terminal

Abstract

To provide a terminal that can quickly and efficiently obtain time information within the NR (5G) system.SOLUTION: UE 200 acquires time information used in a system from a network. The UE 200 receives a message indicating that the time information has been updated from the network, and acquires the time information in response to receiving the message.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal that performs wireless communication, and more particularly, to a terminal that acquires time information in an NR (5G) system.

Background Art

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is standardizing the 5th generation mobile communication system (also called 5G, New Radio (NR) or Next Generation (NG)), and is also promoting the standardization of the next generation, called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution or 6G.

[0003] In 3GPP Release-16, support for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by NR is planned (see Non-Patent Document 1). To realize the support for IIoT, synchronization between a radio base station (gNB) and a terminal (User Equipment, UE) is listed as one of the Work Items (WI).

[0004] Specifically, in order to achieve high-precision synchronization between the gNB and the UE, it has been proposed to include an information element (IE) called referenceTimeInfo-r16 in System Information Block (SIB) 9 (see Non-Patent Document 2). referenceTimeInfo-r16 (time information) indicates the Internal system clock (which may also be called time or timing) of NR (5G).

[0005] In addition, it has also been proposed that the UE can request the gNB (network) for the time information by including referenceTimePreference-r16 in the UEAssistanceInformation.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Literature

[0006]

Non-Patent Literature 1

Non-Patent Literature 2

Summary of the Invention

[0007] However, regarding the operations related to the synchronization between the gNB and the UE described in the above Non-Patent Literature 2, the following problems are considered to exist.

[0008] Specifically, when the gNB transmits the updated time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) to the UE, it cannot notify the UE that the time information has been updated. For this reason, it is difficult for the UE to recognize the timing for acquiring SIB 9 including the updated referenceTimeInfo-r16.

[0009] Also, as described above, the UE can request time information from the network. In this case, the gNB can transmit the time information by means of SIB 9 (broadcast) or DLInformationTransfer (unicast). For this reason, it is difficult for the UE to determine whether the time information is transmitted by SIB 9 or DLInformationTransfer.

[0010] Therefore, the following disclosure is made in view of such a situation, and aims to provide a terminal that can quickly and efficiently acquire time information within an NR (5G) system.

[0011] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal (UE200) including a control unit (control unit 250) that acquires time information used in the system from a network, and a receiving unit (message processing unit 240) that receives from the network a message indicating that the time information has been updated, wherein the control unit acquires the time information in response to the reception of the message.

[0012] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal including a transmitting unit (time management unit 230) that transmits a transmission request for time information used in the system to a network, and a receiving unit (radio communication unit 210) that receives a downlink channel on which the time information is transmitted after transmitting the transmission request.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or similar reference numerals are assigned to the same functions and configurations, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0015] (1) Overall schematic configuration of the wireless communication system FIG. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a wireless communication system 10 according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless communication system compliant with 5G New Radio (NR), and includes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network 20 (hereinafter, NG-RAN 20) and user equipment 200 (User Equipment 200, hereinafter, UE 200).

[0016] Note that the wireless communication system 10 may also be a wireless communication system compliant with a system called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0017] NG-RAN 20 includes a radio base station 100 (hereinafter, gNB 100). Note that the specific configuration of the wireless communication system 10 including the number of gNBs and UEs is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1.

[0018] NG-RAN 20 actually includes a plurality of NG-RAN Nodes, specifically, gNBs (or ng-eNBs), and is connected to a 5G-compliant core network (5GC, not shown). Note that NG-RAN 20 and 5GC may simply be expressed as "network".

[0019] gNB100 is a radio base station compliant with NR and performs wireless communication with UE200 according to NR. gNB100 and UE200 can support Massive MIMO that generates a more directive beam by controlling radio signals transmitted from a plurality of antenna elements, carrier aggregation (CA) that bundles and uses a plurality of component carriers (CC), and dual connectivity (DC) that enables simultaneous communication between the UE and each of a plurality of NG-RAN Nodes.

[0020] Time Sensitive Network 30 (hereinafter, TSN30) may be connected to NG-RAN20. For example, TSN30 can be used as a network for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

[0021] TSN30 may be configured as a separate network from NG-RAN20 and 5GC, that is, the NR (5G) system, and may be synchronized with the timing at which an independent clock is generated.

[0022] An end station 40 may be connected to UE200. The end station 40 may be a communication device (terminal) included in TSN30, that is, IIoT, and may be synchronized with the timing (time information) within TSN30.

[0023] Thus, in this embodiment, TSN30 and the end station 40 can be connected to the NR (5G) system, and a mechanism for realizing high-precision synchronization between gNB100 and UE200 is provided.

[0024] Specifically, a mechanism that can quickly and efficiently update the time information within the NR (5G) system (hereinafter, appropriately abbreviated as within the system) is applied. Thereby, the wireless communication system 10 can support applications that require high-precision synchronization, such as IIoT.

[0025] (2) Functional block configuration of the wireless communication system Next, the functional block configuration of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, the functional block configuration of the UE 200 will be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the UE 200.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, the UE 200 includes a wireless communication unit 210, a system information receiving unit 220, a time management unit 230, a message processing unit 240, and a control unit 250.

[0027] The wireless communication unit 210 transmits and receives wireless signals according to NR. The wireless communication unit 210 supports Massive MIMO, CA that bundles and uses a plurality of CCs, and DC that simultaneously communicates between the UE and two NG-RAN Nodes respectively.

[0028] Also, the wireless communication unit 210 transmits and receives various channels of the physical layer. The channels include a control channel and a data channel.

[0029] The control channel may include a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), a RACH (Random Access Channel, Downlink Control Information (DCI) including a Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI)), and a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), etc.

[0030] The data channel includes a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), etc. The data may mean the data transmitted via the data channel.

[0031] Also, in the present embodiment, the wireless communication unit 210 may receive a downlink channel on which the time information is transmitted after transmitting a transmission request for the time information used in the system. In the present embodiment, the wireless communication unit 210 constitutes a receiving unit that receives a downlink channel.

[0032] Specifically, the wireless communication unit 210 receives a logical channel in the downlink (DL). More specifically, the wireless communication unit 210 receives a DLDCCH (Dedicated Control Channel).

[0033] The wireless communication unit 210 may operate to receive the DL DCCH after the time management unit 230 transmits UEAssistanceInformation (see Section 5.7.4 of 3GPP TS38.331, etc.) including referenceTimePreference-r16 (transmission request) to the network. Note that "after transmission" may include monitoring the DL DCCH simultaneously with the transmission of UEAssistanceInformation, or monitoring the DL DCCH after a certain period of time has elapsed after the transmission of UEAssistanceInformation.

[0034] The system information receiving unit 220 receives system information transmitted from the network. Specifically, the system information receiving unit 220 can receive various System Information Blocks (SIBs) broadcast from the gNB 100. Note that the system information may include a Master Information Block (MIB), and the system information may also be referred to as notification information or the like.

[0035] In particular, in the present embodiment, the system information receiving unit 220 can receive SIB 1 and SIB 9. SIB 9 includes time information used in the system, specifically, referenceTimeInfo-r16 (see Section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS38.331).

[0036] The time management unit 230 manages the time information used within the system. Specifically, the time management unit 230 acquires the time (timing) of the Internal system clock (which may also be referred to as the local clock) used in the NR (5G) system. Each functional block constituting the UE 200 can be synchronized with the time information and operate at the timing according to the time information.

[0037] In this embodiment, the time management unit 230 can send a transmission request for the time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) used within the system to the network. In this embodiment, the time management unit 230 constitutes a transmission unit that sends the transmission request to the network.

[0038] Specifically, the time management unit 230 can send UE Assistance Information including referenceTimePreference-r16 (transmission request) to the network.

[0039] The message processing unit 240 executes the processing of messages transmitted from the network to the UE 200. Specifically, the message processing unit 240 can receive a Short Message (refer to Section 6.5 of 3GPP TS38.331) transmitted from the network. The Short Message can be transmitted via the PDCCH using the P-RNTI (Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier). Also, the Short Message can be transmitted using the short message field of the downlink control information (DCI) format 1_0 regardless of the presence or absence of the related paging message.

[0040] In particular, in this embodiment, the message processing unit 240 can receive a message indicating that the time information used within the system has been updated, specifically, a Short Message. In this embodiment, the message processing unit 240 constitutes a receiving unit that receives the message.

[0041] Table 1 shows a configuration example of the Short Message according to this embodiment.

[0042]

Table 1

[0043] Bit 1 indicates the most significant bit (MSB). As shown in Table 1, when bit 4 is set to "1", it may indicate a change (update) of referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0044] Note that the bit position and the content associated with "1" are not limited to the example in Table 1. The bit position indicating that the time information has been updated may be other than 4, or when it is set to "0", it may indicate a change (update) of referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0045] The control unit 250 controls each functional block constituting the UE 200. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 250 can obtain time information used in the system from the network.

[0046] Specifically, the control unit 250 can obtain referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9. Also, the control unit 250 can also obtain referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in DLInformationTransfer.

[0047] Also, the control unit 250 may obtain time information in response to receiving a message from the network, specifically, a Short Message. Specifically, when the control unit 250 receives a Short Message in which a bit (see Table 1) indicating that the time information has been updated is set, it may obtain referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0048] Note that the control unit 250 may obtain the referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9 immediately upon receiving a Short Message, or may continuously monitor SIB 9 for a certain period of time after receiving the Short Message to obtain the referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0049] Furthermore, the control unit 250 may obtain the time information included in the downlink channel, specifically, the DLDCCH. Specifically, the control unit 250 may obtain the referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in the DL Information Transfer by monitoring the DL DCCH after the time management unit 230 transmits the UE Assistance Information including the referenceTimePreference-r16 (transmission request) to the network.

[0050] Also, when the time information is not included in the DLDCCH, the control unit 250 may obtain the system information transmitted from the network, specifically, the referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0051] Note that the control unit 250 may simultaneously monitor both the DL DCCH and the system information (specifically, the common search space (CSS)) after transmitting the UE Assistance Information including the referenceTimePreference-r16 (transmission request) to the network. If the control unit 250 can obtain the time information first by any one of the DL Information Transfer or SIB 9 messages, it may stop monitoring the other.

[0052] (3) Operation of the wireless communication system Next, the operation of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, the operation related to the acquisition of the time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) by the UE 200 will be described.

[0053] (3.1) Prerequisites In 3GPP Release-16, as described above, an IE called referenceTimeInfo-r16 can be included in SIB 9. referenceTimeInfo-r16 is an IE that indicates the internal system clock of NR (5G).

[0054] When referenceTimeInfo-r16 is included in SIB 9, it is specified that there is no system information change notification or value tag modification in SIB 1 regarding the change (update) of the time within the system.

[0055] Figure 3 shows a configuration example of ReferenceTimeInfo. As shown in Figure 3, ReferenceTimeInfo can include referenceTimeInfo-r16 and ReferenceTime-r16 (see the underlined part).

[0056] Here, time, specifically the field of ReferenceTime-r16, may indicate the time reference at a granularity of 10 ns. The indicated time may be referenced in the network and may be referenced without compensating for the propagation delay in the radio frequency (RF).

[0057] The indicated time in units of 10 ns from the origin may be refDays*86400*1000*100000+refSeconds*1000*100000+refMilliSeconds*100000+refTenNanoSeconds, as defined in 3GPP.

[0058] The field of refDays may specify the number of consecutive days from the origin of the time field (when the day count starts from 0).

[0059] Also, when the ReferenceTimeInfo field is received by the DLInformationTransfer message, the time field may indicate the time at the end boundary of the system frame indicated by the referenceSFN. The UE 200 may consider the frame (indicated by the referenceSFN) as the frame closest (in the past or in the future) to the frame in which the message was received.

[0060] Also, when the ReferenceTimeInfo field is received by SIB 9, the time field may indicate the time at the end boundary of the SI (System Information) window in which SIB 9 is transmitted or at the SFN boundary immediately after that.

[0061] Furthermore, when the ReferenceTimeInfo field is received by SIB 9, the field may be excluded when determining a change in system information. That is, a change in time may not require a change in the valueTag of SIB 1 for a system information change notification.

[0062] Also, in 3GPP Release-16, as described above, a mechanism for the UE 200 to request time information from the gNB 100 (network) has been introduced.

[0063] Figure 4 shows a configuration example of OtherConfig and UEAssistanceInformation. The network can set referenceTimePreferenceReporting (see underlined part) using the OtherConfig IE. The UE 200 can use UEAssistanceInformation to send referenceTimePreference-r16 (set to true when requesting time information, see underlined part) to the network.

[0064] (3.2) Operation Example 1 In the system, specifically, in order to ensure high-precision synchronization between the gNB 100 and the UE 200, that is, accurate synchronization of time (timing), the gNB 100 needs to broadcast or unicast information (time information) indicating the time updated periodically to the UE 200.

[0065] In this operation example, when the gNB 100 transmits the changed referenceTimeInfo-r16 using SIB 9, in order to surely notify the UE 200 that the time has changed, the gNB 100 and the UE 200 can operate as follows.

[0066] Figure 5 shows the update sequence of the time information according to Operation Example 1. As shown in Figure 5, the gNB 100 updates the internal system clock in the system (S10).

[0067] Prior to transmitting SIB 9 including referenceTimeInfo-r16, the gNB 100 transmits a Short Message (S20).

[0068] Specifically, the gNB 100 transmits a Short Message (see Table 1) in which a bit (for example, bit 4) indicating the change of referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9 is set, towards the UE 200.

[0069] For example, the gNB 100 may realize the notification using the new code point of bit 4 (or 5 to 8) of the Short Message. For example, when using bit 4, as shown in Table 1, when bit 4 is set to "1", it may indicate the change (update) of referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in SIB 9.

[0070] In order for the UE200 to attempt to receive SIB 9, generally, the gNB100 needs to transmit SIB 1 with the valueTag included in the SI-SchedulingInfo of SIB 1 changed. When the valueTag included in the SI-SchedulingInfo is changed, the UE200 attempts to receive SIB 9.

[0071] Also, the gNB100 may notify the UE200 of the change in referenceTimeInfo-r16 by using bit 1 (systemInfoModification) of the Short Message.

[0072] Next, the gNB100 transmits SIB 9 including the changed referenceTimeInfo-r16 to the UE200 (S30). The UE200 receives SIB 9 in response to the reception of the above-mentioned Short Message.

[0073] That is, when the UE200 is in the idle (RRC_IDLE) state of the radio resource control layer (RRC), at each paging opportunity (PO) of each DRX (Discontinuous Reception) cycle in the RRC_INACTIVE state, or at each PO of each modification period in the RRC_CONNECTED state (with an active BWP and a common search space (CSS), and with searchSpaceSIB1 and pagingSearchSpace configured), when the UE200 receives the above-mentioned change in system information (indication about change of system information (systemInfoModification in Short Message)) or SIB 9 including referenceTimeInfo-r16, it may re-acquire SIB1. Further, the UE200 may acquire SIB 9 whether the valueTag of SIB 9 is changed or not in the SI-SchedulingInfo.

[0074] Next, the UE 200 acquires the time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) included in SIB 9 and updates the time information (clock) used within the UE 200 (S40).

[0075] (3.3) Operation Example 2 When transmitting UEAssistanceInformation including referenceTimePreference-r16 (transmission request) from the UE 200 in the RRC CONNECTED state to the gNB 100 (network) and requesting the time information of the Internal system clock, as described above, the gNB 100 can transmit the time information by SIB 9 (broadcast) or DLInformationTransfer (unicast).

[0076] In this operation example, after the UE 200 transmits the transmission request to the network, even when the time information is transmitted by either SIB 9 or DLInformationTransfer, the UE 200 can operate as follows to surely receive the time information.

[0077] FIG. 6 shows the time information update sequence according to Operation Example 2. As shown in FIG. 6, the network (specifically, the NG-RAN 20 including the gNB 100) and the UE 200 execute processing in RRC such as RRC reconfiguration (S110). Thereby, the UE 200 enters the RRC CONNECTED (connected) state.

[0078] Next, the UE 200 transmits UEAssistanceInformation including referenceTimePreference-r16 to the network (S120). As described above, referenceTimePreference-r16 may be transmitted at any timing when the UE 200 needs the time information used within the system.

[0079] The network (gNB100) can transmit DL Information Transfer including time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) in response to the UE Assistance Information received from the UE200 (S130A). FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of DL Information Transfer. As shown in FIG. 7, referenceTimeInfo-r16 (see underlined part) can be included in the DL Information Transfer.

[0080] Alternatively, the network (gNB100) can also transmit SIB 9 (see FIG. 4) including referenceTimeInfo-r16 in response to the UE Assistance Information (S130B).

[0081] That is, after transmitting referenceTimePreference-r16 by the UE Assistance Information, the UE200 preferentially monitors the DL DCCH (logical channel), and if DL Information Transfer exists in the DL DCCH-Message, the UE200 may receive the DL Information Transfer and obtain referenceTimeInfo-r16.

[0082] Also, after transmitting referenceTimePreference-r16 by UEAssistanceInformation, UE200 preferentially monitors the DL DCCH (logical channel). When there is no DLInformationTransfer, a common search space (configured by searchSpaceSIB1 and pagingSearchSpace) is set. When receiving an indication about change of system information (systemInfoModification in Short Message), UE200 may re-acquire SIB1. Further, UE200 may acquire SIB 9 whether the valueTag of SIB 9 is changed or not in SI-SchedulingInfo.

[0083] Alternatively, after transmitting referenceTimePreference-r16 by UEAssistanceInformation, UE200 preferentially monitors the DL DCCH (logical channel). When there is no DLInformationTransfer, a common search space (configured by searchSpaceSIB1 and pagingSearchSpace) is set. When receiving referenceTimeInfo modification in Short Message, UE200 may re-acquire SIB1. Further, UE200 may acquire SIB9 whether the valueTag of SIB 9 is changed or not in SI-SchedulingInfo.

[0084] In addition, after the UE200 transmits referenceTimePreference-r16 by UEAssistanceInformation, it simultaneously (in parallel) monitors both the DL DCCH (logical channel) and the common search space (CSS). If it can receive time information by either the DLInformationTransfer or SIB 9 (Short Message) message, it may obtain the referenceTimeInfo-r16 included in the received message at the destination.

[0085] Note that if DLInformationTransfer comes first, the UE200 may read the ReferenceTimeInfo included in DLInformationTransfer. On the other hand, if SIB 9, specifically, Short Message comes first, the UE200 may receive SIB 1 and read the ReferenceTimeInfo included in SIB 9 indicated by SI-SchedulingInfo.

[0086] The UE200 obtains the time information (referenceTimeInfo-r16) included in DLInformationTransfer or SIB 9 by the method as described above, and updates the time information (clock) used within the UE200 (S140).

[0087] (4) Operations and Effects According to the above-described embodiment, the following operations and effects can be obtained. Specifically, the UE200 can receive a Short Message indicating that the time information has been updated, and in response to the reception of the Short Message, can obtain the time information included in SIB 9.

[0088] Therefore, the UE200 can surely recognize that the time information has been updated by the reception of the Short Message. Thereby, even when the time information in the system is updated, the UE200 can obtain the time information quickly and efficiently.

[0089] Also, after the UE 200 transmits a request for transmission of time information (referenceTimePreference-r16) used in the system, it can receive a downlink channel (DL DCCH) on which the time information is transmitted. Therefore, the UE 200 can surely obtain updated time information at any timing when updated time information is required.

[0090] Furthermore, when the downlink channel (DL DCCH), specifically, the DL Information Transfer does not contain time information, the UE 200 can obtain the time information contained in the system information (SIB 9) transmitted from the network.

[0091] Thereby, when updated time information is required, the UE 200 can quickly and efficiently obtain the time information in the NR (5G) system.

[0092] (5) Other Embodiments As described above, the content of the present invention has been described according to the embodiments. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to these descriptions, and various modifications and improvements are possible.

[0093] For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which ReferenceTimeInfo, specifically, referenceTimeInfo-r16 is used as time information has been described. However, any information that can indicate the time (Internal system clock) used in the NR (5G) system may be used instead of ReferenceTimeInfo. For example, information indicating the difference from the clock used in the TSN 30 may be used, or information indicating the difference from some other reference clock may be used.

[0094] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which referenceTimePreference-r16 is used as a transmission request for time information used in the system has been described. However, for this transmission request, as long as a time information transmission request is possible, other information elements (IEs), fields, messages, etc. may also be used.

[0095] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, Operation Example 1 and Operation Example 2 have been described. However, a part or all of both operation examples may be executed in combination within the wireless communication system 10.

[0096] Also, the block configuration diagram (FIG. 2) used in the description of the above-described embodiment shows blocks in terms of function units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by an arbitrary combination of at least one of hardware and software. Also, the realization method of each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one physically or logically combined device, or two or more physically or logically separated devices may be directly or indirectly (for example, using wired, wireless, etc.) connected and realized using these multiple devices. The functional block may be realized by combining software with the above one device or the above multiple devices.

[0097] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, determination, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, solution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, regarded as, notification (broadcasting), notification (notifying), communication, forwarding, configuration, reconfiguration, allocation (allocating, mapping), assignment, etc. For example, a functional block (component) that functions as transmission is called a transmitting unit or a transmitter. As described above, the realization method is not particularly limited.

[0098] Furthermore, the above-described UE200 may function as a computer that performs the processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the UE200. As shown in FIG. 8, the UE200 may be configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, and the like.

[0099] In the following description, the term "device" can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, or the like. The hardware configuration of the device may be configured to include one or more of each device shown in the figure, or may be configured without including some devices.

[0100] Each functional block of the UE200 (see FIG. 2) is realized by any hardware element of the computer device or a combination of the hardware elements.

[0101] Also, each function in the UE200 is realized by causing the processor 1001 to load a predetermined software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, so that the processor 1001 performs calculations and controls communication by the communication device 1004, or controls at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

[0102] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by operating an operating system, for example. The processor 1001 may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic device, a register, and the like.

[0103] Also, the processor 1001 reads a program (program code), software module, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiments is used. Further, the above various processes may be executed by one processor 1001, or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. Note that the program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunication line.

[0104] The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be constituted by at least one of, for example, Read Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. The memory 1002 may be referred to as a register, cache, main memory (main storage device), etc. The memory 1002 can store a program (program code), software module, etc. capable of executing the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0105] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, which may be composed of at least one of, for example, optical discs such as Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), hard disk drives, flexible disks, magneto-optical disks (e.g., compact discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray (registered trademark) discs), smart cards, flash memories (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives), floppy (registered trademark) disks, magnetic strips, etc. Storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-described recording medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other appropriate media including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0106] Communication device 1004 is hardware (a transmission and reception device) for performing communication between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc.

[0107] Communication device 1004 may be configured to include, for example, a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. in order to implement at least one of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

[0108] Input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) for receiving external input. Output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) for performing output to the outside. Note that input device 1005 and output device 1006 may have an integrated configuration (e.g., a touch panel).

[0109] Also, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus or different buses for each device.

[0110] Furthermore, the device may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), etc., and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0111] Also, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in this disclosure, and other methods may be used. For example, the notification of information may be implemented by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB))), other signals, or combinations thereof. Also, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, etc.

[0112] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to at least one of systems using Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), other suitable systems, and next-generation systems extended based on these. Further, a plurality of systems may be combined (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A and 5G, etc.) and applied.

[0113] The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be reordered as long as there is no contradiction. For example, regarding the methods described in the present disclosure, the elements of various steps are presented using an exemplary order and are not limited to the specific order presented.

[0114] The specific operations assumed to be performed by the base station in the present disclosure may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, various operations performed for communication with a terminal can clearly be performed by at least one of the base station and other network nodes other than the base station (for example, but not limited to, an MME or an S-GW). Although the case where there is one other network node other than the base station has been exemplified above, a combination of a plurality of other network nodes (for example, an MME and an S-GW) may also be possible.

[0115] Information, signals (such as information) can be output from an upper layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or an upper layer). They may also be input and output via a plurality of network nodes.

[0116] The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, a memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information can be overwritten, updated, or appended. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be transmitted to other devices.

[0117] The determination may be made based on a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (for example, comparison with a predetermined value).

[0118] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched and used during execution. Also, the notification of predetermined information (for example, the notification of "being X") is not limited to being explicitly performed, and may be performed implicitly (for example, by not performing the notification of the predetermined information).

[0119] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc., whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or by any other name.

[0120] Also, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), etc.) and wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave, etc.), at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included within the definition of the transmission medium.

[0121] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc., which may be referred to throughout the above description, may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0122] Note that terms described in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of channel and symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Also, a Component Carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, cell, frequency carrier, etc.

[0123] The terms "system" and "network" used in this disclosure are used interchangeably.

[0124] In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present disclosure may be represented using absolute values, relative values from a predetermined value, or by using other corresponding information. For example, the radio resources may be indicated by an index.

[0125] The names used for the above-described parameters are not limiting names in any way. Furthermore, the mathematical formulas, etc. using these parameters may be different from those explicitly disclosed in the present disclosure. Since various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable names, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting names in any way.

[0126] In the present disclosure, terms such as "Base Station (BS)", "radio base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission / reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", "component carrier", etc. may be used interchangeably. The base station may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, picocell, etc.

[0127] The base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). When the base station accommodates a plurality of cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be divided into a plurality of smaller areas, and each of the smaller areas can also provide communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

[0128] The term "cell" or "sector" refers to part or all of the coverage area of at least one of a base station that provides communication services in this coverage and a base station subsystem.

[0129] In the present disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)", "user terminal", "User Equipment (UE)", and "terminal" can be used interchangeably.

[0130] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term.

[0131] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be referred to as a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. Note that at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving body, the moving body itself, etc. The moving body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), a moving body that moves without a driver (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (humanoid or non-humanoid). Note that at least one of the base station and the mobile station also includes a device that does not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.

[0132] Also, the base station in the present disclosure may be read as a mobile station (user terminal, hereinafter the same). For example, for a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between a plurality of mobile stations (which may be referred to as, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), etc.), each aspect / embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied. In this case, the functions of the base station may be configured as functions of the mobile station. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, an uplink channel, a downlink channel, etc. may be read as a side channel.

[0133] Similarly, the mobile station in the present disclosure may be read as a base station. In this case, the functions of the mobile station may be configured as functions of the base station.

[0134] A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain.

[0135] Each of one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain.

[0136] A subframe may have a fixed time length (for example, 1 ms) that does not depend on numerology.

[0137] Numerology may be a communication parameter applied to at least one of transmission and reception of a certain signal or channel. Numerology may indicate, for example, at least one of subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame configuration, specific filtering processing performed by a transceiver in the frequency domain, specific windowing processing performed by a transceiver in the time domain, etc.

[0138] A slot may be composed of one or more symbols (such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols, etc.) in the time domain. A slot may be a time unit based on a numerology.

[0139] A slot may include a plurality of mini-slots. Each mini-slot may be composed of one or more symbols in the time domain. Also, a mini-slot may be called a sub-slot. A mini-slot may be composed of a smaller number of symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a mini-slot may be called a PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a mini-slot may be called a PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0140] A radio frame, a sub-frame, a slot, a mini-slot, and a symbol all represent time units for signal transmission. Different names corresponding to each of them may be used.

[0141] For example, one sub-frame may be called a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), a plurality of consecutive sub-frames may be called a TTI, or one slot or one mini-slot may be called a TTI. That is, at least one of the sub-frame and the TTI may be a sub-frame (1 ms) in existing LTE, or a period shorter than 1 ms (for example, 1 - 13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, a mini-slot, etc. instead of a sub-frame.

[0142] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the minimum time unit of scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station performs scheduling to allocate radio resources (such as the frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used at each user terminal) to each user terminal in units of TTI. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0143] TTI may be a transmission time unit such as a channel-encoded data packet (transport block), code block, codeword, etc., or may be a processing unit such as scheduling and link adaptation. Note that when TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) in which a transport block, code block, codeword, etc. are actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

[0144] Note that when one slot or one mini-slot is called TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. Also, the number of slots (mini-slots) constituting the minimum time unit of the scheduling may be controlled.

[0145] A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a normal TTI (TTI in LTE Rel.8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than the normal TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial TTI (partial or fractional TTI), shortened subframe, short subframe, mini-slot, sub-slot, slot, etc.

[0146] Note that a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, subframe, etc.) may be read as a TTI having a time length exceeding 1 ms, or a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be read as a TTI having a TTI length less than that of the long TTI and not less than 1 ms.

[0147] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and the frequency domain, and in the frequency domain, it may include one or more consecutive subcarriers.

[0148] The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of the numerology, for example, it may be 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on the numerology.

[0149] Also, the time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols, and may be the length of 1 slot, 1 mini-slot, 1 subframe, or 1 TTI. 1 TTI, 1 subframe, etc. may each be composed of one or more resource blocks.

[0150] Note that one or more RBs may be referred to as Physical Resource Block (PRB), Sub-Carrier Group (SCG), Resource Element Group (REG), PRB pair, RB pair, etc.

[0151] Also, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (RE). For example, 1 RE may be a radio resource area of 1 subcarrier and 1 symbol.

[0152] A Bandwidth Part (BWP) (which may also be called a partial bandwidth, etc.) may represent a subset of consecutive common resource blocks (RBs) for a certain numerology in a certain carrier. Here, the common RB may be specified by the index of the RB based on the common reference point of the carrier. A PRB is defined in a certain BWP and may be numbered within the BWP.

[0153] The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL (DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured within one carrier for a UE.

[0154] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not be assumed to transmit and receive a predetermined signal / channel outside the active BWP. Note that "cell", "carrier", etc. in the present disclosure may be read as "BWP".

[0155] The structures such as the radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols described above are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, and the number of symbols, symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc. within a TTI can be changed in various ways.

[0156] The terms "connected" and "coupled", or any variations thereof, mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and can include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "accessed". As used in the present disclosure, two elements can be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, and also, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, microwave region, and optical (both visible and invisible) region.

[0157] The reference signal can also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS) and may be called a Pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0158] In the present disclosure, the description "based on" used herein does not mean "only based on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the description "based on" means both "only based on" and "at least based on".

[0159] The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with a "section", "circuit", "device", etc.

[0160] Any reference to an element using designations such as "first", "second", etc. used in the present disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations can be used in the present disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Therefore, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements can be employed there or that the first element must precede the second element in any form.

[0161] In the present disclosure, when terms such as "include", "including" and their variants are used, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising". Furthermore, the term "or" used in the present disclosure is not intended to be an exclusive disjunction.

[0162] In the present disclosure, for example, when articles are added by translation, such as a, an and the in English, the present disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0163] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "deciding" may encompass a wide variety of operations. "Determining" and "deciding" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., searching a table, database, or other data structure), and ascertaining that something has been "determined" or "decided". "Determining" and "deciding" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., transmitting information), inputting, outputting, and accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory) and considering that something has been "determined" or "decided". "Determining" and "deciding" may also include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. and considering that something has been "determined" or "decided". That is, "determining" and "deciding" may include considering that some operation has been "determined" or "decided". Also, "determining (deciding)" may be read as "assuming", "expecting", "considering", etc.

[0164] In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean that "A and B are different from each other". Note that the term may also mean that "A and B are each different from C". Terms such as "separating" and "coupling" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different".

[0165] As described above in detail, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described in the present disclosure. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and changed forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is for illustrative purposes only and does not have any limiting meaning for the present disclosure.

Explanation of Signs

[0166] 10 Wireless communication system 20 NG-RAN 30 TSN 40 End station g100 NB 200 UE 210 Wireless communication unit 220 System information receiving unit 230 Time management unit 240 Message processing unit 250 Control unit 1001 Processor 1002 Memory 1003 Storage 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 1007 Bus

Claims

1. a receiving unit for receiving from a network a downlink channel over which time information used within the system is transmitted; a control unit for acquiring the time information included in the downlink channel, A terminal, wherein the control unit acquires the time information included in system information transmitted from the network when the time information is not included in the downlink channel.

2. The terminal according to claim 1 , further comprising a transmission unit that transmits a transmission request for the time information to the network.

3. a receiving step of receiving from a network a downlink channel on which time information used within the system is transmitted; a control step of acquiring the time information included in the downlink channel, A communication method for a terminal, wherein the control step, when the time information is not included in the downlink channel, acquires the time information included in system information transmitted from the network.

4. A communication system including a base station and a terminal, The base station, a transmitter for transmitting time information used within the system by using a downlink channel or system information; The terminal includes: a receiving unit that receives the downlink channel on which the time information is transmitted from the base station; a control unit for acquiring the time information included in the downlink channel, the control unit, when the time information is not included in the downlink channel, acquires the time information included in the system information transmitted from the base station. Communication systems.

Images