User equipment, scheduling node, method for user equipment, and method for scheduling node - Patents.com

Abstract

The communications device is a user equipment (UE) having a circuit and a transceiver. The circuit (a) obtains an indication of a plurality of transmission times from a control signaling, (b) obtains an indication of a frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, and (c) determines, based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, a plurality of adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the indicated plurality of transmission times, and (ii) the transmission times of the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit being configured to correspond to the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic. The transceiver may be configured to receive the control signaling and to transmit or receive a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the transmission and reception of signals in communication systems, such as 3GPP communication systems, and in particular to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for next-generation cellular technology, also known as 5th generation (5G), including New Radio (NR) access technology (RAT) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. NR is the successor to technologies represented by Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A).

[0003] In systems such as LTE and NR, further improvements and options may facilitate efficient operation of the communication system and certain devices associated with the communication system. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.300 [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TS 38.211 [Non-Patent Document 3] ITU-R M.2083 [Non-Patent Document 4] TR 38.913 [Non-Patent Document 5] TS 23.501 v16.1.0 [Non-Patent Document 6] TS 38.212 [Non-Patent Document 7] 3GPP TS 38.321 [Non-Patent Document 8] 3GPP TS 38.213 [Non-Patent Document 9] 3GPP TS 38.331 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One feature of some non-limiting exemplary embodiments is to promote efficient resource usage, especially in scenarios involving periodic traffic. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein features an apparatus (e.g., user equipment) including a transceiver and circuitry. In operation, the circuitry (a) obtains an indication of a plurality of transmit times from control signaling, (b) obtains an indication of a frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, and (c) determines, based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, adapted transmit times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmit opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmit times are different from the indicated transmit times, and (ii) the adapted transmit times are spaced apart by an integer multiple of a base time unit from one another, the integer multiple of the base time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence. In operation, the transceiver receives the control signaling and transmits or receives a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmit opportunities.

[0007] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

[0008] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings, in which such advantages and / or benefits are provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of which are provided to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] The following exemplary embodiments are explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Diagram 2] Schematic showing the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC [Diagram 3] Sequence diagram of RRC connection setup / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 4] Schematic showing the usage scenarios for Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) [Diagram 5] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for non-roaming [Figure 6] A diagram showing the relationship between bandwidth parts, control resource sets (CORESETS), search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates. [Figure 7] A diagram showing an example time domain structure for a communication system such as 5G NR, including radio frames, subframes, slots, and OFDM symbols at various subcarrier spacings. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates the signaling overhead in case of the use of scheduling requests by the UE in dynamic scheduling of uplink resources for XR traffic transmission. [Figure 9] Diagram showing overprovisioning of CG uplink resources for UEs transmitting XR traffic [Figure 10]A diagram illustrating overprovisioning of SPS downlink resources for a UE receiving XR traffic. [Figure 11] A block diagram showing a communication system including user equipment and a base station, and the structure of the user equipment and the base station. [Figure 12] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of a processing circuit on the user device side. [Figure 13] Block diagram showing the functional configuration of the processing circuit on the base station side [Figure 14] A flow chart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a network node and by a user equipment. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 illustrates the use of a matching method (in this example, a ceiling function with 1 ms granularity) to determine the transmission time of a transmission opportunity from a non-integer periodic resource. [Figure 16] Diagram illustrating the use of a hypothetical enable / disable cycle to determine the transmit time (advertised transmit time) of a transmit opportunity from an integer periodic resource. [Figure 17] Diagram illustrating the use of timers and time offsets to determine the transmission time (advertised transmission time) of a transmission opportunity from an integer periodic resource. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

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

[0011] In particular, the system architecture as a whole assumes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) comprising gNBs. The gNBs provide UE-side termination of NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are connected to each other by an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to a Next Generation Core (NGC) by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (e.g., a specific core entity performing AMF) by an NG-C interface, and to a User Plane Function (UPF) (e.g., a specific core entity performing UPF) by an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in FIG. 1 (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1, Version 15.6.0, Section 4).

[0012] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of 3GPP) includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) sublayer (see, for example, Section 6.4 of 3GPP), a Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayer (see, for example, Section 6.3 of 3GPP), and a Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayer (see, for example, Section 6.2 of 3GPP). A new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP)) is introduced on top of the PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of 3GPP). A control plane protocol stack is also defined for NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of 3GPP). An overview of Layer 2 functions is given in Section 6 of 3GPP. The functions of the PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers are listed in Sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of 3GPP, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in section 7 of non-patent document 1.

[0013] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles logical channel multiplexing and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling various numerologies.

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

[0015] NR use cases / deployment scenarios may include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps in downlink and 10 Gbps in uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates that are about three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, for URLLC, more stringent requirements are placed on ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for user plane latency in UL and DL respectively) and high reliability (1-10 ms within 1 ms). -5 Finally, mMTC is preferably regulated to have high connection density (1,000,000 devices / km in urban environments). 2), wide coverage in hostile environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) for a low-cost device.

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

[0017] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and each carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for the uplink and downlink, respectively. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on a frequency index in the frequency domain and a symbol position in the time domain (see Non-Patent Document 2, version 16.2.0 (e.g., section 4)). For example, downlink transmission and uplink transmission are configured in frames with a time length of 10 ms. Each frame consists of 10 subframes, each with a time length of 1 ms. In a 5G NR implementation, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing setting. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, a subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (similar to an LTE-compliant implementation, assuming a normal cyclic prefix). On the other hand, for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, a subframe has two slots, each with 14 OFDM symbols.

[0018] NR supports several different types of subcarrier spacing, labeled by the parameter μ, compared to LTE numerology (subcarrier spacing and symbol length) (in LTE, there is only 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, which corresponds to μ=0 in NR). The types of NR numerology are summarized in 3GPP TS 2011-01-13, ed. 15.7.0.

[0019] <Functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 2 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical node of NG-RAN is gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] In particular, the gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink; - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data; - Selection of an AMF at UE attach time if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data towards the UPF; - Routing of control plane information towards AMF; - Connection setup and release; - Scheduling and sending paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (sourced from AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance Function (OAM)); - Setting up measurements and reporting of measurements for mobility and scheduling; - Transport level packet marking in the uplink; - Session management; - Support for network slicing; - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; - Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message delivery function; - Sharing of radio access networks; - Dual connectivity; - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0021] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling; - NAS signaling security; - Access Stratum (AS) security control; - 3GPP Core Network (CN) inter-node signalling for mobility between access networks; - Reachability to idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Managing the registration area; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including roaming privilege checks; - Mobility management control (subscription and policies); - Support for network slicing; - Select the Session Management Function (SMF).

[0022] Additionally, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) Session Points for interconnection with data networks; - Packet routing and forwarding; - Packet inspection and policy rule enforcement for the user plane part; - Traffic usage reporting; - an uplink classifier that supports routing of traffic flows to the data network; - Branching Point for supporting multi-homed PDU session; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping to the QoS flow of the SDF); - Downlink packet buffering and trigger function for downlink data notification.

[0023] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - IP address allocation and management for the UE; - Selection and control of the UPF; - Traffic steering setting function in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the appropriate destination; - Policy enforcement and QoS for the control part; - Notification of downlink data.

[0024] <Procedures for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 3 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see Non-Patent Document 1, Version 15.6.0).

[0025] RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and the gNB. In particular, with this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (which includes, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responding with a SecurityModeComplete message to the gNB. The gNB then reconfigures to set up Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB) by sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE. For signaling-only connections, the steps related to RRCReconfiguration are omitted since SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, the gNB informs the AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0026] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) of a 5th Generation Core (5GC), comprising: a control circuit that operatively establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB; and a transmitter that operatively transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection so that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and a User Equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element (IE) to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. Then, the UE transmits in uplink or receives in downlink based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0027] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 shows some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd generation partnership project new radio (3GPP NR) considers three use cases that were envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. The first phase of specifications for enhanced mobile-broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to expanding support for eMBB. Figure 4 shows some examples of expected usage scenarios for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, Figure 2 in Non-Patent Document 3).

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements for performance such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers of future applications such as wireless control of industrial production or manufacturing processes, remote medical surgery, automation of power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and road safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by NR URLLC in Release 15. Key requirements for NR URLLC in Release 15 include a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms in UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms in DL (downlink). A typical URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0029] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many possible ways. Current room for reliability improvement includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, repeated transmission of PDCCH, etc. However, this room can be expanded to achieve ultra-high reliability as NR (with respect to the key requirements of NR URLLC) becomes more stable and more developed. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0030] Also, technology extensions targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technology extensions for improving latency include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, repeated transmissions at slot level in data channel, and pre-emption in downlink. Pre-emption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is stopped and the already allocated resources are used for other transmissions with lower latency / higher priority requirements that are requested later. Thus, a transmission that was already allowed is preempted by a later transmission. Pre-emption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology extensions for improving reliability include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0031] The use case of mMTC (massive machine type communication) is characterized by a very large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are not sensitive to delays. The devices are required to be low cost and have a very long battery life. From an NR perspective, the use of very narrow bandwidth portions is one solution that saves power from the UE's perspective and allows for a long battery life.

[0032] As mentioned above, the scope of reliability improvement in NR is expected to be broader. One of the key requirements for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. In general, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity with respect to frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvement regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0033] Further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisaged for NR URLLC, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The stringent requirements include high reliability (10 -6 level of reliability), high availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization up to a few μs (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 μs or a few μs depending on the frequency range and short latency in the range of 0.5 ms to 1 ms (in particular, a latency of 0.5 ms on the targeted user plane).

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical extensions may be possible from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical extensions include the extension of the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) for compact DCI, the repeated transmission of the PDCCH, and the increased monitoring of the PDCCH. Also, the extension of UCI (Uplink Control Information) is related to the extension of enhanced HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. In addition, there may be extensions of the PUSCH related to hopping at the mini-slot level, and extensions of retransmission / repeated transmission. The term "mini-slot" refers to a transmission time interval (TTI: Transmission Time Interval) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot has 14 symbols).

[0035] <QoS Control> The QoS (Quality of Service) model of 5G is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR (Granteed Bit Rate) QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest-grained QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI: QoS Flow ID) that is carried in an encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0036] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for the PDU session, e.g. as shown above with reference to Fig. 3. Additional DRBs for the QoS flows of the PDU session can be configured later (when it is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. The NAS level packet filters in the UE and the 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, whereas the AS level mapping rules in the UE and the NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0037] Figure 5 shows a non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see Section 4.23 of Non-Patent Document 5). An Application Function (AF) (e.g., an external application server hosting 5G services as illustrated in Figure 4) interacts with the 3GPP core network to support the provision of services, e.g., application influence on traffic routing, access to a Network Exposure Function (NEF), or interacting with a policy framework for policy control (e.g., QoS control) (see Policy Control Function (PCF)). Based on the operator's deployment, an Application Function that is considered trusted by the operator can interact directly with the relevant Network Function. An Application Function that is not permitted by the operator to directly access a Network Function interacts with the relevant Network Function using an external release framework via the NEF.

[0038] Figure 5 further illustrates further functional units of the 5G architecture: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator-provided services, Internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and run in a cloud computing environment.

[0039] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) that includes a transmitter that, in operation, transmits a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMBB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of 5GC functions (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE according to the QoS requirements, and a control circuit that, in operation, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0040] <Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink> The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0041] For example, the present disclosure may be applied to the uplink PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, the downlink PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and the sidelink PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0042] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0043] <Data Channel / Control Channel> The present disclosure may be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0044] <Reference signal> In this disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot signal. A reference signal may be any of a DMRS, a Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

[0045] <time interval> In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a subslot of a time slot, a minislot, or a symbol, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or other time resource unit. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be other numbers of symbols.

[0046] <Frequency band> The present disclosure may apply to both licensed and unlicensed bands.

[0047] <Communication> The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be rephrased as PSCCH, PSSCH, physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0048] The present disclosure can also be applied to a terrestrial network or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) using a satellite or a high altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS). The present disclosure can also be applied to a terrestrial network with a large cell size and a large delay compared to a symbol length or a slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0049] <Antenna port> An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed from one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna consisting of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas constituting an antenna port is not defined, and instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit that a terminal is allowed to transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplication of a precoding vector weighting.

[0050] <Downlink control channel monitoring, PDCCH, DCI> Many of the functions performed by a UE include monitoring a downlink control channel (e.g., the PDCCH, see 3GPP TS 2013-011066, version 15.6.0, section 5.2.3) for example to receive specific control information or data intended for the UE.

[0051] Below is a non-exhaustive list of such features: - Paging message monitoring function, - System information acquisition function, - Signaling monitoring operation in Discontinuous Reception (DRX) function, - Inactivity monitoring operation in the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) function, - receiving a random access response in a random access function; - Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer reordering function

[0052] As described above, the PDCCH is monitored by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (e.g., DCI on the PDCCH, user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0053] The control information in the downlink (which can be called Downlink Control Information, DCI) has the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e. it is a set of special control information for scheduling, for example, a downlink data channel (e.g. PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g. PUSCH). Many different DCI formats are already defined for 5G NR (see 3GPP TS 2013-010321, ed. 15.6.0, section 7.3.1).

[0054] These DCI formats represent the predefined formats that the respective information is formed and transmitted in. In particular, DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 are used for scheduling PUSCH and PDSCH in one cell, respectively.

[0055] The PDCCH monitoring in each of these functions serves a specific purpose and is therefore initiated for that purpose. PDCCH monitoring is typically controlled at least based on a timer operated by the UE. The timer has the purpose of controlling the PDCCH monitoring, for example to limit the maximum length of time that the UE monitors the PDCCH. For example, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH indefinitely and can stop monitoring after a certain time so as to conserve power.

[0056] As mentioned above, one of the purposes of DCI in PDCCH is to dynamically schedule resources in the downlink or uplink, or in the sidelink. In particular, several formats of DCI are provided to convey notification of resources assigned to a data channel for a particular user (resource allocation, RA). A resource allocation may include specification of resources in the frequency domain and / or the time domain.

[0057] <Physical resource block> The term "physical resource block" (PRB) usually refers to the smallest allocable resource unit available for the transmission of (user) data. In LTE and NR, a PRB has a predefined number (e.g., 12) of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and a predefined number of symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols in LTE) in the time domain.

[0058] <BWP:bandwidth part> NR systems support much wider channel bandwidths (e.g., hundreds of MHz) than LTE's 20 MHz. LTE also supports wideband communication through carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers up to 20 MHz. By defining wider channel bandwidths in NR, frequency resources can be dynamically allocated through scheduling, which can be more efficient and flexible than the carrier aggregation operation of LTE, where activation / deactivation is based on MAC control elements. Having a single wideband carrier also has the advantage of reduced control overhead, since only a single control signaling is required (carrier aggregation requires separate control signaling for each aggregated carrier).

[0059] Additionally, like LTE, NR may support aggregation of multiple carriers via carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0060] Since UEs do not always require high data rates, the use of a wide bandwidth may result in higher idle power consumption, both in terms of RF and baseband signal processing. In this regard, the newly developed bandwidth portion concept for NR provides a means to operate UEs with a bandwidth smaller than the configured channel bandwidth, providing an energy-efficient solution while supporting wideband operation, which benefits these low-end terminals that cannot access the entire bandwidth for NR.

[0061] A Bandwidth Part (BWP) is a subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell (e.g., the location and number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs)). Bandwidth parts may be defined separately for uplink and downlink. Furthermore, each bandwidth part may be associated with a specific OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix). For example, Bandwidth Adaptation is achieved by configuring a BWP in the UE and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is the currently active BWP.

[0062] Exemplarily, in 5G NR, a specific BWP is configured only for a UE in an RRC_Connected state. For example, other than an initial BWP (e.g., one each for UL and DL), a BWP only exists for a UE in a connected state. To support initial data exchange between the UE and the network, for example, during the process of moving the UE from an RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state, an initial DL BWP and an initial UL BWP are configured in the minimum system information.

[0063] A UE may have more than one BWP defined (e.g., up to four BWPs per serving cell, as currently defined for NR), but a UE has only one active DL BWP at a time.

[0064] For details on BWP operation, see section 5.15 of Non-Patent Document 7. Switching between configured BWPs can be realized in various ways. The operation of the bandwidth portion in the uplink and downlink is defined in 3GPP TS 2013-01036, version 16.8.0, section 5.15 in a 5G NR compliant implementation. The BWP can be switched, for example, by the downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., using the bandwidth portion indicator in DCI format 0_1 ​​(UL grant) and DCI format 1_1 (DL schedule)), by using the BWP inactivity timer, by using RRC signaling, by the MAC entity itself at the start of the random access procedure. For a primary cell (PCell), the initial BWP is the BWP used for initial access, and the default BWP is the initial BWP unless another initial BWP is explicitly configured. For a secondary cell (SCell), the initial BWP is always explicitly configured and a default BWP can also be configured. When a default BWP is configured for a serving cell, the active BWP switches to the default BWP when the inactivity timer associated with that cell expires.

[0065] Some DCI formats (such as formats 0_0 and 1_0) do not include a BWP ID, while other DCI formats (such as formats 0_1, 0_2, 1_1, and 1_2) allow the number of bits for the BWP ID to be configurable by the RRC, which may be 0, 1, or 2 bits.

[0066] FIG. 6 shows a scenario in which three different BWPs are set: BWP1 with a frequency bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, BWP2 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and BWP3 with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz.

[0067] The different BWPs can be configured, for example, using appropriate information elements of the RRC protocol. A carrier bandwidth portion is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks selected from a contiguous subset of common resource blocks of a given numerology (u) in a given carrier.

[0068] According to an exemplary 5G NR compatible implementation in line with, for example, version 16.8.0 of 3GPP TS 2010-010666, different RRCReconfiguration information elements may be used.

[0069] <Control signal> In the present disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC Control Element (CE) of a higher layer or an RRC. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0070] The uplink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PUCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC CE of a higher layer or an RRC. Also, the uplink control signal may be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be uplink control information (UCI), first stage sidelink control information (SCI), or second stage SCI.

[0071] <Control information: Search space set> PDCCH monitoring is performed by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (eg, DCI on the PDCCH and user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0072] The control information in the downlink (which can be referred to as, for example, Downlink Control Information (DCI)) has essentially the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e. it is a special set of control information for scheduling, for example, a downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). In an exemplary implementation according to 5G NR, there are several different DCI formats already defined (see 3GPP TS 2013-010321, v17.1.0, section 7.3.1). The following table provides an overview: [Table 1]

[0073] In 5G NR, the PDCCH is transmitted in a radio resource region called the control resource set (CORESET). In LTE, the concept of CORESET does not explicitly exist. Instead, the PDCCH in LTE uses the entire carrier bandwidth in the first 1-3 OFDM symbols (4 in the narrowest case). In contrast, the CORESET in NR can occur anywhere in the slot and anywhere in the frequency range of the carrier, except that the UE is not supposed to process the CORESET outside the active bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0074] Therefore, the UE performs PDCCH monitoring operations as specified in 3GPP TS 2.0, e.g., version 17.1.0, clauses 10 and 11. In the exemplary specification, the UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates that are specified as a PDCCH search space set. The search space set can be a Common Search Space (CSS) or a UE-specific Search Space (USS).

[0075] As exemplarily defined in Section 10.1 of Non-Patent Document 8, the UE: - the Type0-PDCCH CSS set by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for the DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - the Type0A-PDCCH CSS set by the searchSpaceOtherSystemlnformation of PDCCH-ConfigCommon for the DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - the Type1-PDCCH CSS set by the ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI, or TC-RNTI on the primary cell; - the Type2-PDCCH CSS set by the pagingSearch Space in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - a Type3-PDCCH CSS set by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, or CI-RNTI and, for the primary cell only, by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI, or PS-RNTI; - a USS set configured by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=ue-Specific for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, CS-RNTI, SL-RNTI, SL-CS-RNTI, or SL semi-persistent scheduling V-RNTI The PDCCH candidate is monitored in one or more of the sets of CSSs and USSs such as:

[0076] A search space set is monitored in one or more CORESETs in an active DL BWP for each activated serving cell configured for PDCCH monitoring with the corresponding search space set, where monitoring implies decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format.

[0077] Conceptually, Figure 6 shows an exemplary relationship between bandwidth portions, CORESETs, search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates that a UE may monitor. As is evident from Figure 6, one CORESET is shown per BWP, but there can be more than one. Each CORESET can have several search spaces of one or more PDCCH candidates of a particular aggregation level (e.g., mAL2, 4, or 8). These search spaces can be grouped into search space sets, such as shared SS sets and UE-specific SS sets.

[0078] <Time domain in 5G NR> In the time domain, transmissions in 5G NR are organized into frames of length 10 ms, each of which is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of length 1 ms. The subframes are divided into one or more slots of 14 OFDM symbols each. The time length of the slots in milliseconds depends on the numerology. Thus, for example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, an NR slot has an identical structure to an LTE subframe with a normal cyclic prefix. A subframe in 5G NR serves as a numerology-independent time reference, which is especially useful when multiple numerologies are mixed on the same carrier, while a slot is a typical dynamic scheduling unit. This frame structure on which 3GPP 5G NR communication is based is exemplarily shown in Figure 7.

[0079] 5G NR offers multiple slot formats, where the slot format indicates how each symbol in a slot is used. The slot format defines which symbols in a particular slot are used for uplink and which symbols are used for downlink. In LTE TDD, if a subframe (corresponding to a slot in NR) is configured for DL ​​or UL, all symbols in that subframe must be used as DL or UL. However, in NR, each of the symbols in a slot can be configured differently as DL or UL. There are also flexible symbols that can be configured as DL or UL. In an exemplary 5G NR-compliant implementation, the gNB uses a slot format indicator (SFI) to inform the UE of the slot format to be used (see also 3GPP TS 2013-010301, Sec. 16.7.0, Sec. 11.1.1). For example, the slot format indicator includes an index value associated with the slot format (e.g., in the form of a table).

[0080] <Uplink control information and Scheduling Request (SR) in 5G NR> Downlink control information is carried by the PDCCH (see above), whereas uplink control information (UCI) can be transmitted on the PUCCH or PUSCH depending on the situation. Uplink control information can be channel state information (CSI), ACK / NACK information, and scheduling requests. Not all of these need to be carried in one PUCCH transmission. For example, CSI may be carried alone, ACK / NACK may be carried alone, SR may be carried alone, or CSI and ACK / NACK may be carried together in the PUCCH.

[0081] There are several different PUCCH formats that can be used to transmit UCI, and currently there are five PUCCH formats, 0 through 4. Of these, two formats, 0 and 2, are sometimes called short PUCCH formats, since they occupy a maximum of two OFDM symbols. Often, the last one or two OFDM symbols of a slot are used for PUCCH transmission, e.g., to transmit a hybrid ARQ acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) for a downlink data transmission.

[0082] Formats 1, 3 and 4 are sometimes called long PUCCH formats because they occupy between 4 and 14 OFDM symbols. The reason for having a longer time length than the previous two formats is coverage. If a time length of one or two OFDM symbols does not provide enough received energy for reliable reception, a longer time length is required and one of the long PUCCH formats can be used.

[0083] The PUCCH format to use can be determined based on, for example, how many bits of UCI are transmitted and how many symbols (time length of PUCCH) can be used, as shown in the following table (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2, Version 17.1.0, Section 6.3.2):

[0084] The UCI can be transmitted on the PUCCH flexibly in the time and frequency domains using specially allocated radio resources, e.g., PUCCH resource sets. A maximum of four sets of PUCCH resources can be configured in the UE, and the PUCCH resource sets are associated with PUCCH resource set indexes. In particular, a PUCCH resource set includes at least four PUCCH resource configurations, each of which includes the PUCCH format to be used and all transmission parameters required for that format. Such resource configuration can be done by various information elements of the RRC protocol layer, such as the PUCCH-Config information element (see, e.g., 3GPP TS 2013-01036, version 16.7.0, section 6.3.2).

[0085] As mentioned above, a UE may be configured with up to four PUCCH resource sets, each corresponding to a particular range of UCI feedback to transmit. For example, PUCCH resource set 0 may handle up to 2 bits of UCI payload and therefore only includes PUCCH formats 0 and 1, while the remaining PUCCH resource sets may include any PUCCH format other than formats 0 and 1.

[0086] The current reporting of UCI on PUCCH is defined in 3GPP TS 2.0, e.g., version 17.1.0, section 9.2.

[0087] The PUCCH resource may include one or more of the following parameters: PUCCH resource index Index of the first PRB (Physical Resource Block) before frequency hopping and without frequency hopping Index of the first PRB after frequency hopping Notification of intra-slot frequency hopping PUCCH format setting

[0088] PUCCH resources are assigned by the gNB differently for each UE. The UE uses the preconfigured PUCCH resources without coordination with the gNB. Assigning different PUCCH resources to the UE ensures that the UEs can use these resources simultaneously without colliding or interfering with each other.

[0089] The transmission of scheduling requests using PUCCH is defined in 3GPP TS 2.0, e.g., v17.1.0, section 9.2.4. Specific parameters are configured in the UE to determine the scheduling request radio resources used for the transmission of a scheduling request (SR). For example, a periodicity and offset are defined for SR transmission and are used to determine the slot and / or frame number for the SR transmission opportunity based on the configured PUCCH resource set.

[0090] In this respect, the configuration of such SR resources may be performed by different information elements at the RRC protocol layer, such as the SchedulingRequestConfig and SchedulingRequestResourceConfig information elements (see, for example, 3GPP TS 2010-010521, version 16.7.0, section 6.3.2).

[0091] Briefly, a scheduling request is basically a flag issued by a user equipment to request uplink resources from the uplink scheduler of the base station. Since the device requesting the resources does not have PUSCH resources available, the scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH using a PUCCH resource that is preconfigured and periodically reoccurs exclusively for the UE. The serving base station can then allocate radio resources to the user equipment.

[0092] Unlike LTE, 5G NR supports the configuration of multiple scheduling requests from one device. A logical channel can be mapped to zero or more scheduling request configurations. This provides the gNB with information that the device has data waiting to be transmitted, as well as the type of data that is waiting to be transmitted. This information can be useful for the gNB to take into account the different traffic types that 5G NR is designed to support. For example, the gNB may want to schedule the user equipment for transmission of latency-critical information but not for transmission of non-latency-critical information.

[0093] Each device can be assigned a dedicated PUCCH scheduling request resource with a periodicity ranging from every 2 OFDM symbols to support latency critical services to every 80 ms for low overhead. Only one scheduling request can be transmitted at a given time, i.e. in case of multiple logical channels with data to transmit, one exemplary action is to trigger the scheduling request corresponding to the highest priority logical channel. Until a grant is received from the gNB, requests can only be made in the following repeated resources, up to a configurable upper limit. It is also possible to configure an inhibit timer that controls how often a scheduling request can be transmitted. In case of multiple scheduling request resources, both of these configurations are done per scheduling request resource.

[0094] <SPS in downlink and configured grant in uplink> In the downlink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH (e.g., see DCI above). Similarly, in the uplink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH (e.g., see DCI above). In addition to dynamically allocating downlink and uplink resources, scheduling extensions are also provided in 5G NR, where resource allocation can be implemented in 5G NR based on semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) in the downlink and configured grant (CG) in the uplink.

[0095] In the downlink, the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) feature adopted in 5G NR is a further development of the SPS adopted in the previous communication system LTE and can be applied to both the uplink and downlink. Furthermore, in LTE, SPS configuration is generally dedicated to a single device. If that device does not require the assigned periodic resources (e.g., data is transmitted only in case of a specific event such as a collision warning), the SPS resources not used by the UE are wasted.

[0096] According to an exemplary 5G NR compliant implementation, the RRC defines the relevant parameters of the SPS. To configure the downlink semi-persistent transmission, the RRC information element SPS-Config is defined in, for example, version 16.7.0 of 3GPP TS 21.2006.02.22.0. For example, the RRC defines the periodicity of the configured downlink allocation, the number of HARQ processes, the MCS, etc.

[0097] DL SPS supports various periodicities, e.g., common to all subcarrier spacings (SCS), or dependent on the subcarrier spacing. An example of the periodicity when dependent on the SCS, as currently defined in Non-Patent Document 9, is shown below: For 15KHz SCS: {1,2,3,...,640}ms For 30KHz SCS: 0.5×{1,2,3,...,1280}ms For 60KHz SCS: 0.25×{1,2,3,...,2560}ms For 120KHz SCS: 0.125×{1,2,3,...,5120}ms

[0098] A UE may have several (e.g. up to 8) active configured downlink allocations for one BWP of a serving cell. If multiple are configured, then: - The network decides which of these configured downlink allocations are active at a time (including all allocations). - Each configured downlink assignment is activated individually using a DCI command, and deactivation of a configured downlink assignment is done using a DCI command, which can deactivate a single configured downlink assignment or a collective deactivation of multiple configured downlink assignments.

[0099] The PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can signal and activate the configured downlink allocation, while the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can indicate that the downlink allocation can be implicitly reused until deactivated according to an RRC defined periodicity. If necessary, retransmissions are scheduled explicitly, e.g. on the PDCCH.

[0100] SPS is particularly useful for periodic downlink data transmissions, such as Voice over IP (VoIP) services: the base station configures SPS radio resources, and the UE can use these periodic radio resources without using an additional scheduling request procedure.

[0101] Uplink data transmission typically requires resources to be requested by the UE, followed by a packed scheduling decision and resource allocation at the scheduler (e.g., base station). This allocation cycle introduces additional delay and signaling. The delay in radio resource allocation between the UE and the base station can be avoided by allowing the UE to use radio resources without requesting them from the base station in advance. This can be implemented by the so-called Configured Grant (CG).

[0102] Furthermore, by using configured grants, multiple devices (UEs) may be allowed to share periodic radio resources (which facilitates reducing waste of periodic radio resources compared to LTE SPS). On the other hand, it is also possible for the gNB to define periodic radio resources in such a way that they are not shared or are not shared completely among multiple UEs. The gNB assigns configured grant radio resources to one or more UEs, and the UEs randomly utilize these periodic radio resources when they need to transmit data (e.g., small data). By using CGs, the network can eliminate packet transmission delays caused by a specific scheduling request procedure that must otherwise be performed before data can be transmitted. This may also improve the utilization of the assigned periodic radio resources.

[0103] In 3GPP Release 16 and Release 17, two types of grant-free configuration schemes are supported: Type 1 and Type 2 (see 3GPP RFC3236, e.g., v. 16.8.0, section 10.3). According to this exemplary implementation of 3GPP RFC3236, using Type 1 CG, the RRC provides the uplink configured grant, including, e.g., its periodicity, directly to the UE.

[0104] In type 2 configured grant, RRC defines the periodicity of uplink configured grant and PDCCH message addressed to UE's CS-RNTI signals uplink configured grant to activate or deactivate. PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI indicates that uplink grant can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC until it is deactivated. In other words, additional L1 signaling (e.g. PDCCH) is introduced and uplink is semi-persistently scheduled by RRC-based uplink grant that is activated / deactivated by (de)activation DCI. RRC provides higher layer parameters for CG configuration.

[0105] In either case, according to an exemplary 3GPP implementation, the RRC provides the grant configuration to the UE through a higher layer parameter called ConfiguredGrantConfig (see 3GPP TS 2010-01011, Section 16.7.0, Section 6.3.2 “Radio resource control information elements”).

[0106] The resource configuration of the CG may include, for example, physical resources in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and / or reference signal (RS) parameters. The configuration parameters may further include a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and / or a repetition number and / or a cycle period and / or a transport block size.

[0107] Retransmissions other than repetition are assigned explicitly via the PDCCH or by setting a retransmission timer.

[0108] In UL CG, various periods are supported, and these can depend on the subcarrier spacing. An example of the periods currently defined in Non-Patent Document 9 when depending on SCS is shown below. · For 15 KHz SCS: multiples of 1 ms to 640 ms, or multiples of 2 symbols (1 / 7 ms), or multiples of 7 symbols (0.5 ms) · For 30 KHz SCS: multiples of 1 / 2 ms to 640 ms, or multiples of 2 symbols (1 / 14 ms), or multiples of 7 symbols (0.25 ms)

[0109] <Extended Reality in XR - Release 18> The study items of 3GPP relate to extended reality (XR) in RAN 1 and RAN 2. The purpose is to provide efficient communication for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and cloud gaming. In particular, technologies for XR (extended reality) are being studied. For example, technologies for corresponding to XR service characteristics such as period, multiple flows, jitter, latency, reliability, etc. are being studied. The XR applications considered require high data rates in the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) and have a relatively strict packet delay budget (PDB).

[0110] Furthermore, some XR applications operate on devices with limited energy sources, such as wearable glasses or portable devices. Therefore, energy efficiency is an important concern.

[0111] In XR applications, various data traffics including video streams are used. Video frames are very large and have various sizes. Since video frames arrive through a time window, they are characterized as quasi-periodic. Furthermore, the period of the time window is non-integer with respect to the radio frame / slot / symbol. · Packet size: In the case of high - quality video streams, the compressed frame size of 8K video becomes approximately 1 Mbit. Therefore, the packet size becomes large. · Various sizes: The frame size may vary depending on the I - frame or P - frame / B - frame. · Period: Video streams generally generate 60 / 90 / 120 FPS, corresponding to periods of 16.667 ms, 11.111 ms, and 8.333 ms respectively. · Jitter: Frame packets arrive at the gNB / UE through a time window of [- 4,4] ms or more. · Delay budget: The delay budget for delivering XR packets can be strict. For example, it is 10 ms in ARA / R and 15 ms in cloud gaming.

[0112] <Enhanced UE Power Saving for NR> User experience is important for the success of 5G / NR, not only in terms of the perceived data rate and latency but also in terms of UE power consumption. Therefore, enhanced UE power saving is extremely important for the success of 5G / NR. In Rel - 16, several useful power - saving schemes are defined, including power - saving signals / DCI as an extension of connected - mode DRX (cDRX), additional adaptation for the maximum number of MIMO layers, SCell suspension operation and cross - slot scheduling as an extension of the BWP framework, RRM relaxation in power consumption in idle / non - active modes, and UE assistance information.

[0113] In Rel-17, additional extensions are needed to address open issues in Rel-16, including idle / inactive mode power consumption in NR SA deployments taking into account both eMBB UEs and Reduced Capability NR devices, connected mode power consumption in FR2 deployments, etc. One specific example is to consider and specify extensions to the Rel-16 DCI based power saving adaptation during DRX active time in active BWP, including reduced PDCCH monitoring when C-DRX is configured (RAN1).

[0114] Another power saving study item is related to XR specific power saving in RAN1 and RAN2. In particular, power saving techniques for extended reality (XR) are being considered, including techniques to address XR service characteristics such as periodicity, multiple flows, jitter, latency, reliability, etc. One technique could be related to enhanced PDCCH monitoring. Further study items related to XR are related to XR specific capacity improvements in RAN1 and RAN2, including consideration of mechanisms to provide more efficient resource allocation and scheduling for XR service characteristics such as periodicity, multiple flows, jitter, latency, reliability, etc. Techniques could be related to SPS and CG extensions, as well as dynamic scheduling / grant extensions.

[0115] Energy savings that can be achieved in the UE include: UE-specific BWP adaptation and use of dormant SCells (using DCI format 0_1 ​​(for UL) and DCI format 1_1 (for DL)) UE or UE group specific time domain adaptation with DRX and time domain adaptation using DCI format 2_6 Indication of UE group specific CSI-RS / TRS availability for IDLE / INACTIVE UEs via DCI format 2_7 and paging · DCI-based PDCCH monitoring adaptation with PDCCH skipping and Search Space Set Group (SSSG) switching This includes mechanisms such as:

[0116] <Further improvements> Above we have briefly presented considerations for XR. However, current 5G NR releases cannot efficiently support XR traffic, e.g., video streams, due to, for example, non-integer periodicity of video packets, variable packet arrival times, and large and variable packet sizes.

[0117] The UE may use dynamic scheduling for XR traffic. In an example for the uplink, a scheduling request is first transmitted from the UE to the base station to request uplink resources. The base station may then transmit on an appropriate downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) a dynamic uplink grant to the UE to be used for transmitting the uplink XR traffic. In the downlink, the base station may transmit on an appropriate downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) a downlink resource assignment indicating the downlink resources the base station will use to transmit the downlink XR traffic. Thus, using dynamic scheduling for XR traffic increases signaling overhead and requires the UE to monitor PDCCH opportunities more frequently, resulting in higher UE power consumption. It also increases the network power consumption for DL ​​and UL grants and corresponding PDCCH transmissions.

[0118] Figure 8 illustrates a solution based on dynamic scheduling of the uplink. In particular, Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario, according to which the UE has no periodic CG resources available in the uplink and must request uplink resources using a scheduling request. In this regard, the UE has a scheduling request configuration with periodic uplink resources for sending the scheduling request via an uplink control channel, e.g., PUCCH. The SR resource is exemplarily assumed to have a period of 4 ms. A 60 fps video stream is assumed, so that a video frame is generated every 1 / 60=16.6666 ms. The video frames are generated through a jitter window of 8 ms at the UE side. Figure 8 illustrates a situation in which four video frames arrive at different times within the respective jitter windows.

[0119] As can be seen from Figure 8, when a video frame arrives within the jitter window, the UE will use the next SR uplink opportunity to send a scheduling request to the base station. After the base station receives the scheduling request, it can dynamically grant the UE appropriate uplink resources and send a corresponding uplink grant (denoted as DCI in Figure 8) to the UE. The UE can then use the granted uplink resources to transmit the video frame to the base station at the appropriate time.

[0120] Unused periodic SR uplink resources are shown as empty boxes, periodic SR uplink resources used for SR transmission are shown as striped boxes, and further striped boxes indicate dynamically allocated uplink resources for transmitting video frames.

[0121] To avoid dynamic scheduling for XR traffic, periodically configured resources such as SPS or CG may be used to deliver XR data. This is achieved by reserving periodic resources for transmission of periodic traffic (e.g., XR traffic). This reduces signaling overhead and provides higher reliability since there is no need to transmit DCI to inform of individual scheduling resources. For example, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) and / or configured grants (CG) as described above may be used to transmit periodic traffic in DL and UL, respectively. A UE may be configured with multiple SPS and CG configurations. However, since current 5G NR supports only integer periods expressed in radio frames / slots / symbols for SPS and CG configurations, such an approach requires excessive resource reservation, which may lead to resource and power inefficiencies and a reduced number of devices that can be supported.

[0122] As an alternative to the SR scenario of FIG. 8, an exemplary scenario that avoids dynamic scheduling is shown in FIG. 9. For ease of explanation and understanding, the same assumptions as in FIG. 8 are made, with a jitter window of 8 ms and a periodicity of CG uplink resources of 4 ms. FIG. 9 illustrates over-provisioning of CG uplink resources to a UE for transmitting a 60 fps video stream in the uplink. The UE knows, at least for its application, when the jitter window occurs. FIG. 9 illustrates how four video frames arrive at different times within their respective jitter windows and are then transmitted by available CG uplink resources within and outside the jitter window. Unused CG uplink resources are shown as empty boxes, while CG uplink resources used for transmitting video frames are shown as striped boxes.

[0123] As is clear from Fig. 9, it is assumed here for illustrative purposes that there is only one active CG configuration with a period of 4 ms. The period of the CG uplink resource (4 ms) and the period of the video frame (16.6666 ms) do not match, and the generation of the CG uplink resource shifts relative to the jitter window in which the video frames are generated.

[0124] To avoid long latency, sufficient opportunity is provided for UE to transmit video frames as soon as possible. In this example, a configured uplink grant with a period of 4 ms is assumed. Overprovisioning of CG resources as shown in Figure 9 can achieve low latency, but at the expense of low resource utilization.

[0125] Furthermore, FIG. 10 shows that SPS downlink resources are over-provisioned so that the UE can receive the video stream (again at 60 fps). For ease of illustration and explanation, we make the same assumptions as in FIG. 9, including a jitter window of 8 ms and a periodicity of SPS downlink resources of 4 ms. FIG. 10 shows the arrival of frames 1-4 at the base station. From the UE's perspective, the UE does not necessarily know the location of the jitter window, nor does it know when the video frames are generated at the base station. Rather, the UE periodically monitors all periodic downlink resources according to the illustrated SPS configuration, and can receive the XR video frames 1-4 shown in FIG. 10. As is evident from FIG. 10, the video frames arrive (e.g., are generated) at the base station within the jitter window, but may be transmitted by the base station outside the jitter window.

[0126] However, XR and video streams are just a specific example scenario in which the above drawbacks exist. Other scenarios exist. Thus, the present invention and its solutions do not apply only to XR and video streams.

[0127] <Embodiment> The inventors have identified the possibility of providing an improved procedure to enable one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages to be avoided. The present invention relates to different solutions and variants for such an improved paging procedure. The present disclosure therefore provides techniques to increase the efficiency of resource usage, especially in scenarios involving periodic traffic such as XR traffic. In particular, techniques are disclosed for more efficiently supporting non-integer periods.

[0128] The present disclosure provides, inter alia, a scheduling device, a corresponding method for the scheduling device, user equipment, a corresponding method for the user equipment, a communication system including the scheduling device and user equipment, and an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls processes for the scheduling device / user equipment to perform the respective methods.

[0129] <Terminology> In the following, UEs, base stations, and procedures for new radio access technologies envisioned in 5G mobile communication systems (although they can also be used in LTE mobile communication systems) are described. Various implementations and variations are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the discussion and discoveries above.

[0130] Generally, it should be noted that many assumptions are made herein so that the principles underlying the present disclosure can be explained in a clear and understandable manner. However, it should be understood that these assumptions are merely examples made herein for the purpose of explanation, and are not necessarily essential to the invention, and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles described in the following disclosure and claims can be applied to different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0131] Furthermore, although the specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming communication systems has not yet been fully determined or may eventually change, some of the terms such as procedures, entities, layers, etc. used below are closely related to the terms used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in the current 3GPP 5G standardization. Thus, the terms may change in the future, but without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the embodiments and their scope of protection are not limited to the specific terms used illustratively herein due to the absence of newer or finally agreed terminology, but should be understood more broadly in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0132] <Device> A terminal or user terminal or user device or mobile station or mobile node is called user equipment (UE) in LTE and NR. A user equipment may be a mobile device or communication device, such as a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a universal serial bus (USB) stick with user equipment functionality. However, the term mobile device is not limited thereto, and in general, a repeater may also have such mobile device functionality, and a mobile device may act as a repeater. For example, a terminal is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. Furthermore, a communication device may be any machine-type communication device, such as an IoT device, etc. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a given set of functions to the same node or other nodes or other functional entities of a network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach the node to a communication facility or medium over which the node can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach the functional entity to a communication facility or medium over which the functional entity may communicate with other functional entities or corresponding nodes.

[0133] <Base station> In the present disclosure, the base station may be, for example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a Base Station (BS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Also, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be used instead of a base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit. The base station may be, for example, a scheduling node or a network node that forms part of a network for providing services to terminals. In particular, the base station may provide wireless access to terminals. The communication between terminals and base stations is generally standardized and may be defined by different layers such as PHY, MAC, and RRC. In LTE and NR, the air interface protocol stack includes a physical layer, a medium access layer (MAC), and an upper layer. The control plane is provided with a radio resource control protocol, which is an upper layer protocol. Through RRC, the base station can control the configuration of the terminals, and the terminals can communicate with the base station to perform control tasks such as establishing and modifying connections and bearers, measurements, and other functions. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), and the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB. The term base station or radio base station here refers to a physical entity in a communication network. Similar to a mobile station, a base station may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a given set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. The physical entity performs several control tasks for the communication device, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. It should be noted that the base station functions and the communication device functions may also be integrated in a single device.For example, a mobile terminal may also implement the functionality of a base station for other terminals. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), and the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB. In particular, the base station may be a gNB in ​​a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NR system.

[0134] As mentioned above, the present disclosure provides a base station and a user equipment. The present disclosure further provides a system including a scheduled device and a scheduling device, and corresponding methods and programs. An example of such a communication system is shown in FIG. 11. The communication system 1100 may be a wireless communication system according to 5G technical specifications, in particular an NR communication system. However, the present disclosure is not limited to a 3GPP NR terrestrial network (TN), and may also be applied to other wireless systems or cellular systems, such as NTN.

[0135] FIG. 11 shows a general simplified exemplary block diagram of a communication device 1110 (here assumed to be an UE for illustrative purposes) and a scheduling device 1160 (here assumed to be located in a base station, e.g., an LTE eNB (or also called ng-eNB) or a gNB in ​​5G NR for illustrative purposes). However, typically, the scheduling device may be a terminal in the case of a sidelink connection between two terminals. Furthermore, in particular with regard to URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC use cases, the communication device 1110 may be a sensor device, a wearable device, or a connected vehicle, or a controller of an automated machine in an industrial factory. Furthermore, the communication device 1110 may be capable of acting as a relay between a base station and other communication devices (e.g., the present disclosure is not limited to a communication "terminal" or a user "terminal"). As shown in FIG. 11, the communication device 1110 and the scheduling device 1160 (eNB / gNB) can communicate with each other over a (radio) physical channel 1150 using their respective transceivers 1120 (UE side) and 1170 (base station side). The scheduling device 1160 and the terminal 1110 together form a communication system 1100. The communication system 1100 may further include other entities than those shown in FIG 1. The communication between the communication device (UE) and the scheduling device (base station) is typically standardized and may be defined by various layers such as PHY, MAC, RRC, etc. (see background description above).

[0136] As shown in FIG. 11 (left side), the communication device comprises a transceiver and a circuit (or processing circuit), and the scheduling device comprises a transceiver and a (processing) circuit. The transceiver may include functions as a receiver and a transmitter. In other words, in this disclosure, the term "transceiver" is used for hardware and software components that enable the communication device or the base station to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, respectively, over a wireless channel. Thus, the transceiver corresponds to a receiver, a transmitter, or a combination of a receiver and a transmitter. Typically, it is assumed that the base station and the communication device can both transmit and receive wireless signals. However, for some applications, especially eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC (smart home, smart city, industrial automation, etc.), it may be the case that a device such as a sensor only receives signals. Furthermore, the term "circuit" includes a processing circuit formed by one or more processors or processing units, etc. The transmitter may be responsible for performing the process of transmission and other processes related thereto. The receiver can be responsible for performing the process of reception and other processes related thereto, such as monitoring the channel. The circuit (or processing circuit) may be one or more hardware such as one or more processors or any LSI. Between the transceiver and the processing circuit, there is an input / output point (or node), and the processing circuit, in operation, can control the transceiver, i.e., control the receiver and / or the transmitter, and exchange receive / transmit data. The transceiver may include an RF front, including one or more antennas, amplifiers, radio frequency (RF) modulators / demodulators, etc., as the transmitter and receiver. The processing circuit may perform control tasks such as transmitting user data and control data provided by the processing circuit by controlling the transceiver, and / or receiving user data and control data that are further processed by the processing circuit. The processing circuit may also be responsible for performing other processes such as judging, determining, calculating, measuring, etc.

[0137] According to an exemplary embodiment, a communication device 1110 is provided as shown in FIG. The communication device 1110 includes a transceiver 1120 and a circuit 1130. In operation, the circuit 1130 obtains (e.g., extracts and / or analyzes) a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times from a control signaling. Furthermore, the circuit 1130 obtains a notification of an occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic. Furthermore, the circuit 1130 determines the adapted plurality of transmission times based on the control signaling and the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic. In operation, the transceiver (i) receives the control signaling, and (ii) transmits (or receives) one (or more) of the periodic traffic using one (or more) of the transmission opportunities (for each transmission of the periodic traffic, a corresponding transmission opportunity may be used; not all transmission opportunities need to be used).

[0138] The circuitry 1130 may implement functions beyond the above-mentioned obtaining and determining, such as, for example, controlling the radio transceiver 1120 to receive control signaling, or controlling the radio transceiver 1120 to receive or transmit data. Thus, the circuitry 1130 may illustratively be considered to include a transmission opportunity determination circuitry 1135. The transmission opportunity determination circuitry 1135 is configured to perform the above-mentioned obtaining and determining. The configuration may be provided by hardware adaptation and / or software.

[0139] 12 illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of the transmission opportunity determination circuit 1135. In particular, the transmission opportunity determination circuit 1135 may include a control signaling processing circuit 1210 that obtains a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times from a control signaling, an occurrence frequency obtaining circuit 1220 that obtains an occurrence frequency of periodic traffic, and a transmission time determination circuit 1230 that determines an adapted plurality of transmission times. It should be noted that the transmission opportunity determination circuit 1135 implements further functions, for example, since the transmission opportunity determination circuit 1135 may also implement a function of determining a frequency of resources of the transmission opportunity (and the transmission time explicitly described herein).

[0140] Corresponding to the above-mentioned UE, a communication method executed by the UE (or communication device) is provided. As shown in Fig. 14, the method includes: (i) receiving control signaling S1440; (ii) obtaining a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times from the control signaling S1450; (iii) obtaining a notification of an occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic S1460; (iv) determining adapted transmission times S1470 based on the control signaling and the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic; and (v) transmitting or receiving one (or more) of the periodic traffic using one (or more) of the transmission opportunities S1480.

[0141] On the right side of FIG. 11, a scheduling device 1160 is provided as another exemplary embodiment. The scheduling device 1160 includes a transceiver 1170 and a circuit 1180. The circuit 1180, in operation, obtains a notification of an occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic. Furthermore, the circuit 1180, in operation, determines an adapted number of transmission times based on the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic. Furthermore, the circuit 1180, in operation, generates a control signaling including a notification indicating the number of transmission times. The control signaling enables determining the adapted transmission times based on the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic. The transceiver, in operation, (i) transmits the control signaling and (ii) transmits or receives the periodic traffic using one or more transmission opportunities.

[0142] As mentioned above, the circuit 1180 may implement functions beyond the aforementioned obtaining, determining, and generating, for example, controlling the transceiver 1170 to transmit control signaling and / or receive or transmit data. Thus, the circuit 1180 may exemplarily include a scheduling circuit 1185, which is configured to perform the above-mentioned obtaining, determining, and generating. The configuration may be provided by hardware adaptation and / or software.

[0143] An exemplary functional structure of the scheduling circuit 1185 is shown in Figure 13. In particular, the scheduling circuit 1185 may include an occurrence frequency obtaining circuit 1310 for obtaining an occurrence frequency of periodic traffic, a transmission time determining circuit 1320 for determining an adapted plurality of transmission times, and a control signaling generating circuit 1330 for generating control signaling. It should be noted that the scheduling circuit 1135 may implement further functionality, for example, as it may determine the frequency of resources of the transmission opportunities (and only the transmission times explicitly described herein).

[0144] Further, a communication method is provided corresponding to the above-mentioned base station, which is executed by the scheduling device for the scheduling device. As shown in Fig. 14, the method includes: (i) obtaining a notification of the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic (S1400); (ii) determining a plurality of adapted transmission times based on the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic (S1410); (iii) generating a control signaling including a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times (as will be further described below, the control signaling also indicates the transmission times referred to in this disclosure as "adapted transmission times" (although not necessarily specifying them completely in the control signaling itself), which enables the determination of the adapted transmission time based on the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic (S1420); (iv) transmitting the control signaling (S1430); and (v) transmitting or receiving the transmission(s) of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities (S1490).

[0145] Furthermore, it should be noted that since the present disclosure is related to resource usage and scheduling, both entities, the scheduled device (typically a communication device / transceiver device) and the scheduling device (typically a network node), are involved. In the following detailed description, unless expressly stated or the context indicates, the details and embodiments apply to (and may be implemented by) the communication device, the scheduling device (or scheduling node), and the method, respectively. It should be further noted that any of the steps / operations described below may be performed or controlled by the circuit 1130 (UE side) and / or the circuit 1180 (base station side). Furthermore, the receiving and transmitting steps may be performed by (e.g., by being controlled by) the transceiver unit 1120 (UE side) and / or the transceiver circuit 1170 (base station side) (e.g., by being controlled by the respective circuit).

[0146] <Periodic traffic> It should be noted that the term "periodic traffic" includes quasi-periodic traffic, such as the XR traffic mentioned above. In other words, periodic traffic refers to traffic with individual data transmissions that have an underlying period (e.g., 60 frames per second for video, which corresponds to, for example, 60 data transmissions per second). As explained with respect to periodic traffic, the exact time of the individual data transmissions of periodic traffic may vary. In particular, the time between two transmissions of periodic traffic may not always be the same.

[0147] <Frequency of occurrence> Thus, the notification of the periodicity or frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic may be a notification of the average time between two transmissions of the periodic traffic. The notification may also be a notification of the average / expected number of transmissions in / per a time interval (e.g., number of transmissions per second). Such notification may also be a notification of the jitter window pattern, such as (i) the number (frequency) of jitter windows per time, (ii) the interval between jitter windows, and / or (iii) a notification of the size / length of the jitter window.

[0148] With regard to steps S1460 and S1400, in which the notification of the occurrence frequency is obtained by the communication device and the scheduling device, respectively, it should be noted that each device may obtain such notification, for example, from a higher layer. However, typically, one of the devices may also indicate the occurrence frequency to the other device via transmission. In particular, the control signaling transmitted in step S1430 may include such a notification to the UE. For example, the notified transmission time may already coincide with the period of the periodic traffic, as shown and described below with respect to the example of FIG. 15. In general, the present invention is not limited to a particular manner on how the UE or the base station obtains the occurrence frequency.

[0149] <Sent time> In this specification, the term "transmission time" may refer to a time point (a time point, a time instance) or a time interval. If it is a time point, the transmission time may be, for example, the time point when a transmission (or a resource for that transmission) starts or when a transmission ends. If it is a time interval, the transmission time is the interval from when a transmission starts to when a transmission ends. If the time length of a transmission (or the time length of a resource for that transmission) is known (e.g., when all transmissions / transmission opportunities have the same predetermined / known length), the time point (e.g., the start point) corresponds directly to the time interval of a transmission.

[0150] <Transmission Opportunity> Furthermore, it should be noted that the term "transmission opportunity" is not limited to the direction of transmission (uplink / downlink / sidelink). In other words, a transmission opportunity can be an opportunity (for a given device) to receive or transmit a transmission. The UE and the scheduling device can receive or transmit the transmission of the periodic traffic in steps S1480 and S1490, respectively (one is receiving and the other is transmitting when communicating with each other). What is important is that in the case of SR, the transmission opportunity is used to request uplink resources. In other words, the transmission opportunity used for the transmission of the periodic traffic is used to transmit the control information / signaling of the periodic traffic, not the data of the periodic traffic.

[0151] Moreover, a transmission opportunity usually refers to a time-frequency resource reserved for the respective transmission and reception, which the respective device may use (or, more precisely, should monitor, in the case of reception). However, in the present context, the time / timing of the transmission opportunities is of particular importance, and the frequency of the resource is generally not particularly relevant for the issues discussed here. The time / timing of these transmission opportunities are the transmission times referred to here as "adapted transmission times", and not the transmission times referred to here as "indicated transmission times". Typically, the control signaling may also indicate the frequency of the transmission opportunities.

[0152] Moreover, as indicated by the term "opportunity," a transmission opportunity may not actually be used for transmission. In particular, typically some (e.g., one or more) of the transmission opportunities are used, but not necessarily all. For example, as described above with respect to XR traffic, the next transmission may not be ready when a particular transmission opportunity occurs, and a later transmission opportunity within the same jitter window may be used. When a transmission opportunity is an opportunity to receive a transmission, the transmission opportunity corresponds to a time-frequency resource where the transmission may be received and is monitored accordingly.

[0153] <Basic time unit> Typically, the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit. Here, the term "basic time unit" or "granularity" refers to a length (period) of time. It may be, for example, the length of a symbol, a frame, a subframe, a slot, etc. Typically, the basic time unit may be predefined or the basic time unit of the resource grid used by the UE (usually a symbol length, also referred to as a basic grid unit in the following). Alternatively, the control signaling (or another control signaling, for example a DCI or an RRC message) may include a notification of the basic time unit. For example, the base station may thus (i) determine the basic time unit, for example as part of the determination of the adapted transmission time, (ii) determine the adapted transmission time taking into account and / or based on the basic time unit, and / or (iii) determine, for example as part of the determination of the adapted transmission time, whether to change the basic time unit and, if so, whether to send a corresponding notification to the UE, for example as part of the control signaling. Typically, the basic time unit is an integer multiple of the basic time unit of the resource grid used. Thus, the base time unit may be indicated, for example, by indicating an integer by which to multiply the base time unit of the grid to obtain the base time unit of separation of the adapted transmission times.

[0154] <Control signaling and notification indicating multiple transmission times> The control signaling includes a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times. In this regard, it should first be noted that the control signaling indicates "a plurality of announced transmission times" or "announced transmission time" only if periodic traffic and / or a periodicity of the basic time unit is not taken into account.

[0155] Thus, the (same) notification indicating the notified ones is also a notification indicating the adapted transmission times. Thus, the UE can obtain the notification of the (indicated) transmission time from the control signaling by obtaining the notification of the (similarly notified) adapted transmission time in step S1450. It should be noted that the adapted transmission time is related to the transmission time (herein called the notified transmission time) by taking into account the periodicity and / or the basic time unit. In other words, the notification may (i) indicate and (fully) specify the notified transmission time, (ii) indicate the adapted transmission time, and / or (iii) (fully) specify the adapted transmission time together with the periodicity and / or the basic time unit (the basic time unit may also be part of the control signaling / notification).

[0156] Typically, the notification (and / or control signaling) indicating multiple transmission times may be a notification of configured grant (CG) configuration, (SPS) configuration, and / or scheduling request (SR) configuration. The control signaling may be a signaling to configure a CG / SPS / SR configuration in the UE, in particular a CG / SPS / SR configuration with a non-integer period (e.g., a non-integer period when expressed in basic time units or basic grid units). Thus, the transmission opportunity that the UE determines in S1470 may correspond to a time-frequency resource of this CG / SPS / SR configuration. Typically, as explained above, the CG / SPS / SR configuration may indicate the period, time, and frequency allocation of the CG / SPS / SR resource (where the period and the basic time unit may be known or may be considered as part of the CG / SPS / SR configuration / notification).

[0157] Typically, the announced transmission times may be uniformly spaced in the time domain (indicated by one time reference point and its time distance, since two directly successive transmission times are separated by the same time distance), whereas the adapted transmission times may not be uniformly spaced, at least in this strict sense (see the example of rounding explained below, in which case there may be a pattern of uniform separation that is repeated after several adapted transmission times).

[0158] <Transmission Opportunities and Adapted Transmit Times> As already explained above, the control signaling and the notification indicating the "indicated transmission time" also indicate the adapted transmission and transmission opportunity. In this regard, it should be noted that the word "adapted" in the term "adapted transmission time" at the beginning only refers to the fact that the adapted transmission times are usually different from the indicated transmission times. In other words, "adaptation" is from the point of view of the UE, which first determines the indicated transmission time and then adapts it taking into account the occurrence frequency and / or the basic time unit (e.g., step S1470). However, the adapted transmission time is the transmission time that the base station actually intends to inform the UE. In other words, the indicated transmission time is the transmission time indicated by the control signaling when it is not necessary to take into account the occurrence frequency and / or the basic time unit. However, since it is assumed that the UE takes into account the occurrence frequency and / or the basic time unit, the transmission time referred to here as the adapted transmission time is the actually indicated transmission time. Furthermore, it should be noted that the UE does not need to perform such adaptation and may obtain the adapted transmission time directly from the control signaling based on the control signaling and the occurrence frequency. Therefore, the terms "adapted transmission time" and "indicated transmission time" can be considered as mere labels. In summary, the adapted transmission time is the transmission time of the transmission opportunity and the informed transmission time is the transmission time indicated by the control signaling when the occurrence frequency and / or the basic time unit do not need to be taken into account.

[0159] It should also be noted here that each of the adapted transmission times does not have to be different from all of the announced transmission times. In particular, some or all of the adapted transmission times may be part of the announced transmission times. For example, the adapted transmission times may be obtained by removing some of the announced transmission times from the announced transmission times, as described with respect to FIG. 16. In other words, the adapted transmission times may be a subset of the announced transmission times.

[0160] Typically, the adapted transmission times (i) are spaced apart by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, and (ii) correspond to (e.g., have a one-to-one correspondence with) respective transmission opportunities for transmitting periodic traffic. For example, the adapted transmission time may be a start time of a transmission opportunity or a time interval (e.g., given by a start time and an end time, or a start time and a time length) of a transmission opportunity.

[0161] Furthermore, the time between two immediately successive adapted transmit times need not be identical for each pair of immediately successive adapted transmit times (see the rounding example discussed below). This correspondence means that the adapted transmit times are the start times of the respective transmit opportunities or that the adapted transmit times are the time intervals that the transmit opportunities occupy. Note that typically, the "announced transmit times" (i) are not an integer multiple of a basic time unit apart from each other and / or (ii) do not correspond to the respective transmit opportunities for the transmission of periodic traffic.

[0162] Furthermore, the adapted transmission times usually correspond to the period of the periodic traffic, but not the announced transmission times. In particular, separations (in the time domain) of adapted transmission times that are integer multiples of a basic time unit may correspond to the occurrence frequency. Thus, an integer multiple of a basic time unit may correspond to the occurrence frequency.

[0163] For example, if the adapted transmission time is the start time of a transmission opportunity, the average time domain separation of directly following transmission times can correspond to (i) the average time domain separation from the start time of the directly following jitter window, and / or (ii) the inverse of the occurrence frequency (e.g., for an occurrence frequency of 60 transmissions per second, the average time domain separation of the transmission start times can be approximately 1 / 60 seconds).

[0164] Determining Transmission Opportunities and Adapted Transmission Times Regarding the determination of adapted transmission times by the UE and the scheduling device in steps S1470 and S1410, it should first be noted that since the UE and the scheduling device form a communication system, their decisions usually lead to the same result, in other words, both devices need to be aware of the same transmission opportunities.

[0165] However, the UE's decision may differ in several ways from the scheduling device's decision. First, the decision by the scheduling device is the step where the transmission time / opportunity is set / defined, whereas the UE usually only infers the transmission time determined by the scheduling device. Second, the scheduling device may take into account additional parameters in addition to the occurrence frequency, such as available resources, quality of service, requests from the UE, received channel state information, traffic load, battery status of the UE, etc. Some of these parameters, as well as the occurrence frequency and the basic time unit, may be known to the UE or may be signaled via a transmission by the UE to the scheduling device. Furthermore, on the base station side, as mentioned above, the decision may include setting / determining the basic time unit or deciding whether to change the basic time unit (and to what value). In particular, the scheduling device tries to optimize all these parameters and find the most suitable transmission opportunity based on all of them. Thus, typically, the scheduling device determines the transmission opportunity / time in the decision, whereas the UE usually determines / infers the transmission opportunity set by the base station. The UE's decision is based on control signaling, a basic time unit (the basic time unit may be a basic grid unit or may be implicit), and / or a frequency of occurrence.

[0166] Typically, the method according to the present disclosure applies to the UE side and the base station side (network node, scheduling device), since the UE's decision should have the same result as the scheduling device's decision. However, the specific determination of the adapted transmission time disclosed herein relates to the base station in a different way. That is, the base station must generate the control signaling so that the UE can determine the intended adapted transmission time based on the generated control signaling. Thus, the generated control signaling needs to enable the UE to determine the adapted transmission time. Thus, a step (a step on the base station side) of determining the transmission time of the control signaling based on the adapted multiple value, occurrence frequency, and / or granularity may be included. The occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic and / or the basic time unit may also be required for the determination of the adapted transmission time on the UE side, but this occurrence frequency may already be known (implicitly) to the UE or this occurrence frequency may be signaled to the UE together with this or other control signaling. In other words, the determination of the adapted transmission time by the UE corresponds directly to the generation of the control signaling by the scheduling device.

[0167] <Consideration of basic time units> Typically, traffic may have a different period than can be matched by the granularity of the resource grid. For example, a video stream may have a period of 60 fps (frames per second), e.g., 60 transmissions per second. This is a period of 16.667 ms, or more precisely, 16 and 2 / 3 ms. This is not an integer multiple of the typical symbol length.

[0168] Typically, the scheduling device may notify the UE of resources with non-integer periodicity of periodic traffic. In other words, two consecutive transmission times (e.g. directly successive transmission times) of the notified transmission times are separated (in the time domain) by the same time distance. Such a time distance may be, for example, the time between the start times of the two transmission times, the time from the end of the first transmission time to the start of the second transmission time (the first and second transmission times in the time order), or the time between two end times of the two transmission times. In other words, the transmission times are equidistant in the time domain. Thus, the transmission times may be specified (e.g. completely) by one point in time and the above-mentioned time distance. More specifically, typically, the time instance for the resource (and / or the notified transmission time) may be given according to t+n*x. where n={0,1,2,..}, where "*" indicates multiplication, t is an offset value in the time domain to change the start of the resource, e.g., from the start of a frame, x is the "co-time distance" by which the resources are separated, and n is a label for different transmission times / resources ordered in time, i.e., the (n+1)th signaled transmission time is t+n*x. Thus, the values ​​of t and / or x may be indicated by control signaling including notification of the signaled transmission time. The units of t and / or x (slots, ms, frames, etc.) may also be indicated, predetermined, and / or pre-determined.

[0169] In particular, the UE may be informed of a non-integer period of radio frames / slots / symbols for the SPS / CG / SR configuration (e.g., the value of x above is a non-integer when expressed in one or more of these units). When choosing a non-integer value of radio frames / slots / symbols as the period (e.g., x=11.111 ms, 8.333 ms, or 16.667 ms), the time instance for the resource (and / or the informed transmission time) may also be given according to t+n*x;n={0,1,2,..} as already explained above. For example, the frequency may be given as a period of x ms, corresponding to a period of x ms. This objective may be achieved by adding a new (non-integer) period to the supported periodicity values ​​for the SPS / CG / SR configuration, as shown below. In addition, a matching method and / or a matching granularity may also be included in the configuration, as shown below.

[0170] Alternatively or additionally, the UE may be informed of the number of resources over a given time interval, e.g., the number of resources per second, or the number of arrivals of packets / frames over a given time interval (e.g., fps). For example, if the number of resources in a given time is y frames per second, then x is proportional to 1 / y. If y is provided (indicated), there is no need to indicate a periodicity value (because y already indicates the periodicity). The UE can determine the periodicity according to 1 / y, although 1 / y may be a non-integer value, in which case it needs to be aligned with the resource grid. In other words, the difference is just that in one case y is explicitly indicated and in the other case x is explicitly indicated. However, both x and y are indicated because x may be an indication of y=1 / x (and vice versa).

[0171] x may be a time corresponding to a period of the periodic traffic, and the period may be a non-integer period (in other words, x may be any real number). In such a case, the occurrence frequency may be implicitly indicated to the UE by the separation distance x. In other words, the UE may obtain an indication of the occurrence frequency by extracting the value of x from the control signaling in step S1460. In other words, the indication indicating the occurrence frequency may be said to be an indication of the same time distance x and / or an indication of the same time distance x.

[0172] In summary, typically, control signaling may include notification of resources with non-integer periodicity with respect to the basic time unit. This non-integer periodicity may correspond (may be equal) to the periodicity of the periodic traffic or at least be closer to the periodicity of the periodic traffic than resources with integer periodicity. However, the periodicity of the resource may be inconsistent with the basic grid unit. The UE may then obtain the actual indicated adapted transmission time by matching the "indicated resource / transmission time" to the grid based on some matching methods (also referred to here as rules), as will be further described below.

[0173] The flexibility of this approach can be further increased (though this is entirely optional) by allowing the indicated resources to match a different granularity than that of the grid (e.g. a grid that is coarser than the standard grid). Furthermore, matching to granularity can also (also optionally) be applied to resources with integer periodicity, i.e. resources that fit into the grid.

[0174] <Matching method> Typically, a matching method or rule (e.g., round off, round up, round down) can be used to adaptively adjust SPS / CG / SR resources with the signaled granularity. The starting instance of the resource (transmission opportunity) is determined by the matching method (round off / round up / round down) based on the defined granularity g. That is, the matching method may be used to determine an adapted transmission time corresponding to the signaled transmission time based on the signaled transmission time and its granularity (reference time / time offset can also be used).

[0175] Further flexibility in signaling can be achieved by considering granularity / basic time units different from the basic grid unit. In particular, such granularity can be used when traffic periodicity can be matched by the grid granularity (e.g. traffic with integer periodicity) to signal different resource sets that would not be possible otherwise. In particular, in this case, the granularity may be considered as part of the matching method.

[0176] Typically, control signaling may signal the rules. For example, as described below, the SPS / CG / SR configuration may be extended to include signaling of granularity (e.g., slot / minislot / symbol) and matching method. However, the present invention is not limited to the above, as the granularity and / or matching method may be predefined or predetermined. Typically, each matching method may be linked to a specific granularity, or the matching method and its granularity may be indicated together.

[0177] Typically, when using a matching method, for each announced transmission time there is an adapted transmission time that corresponds to the announced transmission time, i.e. there may be a one-to-one correspondence between the adapted transmission times and the announced transmission times.

[0178] Typically, (i) if the notified transmission time is not an integer multiple of a base time unit away from the reference time, the adapted transmission time is determined as the time that is an integer multiple of a base time unit away from the reference time and that immediately follows or immediately precedes the notified transmission time, and (ii) otherwise the adapted transmission time is determined as the notified transmission time.

[0179] That is, the matching method may not change the signaled transmission time, which is usually according to the granularity and the reference time. Typically, the reference time is a time point on the resource grid used by the UE (e.g., the reference time may be the start time of a frame). According to the reference time and granularity means on the time grid defined by the reference time and the granularity. This virtual time grid usually includes only a subset of the time points of the resource grid used by the UE.

[0180] Furthermore, the matching method may typically change a notified transmission time that is not in accordance with the granularity and the reference time to a time point in accordance with the granularity and the reference time to obtain a corresponding adapted transmission time. The time point to which the notified transmission time is changed may typically be either the next time point or the previous time point. Here, the term "next time point" refers to the closest time point (in the time domain) after the notified transmission time in accordance with the granularity and the reference time. In the time domain, the "previous time point" refers to the closest time point in accordance with the granularity and the reference time before the notified transmission time. The term "closest" is used to refer to the closest time point among the times in accordance with the granularity and the reference time. Thus, in other words, the previous time point is the closest time point among the times (time points) before the notified transmission time that are separated from the reference time by an integer multiple of the basic time unit. Thus, in other words, the next time point is the closest time point among the times (time points) after the notified transmission time that are separated from the reference time by an integer multiple of the basic time unit.

[0181] Typically, a matching method / rule can also specify conditions for selecting the next and previous time points. In particular, if the notified transmission time is not separated from a given reference time by an integer multiple of the base time unit, the corresponding adapted transmission time is (i) Is it the time that is closest to the reference time among times that are an integer multiple of a base time unit away from the reference time? (ii) is a time that is earlier than the notified transmission time and is the closest time that is an integral multiple of the base time unit from the reference time, or (iii) Is it the closest time that is later than the notified transmission time and is an integer multiple of the base time unit from the reference time? Rules may prescribe how the

[0182] Thus, typically, the adapted transmission time may be the closest time point, the next time point, or the previous time point (note that the closest time point is typically either the next time point or the previous time point, unless either the next time point or the previous time point are equally close. In any case, it is a decision between two points, the next time point and the previous time point, and is presented here only as a choice between three options). The decision of which of the above options (i) to (iii) applies may be specified by the rules.

[0183] For example, one may always select the previous time point. This corresponds to a rounding operation, i.e., always rounding down to the next integer. In other words, in the rounding method, when a time instance determined based on a non-integer period x corresponds to a start symbol (t=0) according to a set granularity g, the start symbol is

number

number

[0184] Furthermore, for example, the next time point may always be selected, which corresponds to a rounding up operation, i.e., always rounding up to the next integer. That is, in the case of the rounding up scheme, if the time instance determined based on the non-integer period x corresponds to the start symbol (t=0) according to the set granularity g, then the start symbol is

number

number

[0185] Furthermore, as a further example of a matching rule, the closest time point can always be selected as the corresponding adapted transmission time. This corresponds to a true rounding operation, i.e., always rounding to the nearest integer. That is, in the case of the rounding scheme, if the time instance determined based on the non-integer period x matches the start symbol (t=0) according to the set granularity g, then the start symbol is

number

Number

[0186] <Example of SPS / CG / SR config> Examples of additional information included in the SPS / CG / SR config information element (usually defined in the syntax of the radio resource protocol and related to the configuration of SPS resources and / or CG resources and / or SR resources) are shown below (new syntax is underlined).

Table 2

[0187] The new entries "11.111 ms", "8.333 ms", "16.667 ms" represent newly available non-integer periods. Note that these values are merely illustrative. Other values may be used. Also, more than three or less than three new values can be introduced.

[0188] Furthermore, by way of example, SPS / CG / SR config currently enables the notification of the matching methods "rounding", "floor", and "ceiling" that are currently used and notified, as well as different granularities (basic time units equal to the length of symbols such as 1, 2, 7, 14, etc.).

[0189] As an example of the technique, FIG. 15 shows a UE with three different CG settings for a 60 fps video stream. The three CG settings are denoted as CG1-CG3, respectively, and FIG. 15 shows the resources corresponding to these three settings in the time interval from 0 ms to approximately 64 ms. The period of all three CG settings is 16.667 ms. That is, using the start time formula t+n*x (n={0,1,2,..}), the x value of each CG setting is 16.667 ms, and the t values ​​are 0 ms, 4 ms, and 8 ms for each of the three settings. The matching method used in FIG. 15 is rounding up with a granularity of 1 ms (note that the start of a resource can only be the start of a new ms. In other words, a resource can only start every 1 ms with respect to some reference time). The start symbols of the CG resources for CG settings CG1-CG3 are, respectively,

number

number

number

[0190] As shown in row (b) of FIG. 15, for the first CG setting, when t=0 ms, these equations yield start positions of the transmission opportunity (or adapted transmission time) of 0 ms, 17 ms, 34 ms, and 51 ms. For the second CG setting, when t=4 ms, the start positions of the transmission opportunity (or adapted transmission time) are 4 ms, 21 ms, 38 ms, and 55 ms. Furthermore, for the third CG setting, when t=8 ms, the equations yield start positions of the transmission opportunity (or adapted transmission time) of 8 ms, 25 ms, 42 ms, and 59 ms.

[0191] In the above formula, one can use x=50 / 3ms as the period, which corresponds more precisely to a period of 60 fps. In this case, the start symbol is

number

[0192] <Reference time t> Typically, the above reference time t may be the start of a frame, subframe, slot, or symbol in which the notified transmission time or reception of the control signaling is located. Alternatively, the given reference time may be the start of the frame, subframe, slot, or symbol plus a predefined time offset. Typically, the value of t and / or the reference time may be pre-determined, signaled to the UE by the scheduling device, or set by other means. Typically, the UE may obtain a signal indicating the time offset and / or the reference time from the control signaling. However, the invention is not limited to this particular scenario.

[0193] Typically, the same reference time t may be used for all the announced transmission times, as already done in the above example. Note that in the above example shown in Figure 15, different values ​​of t are associated with different transmission times, but the same value of t is used for all the announced transmission times of the same announced transmission times. In other words, in the example of Figure 15, the same reference time is used for each transmission time of the announced transmission times.

[0194] <Take into account the frequency of periodic traffic occurrence – enable / disable cycles> Unlike the above matching method approach, the present approach does not change the time of the announced transmission time to obtain the adapted transmission time. Rather, the announced transmission times differ from the adapted transmission times in that some of the announced transmission times are removed from the announced transmission time. Thus, in the present approach, typically, every two consecutive transmission times of the announced transmission time are typically already separated by an integer multiple of the basic time unit. Thus, the announced transmission times already match the granularity of the resource grid used by the UE.

[0195] However, the announced transmission times do not reflect the periodicity of periodic traffic, which may result in many unused resources. To improve the resource usage, valid and invalid periods are alternated. In this case, this cycle or virtual cycle is used to eliminate resources that are not likely to be needed from the announced resources.

[0196] Thus, the virtual cycle may correspond to a period of periodic traffic. The notification of the occurrence frequency obtained by the UE in step S1460 may be a notification of a period of alternating valid and invalid periods. Thus, the base station may generate such a notification of the virtual cycle and transmit this notification to the UE (which may be, for example, as part of the control signaling discussed herein or via a different transmission). The notification of the virtual cycle may correspond to the start time of the activation phase and the deactivation phase (for example, the start time of one activation / deactivation phase) and the time length (if both time lengths are the same, only one time length may be notified). However, this is only an example of the simplest virtual cycle pattern. The invention is not limited to a particular cycle format or its signaling. Typically, especially for SPS, the scheduling device may notify the UE of the virtual cycle via DCI and / or RRC. For CG and SR, the UE may, for example, inform the scheduling device of the period of the traffic, and then the scheduling device may set the CG / SR and the virtual cycle, for example, via RRC. Typically, the scheduling device may set the period according to the requirements of the UE.

[0197] As shown in FIG. 16, the virtual cycle may essentially be a separation or division of the time axis into two categories: a "valid time" where the notified transmission time is valid (or "enabled") and therefore an adapted transmission time, and an "invalid time" where the notified transmission time is invalid (or "disabled") and therefore not an adapted transmission time.

[0198] More specifically, for example, if an advertised transmission time overlaps with a validity time, then that transmission time may be part of the adapted plurality of transmission times, but if an advertised transmission time does not overlap with a validity time, then that transmission time may not be part of the adapted plurality of transmission times. Alternatively, an advertised transmission time that does not overlap with an invalidity period may be part of the adapted plurality of transmission times, and an advertised transmission time that overlaps with an invalidity period may not be part of the adapted plurality of transmission times.

[0199] In other words, whether the announced transmission time overlaps with the activation phase or not determines whether the announced transmission time is valid or not. Usually, the transmission time can be considered here as a time interval of the transmission and just a point, e.g., a starting point. In this case, different results can be obtained depending on how the overlap with the activation / invalidation phase is treated. This difference is expressed by the wording above, where "overlap" is used to mean "partially overlap", i.e. "non-zero intersection with".

[0200] A further expression showing how adapted transmission opportunity determination is made is that in the above example, the phrases "overlapping" and "not overlapping" can be replaced with the phrases "contained" (i.e., "lies completely within") and "not contained" (i.e., "does not lie completely within").

[0201] Typically, a SPS / CG / SR configuration (or more typically, a set of periodic resources, i.e., announced transmission times) can be linked to a DRX cycle or a virtual cycle of enabled and disabled states. The DRX or virtual cycle can support non-integer periodicity. Then, SPS / CG / SR resources are usable only if they fully / partially overlap with the enabled states. For example, the reference "DRX or a virtual cycle of enabled and disabled states" can be replaced by "drx-onDurationTimer with a non-integer periodicity in terms of radio frames / slots / symbols".

[0202] As shown in FIG. 16, SPS / CG / SR resources are valid and available if the resources fully / partially overlap with the valid state. Otherwise, the resources are unavailable. As an example, as shown in FIG. 16(b), a virtual cycle is defined for the UE with a period of 16.667 ms. As shown in FIG. 16(a), the virtual cycle corresponds to the jitter window. As shown in FIG. 16(c), a CG configuration with a period of 4 ms is configured and linked to the virtual cycle. The UE can only use CG resources that partially overlap with the valid state of the cycle. In other words, the shaded CG resources are disabled / released, so that they can be allocated by the scheduling device for other transmissions.

[0203] Typically, the virtual cycle can be flexibly defined according to the traffic type. For example, it can be defined according to the frame arrival rate, i.e. fps. By linking the SPS / CG / SR settings to the DRX or virtual cycle, the SPS / CG / SR settings can be used without the need for frequent reconfiguration. This reduces the signaling overhead. Also, resource utilization is improved since only a portion of the resources is used. As a result, power consumption is reduced.

[0204] <Taking into account the frequency of periodic traffic occurrence – offset> In this approach, similar to the matching method approach (but in contrast to the cycle approach), the advertised transmit times are modified to obtain adapted transmit times. Thus, when using this approach, for each advertised transmit time, there is typically an adapted transmit time that corresponds to the advertised transmit time. That is, there may be a one-to-one correspondence between the adapted transmit times and the advertised transmit times. However, in this approach, the modification of the advertised transmit times is done based on a periodicity rather than a granularity (which is different from the matching method approach but common to the cycle approach).

[0205] Specifically, for each announced transmission time, a corresponding adapted transmission time is determined by shifting the announced transmission time by an offset multiplied by an integer, which corresponds to a number whose time length (also called timer) falls into the time interval between the reference time and the announced transmission time. In general, if the time instances for resources (and / or announced transmission times) are given as above according to t+n*x (n={0,1,2,..}), the adapted transmission time corresponding to the (n+1)th announced transmission time may be expressed as follows:

number

[0206] where offset denotes the time offset, "t+n*x" corresponds to the (n+1)th notified transmission time described above, refT denotes a reference time, and timer denotes a time length / timer. Here, a rounding function is used by way of example, although any rounding operation may be used.

[0207] The main advantage of this approach of adding additional time is that it compensates for drift in SPS / CG / SR resources without the need for frequent reconfiguration.

[0208] Every two consecutive transmitted transmission times of the signaled transmission times are usually already separated by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, and therefore the signaled transmission times already correspond to the granularity of the resource grid used by the UE.

[0209] Typically, the notification of the frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic may be (i) a notification of a non-zero offset, either positive or negative, and (ii) a notification of a length of time that is an integer multiple of a basic time unit (denoted by offset and timer, respectively, in the above equations). Note that both the offset and the timer are units of time (the units may be implicit), i.e., both are lengths of time.

[0210] Typically, the UE may also obtain notification of the reference time. Thus, the base station may include a corresponding notification in the control signaling indicating the multiple reference times to be signaled, or may signal the reference time via other DCI or RRC messages. However, the present invention is not limited to the case where the reference time is pre-determined (e.g., the start of the current slot / frame, etc.). Furthermore, for example, the reference time may be set equal to the reference time t (these reference times may be the same, may be dependent on each other, may be different, or may be independent of each other).

[0211] In summary, a timer or several timers can be configured and / or defined semi-statically (e.g., via RRC) and linked to the SPS / CG / SR configuration to add a negative / positive offset value to the existing time domain allocation value. If multiple timers are configured, each timer is associated with the same time offset that is added after the timer expires, or some or all timers can use the same offset. This timer can be linked to the SPS / CG / SR configuration to adjust the time domain offset of the resources. The timer and the additional offset value (which can have negative or positive values) are used to support non-integer periodicity with respect to radio frames / slots / symbols.

[0212] This is shown in Figure 17, where the UE is configured with three CG configurations with a period of 16 ms. Row (b) of Figure 17 shows conventional CG configurations corresponding to the signaled transmission times (e.g., x=16 ms for each CG configuration, and t=1 ms, 5 ms, and 9 ms for the three CG configurations, respectively). As shown in (b) of Figure 17, the CG resources drift from the jitter window by the non-integer period of the video stream (video period is 1 / 60 fps ≈ 16.66666 ms). That is, the signaled transmission times do not correspond well to the period of the traffic. To compensate for the drift, a timer is configured in the UE and linked to the three CG configurations. Every 32 ms, a two-slot offset (equal to 4 ms) is added to the time-domain offset of the CG configuration (positive offset), which results in the adapted transmission times shown in row (c) of Figure 17. In the example of Figure 17, the combination of a two-slot (i.e., 1 ms) offset and a 32 ms timer cannot fully compensate for the overall drift. To fully compensate for drift, the offset to timer ratio can be 1:24 (e.g., add 1 ms for every 24 ms).

[0213] Hardware and Software Implementations of the Disclosure The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in cooperation with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiment may be realized partially or entirely as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiment may be controlled partially or entirely by one LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of one chip to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have input and output of data. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may be called an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI. The method of integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. In addition, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacture, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital processing or analog processing. Furthermore, if a new integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology or a derivative technology, it is possible to integrate the functional blocks using that technology. The application of biotechnology is also a possibility.

[0214] The present disclosure may be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, or system having a communication capability (collectively referred to as communication apparatus).

[0215] A communications device may include a radio transceiver (transmitter / receiver) and processing / control circuitry. The radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both as functions. The radio transceiver (transmitter, receiver) may include a Radio Frequency (RF) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or the like.

[0216] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth and telemedicine devices, communication-enabled vehicles or mobile conveyances (e.g., cars, airplanes, boats, etc.), and combinations of the above devices.

[0217] Communications Equipment is not limited to portable or mobile, but also includes non-portable or fixed equipment, devices and systems of any kind, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting, smart meters or metering devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines and any other "Things" that may be present on an Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0218] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communications satellite systems, etc., as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0219] A communications apparatus also includes devices, such as controllers and sensors, connected or coupled to a communications device that performs the communications functions described in this disclosure, such as controllers and sensors that generate control and data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0220] The communication device also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other devices, devices, and systems that communicate with or control the above-mentioned non-limiting various devices. Furthermore, various embodiments may also be implemented by software modules. These software modules are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementation is also possible. The software modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable storage medium. In particular, according to another implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium is provided. The recording medium stores a program that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform steps of the method according to the present disclosure.

[0221] By way of non-limiting example, such computer-readable storage media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is referred to as a computer-readable medium, as appropriate. For example, if instructions are transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. However, it should be understood that computer-readable storage media and data storage media do not include connections, carrier waves, signals, or other transitory media, but instead cover non-transitory tangible storage media. As used herein, a disk includes a compact disk (CD), a laser disk, an optical disk, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, and a Blu-ray disk, where a "disk" typically reproduces data magnetically, while a "disc" reproduces data optically with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0222] It should further be noted that individual features of the different embodiments may be the subject of other embodiments individually or in any combination. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure set forth in the specific embodiments may be subject to various changes and / or modifications without departing from the concept or scope of the invention as broadly described. The embodiments described herein are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0223] Further aspects According to a first aspect, there is provided a user equipment (UE) comprising a circuit and a transceiver unit, the circuit, in operation, (a) obtains an indication of a plurality of transmission times from a control signaling, (b) obtains an indication of a frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic, and (c) determines, based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the indicated transmission times, and (ii) the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence. The transceiver unit, in operation, receives the control signaling and transmits or receives a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the plurality of transmission opportunities.

[0224] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the basic time unit is predetermined and / or the basic time is a basic time unit of a resource grid used by the UE, or the circuit, during operation, obtains notification of the basic time unit from the control signaling.

[0225] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, each two consecutive transmission times of the notified plurality of transmission times are separated by a same time distance that is a non-integer multiple of the basic time unit, and / or the circuit, in operation, obtains the same time distance from the control signaling as the notification indicating the occurrence frequency.

[0226] According to a fourth aspect, provided in addition to one of the first to third aspects, in operation, the circuit, in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times, determines, for each notified transmit time, a respective adapted transmit time corresponding to the notified transmit time that is part of the adapted plurality of transmit times, and if the notified transmit time is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from a reference time, the adapted transmit time is determined to be the closest time that is later or earlier than the notified transmit time among times that are an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from the reference time, otherwise the adapted transmit time is determined to be the notified transmit time.

[0227] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to the fourth aspect, in operation, the circuit obtains a notification from the control signaling indicating a rule, and based on the rule, in determining the adapted transmission times, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from a given reference time, determines whether the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time among times that are an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from the given reference time, the closest time before the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from the given reference time, or the closest time after the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from the given reference time.

[0228] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in operation, the circuit, in determining the adapted transmission times, (a) determines, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from a given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time before the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, (b) determines, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time after the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, or (c) determines, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time among times that are an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time.

[0229] According to a seventh aspect, provided in addition to one of the fourth to sixth aspects, the given reference time is the start time of a frame, subframe, slot or symbol in which the notified transmission time or reception of the control signaling is located, or the given reference time is the start time of the frame, the subframe, the slot or the symbol plus a predetermined time offset.

[0230] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, each two successive transmission times of the notified plurality of transmission times are separated by an integer multiple of the basic time unit, and the circuit, in operation, obtains alternating cycles of valid and invalid periods as an indication of an occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic, and the circuit, in operation, in determining the adapted plurality of transmission times, for each notified transmission time: determining that the notified transmission time is part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time overlaps with a validity period; determining that the notified transmission time is not part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time does not overlap with a validity time; or The circuitry, in operation, in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times, for each notified transmit time: determining that the notified transmission time is part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time does not overlap with a disable period; If the advertised transmission time overlaps with a invalidity period, it is determined that the advertised transmission time is not part of the adapted plurality of transmission times.

[0231] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, each two consecutive transmission times of the notified plurality of transmission times are separated by an integer multiple of the basic time unit, and the circuit, in operation, receives as notification of the occurrence frequency of the periodic traffic (i) notification of a non-zero positive or negative offset and (ii) notification of a time length that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit, and the circuit, in operation, receives a reference time, and in determining the adapted plurality of transmission times, the circuit, in operation, determines, for each notified transmission time, a respective adapted transmission time corresponding to the notified transmission time that is part of the adapted plurality of transmission times, and for each notified transmission time, the corresponding adapted transmission time is determined by shifting the notified transmission time by an offset multiplied by an integer, and the integer corresponds to a number such that the time length falls within the time interval between the reference time and the notified transmission time.

[0232] According to a tenth aspect, provided in addition to any of the first to eighth aspects, the notification indicating the multiple transmission times is a notification of Configured Grant (CG) setting, Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) setting, or Scheduling Request (SR) setting.

[0233] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving control signaling; obtaining from the control signaling an indication indicating a plurality of transmission times; obtaining an indication of a frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic; determining adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the notified transmission times; and (ii) the adapted transmission times are spaced apart by an integer multiple of a basic time unit from each other, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence; and transmitting or receiving a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities.

[0234] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a scheduling device comprising: (i) a notification of a frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic; (ii) a determination of adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmit opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, where (a) the adapted transmission times are different from the notified transmission times; (b) the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence; and (iii) a circuit for generating control signaling including a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times, where the notified transmission times are different from the adapted transmission times, the control signaling enabling determination of the adapted transmission times based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic; and a transceiver unit that, in operation, transmits the control signaling and transmits or receives transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the plurality of transmit opportunities.

[0235] According to a thirteenth aspect, a method for a scheduling device comprising: obtaining a notification of a frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic; determining, based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the notified transmission times; and (ii) the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence; generating control signaling including a notification indicating a plurality of transmission times, where the notified transmission times are different from the adapted transmission times, the control signaling enabling determination of the adapted transmission times based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic; transmitting the control signaling; and transmitting or receiving a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the plurality of transmission opportunities.

[0236] The method according to the eleventh aspect is provided with further aspects corresponding to steps operatively performed by any of the UEs of the first to tenth aspects or as described above. The method according to the thirteenth aspect is provided with further aspects corresponding to steps operatively performed by any of the network nodes mentioned above.

[0237] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a program stored on a (non-transitory) storage medium, the program comprising code instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment, causes the one or more processors to operate to perform the steps of any of the methods described above.

[0238] According to a fifteenth aspect, an integrated circuit is provided, comprising a processing circuit and an interface to a (possibly external) transceiver. The processing circuit is configured (by hardware and / or software) to: (a) obtain from a control signaling an indication of a plurality of transmission times; (b) obtain an indication of a frequency of occurrence of periodic traffic; and (c) determine, based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, a plurality of adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the notified transmission times, and (ii) the transmission times of the adapted transmission times are separated from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence. Through the interface to the transceiver, the processing circuit may receive the control signaling and transmit or receive transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities.

[0239] According to a sixteenth aspect, an integrated circuit is provided, comprising a processing circuit and an interface with a (possibly external) transceiver. The processing circuit is configured, by hardware and / or software, to: (i) obtain a notification of a frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic; (ii) determine, based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, a plurality of adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (a) the adapted transmission times are different from the notified transmission times; (b) the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence; and (iii) generate control signaling including a notification indicating the plurality of transmission times, where the notified transmission times are different from the adapted transmission times, the control signaling enabling the determination of the adapted transmission times based on the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic. The processing circuit may, via the interface to the transmitter, (i) transmit the control signaling and (ii) transmit or receive a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities.

[0240] In summary, some exemplary embodiments relate to a communication device, a base station, and respective methods of the communication device and the base station. For example, the communication device is a user equipment (UE) including a circuit and a transceiver. The circuit may be configured to: (a) obtain an indication of a plurality of transmission times from a control signaling; (b) obtain an indication of a frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic; and (c) determine, based on the control signaling and the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic, a plurality of adapted transmission times corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission of the periodic traffic, where (i) the adapted transmission times are different from the indicated plurality of transmission times, and (ii) the transmission times of the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from each other by an integer multiple of a basic time unit, the integer multiple of the basic time unit corresponding to the frequency of occurrence of the periodic traffic. The transceiver may be configured to receive the control signaling and transmit or receive a transmission of the periodic traffic using one of the transmission opportunities.

Claims

1. During operation, Obtaining notification of a period of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle; a circuit for determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the period and the rule; a transceiver unit that, during operation, transmits or receives the DRX cycle using the at least one transmission opportunity; A communication device comprising:

2. The transceiver unit, in operation, receives control signaling; The circuit, in operation, obtaining an indication of a plurality of transmission times from the control signaling; determining an adapted number of transmission times corresponding to the at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the control signaling and the periodicity; the adapted plurality of transmit times is different from the plurality of transmit times; the adapted transmission times are spaced apart from one another by an integer multiple of a base time unit, the integer multiple of the base time unit corresponding to the period; The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. the basic time unit is predetermined and / or the basic time is a basic time unit of a resource grid used by the communication device, or said circuitry, in operation, obtaining notification of said basic time unit from said control signalling; The communication device according to claim 2 .

4. and / or each two successive transmission times of said plurality of transmission times are separated by a same time distance that is a non-integer multiple of said basic time unit; and / or and the circuit, in operation, obtains from the control signaling the same time distance as the indication of the period. The communication device according to claim 2 .

5. In operation, the circuitry determines, for each advertised transmit time, a respective adapted transmit time that corresponds to the advertised transmit time and that is part of the adapted plurality of transmit times in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times; if the notified transmission time is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from a reference time, the adapted transmission time is determined to be the closest time later or earlier than the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the reference time; otherwise, the adapted transmission time is determined to be the notified transmission time. The communication device according to claim 4.

6. The circuit, in operation, Obtaining a notification from the control signaling indicating a rule; Based on the rule, in determining the adapted transmission times, for each notified transmission time that is not separated from a given reference time by an integer multiple of the base time unit, the corresponding adapted transmission time is Whether the time is the closest time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, the closest time preceding the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the base time unit from the given reference time, or determining whether the notified transmission time is the closest time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit away from the given reference time and that is later than the notified transmission time; The communication device according to claim 5.

7. The circuit, in operation, in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times, determining, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from a given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time preceding the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time; determining, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time after the notified transmission time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time; or determining, for each notified transmission time that is not an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time, that the corresponding adapted transmission time is the closest time that is an integer multiple of the basic time unit from the given reference time; The communication device according to claim 2 .

8. the given reference time is the start time of the frame, subframe, slot or symbol in which the notified transmission time or the reception of the control signaling is located, or the given reference time is a start time of the frame, the subframe, the slot, or the symbol plus a predetermined time offset; The communication device according to claim 5.

9. Each two consecutive transmission times of the plurality of transmission times are spaced apart by an integer multiple of the basic time unit, The circuit, in operation, receives alternating cycles of valid and invalid periods as an indication of a period of the DRX cycle; The circuitry, in operation, in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times, for each notified transmit time: determining that the notified transmission time is part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time overlaps with a validity period; determining that the notified transmission time is not part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time does not overlap with a validity time; or The circuitry, in operation, in determining the adapted plurality of transmit times, for each notified transmit time: determining that the notified transmission time is part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time does not overlap with a disable period; determining that the notified transmission time is not part of the adapted plurality of transmission times if the notified transmission time overlaps with an invalidity period; The communication device according to claim 2 .

10. the rule applies at least one of rounding up, rounding down, or rounding down to the transmission time corresponding to the at least one transmission opportunity. The communication device according to claim 1 .

11. 1. A method for a communication device, comprising: Obtaining notification of a period of a DRX cycle; determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the period and a rule; using the at least one transmission opportunity to transmit or receive a transmission of the DRX cycle; A method comprising:

12. During operation, a notification of a period of a DRX cycle is obtained; a circuit for determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission in the DRX cycle based on the period and the rule; a transceiver unit that, during operation, transmits or receives the DRX cycle using the at least one transmission opportunity; A scheduling device comprising:

13. A method for a scheduling device, comprising: Obtaining notification of a period of a DRX cycle; determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the period and a rule; using the at least one transmission opportunity to transmit or receive a transmission of the DRX cycle; A method comprising:

14. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a communication device, the processing comprising: Obtaining notification of a period of a DRX cycle; determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the period and a rule; using the at least one transmission opportunity to transmit or receive a transmission of the DRX cycle; 4. An integrated circuit comprising:

15. An integrated circuit which, in operation, controls the processing of a scheduling device, said processing comprising: Obtaining notification of a period of a DRX cycle; determining at least one transmission opportunity for a transmission of the DRX cycle based on the period and a rule; using the at least one transmission opportunity to transmit or receive the DRX cycle; 4. An integrated circuit comprising:

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