be included within various aspects of the disclosure, including, but not limited to, instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 1306, or any other suitable apparatus or means utilizing the methods and / or algorithms described in any one or more of Figures 1, 2, 12, and 13, and described herein with respect to Figures 14-17.

[0201]

[0217] The methods illustrated in Figures 14-17 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0202]

[0218] The deployment of communication systems, such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems, can be configured in multiple ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, network entity, mobility element of the network, Radio Access Network (RAN) node, core network node, network element, or network equipment such as a base station (BS), or one or more units performing base station functions (or 11 or more components) can be implemented in an aggregated or separated architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), or cell) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone BS or monolithic BS) or a separated base station.

[0203]

[0219] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A separated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units, such as one or more centralized or centralized units (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), or one or more radio units (RU). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU or alternatively geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0204]

[0220] The operation of a base station type or network design may take into account the aggregated nature of the base station functions. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as the network configuration supported by the O-RAN alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functions across two or more units in various physical locations, as well as distributing functions virtually for at least one unit, which may allow flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station, or a disaggregated RAN architecture, may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0205]

[0221] FIG. 18 illustrates a diagram illustrating an architecture of an exemplary separated base station 1800. The separated base station 1800 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 1810 that may communicate directly with a core network 1820 via a backhaul link or indirectly with the core network 1820 via one or more separated base station units (such as a near real-time (near RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 1825 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 1815 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 1805, or both). The CU 1810 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 1830 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 1830 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 1840 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 1840 may communicate with each UE 1850 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 1850 may be served by multiple RUs 1840 simultaneously.

[0206]

[0222] Each of the units, i.e., CU1810, DU1830, RU1840, as well as quasi-RT RIC1825, non-RT RIC1815, and SMO framework 1805, may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) over a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the unit's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units over a transmission medium. For example, the units may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units over a wired transmission medium. Furthermore, the units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or transmit or transmit signals over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0207]

[0223] In some aspects, the CU 1810 may host one or more upper layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 1810. The CU 1810 may be configured to handle user plane functions (i.e., CU-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (i.e., CU-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 1810 may be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as an E1 interface, when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 1810 may be implemented to communicate with a distributed unit (DU) 1830, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0208]

[0224] The DU 1830 may correspond to a logical unit including one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 1840. In some aspects, the DU 1830 may correspond to a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standard. rdDepending at least in part on a functional division such as that defined by the CU1810 Generation Partnership Project, the DU1830 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more upper physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.). In some aspects, the DU1830 may further host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU1830 or with control functions hosted by the CU1810.

[0209]

[0225] The lower layer functions may be implemented by one or more RUs 1840. In some deployments, the RUs 1840 controlled by the DU 1830 may correspond to logical nodes hosting RF processing functions, or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional division such as a lower layer functional division. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 1840 may be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 1850. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communications with the RU(s) 1840 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 1830. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU(s) 1830 and the CU 1810 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0210]

[0226] The SMO framework 1805 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 1805 may be configured to support deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements that may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 1805 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-cloud) 1890) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU 1810, the DU 1830, the RU 1840, and the quasi-RT RIC 1825. In some implementations, the SMO framework 1805 may communicate with hardware aspects of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 1811, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 1805 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 1840 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 1805 can also include a non-RT RIC 1815 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 1805.

[0211]

[0227] The non-RT RIC 1815 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the quasi-RT RIC 1825. The non-RT RIC 1815 may be coupled to or in communication with the quasi-RT RIC 1825 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The quasi-RT RIC 1825 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and action through one or more CUs 1810, one or more DUs 1830, or both, and interfaces connecting the O-eNB to the quasi-RT RIC 1825 (e.g., via an E2 interface).

[0212]

[0228] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 1815 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate the AI / ML models deployed to the quasi-RT RIC 1825. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC 1825 and may be received at the SMO framework 1805 or the non-RT RIC 1815 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some embodiments, the non-RT RIC 1815 or the quasi-RT RIC 1825 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 1815 may employ the AI / ML models to monitor long-term trends and patterns regarding performance and take corrective action via the SMO framework 1805 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0213]

[0229] The following provides a summary of several aspects of the disclosure.

[0214]

[0230] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication in a user equipment, the method including: receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level and configured to schedule a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information, the first aggregation level being different from a second aggregation level associated with a second PDCCH candidate of the first control resource set; and transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on an identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on a first control channel element (CCE) index corresponding to a starting CCE of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate.

[0215]

[0231] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0216]

[0232] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 1 or 2, further comprising, in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0217]

[0233] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 to 3, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for the PDCCH repetition, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0218]

[0234] Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 to 4, further comprising, in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0219]

[0235] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the second control resource set carries a third PDCCH candidate that is a repetition of the first PDCCH candidate, and the second control resource set carries a fourth PDCCH candidate that is a repetition of the second PDCCH candidate, and the method further includes identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the second starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0220]

[0236] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 1, further comprising identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within a first control resource set, the first control resource set being a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and a first starting CCE of a third PDCCH candidate that is a duplicate of the first PDCCH candidate is different from a second starting CCE of a fourth PDCCH candidate that is a duplicate of the second PDCCH candidate.

[0221]

[0237] Example 8: The method of any of Examples 1 to 7, wherein the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs and the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0222]

[0238] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator and the first control resource set includes a specified number of control channel elements, the method further including identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the specified number of control channel elements.

[0223]

[0239] Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0224]

[0240] Aspect 11: A user equipment comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any one of aspects 1 to 10.

[0225]

[0241] Aspect 12: An apparatus configured for wireless communication comprising at least one means for performing any one of aspects 1-10.

[0226]

[0242] Aspect 13: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code causing an apparatus to perform any one of aspects 1 to 10.

[0227]

[0243] Aspect 21: A method for wireless communications in a user equipment, comprising: a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate; the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set; and the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set. receiving a first PDCCH candidate repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate, where a third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and transmitting a PUCCH having delivery acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate associated with the second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level.

[0228]

[0244] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0229]

[0245] Aspect 23: The method of aspect 21 or 22, further comprising, in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0230]

[0246] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 21 to 23, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0231]

[0247] Example 25: The method of any of examples 21 to 24, further comprising, in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0232]

[0248] Example 26: The method of any of Examples 21 to 25, further comprising, in response to determining that the starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0233]

[0249] Aspect 27: The method of aspect 22, further comprising, in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within a first control resource set, the first control resource set being a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0234]

[0250] Example 28: The method of any of examples 21 to 27, wherein the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs and the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0235]

[0251] Example 29: The method of any of Examples 21 to 28, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator and the second control resource set includes a specified number of control channel elements, the method further including identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the specified number of control channel elements.

[0236]

[0252] Example 30: The method of any of examples 21 to 29, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0237]

[0253] Aspect 31: A user equipment comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any one of aspects 21 to 30.

[0238]

[0254] Example 32: An apparatus configured for wireless communication comprising at least one means for performing any one of examples 21 to 30.

[0239]

[0255] Aspect 33: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code causing an apparatus to perform any one of aspects 21 to 30.

[0240]

[0256] Aspect 41: A method for wireless communications in a user equipment, comprising: a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting at a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate; the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set; and the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set. receiving a first PDCCH candidate repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate, where a third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level and the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and transmitting a PUCCH having acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate associated with the first aggregation level lower than the second aggregation level.

[0241]

[0257] Aspect 42: The method of aspect 41, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0242]

[0258] Aspect 43: The method of any of aspects 1 to 42, further comprising, in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0243]

[0259] Aspect 44: The method of any of aspects 1 to 43, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0244]

[0260] Example 45: The method of any of examples 1 to 44, further comprising, in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0245]

[0261] Example 46: The method of any of examples 1 to 45, further comprising, in response to determining that the starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0246]

[0262] Aspect 47: The method of aspect 41, further comprising identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within a first control resource set, the first control resource set being a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate.

[0247]

[0263] Example 48: The method of any of examples 1 to 47, wherein the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs and the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

[0248]

[0264] Aspect 49: The method of any of aspects 1 to 48, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator and the second control resource set includes a specified number of control channel elements, the method further including identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the specified number of control channel elements.

[0249]

[0265] Example 50: The method of any of examples 1 to 49, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0250]

[0266] Aspect 51: A user equipment comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any one of aspects 41 to 50.

[0251]

[0267] Example 52: An apparatus configured for wireless communication comprising at least one means for performing any one of examples 41 to 50.

[0252]

[0268] Aspect 53: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code causing an apparatus to perform any one of aspects 41 to 50.

[0253]

[0269] Aspect 61: A method for wireless communication in a user equipment, the method including receiving a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, where the first PDCCH candidate schedules a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information and starts on a same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate being repeated on a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate being repeated on a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate being associated with a first starting CCE, and the fourth PDCCH candidate being associated with a second starting CCE that is higher than the first starting CCE in the second control resource set; and transmitting the PUCCH having the acknowledgement information on the identified PUCCH resource based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to the second starting CCE.

[0254]

[0270] Aspect 62: The method of aspect 61, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0255]

[0271] Aspect 63: The method of any of aspects 1 to 62, further comprising, in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0256]

[0272] Aspect 64: The method of any of aspects 1 to 63, further comprising, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0257]

[0273] Example 65: The method of any of examples 1 to 64, further comprising, in response to determining that the PUCCH resource set that includes the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0258]

[0274] Example 66: The method of any of examples 1-65, further comprising, in response to determining that the first starting CCE is different from the second starting CCE, identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

[0259]

[0275] Aspect 67: The method of aspect 61, further comprising identifying a PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to a determination that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within a first control resource set, the first control resource set being a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set, the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, and the first starting CCE is different from the second starting CCE.

[0260]

[0276] Aspect 68: A third PDCCH candidate is associated with a first aggregation level;

[0277] 68. The method according to any of aspects 1-67, wherein the fourth PDCCH candidate is associated with a second aggregation level different from the first aggregation level.

[0261]

[0278] Example 69: The method of any of Examples 1 to 68, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator and the second control resource set includes a specified number of control channel elements, the method further including identifying the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the specified number of control channel elements.

[0262]

[0279] Example 70: The method of any of examples 1 to 69, wherein the first PDCCH candidate includes a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, and the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

[0263]

[0280] Aspect 71: A user equipment comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any one of aspects 61 to 70.

[0264]

[0281] Example 72: An apparatus configured for wireless communication comprising at least one means for performing any one of examples 61 to 70.

[0265]

[0282] Aspect 73: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code causing an apparatus to perform any one of aspects 61 to 70.

[0266]

[0283] Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presented with reference to example implementations. As one skilled in the art would readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0267]

[0284] By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems utilizing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunications standard, network architecture, and / or communications standard used will depend on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0268]

[0285] Within the scope of this disclosure, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of the disclosure. Likewise, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the described feature, advantage, or mode of operation. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A is in physical contact with object B, and object B is in contact with object C, then object A and object C can still be considered to be coupled to each other even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object even if the first object is not in direct physical contact with the second object at all. The terms "circuit" and "circuitry" are used broadly and are not limited with respect to types of electronic circuitry, but are intended to include both hardware implementations and conductors of electrical devices that, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure, as well as software implementations of information and instructions that, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure. As used herein, the term "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, solving, selecting, choosing, establishing, receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like.

[0269]

[0286] One or more of the components, steps, features and / or functions shown in Figures 1-18 may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature or function, or embodied in several components, steps or functions. Also, additional elements, components, steps and / or functions may be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. The apparatus, devices and / or components shown in any of Figures 1, 2, 12, 13 and 18 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features or steps described herein. Also, the novel algorithms described herein may be efficiently implemented in software and / or implemented in hardware.

[0270]

[0287] It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods is an example of an example process. Based on design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented, unless specifically stated therein.

[0271]

[0288] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not limited to the aspects set forth herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, and references to elements in the singular do not mean "one and only one" unless so expressly stated, but rather "one or more." Unless otherwise expressly stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single element. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or that later become known to those of skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made available to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment, A transceiver; Memory and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the processor and the memory: and configured to receive, via the transceiver, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate being associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and wherein the processor and memory: and transmitting, via the transceiver, the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate associated with the second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. User equipment.

2. the processor and the memory 10. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set, identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

3. the processor and the memory 10. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to, in response to determining that the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

4. the processor and the memory 2. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to: identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are within a first search space set linked to a second search space set for PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set.

5. the processor and the memory 10. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to, in response to determining that a PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources, identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

6. the processor and the memory 10. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to, in response to determining that a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate, identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index.

7. the processor and the memory the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate start at the same location within the first control resource set; the first control resource set is a non-interleaved control resource set having a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol; the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are in a first search space set linked to a second search space set for a PDCCH repetition, the first search space set being assigned a first search space set index that is higher than a second search space set index assigned to the second search space set; the PUCCH resource set including the PUCCH resource includes more than eight PUCCH resources; a starting CCE of the third PDCCH candidate is different from the starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate; 10. The user equipment of claim 1, further configured to identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index in response to determining:

8. the first aggregation level corresponds to 8 CCEs; The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the second aggregation level corresponds to 16 CCEs.

9. the first PDCCH candidate includes a PUCCH resource indicator; the second control resource set includes a specified number of control channel elements; 2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to identify the PUCCH resource based at least in part on the first CCE index, the PUCCH resource indicator, and the specified number of control channel elements.

10. the first PDCCH candidate includes first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission; The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the second PDCCH candidate includes a second DCI that schedules a second PDSCH transmission.

11. 1. A method for wireless communication in a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a first Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting in the same Control Channel Element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, and the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate being associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; transmitting the PUCCH with the acknowledgement information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate associated with the second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. method.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by one or more processors of a user equipment, the instructions comprising: receive a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidate of a first control resource set, the first PDCCH candidate scheduling a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having acknowledgement information (e.g., HARQ-Ack information) and starting in the same control channel element (CCE) in the first control resource set as a second PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate being repeated in a third PDCCH candidate of a second control resource set, the second PDCCH candidate being repeated in a fourth PDCCH candidate of the second control resource set, the third PDCCH candidate being associated with a first aggregation level, and the fourth PDCCH candidate being associated with a second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level; and and transmitting the PUCCH with the delivery confirmation information on a PUCCH resource identified based at least in part on a first CCE index corresponding to a starting CCE of the fourth PDCCH candidate associated with the second aggregation level higher than the first aggregation level. Non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Images