User equipment and base station involved in time-division communication

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a user equipment (UE) comprising: a receiver unit receives a plurality of time division configurations; a circuit for determining, for each of a plurality of time intervals, a communication direction based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; a receiver unit receives information regarding a full-duplex resource; a receiver unit receives a DCI message including a configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; and a circuit for determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for a new radio access technology, 5G New Radio (NR), also known as fifth generation (5G) or NR, which are used interchangeably herein.

[0003] One objective is to provide a single technical framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios (see, for example, Section 6 of 3GPP TR 38.913, e.g., v16.0.0 or v17.0.0) including at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). For example, deployment scenarios for eMBB may include indoor hotspots, dense urban areas, suburban areas, and urban macro-high-speed environments. Deployment scenarios for URLLC may include industrial control systems, mobile health management (remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, and remote treatment), real-time control of vehicles, and wide-area monitoring and control systems for smart grids. Deployment scenarios for mMTC may include scenarios using a large number of devices where data transmission latency is minimal, such as smart wearables and sensor networks. eMBB and URLLC services are similar in that they both require very high bandwidth, but URLLC services differ in that they preferably require very low latency.

[0004] A second goal is to achieve forward compatibility, which facilitates the introduction of entirely new system designs and / or new features. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One non-limiting, exemplary embodiment serves to provide a procedure for a UE to perform an improved time division communication procedure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one embodiment, the disclosed technology features a user equipment (UE) including: a receiver of the UE receives a plurality of time division configurations; circuitry of the UE determines, for each of a plurality of time intervals, a communication direction based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the receiver receives information regarding full-duplex resources; the receiver receives a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; and the circuitry determines, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration.

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

[0008] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and various implementations will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such benefits and / or advantages may be provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of them may be provided to obtain one or more identical features.

[0009] The following exemplary embodiments are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system to which the improved procedures of the present disclosure can be applied. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional division between the NG Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and the 5G Core Network (5GC), to which the improved procedures of the present disclosure may be applied; [Figure 3] 1 is a sequence diagram of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection setup / reconfiguration procedure to which the improved procedures of the present disclosure may be applied. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC usage scenarios in which the improved procedures of the present disclosure may be applied. [Figure 5] Block diagram illustrating an example 3GPP NR system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 6] 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 of the time domain structure of a communication system such as 5G NR, including radio frames, subframes, slots, and OFDM symbols at various subcarrier spacings. [Figure 8]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of slot and symbol formats and exemplary communication directions therein. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of slot and symbol formats and exemplary communication directions therein. [Figure 10] Diagram showing the results of combining cell-wide and UE-specific TDD configurations [Figure 11] Diagram showing the results of combining cell-wide and DCI-based TDD configurations [Figure 12] Diagram showing half-duplex operation for the UE and sub-band full-duplex operation in the gNB [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates variable frequency resources and fixed frequency resources in different time periods of a sub-band full duplex resource. [Figure 14] A diagram illustrating problematic collision of uplink and downlink resources of two different UEs on the same subband full duplex resource. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary simplified structure of a UE and a gNB. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 shows the structure of a UE according to an example of an implementation of an improved time division communication procedure. [Figure 17] FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of UE behavior according to an example implementation of an improved time division communication procedure. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 shows the structure of a base station according to an example of implementing an improved time division communication procedure. [Figure 19] Flow diagram of the behavior of a base station according to an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure. [Figure 20] 1 is a signaling diagram illustrating an example exchange between a UE and a gNB in ​​an example implementation of an improved time division communication procedure. [Figure 21] 1 illustrates the TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure is applied to the first scenario. [Figure 22] A diagram showing TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure is applied to the second scenario. [Figure 23] A diagram showing the TDD communication directions in and out of SBFD resources when applying an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure to a variant of the second scenario. [Figure 24] A diagram showing the TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure is applied to the third scenario. [Figure 25] A diagram showing the TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when applying an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure to a variant of the third scenario. [Figure 26] A diagram showing the TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when applying an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure to the first scenario. [Figure 27] 1 illustrates the TDD communication directions within and outside SBFD resources when an example implementation of the improved time division communication procedure is applied to the first scenario. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (known simply as "5G"), which includes the development of a new radio access technology (NR) that will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, allowing for the testing and commercial deployment of smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard.

[0012] In particular, the overall system architecture assumes a Next Generation - Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) with gNBs, which terminate the NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) protocols and control plane (Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocols) towards the UEs. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to the 5GC by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (e.g., a specific core entity running the AMF) by an NG-C interface and to the User Plane Function (UPF) (e.g., a specific core entity running the UPF) by an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, e.g., Section 4 of v17.1.0 of 3GPP TS 38.300).

[0013] The user plane protocol stack in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of 3GPP TS 38.300) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) sublayer, the RLC (Radio Link Control) sublayer, and the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer, which are terminated in the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of TS 38.300). A control plane protocol stack is also defined in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of TS 38.300). An overview of Layer 2 functionality is given in TS 38.300, clause 6. RRC layer functionality is given in TS 38.300, clause 7.

[0014] For example, the Medium-Access-Control (MAC) layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including multiplexing logical channels and handling various numerologies.

[0015] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. 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 transmitting a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels are the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and the PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for the downlink.

[0016] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), and / or massive machine-type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements for data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps downlink and 10 Gbps uplink) and user-perceived data rates on the order of three times those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL and DL, respectively) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) and mMTC requires high connection density (1 km in urban environments). 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may be preferably required.

[0017] Therefore, an 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 work well for another use case. 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 referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain a similar CP overhead, the subcarrier spacing should be optimized depending on the delay spread. In NR, more than one value of subcarrier spacing may be supported. Therefore, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are currently being considered. The symbol length T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is given by the formula (Δf=1 / T u ) As in LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0018] In the new wireless system 5G-NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for both the uplink and the downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see, for example, Section 4 of v17.2.0 of 3GPP TS 38.211). For example, downlink transmission and uplink transmission are configured in frames with a time duration of 10 ms. Each frame consists of 10 subframes each with a time duration of 1 ms. In the implementation of 5G NR, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the configured subcarrier spacing. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, a subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (assuming a normal cyclic prefix, similar to an LTE-compliant implementation). On the other hand, for a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, a subframe has two slots, and each slot contains 14 OFDM symbols.

[0019] <Split of 5G NR functions between NG-RAN and 5GC> Figure 2 shows the split of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] Specifically, gNB and ng-eNB handle the following main functions. - Functions of radio resource management such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to the UE in both the uplink and downlink directions - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data - AMF selection at UE attach time when routing to the AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE - Routing of user plane data to the UPF - Routing of control plane information to AMF - Establishing and releasing connections - scheduling and sending of paging messages - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (sent from AMF or OAM) - Configuring measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling - Transport-level packet marking in the uplink - Session Management - Network slicing support - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state - Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message delivery function - Radio Access Network Sharing - Dual Connectivity - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA

[0021] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) handles the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling - NAS signaling security - Access Stratum (AS) security control - Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks - Reachability for idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions) - Registration Area Management - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility - Access Authentication - Access authentication, including roaming rights checks - Mobility management controls (subscriptions and policies) - Network slicing support - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF)

[0022] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) handles the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) - External PDU session points for interconnection with data networks - Packet routing and forwarding - User plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement - Traffic Usage Report - Uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network - Branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions - User plane QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping from SDF to QoS flow) - Downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering

[0023] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) handles the following major functions: - Session Management - UE IP address allocation and management - UP function selection and control - Configuration of traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the correct destination - Policy enforcement and QoS control part - Downlink data notification

[0024] <Procedures for establishment and reconfiguration of RRC connection> Figure 3 shows the interaction between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see TS 38.300).

[0025] RRC is the upper layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and gNB. In particular, in this transition, the AMF creates UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, UE security capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. Next, the gNB activates the AS security with the UE, which is performed by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE and the UE responding to the gNB with a SecurityModeComplete message. After that, the gNB executes the reconfiguration to establish signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and data radio bearer (DRB), which is by the gNB sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and receiving RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, since SRB2 and DRB are not established, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE that the establishment procedure has completed.

[0026] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a fifth-generation core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) having: circuitry for, in operation, establishing a next-generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB such that a signaling radio bearer is established between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE); and a transmitter for, in operation, transmitting an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection. In particular, the gNodeB transmits radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element (IE) to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0027] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 illustrates some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3GPP NR (3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio) project considers three use cases envisioned for IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. Phase 1 specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to further extending eMBB support. Figure 4 illustrates some example IMT usage scenarios envisioned for 2020 and beyond (see, for example, Figure 2 in ITU-R M.20183).

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements for capabilities such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers for future vertical applications, such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing or production processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation in smart grids, and transportation safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by 3GPP TR 38.913. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a user plane target latency of 0.5 ms for the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms for the downlink (DL). A typical URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a 1-ms user plane latency.

[0029] From a physical layer perspective, there are several possible ways to improve reliability. Current scope for improving reliability includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, as NR becomes more stable and developed (a key requirement for NR URLLC), the scope for achieving ultra-high reliability may expand. 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] Furthermore, technology enhancements targeted at NR URLLC target latency improvement and reliability enhancement. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition of data channels, and downlink preemption. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission requested later with smaller latency / higher priority requirements. Thus, an already granted transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption applies 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 (e.g., eMBB). Technology enhancements for reliability improvement include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0031] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices transmitting relatively small amounts of data that are generally latency sensitive. The devices need to be low cost and have extremely long battery life. From an NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one possible solution to achieve power savings from the UE perspective, enabling long battery life.

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

[0033] Additional use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned for NR URLLC, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The more stringent requirements include higher reliability (up to 10 times faster), depending on the use case. -6 level), higher availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization on the order of a few microseconds (values ​​range from 1 to a few microseconds depending on the frequency range), and short latency on the order of 0.5 to 1 ms (target latency for the user plane in particular is 0.5 ms).

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements are possible from a physical layer perspective. In particular, enhancements related to PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) include compact DCI, repetition of PDCCH, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, enhancements related to UCI (Uplink Control Information) include enhancement of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and enhancement of CSI feedback. Additionally, enhancement of PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission / repetition has also been recognized. 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 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, the QoS flow is the finest granularity for QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) that is transmitted within a capsule header through the NG-U interface.

[0036] The 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions for each UE. The NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each UE along with the PDU session, and can then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session (as determined by the NG-RAN, e.g., as described above with reference to Figure 3). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, and AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0037] Figure 5 shows the 5G NR non-roaming reference architecture (see, for example, Section 4.2.3 of v16.9.0 or v17.5.0 of 3GPP TS 23.501). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling 5G services, as exemplarily illustrated in Figure 4) interact with the 3GPP Core Network to provide services. For example, they may support application influence on traffic routing, access Network Exposure Functions (NEFs), or interact with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, Application Functions (AFs) deemed trusted by the operator may be allowed to interact directly with the associated Network Functions. Application Functions not permitted by the operator to directly access Network Functions communicate with the associated Network Functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0038] Figure 5 shows 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 services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be located and run in a cloud computing environment.

[0039] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) having: a transmitter that, when operated, sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMMB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of 5GC functions (e.g., an NEF, an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE in accordance with the QoS requirements; and a circuit that, when operated, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0040] <BWP:bandwidth part> The NR system supports much wider channel bandwidths (e.g., hundreds of MHz) than the 20 MHz of LTE. LTE also supports wideband communications 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 reducing control overhead by requiring only a single control signaling (carrier aggregation requires separate control signaling for each aggregated carrier).

[0041] Furthermore, similar to LTE, NR may also support aggregation of multiple carriers via carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0042] Because UEs do not always require high data rates, the use of a wide bandwidth can result in higher idle power consumption, both in terms of RF and baseband signal processing. In this regard, the newly developed concept of bandwidth portions for NR provides a means for UEs to operate at bandwidths smaller than the configured channel bandwidth, providing an energy-efficient solution while supporting wideband operation. This benefits low-end terminals that cannot access the entire bandwidth for NR.

[0043] 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 the 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 a UE and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is the currently active BWP.

[0044] Illustratively, in 5G NR, a specific BWP is configured only for a UE in the RRC_Connected state. For example, other than an initial BWP (e.g., one for UL and one for DL), a BWP exists only for a UE in the connected state. To support initial data exchange between the UE and the network, for example, during the process of moving the UE from the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state, an initial DL BWP and an initial UL BWP are configured in the minimum system information.

[0045] A UE may have more than one BWP defined (e.g., up to four BWPs per serving cell as currently defined for NR), but the UE has only one active DL BWP at a time.

[0046] For more information about BWP operation, see 3GPP TS 38.321, e.g., v17.1.0, section 5.15.

[0047] Switching between configured BWPs can be achieved in various ways. The operation of bandwidth portions in the uplink and downlink is defined in a 5G NR-compliant implementation in 3GPP 38.321, e.g., in v17.1.0, clause 5.15. The BWP can be switched, for example, by downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., using the bandwidth portion indicators in DCI format 0_1 ​​(UL grant) and DCI format 1_1 (DL schedule)), using the BWP inactivity timer, using RRC signaling, or 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.

[0048] 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 RRC, which may be 0, 1, or 2 bits.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a scenario in which three different BWPs are set: BWP1, which has a frequency bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; BWP2, which has a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; and BWP3, which has a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz.

[0050] 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) on a given carrier.

[0051] According to an exemplary 5G NR compatible implementation in line with 3GPP 38.331, e.g., v17.1.0, different RRCReconfiguration information elements may be used.

[0052] <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).

[0053] Control information in the downlink (which may 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, for example, scheduling 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, for example, section 7.3.1 of v17.2.0 of TS 38.212). An overview is provided in the following table: [Table 1]

[0054] According to an implementation example of TS 38.212, DCI format 2_0 is used to notify switching of slot format, COT period, available RB set, and search space set group.

[0055] The DCI format 2_0 with CRC scrambled by the SFI-RNTI transmits the following information: - If the upper layer parameter slotFormatCombToAddModList is set, - Slot format indicator 1, slot format indicator 2, ..., slot format indicator N, - If the upper layer parameter availableRB-SetsToAddModList is set, Available RB set indicator 1, available RB set indicator 2, ..., available RB set indicator N1, - When the upper layer parameter co-DurationsPerCellToAddModList is set - COT Period Indicator 1, COT Period Indicator 2, ..., COT Period Indicator N2, - When the upper layer parameter switchTriggerToAddModList is set - Search space set group switching flag 1, search space set group switching flag 2, ..., search space set group switching flag M is sent.

[0056] According to Section 11.1.1 of TS 38.213, the size of DCI format 2_0 can be set by higher layers up to 128 bits.

[0057] In 5G NR, the PDCCH is transmitted in a radio resource region called the control resource set (CORESET). In LTE, the concept of a CORESET does not explicitly exist. Instead, the PDCCH in LTE uses the entire carrier bandwidth in the first one to three OFDM symbols (four in the narrowest case). In contrast, the CORESET in 5G NR can occur anywhere within a slot and anywhere within the carrier's frequency range, except that the UE is not supposed to process the CORESET outside the active bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0058] Therefore, the UE monitors the PDCCH as specified in clauses 10 and 11 of 3GPP TS 38.213, e.g., v17.2.0. In the exemplary specification, the UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates defined as a PDCCH search space set. The search space set can be a common search space (CSS) or a UE-specific search space (USS).

[0059] Each activated serving cell configured for PDCCH monitoring with the corresponding search space set monitors one or more CORESETs in the active DL BWP, where monitoring implies decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format.

[0060] Conceptually, Figure 6 shows an exemplary relationship between bandwidth portions, CORESETs, search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates that a UE can monitor. As is apparent from Figure 6, one CORESET is shown per BWP, but there can be more than one. Each CORESET can have several search spaces for one or more PDCCH candidates at a particular aggregation level (e.g., AL2, 4, or 8). These search spaces can be grouped into search space sets, such as shared SS sets and UE-specific SS sets.

[0061] <Time domain structure in 5G NR> In the time domain, 5G NR transmissions are organized into frames of 10 ms length, each divided into ten equally sized subframes of 1 ms length. Subframes are divided into one or more slots of 14 OFDM symbols each. The time length of a slot, in milliseconds, depends on the numerology. Thus, for example, with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, an NR slot has the same structure as an LTE subframe with a regular cyclic prefix. A subframe in 5G NR serves as a numerology-independent time reference, which is particularly 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 communications are based, is exemplarily shown in Figure 7. Further exemplary details of the frame structure can be obtained from 3GPP TS 38.211 v17.2.0, section 4.3 "Frame structure," which further includes section 4.3.2 corresponding to "Slots."

[0062] <Time domain duplex and slot format> The two main duplexing schemes used in mobile communications are frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). Traffic patterns are evolving and highly specific to particular use cases, including downlink-heavy applications (e.g., streaming) as well as uplink-heavy applications (e.g., cloud storage and personal distribution). To increase flexibility and make spectrum use more efficient, time-division duplex (TDD) is useful. TDD uses the same frequency in each direction but separates communications by using different time periods, e.g., frames containing different time periods and slots for uplink or downlink communications.

[0063] To make the most efficient use of spectrum and avoid interference, all TDDs operating in the same frequency range and in the same area must be synchronized. This implies that base stations must transmit during the same time periods and all devices must transmit only during dedicated time periods. To this end, each terminal can be configured with a specific transmission direction for a time period.

[0064] 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 either DL or UL. However, in 5G NR, each symbol in a slot can be configured differently, for example, as a downlink (hereinafter referred to as DL or D) or an uplink (hereinafter referred to as UL or U). In addition, there are flexible symbols (hereinafter referred to as F) that can be used as both DL and UL depending on further UE operation.

[0065] Each UE can be configured by its base station with respect to the transmission direction of slots and symbols within each slot. For example, the UE determines whether to transmit or receive on flexible symbols according to the UL or DL ​​scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0 / 0_1 / 0_2 / 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2).

[0066] Conceptually, the base station and the UE therefore have a common understanding of the transmission direction in slots and symbols for TDD operation.

[0067] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary format of slots and symbols. As can be seen from this example, slots 0-6 are downlink slots, with all symbols configured for the downlink direction. Slot 7 is a mixed flexible / downlink slot, with the first four symbols illustratively assumed to be downlink direction symbols, and the remaining symbols in this slot are flexible direction symbols (i.e., symbols that can ultimately be used for either the downlink or the uplink). Slots 8-14 are flexible slots, with all symbols being flexible direction symbols. Slot 15 is a mixed flexible / uplink slot, with the last seven symbols illustratively assumed to be uplink direction symbols. Finally, slots 16-19 are uplink slots, with all symbols being configured for the uplink direction.

[0068] The following describes a more specific implementation example of TDD in 5G NR. Currently, 5G NR uses specific mechanisms for defining the transmission direction of slots and symbols, and other specific mechanisms for signaling the defined transmission direction of slots and symbols to a UE. Based on this information, the UE can apply rules regarding how to determine the actual transmission direction for a slot or symbol.

[0069] In this exemplary 5G-NR implementation, three different TDD configuration mechanisms are used: 1) Semi-static TDD configuration on a cell-wide basis via SIB or RRC 2) UE-specific semi-static TDD configuration via RRC 3) TDD configuration with dynamic (e.g., DCI) scheduling for a UE or a group of UEs is supported.

[0070] 1) Semi-static cell-wide TDD configuration Higher layer signaling, for example, a system information block SIB1 (e.g., a ServingCellConfigCommon SIB information element (IE)) or an RRC message (e.g., containing a ServingCellConfigCommon IE), may be used to provide the UE with an information element called TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon, which contains information about the TDD configuration.

[0071] The information element TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon defined in the current TS 38.331 v17.1.0 is shown below.

[0072] - TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon The IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon" determines the cell-specific uplink / downlink TDD configuration. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon information element [Table 2] [Table 3]

[0073] As evident from the cell-specific TDD configuration above, the parameter dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity defines the slot configuration period in milliseconds for which the TDD configuration applies. Within the slot configuration period, slots and symbols are defined over the time period as either UL, DL or flexible based on the combination of the parameters "nrofDownlinkSlots", "nrofDownlinkSymbols", "nrofUplinkSlots" and "nrofUplinkSymbols".

[0074] Thus, two different patterns (Pattern 1 and Pattern 2) can be defined, where Pattern 1 is mandatory and Pattern 2 is optional. Both patterns may typically contain the same parameters with different values. If both patterns are set to TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon, the UE sets the slot format per slot over the first set of slot sets as indicated in Pattern 1 and the slot format per slot over the second set of slots as indicated in Pattern 2.

[0075] An example of such a semi-static cell-specific configuration is shown in Figure 9. As can be seen from Figure 9, a slot configuration period of 20 slots in total is assumed, which is determined, for example, from a dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity of 2.5 ms and µ = 3 based on the formula S = P * 2µ. The parameter nrofDownlinkSlots is set to 7, so that the first seven slots of the slot configuration period are downlink slots, each containing only downlink symbols. The parameter nrofDownlinkSymbols is set to 4, so that the first slot after the last full DL slot (here, slot 7) starts with four DL symbols. The remaining symbols in slot 7 are considered flexible F, since they are not defined as D.

[0076] The parameter nrofUplinkSlots is set to 4, meaning that the last four slots of the slot configuration period are uplink slots, each containing only uplink symbols. The parameter nrofUplinkSymbols is set to 7, meaning that the slot just before the first full UL slot (here, slot 15) ends with seven UL symbols. The remaining symbols in slot 15 are considered flexible F because they are not defined as UL.

[0077] Additionally, the remaining slots of the slot setting period are flexible slots and therefore contain flexible symbols.

[0078] 2) Semi-static UE-specific TDD configuration Furthermore, the above cell-common TDD configuration allows the network to further configure the flexible slots defined by the cell-common TDD configuration, e.g., to adapt them to the UE's traffic requirements, by using the IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated" (see above IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon"). This IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated" can be sent from the base station to the UE, e.g., using an RRC message, e.g., as part of the IE "ServingCellConfig" (which is then used to configure the UE with a serving cell).

[0079] The information element TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated defined in the current TS 38.331 v17.1.0 is shown below.

[0080] - TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated The IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated" determines the UE-specific uplink / downlink TDD configuration. TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated information element [Table 4] [Table 5] [Table 6] [Table 7] [Table 8]

[0081] As is evident from the example cell-specific TDD configuration above, a set of slot configurations may be defined, with each slot in the configuration set being assigned an index (slotIndex) within the slot configuration period (defined by the cell-wide TDD configuration described above). The configuration of such a slot can be all DL ("allDownlink"), all UL ("allUplink"), or mixed ("explicit"). If the configuration is all DL or all UL, then all OFDM symbols in the indexed slot are DL or UL. If the configuration is explicit, there are further parameters to indicate the number of first downlink symbols in the indexed slot ("nrofDownlinkSymbols") and the number of last uplink symbols in this indexed slot ("norofUplinkSymbols"). The remaining symbols in the slot (i.e., symbols not defined as uplink or downlink) are considered flexible.

[0082] The IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated" is optional; if the network does not configure this IE, the UE derives the slot TDD configuration using only the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE. If the IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated" is provided, the configuration in the tdd-UL-DLConfigDedicated IE can only override the flexible slots and symbols defined by the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE. In other words, the UE-dedicated TDD configuration cannot change the direction of slots / symbols already assigned for the downlink or uplink defined by the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE. Figure 10 shows how the UE-specific TDD configuration can be used to further define the cell-common TDD configuration. Figure 10 assumes the same cell-common TDD configuration of Figure 9 (see above) and further shows an example UE-specific configuration for flexible symbols and slots for the cell-common TDD configuration. According to this example of Figure 10, the UE-dedicated TDD configuration defines slots 7 and 8 of the slot configuration period as all downlink (e.g., using slotIndex and allDownlink) and slot 15 as all uplink (e.g., using slotIndex and allUplink). Furthermore, slots 9 and 14 are explicitly configured (e.g., using slotIndex, explicit, nrofDownlinkSymbols, and nrofUplinkSymbols) with a specific order of downlink and uplink symbols (not shown). The remaining symbols in slots 9 and 14 are flexible symbols, and the remaining slots in slots 10, 11, and 12 are flexible slots (including flexible symbols).

[0083] 3) Dynamic TDD Configuration By using downlink control information messages, in particular DCI format 2_0, an additional quick mechanism is supported by which the network can configure the flexible slots defined by the cell common TDD configuration (the above mentioned IE "TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon") to suit, for example, the traffic requirements of the UE.

[0084] By using DCI format 2_0, highly dynamic TDD configuration can be realized in a short time. 5G NR provides multiple slot formats, each of which defines the transmission direction of symbols within a single slot.

[0085] In such a 5G NR-compliant implementation, the gNB informs the UE of the slot format to be used using a Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (see section 11.1.1 of TS 38.213 v17.2.0).

[0086] DCI format 2_0 can carry slot format indicator 1, slot format indicator 2, ..., slot format indicator N (see TS 38.212, section 7.3.1.3.1). For example, the slot format indicator includes an index value associated with one slot format among multiple slot formats, and includes the index value in the form of a table such as Table 11.1.1-1 "Slot formats for normal cyclic prefix" of TS 38.213, excerpted below.

[0087] Table 11.1.1-1: Slot format for normal cyclic prefix [Table 9]

[0088] The SFI index field value of DCI format 2_0 indicates to the UE the slot format of each slot in the number of slots (e.g., each DL BWP or each UL BWP) from the slot where the UE detects DCI format 2_0. The number of slots is equal to or greater than the PDCCH monitoring period for DCI format 2_0. As a result, in slots where the TDD configuration applied by the SFI of DCI2_0 applies, the UE follows the TDD configuration defined by the SFI and the above table.

[0089] There may be up to N SFIs, each SFI being provided to facilitate configuring a different SFI for a different UE (or group of UEs). The UE is then additionally given a position within the DCI ("positionInDCI") that is directed to one SFI. In this sense, DCI format 2_0 is a group-common DCI.

[0090] FIG. 11 illustrates how the dynamic TDD configuration of DCI2_0 can be used to further define a cell-wide TDD configuration. FIG. 11 assumes the same cell-wide TDD configuration of FIG. 9 (see above), and further exemplarily assumes that the base station transmits DCI2_0 in slot 8, which is the flexible slot of the cell-wide TDD configuration. Further exemplarily assume that the definition of the TDD configuration of DCI2_0 is valid for five slots, i.e., up to slot 12. As a result, the TDD configuration of SFI overwrites the flexible definition initially defined by the cell-wide TDD configuration in slots 8-12. This is indicated in FIG. 11 by denoting the slot as "SFI."

[0091] As a further option, not shown, the base station can also use dynamic TDD configuration based on DCI2_0 to further define the combined TDD configuration resulting from the cell-wide TDD configuration and the UE-specific TDD configuration (see bottom of Figure 10).

[0092] <Sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex resources> The limited time duration allocated to the uplink in TDD results in reduced coverage, increased latency, and reduced capacity. As a possible extension to this limitation of traditional TDD operation, 3GPP has initiated a study item, "Study on the Evolution of NR Duplex Operation," to explore the feasibility of allowing simultaneous downlink and uplink, so-called full-duplex resources, or more specifically, sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex resources (SBFD) at the gNB side within traditional TDD bands. Providing full-duplex resource operation within TDD bands allows for more UL time duration, extending UL coverage, reducing latency, and increasing UL capacity. If possible, this should have minimal or no impact on legacy UEs that do not support SBFD.

[0093] 3GPP may take a phased approach in Release 18, requiring only the gNB side to operate with full-duplex resources, while UEs may operate with half-duplex. The gNB simultaneously transmits and receives using resources in the same frequency band. However, at a given time, each UE either only transmits or only receives on the resources in the frequency band. Figure 12 illustrates SBFD operation when the gNB side uses full-duplex resources and the UE side uses half-duplex. However, it is also possible for the UE to operate with full-duplex resources to achieve SBFD. Accordingly, in time periods 2 and 3 (e.g., OFDM symbols 2 and 3, or slots 2 and 3), UE1 and UE2 have different TDD directions, respectively. The solution for the improved TDD communication procedure presented below is applicable not only to UEs that support half-duplex operation, but also to UEs that support full-duplex operation.

[0094] SBFD is envisioned to facilitate more flexible TDD directions (UL and DL) in specific time / frequency resources, e.g., subbands in the frequency domain and time periods in the time domain (one or more symbols, one or more slots, etc.). As a further option, the frequency band for SBFD operation may be the same or may change throughout a time period (or part thereof). In other words, SBFD may operate based on the same or different frequency resources between different SBFD time periods (e.g., SBFD symbols). Figure 13 shows variable frequency resources (left side) and identical frequency resources (right side) in different SBFD time periods (e.g., SBFD symbols).

[0095] For example, subbands can be used to enable flexible and different communication directions (UL / DL) for multiple UEs. As an example, in SBFD, non-overlapping downlink subbands coexist in an uplink slot and uplink subbands coexist in corresponding downlink slots. This reduces TDD buffering delay due to exclusive TDD transmission opportunities per time period.

[0096] From the UE's perspective, the communication direction in the subbands can be different from the legacy communication direction (e.g., the communication direction defined by one or more of the common or dedicated TDD configuration and SFI, see above). How the TDD direction in the SBFD resources is defined is still under discussion. However, it may conflict with the legacy TDD direction.

[0097] Conceptually, the SFBD mode differs from the FDD mode in that the frequency separation between the UL and DL bands is significantly smaller or narrower than in the FDD mode. Optionally, the SFBD mode may operate in a single unpaired spectrum band, while the FDD mode may operate in a paired spectrum that includes the UL and DL spectrum bands.

[0098] In subband non-overlapping full-duplex resource (SBFD) operation at a gNB, the gNB may need to configure different transmission directions for different UEs for the same symbol or slots. As explained above, in current 3GPP specifications (e.g., Rel. 15 / 16 / 17), such different configurations can be achieved by UE-specific RRC TDD configuration or DCI2_0-based TDD configuration.

[0099] SBFD operation is currently under discussion in 3GPP. Only a few aspects of SBFD have been agreed upon so far.

[0100] One open issue concerns whether (and if so, how) the UE should be informed of the time and / or frequency location of the frequency (sub)bands for SBFD operation. The following alternatives have been discussed in 3GPP: ― SBFD operation Alt1: · The time and frequency location of the sub-bands for SBFD operation is unknown to the UE. UE behavior follows existing specifications without introducing any new UE behavior for SBFD operation on the gNB side. ― SBFD operation Alt2: · The time and frequency location of the sub-bands for SBFD operation is unknown to the UE. UE behavior for non-SBFD capable UEs follows existing specifications. From a RAN1 perspective, new UE behavior can be introduced for SBFD aware UEs. ― SBFD operation Alt3: Only the time position of the subbands for SBFD operation is known to the SBFD-capable UE. UE behavior for non-SBFD capable UEs follows existing specifications. From the RAN1 perspective, new UE behavior can be introduced for SBFD aware UEs based on the time position of the sub-band for SBFD operation. ― SBFD operation Alt4: · Both time and frequency locations of the sub-bands for SBFD operation are known to SBFD-aware UEs. UE behavior for non-SBFD capable UEs follows existing specifications. From a RAN1 perspective, new UE behaviors can be introduced for SBFD aware UEs based on the time and frequency location of the sub-bands for SBFD operation.

[0101] The solutions for improved TDD communication procedures presented below are primarily applicable to Alt4 (and therefore, for illustrative purposes only, will be described primarily based on Alt4) because the improved UE knows both the time and frequency of the subbands for SBFD operation. However, the solutions for improved TDD communication procedures presented further below are also applicable to Alt3, where the UE knows only the time location of the subbands for SBFD operation.

[0102] When the subband locations for SBFD operation (frequency and / or time) are provided to the UE, semi-static (e.g., based on SIB or RRC) or dynamic (e.g., based on DCI) configuration is possible.

[0103] If the UE is aware of the SBFD resources, this is beneficial for co-channel cross-link-interference (CLI) measurement reporting between UEs, which can be specific to SBFD, e.g. - Measurement resources / reporting settings - Measurement / reporting details (including UE processing delay) - Exchange of relevant information as needed (between gNBs) - Use of measurements in gNB may include one or more of:

[0104] Furthermore, if the UE is aware of the SBFD resources, at least the following options are possible for the UE with UL subband configured in the SBFD symbol: - Option 1: An SBFD aware UE does not expect any UL transmissions to be scheduled outside the UL sub-band or any DL receptions to be scheduled within the UL sub-band in the SBFD symbols. - Option 2: An SBFD aware UE does not expect UL transmissions to be scheduled outside of the UL sub-band, and DL reception may be scheduled within the UL sub-band in the SBFD symbols. - Option 3: An SBFD capable UE does not expect DL reception to be scheduled in the UL sub-band, and UL transmissions may be scheduled outside the UL sub-band in the SBFD symbol. - Option 4: SBFD aware UEs may be scheduled for UL transmission outside the UL sub-band or DL ​​reception within the UL sub-band in the SBFD symbols.

[0105] For example, for options 2 and 4, the UE can be scheduled either UL or DL ​​in the SBFD UL subband, which can support more flexible scheduling, while options 1 and 3 allow unidirectional scheduling.

[0106] <Further improvements> Above we have described extensions to TDD for full duplex operation, in particular SBFD operation, which will be introduced by 3GPP Release 18. SBFD operation is currently under discussion in 3GPP, and only some aspects of SBFD have been agreed upon so far.

[0107] Thus, the inventors have recognized the need to define SBFD operations in more detail.

[0108] Furthermore, since the TDD direction in SBFD (TDD direction by the new SBFD-capable UE in Rel.18) may be different from the traditional TDD direction (TDD direction by the traditional UE in Rel.15 / 16 / 17), coexistence between Rel.18 UEs using SBFD and traditional UEs following traditional TDD rules is an important issue to be resolved.

[0109] A legacy UE may receive many different communications, such as one or more of a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), System Information Blocks (SIBx), Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS), a Semi-Persistent Scheduling PDSCH (SPS PDSCH), and DL paging. A legacy UE may transmit many different communications, including one or more of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), a random access procedure MsgA, a CSI report and scheduling request in the PUCCH, and a PUSCH transmission based on a configured grant in the UL.

[0110] Some or all of these downlink and uplink signals are configured semi-statically (e.g., by SIB and / or RRC) and cannot be dynamically adapted in the short term by the scheduling device (gNB). Therefore, it is difficult for the gNB to coordinate all UL / DL communications from various UEs to avoid conflicts.

[0111] In particular, Cross-Link Interference (CLI) can occur and affect the semi-static UL / DL transmissions of conventional UEs (see, e.g., the signals mentioned above). - When SBFD is configured on some OFDM symbols / PRBs in Rel. 18, and - If the TDD direction of actual scheduling on SBFD resources used by a Rel.18 UE overrides the TDD direction defined by legacy rules used by legacy UEs, occurs in.

[0112] As shown in Figure 14, when Rel.18 UE2 is configured with SBFD resources and indicated to transmit on SBD resources for use as UL resources, DL transmission by legacy UE1 may be affected by CSI due to direct resource overlap or CSI due to in-band emissions.

[0113] In the example scenario of Figure 14, the two conflicting resources directly overlap, but there is also the problem of CLI being caused by resources that do not overlap but are close to each other in time and frequency (and assume, for example, that the two UEs are close to each other in a cell).

[0114] Furthermore, it can be exemplarily assumed that DL transmissions by UE1 are either dynamically scheduled (e.g., by DL DCI) or semi-persistently scheduled (SPS configuration). In the case of dynamically scheduled DL transmissions for UE1, the gNB can try to avoid such resource overlap by adapting scheduled DL resources or canceling DL grants. However, in the case of SPS, such rapid adaptation of SPS DL transmissions is not possible, and therefore the contention problem is more severe.

[0115] The inventors have thus found it possible to provide improved TDD communication procedures that make it possible to avoid one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks. The present invention relates to various solutions and variants for such improved TDD communication mobility procedures.

[0116] For example, it may be possible to flexibly and quickly reconfigure the TDD settings to be followed by the UE and gNB, particularly in the context of SBFD operation.

[0117] <Embodiment> In the following, UEs, base stations, and procedures for meeting these needs are described for new radio access technologies envisioned for 5G mobile communication systems, but may also be used in previous LTE-based mobile communication systems or future (e.g., 6G) mobile communication systems. 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 above discussion and findings.

[0118] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein and will be made below in order to be able to explain the principles underlying the present disclosure in a clear, concise, and understandable manner. However, these assumptions should be understood as merely examples made herein for illustrative purposes, and they are not necessarily essential to the present invention, and therefore should 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.

[0119] 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 used below, such as procedures, entities, and layers, are closely related to the terms used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in the current 3GPP 5G standardization. Therefore, the terms may change in the future without affecting the functionality of each feature and solution. As a result, those skilled in the art will recognize that the solutions and their scope of protection should not be limited to the specific terms used illustratively in this specification, which lack newer or final agreed-upon terms, but should be more broadly understood by the underlying functions and concepts of the solutions described in this disclosure.

[0120] For example, a mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment (UE) is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a given set of functions to the same node or other nodes or other functional entities of the network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach the node to communication facilities or media over which the node can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach the functional entity to communication facilities or media over which the functional entity may communicate with other functional entities or corresponding nodes.

[0121] 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 implements and / or provides a set of predetermined functions to other functional entities of the same node or other nodes or networks. A physical entity performs several control tasks for communication devices, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. Note that base station functions and communication device functions may also be integrated within a single device. For example, a mobile terminal may also implement base station functions for other terminals. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB. A base station may also be a gNB in ​​a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NR system.

[0122] Communication between a UE and a base station is typically standardized and may be defined by different layers, such as PHY, MAC, RRC, etc. (see background discussion above).

[0123] The expression "time division configuration" here can be understood as a configuration of a communication direction in a time division-based communication method for each of one or more time intervals of the time division configuration. The "communication direction" can be configured to any one of an uplink direction, a downlink direction, or a flexible direction depending on the time division configuration.

[0124] This flexible direction may be the uplink direction or the downlink direction. In one implementation, the "time domain configuration" may be a "cell-wide" configuration or a "UE-specific" configuration. For example, it may be a cell-wide TDD configuration and a UE-specific TDD configuration defined by 5G (see above), respectively. Optionally, the UE-specific time domain configuration may be a "DCI-based" configuration. For example, it may be a time domain configuration dedicated to a UE or a group of UEs, such as provided by DCI format 2_0 defined by 5G. "Cell-wide" in this context may mean, for example, that the time domain configuration is common in a cell of a gNB, i.e., common to all UEs located in the cell. "UE-specific" in this context may mean, for example, that the time domain configuration is specific to one UE or a group of UEs (or may be "dedicated" to one UE). "DCI-based" in this context may mean, for example, that the time domain configuration is dynamically provided to the UE based on a DCI message, as compared to a typical communication mechanism for "cell-wide" time domain configuration (such as RRC or SIB).

[0125] The expression "full-duplex resources" herein can be understood as resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) that allow a gNB serving multiple UEs to simultaneously transmit and receive signals over the same frequency, i.e., operate as full-duplex resources. One implementation example is the subband non-overlapping full-duplex (SBFD) operation discussed and introduced by 5G (see above). A "full-duplex resource" can be understood to span one or more time periods, e.g., one or more symbols, or slots, or subframes, or frames. Furthermore, a "full-duplex resource" can be understood to span one or more frequency regions of one or more subbands, bands, bandwidth portions, or any other suitable frequency unit. For example, a "full-duplex resource" can span a frequency range narrower than the entire frequency range in which the UE operates, or it can span the entire frequency range in which the UE operates.

[0126] The term "used instead" should be understood in the context of indicating which time division setting is to be used. Alternatively, it can be expressed as "notifying a switch from one previously used time division setting to another indicated time division setting." Alternatively, it can be expressed as "notifying a switch from a previously used time division setting to another indicated time division setting." Alternatively, it can be expressed as "stopping using the previously used time division setting and starting to use the other indicated time division setting."

[0127] 15 shows a general, simplified, exemplary block diagram of a user equipment (also referred to as a communication device) and a scheduling device (here assumed for purposes of illustration to be located in a base station such as an LTE eNB (also known as an ng-eNB) or a gNB in ​​5G NR). The UE and the eNB / gNB communicate with each other via a (wireless) physical channel using their respective transceivers.

[0128] A communication device may include a transceiver and a processing circuit. The transceiver may include and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The processing circuit may be one or more hardware components, such as one or more processing units or any LSI. An input / output point (or node) exists between the transceiver and the processing circuit, and the processing circuit can control the transceiver through the input / output point during operation, i.e., control the receiver and / or transmitter to exchange receive / transmit data. The transceiver may include an RF front end, including one or more antennas, amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators, etc., as the transmitter and receiver. The processing circuit may control the transceiver to perform control tasks, such as transmitting user data and control data provided by the processing circuit 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 judgment, decision, calculation, and measurement. The transmitter may be responsible for performing the transmission process and other related processes. The receiver may be responsible for performing the reception process and other processes related thereto, such as monitoring the channel.

[0129] Various solutions for the improved time division mobility procedure are described below. In this connection, an improved UE, an improved base station, and an improved integrated circuit are presented, which participate separately or together in the improved time division communication procedure. Corresponding methods of the UE behavior and the base station behavior are also provided. The integrated circuit may correspond to the UE and the base station, and their respective behaviors.

[0130] The improved time division communication procedure solutions of the present disclosure can be based, for example, on some or a combination of the different mechanisms described above in the context of the exemplary 3GPP 5G-NR implementation, including, for example, the use of signaling mechanisms (e.g., information elements for common signaling, UE-specific signaling, and dynamic signaling) or the use of definition rules for determining a particular transmission direction of a slot or symbol based on received configuration information.

[0131] Figure 16 illustrates a simplified exemplary UE structure for one exemplary implementation of the improved time division communication procedure, which may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in connection with Figure 15. The various structural elements of the UE illustrated in Figure 16 may be connected to each other, such as by corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control data and user data and other signals. Although not shown for purposes of illustration, the UE may include additional structural elements.

[0132] As is clear from FIG. 16, the UE may include a time division setting receiver, a communication direction determination circuit, a full duplex resource information receiver, and a setting switch notification receiver.

[0133] In the present case, the receiver of the UE may be configured to perform at least part of one or more of, for example, receiving multiple time division configurations, receiving information about full duplex resources, receiving a downlink control information message including a configuration switch notification, etc.

[0134] In the present case as made clear by this disclosure, the processing circuitry of the UE can be configured to perform at least a portion of one or more processes, such as determining the communication direction based on a set of one or more different time division configurations.

[0135] In the present case as made clear by this disclosure, the transmitter of the UE may be configured to perform at least a portion of the communication with, for example, a base station.

[0136] An example procedure, disclosed in further detail below, is performed by a UE having: a receiver of the UE receives a plurality of time division configurations; circuitry of the UE determines, for each of a plurality of time intervals, a communication direction based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the receiver receives information regarding full-duplex resources; the receiver receives a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; and the circuitry determines, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration.

[0137] According to one optional exemplary embodiment of the UE, the indicated time division setting is used instead of a previously used time division setting in the first set of time division settings, and the second set of time division settings includes at least the indicated time division setting as a replacement for a previously used time division setting in the first set of time division settings.

[0138] A corresponding exemplary method includes the following steps performed by the UE: receiving a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of a previously received plurality of time division configurations; receiving information regarding full duplex resources; receiving a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among a plurality of previously received time division configurations; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; Includes.

[0139] FIG. 17 shows a sequence diagram corresponding to an example of the UE and its behavior in accordance with the UE method described above.

[0140] The above-described improved TDD communication procedure thereby achieves its objectives and overcomes some of the drawbacks described above. For example, the improved TDD communication procedure facilitates easy, flexible, and dynamic configuration of the communication direction of full-duplex resources (e.g., the above-described SBFD resources). Thus, the gNB can control the communication direction of full-duplex resources separately from non-full-duplex resources. This facilitates changing the communication direction to avoid collisions within SBFD resources, as described above in connection with FIG. 14. The above-described improved TDD communication procedure mechanism can be used to control different UEs that support such a mechanism.

[0141] Therefore, dynamically controlling the TDD communication direction followed by new release UEs within SBFD resources facilitates avoiding or reducing intra-cell interference between new release UEs and legacy UEs that support improved TDD communication procedures. According to one option, the TDD communication direction within SBFD resources can be changed from U to D or from D to U as needed to match with conflicting legacy UEs.

[0142] Furthermore, the improved TDD communication procedures are also beneficial for avoiding or reducing inter-cell interference. In particular, the gNB can control the TDD communication direction of new release UEs within SBFD resources to align with the TDD communication direction used in neighboring cells.

[0143] In some exemplary embodiments, part of the improved TDD communication procedures includes improved base stations, and accordingly, the improved TDD communication procedures also provide for improved base stations participating in the procedures, as described below.

[0144] Figure 18 illustrates a simplified exemplary base station structure for an exemplary implementation of improved TDD communication procedures that can be implemented based on the general base station structure described in connection with Figure 15. The various structural elements of the base station illustrated in Figure 18 may be connected to each other, for example, by corresponding input / output nodes (not shown) for exchanging control and user data and other signals. Although not shown for purposes of illustration, the base station may include additional structural elements.

[0145] As is clear from this, the base station comprises a time division setting transmitter, a time division setting determination circuit, a communication direction determination circuit, a full duplex resource information transmitter, and a setting switch notification transmitter.

[0146] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the receiver of the base station may be configured to handle at least a portion of the incoming communications from, for example, a UE.

[0147] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the base station may be configured to at least partially perform one or more of, for example, determining a communication direction based on one or more different sets of time division configurations, determining one time division configuration for full-duplex resources, etc.

[0148] In the present case, as will become clear from the disclosure below, the base station transmitter can be configured to perform at least part of one or more of, for example, transmitting multiple time division configurations, transmitting information about full duplex resources, transmitting a downlink control information message including a configuration switch notification, etc.

[0149] An example procedure disclosed in more detail below is performed by a base station comprising: a transmitter of the base station transmits a plurality of time division configurations; circuitry of the base station determines, for each of a plurality of time intervals, a communication direction based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; the transmitter transmits information regarding full-duplex resources; the circuitry determines a time division configuration to be used for the full-duplex resource from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; the transmitter transmits a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; and the circuitry determines, for each of the one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration.

[0150] A corresponding method comprises the following steps executed by a base station: transmitting a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of a previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; transmitting information regarding full duplex resources; determining a time division configuration to be used for full duplex resources from among a plurality of previously transmitted time division configurations; transmitting a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; Includes.

[0151] A corresponding sequence diagram for exemplary base station behavior along the lines of the base station and corresponding method described above is shown in Figure 19. This sequence diagram illustrates an exemplary simplified implementation of the base station method presented above.

[0152] Figure 20 is a signaling diagram of an exemplary and simplified embodiment of an improved TDD communication procedure, showing the exchange of messages between different participating entities (here UE and gNB) and the steps performed by these entities.

[0153] The behavior of the UE and the behavior of the gNB follow the UE and base station and methods described above.

[0154] FIG. 20 further illustrates communication between the UE and the gNB based on the determined communication direction. As is apparent, the UE and the gNB perform corresponding operations to enable synchronized communication based on the same understanding of the communication direction provided by the configured TDD configuration. The improved TDD communication procedure facilitates communication within full-duplex resources, which can be different compared to non-full-duplex resources, by providing different TDD configurations for determining the communication direction of full-duplex resources. A configuration switch notification can be sent from the gNB to the UE to indicate the different TDD configuration. To illustrate this difference, FIG. 20 illustrates the resulting communication based on a first set of TDD configurations before and / or outside the SBFD resources and the resulting communication based on a second set of TDD configurations (which can be different from the first set) within the SBFD resources.

[0155] The above improved TDD communication procedures can be applied to various exemplary scenarios, as described in detail below.

[0156] According to a first scenario, the UE is configured with a cell-wide TDD configuration and a UE-specific TDD configuration. The first set of TDD configurations may include one or both of a cell-wide time division configuration and a UE-specific time division configuration. Accordingly, the configuration switch notification in the DCI message indicates one of the cell-wide time division configuration and the UE-specific time division configuration, and the indicated time division configuration is included in the second set of TDD configurations. As a result, the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources can be different from the TDD communication direction outside the SBFD resources according to the indicated TDD configuration.

[0157] In one example of this first scenario, the UE is configured with both cell-wide and UE-specific TDD configurations, and therefore operates primarily according to a combination of both the cell-wide and UE-specific TDD configurations, as described in detail above (see FIG. 10). In this example, the first set of TDD configurations may include the cell-wide TDD configuration and the UE-specific TDD configuration. Furthermore, for TDD communication operation over SBFD resources, the configuration switch notification in the DCI message may indicate the cell-wide TDD configuration, and the second set of TDD configurations mentioned above includes only the indicated cell-wide TDD configuration. This causes the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources to follow only the indicated cell-wide TDD configuration (e.g., ignoring the UE-specific TDD configuration).

[0158] An example implementation of the first scenario is shown in Figure 21. In Figure 21, the first scenario is shown from the perspective of one UE communicating with a gNB. The UE supports the SBFD mechanism and is aware of SBFD resources. An exemplary cell-wide TDD configuration is shown in the top row, an exemplary UE-specific TDD configuration is shown in the middle row, and the resulting combined TDD configuration is shown in the bottom row, as described in more detail below.

[0159] In this example implementation, it is assumed that the TDD configuration can be defined based on the parameters introduced in the exemplary 5G compliant implementation of the TDD configuration described above (e.g., see Figures 9, 10 and 11), thus using RRC parameters such as dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity, nrofDownlinkSlots, nnrofUplinkSlots, allDownlink, allUplink, etc. The communication directions (D, F, U) of the illustrated cell-wide and UE-specific TDD configurations are purely exemplary and may differ from those illustrated.

[0160] Furthermore, the lower row is divided into two sub-rows, the lower sub-row representing the SBFD subband (an example of a full-duplex frequency range) and the upper sub-row representing the remaining frequency range in which the UE operates. In the time domain, the SBFD resource is exemplarily assumed to span time slots 8-12.

[0161] In this exemplary implementation, it is further assumed that the gNB transmits a DCI including a configuration switch notification indicating a cell-wide TDD configuration in a timely manner before the SBFD resource (here, time slot 7).

[0162] As can be seen from the bottom row, the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources is in accordance with the cell-wide TDD configuration shown and is partially different from the TDD communication direction outside the SBFD resources. In particular, in the non-SBFD frequency region in time slots 8-12, the UE determines the communication direction based on a combination of the cell-wide TDD configuration and the UE-specific TDD configuration. In this regard, this exemplary scenario assumes that the communication directions D and U of the cell-wide TDD configuration cannot be overridden by the UE-specific TDD configuration. Only the flexible direction of the cell-wide TDD configuration can be redefined by the UE-specific TDD configuration.

[0163] Therefore, the TDD communication directions in the non-SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 to 12 are D, D, D / U, U, and U, respectively.

[0164] On the other hand, in the SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 to 12, the UE determines the communication direction only based on the indicated cell-common TDD setting, resulting in communication directions D, D, D / F, F, F (basically corresponding to the cell-common TDD setting).

[0165] Comparing the TDD communication directions during the SBFD time interval in the SBFD sub-band and the remaining frequency domain, it is clear that for time slots 10, 11, and 12, the respective communication directions are different.

[0166] Assume that a collision between the UE in FIG. 21 and another UE (not shown) occurs in time slots 10, 11, and 12. The UE in FIG. 21 mainly communicates in uplink in time slots 10 to 12, while the other UEs may communicate in downlink. By changing the communication direction within the SBFD resources in these time slots 10, 11, and 12, direct collision of communication directions between different UEs can be avoided. According to a second scenario, multiple different cell-wide TDD configurations are configured for the UE. The first set of TDD configurations may include one of multiple cell-wide time division configurations. In response, the configuration switch notification in the DCI message can indicate one of the multiple cell-wide time division configurations that is different from the one already in use, which corresponds to the second set of TDD configurations described above. As a result, the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources can be in accordance with the indicated cell-wide TDD configuration and can be different from the TDD communication direction outside the SBFD resources that is in accordance with the original cell-wide TDD configuration.

[0167] An example implementation of the second scenario is shown in Figure 22. The second scenario has the same assumptions as the first scenario in Figure 21. The UE is also configured with two cell-wide TDD configurations, #1 and #2, which define different TDD communication directions in some of the respective time slots, particularly time slots 2-15. The UE is assumed to operate primarily according to one cell-wide TDD configuration (here, cell-wide TDD configuration #1). For example, as shown in the detailed description above (see, for example, Figure 9). In this scenario, the gNB also sends a timely DCI and configuration switch notification, indicating cell-wide TDD configuration #2 in this example.

[0168] As is clear from the bottom of Figure 22, the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources follows the shown cell-common TDD configuration #2 and therefore differs in part from the TDD communication direction outside the SBFD resources which follows cell-common TDD configuration #1.

[0169] Specifically, the TDD communication directions in the non-SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8-12 are D, D, D, D / F, and F, corresponding to cell-wide TDD configuration #1. On the other hand, in the SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8-12, the UE determines the communication direction based on the indicated cell-wide TDD configuration #2, resulting in communication directions U, U, U, U, U.

[0170] Comparing the TDD communication direction during the SBFD time interval in the SBFD subband and the rest of the frequency domain, it is clear that the TDD communication direction is different in all time slots from 8 to 12, with opposite directions (D vs. U) in slots 8, 9, and 10, and also in part of slot 11.

[0171] If a potential collision of the UE of FIG. 22 with another UE (not shown) could occur in any of these time slots 8-12, the changed communication direction of the SBFD resources can avoid such a collision.

[0172] Additionally, gNBs can multiplex UE scheduling for Rel. 18 UEs that support cross-division duplex (XDD) in the frequency domain (e.g., different frequency subbands), thereby reducing the impact on legacy UEs and making cell-wide configuration more efficient.

[0173] According to a variant of the second scenario, the UE is configured with two different cell-wide TDD configurations as well as a UE-specific TDD configuration, which is also taken into account when determining the TDD communication direction (see, for example, FIG. 10 ). Accordingly, a first set of TDD configurations used outside SBFD resources includes one of the cell-wide TDD configurations plus a TDD configuration specific to the UE, and a second set of TDD configurations used inside SBFD resources includes the other of the cell-wide TDD configurations plus a TDD configuration specific to the UE. Thus, the two sets are based on the same UE-specific TDD configuration but differ from each other in the cell-wide TDD configuration used.

[0174] An example implementation of this second scenario variation is shown in Figure 23, which assumes cell-wide TDD configurations #1 and #2 similar to those in Figure 22. Also shown in Figure 23 is an exemplary UE-dedicated TDD configuration, which may include, for example, a number of uplink slots. In this example, SBFD resources are assumed to span time slots 4 through 11. Specifically, the TDD communication direction in the non-SBFD frequency domain in time slots 4 through 11 is the result of combining cell-wide TDD configuration #1 with the UE-dedicated TDD configuration, and is D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D / U. Meanwhile, the TDD communication direction in the SBFD frequency domain in time slots 4 through 11 is the result of combining cell-wide TDD configuration #2 with the UE-dedicated TDD configuration, and is F,D,D / F,U,U,U,U,U.

[0175] Comparing the SBFD time intervals in the SBFD sub-bands with the TDD communication direction in the rest of the frequency domain, it is clear that the TDD communication direction has changed substantially, even including the reverse direction (D vs. U), which facilitates reconfiguration of the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources according to this new and improved TDD communication procedure.

[0176] According to the third scenario, a UE has multiple different UE-specific TDD configurations configured. First, it is assumed that the UE does not have a cell-wide TDD configuration configured. However, in a variation of the third scenario described below, it is assumed that the UE has a cell-wide TDD configuration configured in addition to multiple different UE-specific TDD configurations.

[0177] The first set of TDD configurations may include one of a plurality of UE-dedicated TDD configurations. In response, the configuration switch notification in the DCI message may indicate another one of a plurality of UE-dedicated time division configurations different from the one already in use, which corresponds to the second set of TDD configurations described above. As a result, the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources may be in accordance with the indicated UE-dedicated TDD configuration and may be different from the TDD communication direction outside the SBFD resources in accordance with the original UE-dedicated TDD configuration.

[0178] An example implementation of the second scenario is shown in Figure 24. The third scenario has the same assumptions as the first and second scenarios of Figures 21 and 22. In addition, the UE is configured with two UE-specific TDD configurations #1 and #2, each of which defines a different TDD communication direction in some time slots, particularly time slots 2 to 15. For ease of explanation and illustration, the communication directions defined by the two UE-specific TDD configurations are the same as the communication directions defined by the two cell-common TDD configurations in the second scenario of Figure 22.

[0179] It is exemplarily assumed that the UE primarily operates according to one UE-dedicated TDD configuration #1. In this scenario, the gNB also sends a timely DCI and configuration switch notification, in this example indicating the UE-dedicated TDD configuration #2.

[0180] 24, it is exemplarily assumed that the SBFD resources span time slots 8 through 12. In particular, the generated TDD communication directions in the non-SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 through 12 are D, D, D, D / F, and F, corresponding to UE-dedicated TDD configuration #1. Meanwhile, in the SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 through 12, the UE determines the communication direction based on UE-dedicated TDD configuration #2, resulting in a communication direction of U, U, U, U, U.

[0181] Comparing the TDD communication direction during the SBFD time interval in the SBFD subband and the rest of the frequency domain, it is clear that the TDD communication direction is different in all time slots from 8 to 12, with opposite directions (D vs. U) in slots 8, 9, and 10, and also in part of slot 11.

[0182] If a potential collision between the UE in FIG. 24 and another UE (not shown) could occur in any of these time slots 8-12, the changed communication direction of the SBFD resources can avoid such a collision.

[0183] As discussed above with respect to the second scenario, improved TDD communication procedures may also be beneficial with respect to UE scheduling for Rel. 18 UEs that support XDD.

[0184] According to a variant of the third scenario, the UE is configured with two different UE-specific TDD configurations as well as a cell-wide TDD configuration, which should also be taken into account when determining the TDD communication direction (see, for example, FIG. 10 ). Accordingly, a first set of TDD configurations used outside SBFD resources includes one of the UE-specific TDD configurations in addition to the cell-wide TDD configuration, and a second set of TDD configurations used inside SBFD resources includes another of the UE-specific TDD configurations in addition to the cell-wide TDD configuration. Thus, the two sets are based on the same cell-wide TDD configuration but differ from each other in the UE-specific TDD configuration used.

[0185] One embodiment of this third scenario variation is shown in Figure 25. Figure 25 shows an example cell-wide TDD configuration with the indicated communication directions. Figure 25 also shows two different UE-dedicated TDD configurations #1 and #2. The two UE-dedicated TDD configurations differ from each other in that one includes many downlink slots (see #1) and the other includes many uplink slots (see #2), providing flexibility in how to switch communication directions within SBFD resources.

[0186] In this scenario, the gNB also sends a timely DCI and configuration switch notification, in this example indicating UE-dedicated TDD configuration #2. As a result of this scenario in Figure 25, the TDD communication direction outside of the SBFD resources follows the combination of the cell-wide TDD configuration and the UE-dedicated TDD configuration #1. Meanwhile, within the SBFD resources, the communication direction determination follows the UE-dedicated TDD configuration #2 combined with the cell-wide TDD configuration. By using different UE-dedicated TDD configurations, the TDD communication direction outside of the SBFD resources can be different from the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resources.

[0187] Specifically, the TDD communication directions in the non-SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 to 12 are all D according to UE-dedicated TDD configuration #1. Meanwhile, in the SBFD frequency domain in time slots 8 to 12, the UE determines the communication directions D / F, U, U, U, U, respectively.

[0188] Comparing the TDD communication directions during the SBFD time interval in the SBFD subband and the remaining frequency domain, it is clear that the TDD communication direction is different in all time slots from slots 8 to 12, and even includes the reverse direction (D to U) in slots 9 to 12.

[0189] If a potential collision of the UE of FIG. 25 with another UE (not shown) could occur in any of these time slots 9-12, the changed communication direction of the SBFD resources can avoid such a collision.

[0190] The three different exemplary scenarios above differ with respect to the TDD configuration based on which the TDD communication direction is determined.

[0191] In the above-described embodiment and variants of the improved TDD communication procedure, it is assumed that the configuration switch notification is transmitted from the gNB to the UE in a DCI message. However, it is not mandatory to use a DCI message to convey the configuration switch notification.

[0192] Furthermore, each of the following variations can be combined with other embodiments and variations of the improved TDD communication procedures, and provide details of how DCI messages and configuration switch notifications can be implemented.

[0193] According to one implementation example, the DCI message may be DCI format 2_0, which is known in the current 5G-compliant procedures described above. As is clear from the current definition of DCI format 2_0, the DCI includes slot format indicators 1 to N, each of which points to a table in the technical standard that associates a different slot format (communication direction D, U, F) used in the slot with a different slot format indicator value. In the current 5G technical standard, the table is described in Table 11.1.1-1 of TS 38.213 (see also the table above regarding "3) Dynamic TDD Configuration"). The SFI (especially its number of bits) can indicate more values ​​than are required to select the slot format of the slot. Therefore, one or more of these reserved values ​​of the SFI can be used to indicate the intended TDD configuration. DCI format 2_0, and in particular the SFI, can therefore be reused as a configuration switch indicator to indicate the TDD configuration of SBFD resources.

[0194] Alternatively, DCI format 2_0 can be reused but with a separate field (rather than SFI as above) for configuration switch notification.

[0195] Alternatively, a new DCI message can be created to carry the configuration change notification.

[0196] In the above alternatives, the configuration switch notification may have a different number of bits to clearly indicate and distinguish between the different TDD configurations that the UE can configure, although in some cases a single bit may be sufficient for the configuration switch notification.

[0197] In any of the above embodiments, the DCI message and configuration switch notification enable the gNB to provide the UE with appropriate notification as to which TDD configuration to use to determine the communication direction of SBFD resources.

[0198] In the above embodiment of the improved time division communication procedure, it was described that the UE obtains information about SBFD resources, for example, from a gNB serving the UE. Furthermore, further embodiments of the improved time division communication procedure, which may be combined with any of the other embodiments, provide further details on how the SBFD resource notification mechanism may be implemented.

[0199] According to one implementation, the information about full duplex (SBFD) resources is: one or more full-duplex time periods of the full-duplex resource; one or more full-duplex frequency regions of the full-duplex resource; The information may include one or more of the following:

[0200] This makes the improved TDD communication procedure applicable to situations where the UE is informed of the SBFD time period (e.g., slot) but not the SBFD frequency domain (e.g., subband), where the UE is informed of the SBFD frequency domain but not the SBFD time period, and where the UE is informed of both the SBFD time period and the SBFD frequency domain.

[0201] Several communication mechanisms can be used to provide SBFD resource information from the gNB to the UE. According to one option, system information broadcasting can be used, where the necessary information is contained in one system information block. Considering that the SBFD resource information is cell-wide, system information broadcasting can easily and efficiently reach UEs within the gNB's cell.

[0202] According to another option, RRC protocol messages can be used, and the necessary information is included in the RRC messages and transmitted separately to UEs that require SBFD resource information (e.g., UEs that support improved TDD communication procedures).

[0203] The above embodiments of the improved time division communication procedure described how the UE can switch between different time division configurations for TDD communication based on a received configuration switch notification. Further embodiments of the improved time division communication procedure, which can be combined with any of the other embodiments, relate to post-processing at the UE and gNB after the switch (e.g., the length of time that TDD communication on SBFD resources follows the indicated time division configuration, and how TDD communication switches to yet another time division configuration, such as the original time division configuration).

[0204] According to the first implementation, the determination of the communication direction for full-duplex resources based on the configuration switch notification is performed until further instruction. It is therefore under the direct control of the gNB, although not limited in time. As described above, the configuration switch notification is sent by the gNB to indicate the specific TDD configuration used to determine the communication direction in the SBFD resources. This same mechanism can be used repeatedly to change the communication direction in the SBFD resources again, if necessary.

[0205] More specifically, the TDD communication direction on SBFD resources is determined based on the previous configuration switch notification (particularly the TDD configuration indicated therein) until a new configuration switch notification is received and followed. At some point, the gNB may decide to change the UE's TDD communication direction on SBFD resources, for example, because there is no longer a collision with another UE or because the nature of the collision has changed. The gNB thus re-determines the appropriate TDD configuration, performs a configuration switch notification according to the determined TDD configuration, and transmits the configuration switch notification to the UE via a DCI. The UE then receives a further DCI from the gNB with this further configuration switch notification. Then, according to any of the described improved TDD communication procedures, the UE determines the communication direction on SBFD resources based at least on this new DCI and the TDD configuration indicated by the new configuration switch notification. Accordingly, a third set of TDD configurations may be defined, according to which the communication direction for subsequent SBFD resources is determined. The third set of TDD configurations includes at least the TDD configuration indicated by the new configuration switch notification.

[0206] An example of this first implementation will be described with reference to Figure 26. In Figure 26, the first implementation is applied with reference to the scenario described above with reference to Figure 21. Accordingly, a UE is configured with a cell-wide TDD configuration and a UE-specific TDD configuration. Figure 26 illustrates two separate SBFD resources separated in the time domain, with a first SBFD resource #1 spanning time slots 7-11 and a second SBFD resource #2 spanning time slots 13-17. Furthermore, Figure 26 shows two separate DCI messages, each containing a configuration switch notification. The two configuration switch notifications indicate different TDD configurations to be followed within the SBFD resources. In this exemplary scenario, the first DCI #1 indicates a cell-wide TDD configuration, and the TDD communication direction of SBFD resource #1 is determined based on the indicated cell-wide TDD configuration. As a result, the generated TDD communication directions in time slots 7-11 are D, D, D, D / F, and F, corresponding to the corresponding TDD communication directions defined by the cell-wide TDD configuration. On the other hand, the TDD communication direction in the non-SBFD frequency domain outside SBFD resource #1, for example, in time slots 7 to 11, is determined based on a combination of the cell-common TDD setting and the UE-specific TDD setting, and is D, D, D, D / U, U.

[0207] Next, the second DCI#2 indicates a UE-dedicated TDD configuration, and the TDD communication direction of SBFD resource#2 is determined based on the indicated UE-dedicated TDD configuration and the cell-wide TDD configuration. As a result, the TDD communication direction inside and outside the SBFD resource is the same, and here, for example, all timeslots 13 to 17 are U.

[0208] Therefore, as already explained, repeated transmission of DCI can repeatedly change how the TDD communication direction within the SBFD resource is determined.

[0209] According to further implementations, the decision on the communication direction of full-duplex resources based on the configuration switch notification is made for a limited time period according to the validity period. These improved implementations of TDD communication procedures are based on a previously configured validity period associated with the configuration switch notification and, unlike the previous implementations, do not necessarily require additional DCI and configuration switch notifications to change the TDD communication direction decision on SBFD resources. Such implementations can reduce overhead on the PDCCH compared to the first implementation described above.

[0210] Conceptually, these further implementations involve determining the direction of TDD communication within SBFD resources based on the received configuration switch notification (and in particular the TDD configuration indicated thereby) until the corresponding validity period expires.

[0211] Upon expiration of the validity period, the TDD configuration previously indicated by the configuration switch notification for the SBFD resources is automatically switched to another TDD configuration (which may be referred to as a fallback TDD configuration). Thus, after expiration of the validity period, the UE determines the communication direction for the SBFD resources based on at least the other fallback TDD configuration to which it was switched. Accordingly, a third set of TDD configurations may be defined based on which the communication direction for subsequent SBFD resources is determined after expiration of the validity period. The third set of TDD configurations includes at least the other fallback TDD configuration.

[0212] The fallback TDD configuration may be one of multiple TDD configurations that the UE is configured with, for example, the TDD configuration before the DCI-based switching (e.g., the initial TDD configuration) or a TDD configuration different from the initial TDD configuration (e.g., the default TDD configuration).

[0213] There are several possibilities as to how the validity period is implemented, e.g., when it is supposed to start. In one example, the validity period may generally start from a time related to the time of reception of the DCI message containing the configuration switch notification. Furthermore, the start of the validity period may be fixed in advance or may be configurable, e.g., by the gNB.

[0214] In one option, the validity period can start at the beginning of the time slot in which the configuration switch notification is received, or at the beginning of the immediately following time slot, but these are just two of many different options.

[0215] Other exemplary options include: From the Nth slot / symbol after receiving the setting change notification, Starting from the Nth slot / symbol after the HARQ-ACK feedback transmission, which is based on the DCI acknowledgment and is sent to the base station to acknowledge to the gNB that the DCI has been correctly decoded (N is 0, 1, 2, ..., and can be fixed or configurable), may be used as the start of the validity period.

[0216] A further improvement to the TDD communication procedures is the introduction of a reset of the validity period when a UE is scheduled to transmit or receive on a full-duplex resource, so that the validity period is restarted and automatically extended without the need to retransmit another DCI, thereby reducing overhead.

[0217] Furthermore, there are several possibilities for how to define the length of the validity period. According to one option, the validity period can have a length based on a fixed value specified by the firmware (operating system) of the UE. For example, the validity period is set by a technical standard and its definition is coded into the firmware on which the UE operates.

[0218] Alternatively, the validity period may be a cell-wide value applicable to all UEs in the cell. The cell-wide value may be defined by the gNB and then transmitted to the UE. For example, the validity period may be transmitted to the UE based on system information broadcast (e.g., in a system information block) or using one or more appropriate RRC messages.

[0219] Alternatively, the validity period may be a UE-specific value that is set and applied by the particular UE for which it is intended. The UE-specific value may therefore be defined by the gNB and transmitted to the UE, for example, in an appropriate RRC or Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

[0220] According to further embodiments, more than two of the above options for defining the validity period can be supported by the UE. In that case, as an example, a cell-wide value of the validity period can be broadcast in the cell for reception by all UEs. A UE-specific value can then be sent to the UE to overwrite the cell-wide value obtained by broadcasting.

[0221] In some of the above options, the validity period value is defined by the gNB. The validity period may be specified, for example, in number of slots, symbols, or frames, or a combination of these.

[0222] An example of these further embodiments is described in relation to Figure 27, where these embodiments are applied in relation to the scenario described above with respect to Figure 21. Accordingly, the UE is configured with a cell-wide TDD configuration and a UE-specific TDD configuration. Figure 27 exemplarily assumes two separate SBFD resources separated in the time domain, similar to what has already been described with respect to Figure 26. Instead of using a separate DCI as is done in Figure 26, the embodiment of Figure 27 relies on a validity period associated with the DCI containing the configuration switch notification. The validity period in this example starts from reception of the DCI and has a length of six time slots.

[0223] In response, assuming that DCI #1 is received in slot 6, the validity period expires in slot 12, just before the start of the second SBFD resource #2. At the expiration of the validity period, the determination of the TDD communication direction of the SBFD resource reverts to the UE-dedicated TDD configuration used before the switch due to DCI #1. In this way, the TDD communication direction of SBFD resource #2 is determined based on the fallback UE-dedicated TDD configuration as well as the cell-wide TDD configuration. As a result, the TDD communication direction inside and outside SBFD resource #2 is the same, which here is all U in time slots 13 to 17, for example.

[0224] Thus, as already explained, the use of validity periods allows for a simple implementation of time limits for different DCI-triggered decisions of TDD communication direction within SBFD resources without additional transmission overhead.

[0225] The above describes an implementation of an improved TDD communication procedure in which a validity period is used to control the time for determining the TDD communication direction of SBFD resources based on the TDD configuration indicated by the DCI. According to variants that can be combined with the above-described implementations of the improved TDD communication procedure, the validity period can be implemented as a timer running in the UE and the base station. The timer is set with a validity value (e.g., as defined above) corresponding to the validity period length. The timer is started according to one of the above-described options, for example, at the start of the slot immediately following the slot in which the DCI containing the configuration switch notification was received. The timer can be stopped when it expires. As a further variant, the timer can be reset when the UE is scheduled to transmit or receive on full-duplex resources (as generally discussed above).

[0226] The improved TDD communication procedure described above determines the TDD communication direction within and outside of SBFD resources based on one or more different TDD configurations. The TDD communication direction determination determines the final TDD communication direction for each time period according to a determination rule for how to combine one or more TDD configurations. The TDD communication direction determination method can depend on which TDD configurations exist in the UE or are configured in the UE. For example, if only a cell-common TDD configuration exists and no UE-specific TDD configuration exists, the determination rule may include determining the TDD communication direction based only on the cell-common TDD configuration. On the other hand, if a cell-common TDD configuration exists in addition to a UE-specific TDD configuration, the determination rule may include determining the TDD communication direction based on both the cell-common TDD configuration and the UE-specific TDD configuration (e.g., if the UE-specific TDD configuration can override the flexible communication direction defined by the cell-common TDD configuration). Therefore, which decision rule to follow for determining the TDD communication direction depends on one of the multiple TDD settings configured in the UE, which is exemplarily shown here as the definitive TDD setting, which is the UE-specific TDD setting if a UE-specific TDD setting exists, or the cell-wide TDD setting if a UE-specific TDD setting does not exist.

[0227] For different sets of TDD configurations used inside and outside SBFD resources, the deterministic TDD configurations of the first and second sets of TDD configurations may be different or the same. For example, with reference to the solution discussed in relation to Figure 21, the deterministic TDD configuration may be different inside and outside SBFD resources, e.g., changed from a cell-common TDD configuration to a UE-specific TDD configuration, or vice versa. For example, with reference to the solution described in relation to Figure 22, the deterministic TDD configuration may also be changed, e.g., changed from one cell-common TDD configuration to another cell-common TDD configuration. On the other hand, with reference to the solution discussed in relation to Figure 23, the deterministic TDD configuration remains the UE-specific TDD configuration regardless of the change in the cell-common TDD configuration.

[0228] According to another improved TDD communication procedure, instead of a TDD configuration notification, the above DCI includes an appropriate notification indicating the decision rule that the UE should follow within SBFD resources, which may be different from the decision rule that the UE follows outside SBFD resources. Thus, the improved TDD configuration procedure involves a change in the notification carried by the DCI. Other aspects already described for the improved TDD communication procedure with configuration switch notification may also apply to this improved TDD communication procedure with decision rule notification, e.g., as described in relation to Figures 21-25, in one or more of the different scenarios and how the DCI and notification may be implemented and how the time range to which the DCI notification applies is controlled (see Figures 26 and 27).

[0229] In the described variants and embodiments of the TDD communication procedure, it is assumed that multiple TDD configurations are configured in the UE. This can be achieved, for example, by providing the UE with a cell-wide TDD configuration using system information broadcast, and providing the UE with a UE-specific TDD configuration using RRC signaling or DCI signaling.

[0230] Furthermore, the cell-common TDD configuration may be the same as the legacy cell-common TDD configuration described above with respect to the 5G IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon", for example. Alternatively, the cell-common TDD configuration may be a new configuration used specifically in the context of these improved TDD communication procedures. For example, a new RRC information element "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon-rel18" may be defined, for example, according to the structure of the corresponding legacy RRC IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon".

[0231] Furthermore, the UE-dedicated TDD configuration may be similar to the conventional UE-dedicated TDD configuration described above with respect to the 5G IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated", for example. Alternatively, the UE-dedicated TDD configuration may be a new configuration used specifically in the context of these improved TDD communication procedures. For example, a new RRC information element "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated-rel18" may be defined, which may follow, for example, the structure of the corresponding conventional RRC IE "tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated".

[0232] As a result, any or one or more of the TDD configurations for improved TDD communication procedures may be defined based on new RRC information elements.

[0233] The use of new RRC information elements in the context of these improved TDD communication procedures may facilitate increased configuration flexibility, since the gNB can define separate TDD configurations for UEs that support the improved TDD communication procedures, while non-supporting UEs can follow other (legacy) TDD configurations defined by conventional RRC information elements.

[0234] For example, in the solution described in relation to Figure 21, two TDD configurations can reuse legacy information elements or can use new information elements. Also, in the solution described in relation to Figure 22, one or both of the two cell-wide TDD configurations can be defined by new information elements. Also, in the solution described in relation to Figure 24, one or both of the two UE-specific TDD configurations can be defined by new information elements.

[0235] As described above for the improved TDD communication procedure, TDD communication direction determination within SBFD resources can be controlled differently or the same as outside SBFD resources. That is, separate TDD configuration operations for SBFD resources are disabled or enabled according to the DCI and / or validity period mechanisms described above. For example, a DCI containing a configuration switch notification enables different SBFD resource-specific operations (according to the indicated TDD configuration). Accordingly, a subsequent DCI, or expiration of the validity period of the initial DCI, may disable the SBFD resource-specific operations in the different SBFD resources so that TDD communication direction determination within and outside the different SBFD resources is again identical.

[0236] Further Aspects According to a first aspect, a user equipment is provided, including: a receiver of the UE receives a plurality of time division configurations; a circuit of the UE determines, for each of a plurality of time intervals, a communication direction based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; a receiver receives information regarding full-duplex resources; a receiver receives a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification; the configuration switch notification indicates a time division configuration to be used from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; and a circuit determines, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations from the previously received plurality of time division configurations; the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration.

[0237] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the indicated time division configuration is used in place of a previously used time division configuration of the first set of time division configurations, and the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration as a replacement for a previously used time division configuration of the first set of time division configurations.

[0238] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, the plurality of time division settings include: Cell-common time division setting; and UE-specific time division configuration.

[0239] The first set of time division configurations includes one of a cell-wide time division configuration and a UE-specific time division configuration, and the received configuration switch notification in the DCI message indicates one of the cell-wide time division configuration and the UE-specific time division configuration.

[0240] In an optional implementation, the circuitry's determination of the communication direction of the full duplex resource is based on an indicated cell-wide time division configuration or a UE-specific time division configuration.

[0241] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to third aspects, the plurality of time division configurations include a plurality of cell-common time division configurations.

[0242] The first set of time division configurations includes a first cell-common time division configuration among the plurality of cell-common time division configurations.

[0243] The received setting switch notification of the DCI message indicates a second cell common time division configuration that is different from the first cell common time division configuration among the plurality of cell common time division configurations.

[0244] In an optional implementation, the circuitry determines the direction of communication of the full-duplex resource based on a second set that includes the indicated second cell-wide time division configuration.

[0245] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to the fourth aspect, the plurality of time division configurations further include one UE-specific time division configuration, wherein a first set of the time division configurations includes a UE-specific time division configuration and a second set includes a UE-specific time division notification.

[0246] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the plurality of time division settings are Contains multiple UE-specific time division configurations.

[0247] The first set of time division configurations includes a first UE-specific time division configuration of a plurality of UE-specific time division configurations.

[0248] the received configuration switch notification in the DCI message indicates a second UE-specific time division configuration that is different from the first UE-specific time division configuration among the plurality of UE-specific time division configurations; In an optional implementation, the circuitry determines the direction of communication of the full duplex resource based on a second set that includes the indicated second UE-specific time division configuration.

[0249] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to the sixth aspect, the plurality of time division configurations further include one cell-common time division configuration, wherein a first set of the time division configurations includes a cell-common time division configuration and a second set includes a cell-common time division notification.

[0250] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the DCI message is in format 2_0, and the configuration switch notification of the DCI message is included in a field for carrying a slot format indicator indicating one slot format of a plurality of slot formats. A value of the configuration switch notification indicates one of a plurality of time division configurations, rather than a slot format.

[0251] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the determination of the communication direction for the full duplex resource is performed by the UE based on the configuration change notification received in the DCI message: until a further DCI message is received containing a further configuration switch notification indicating one of the previously received time division configurations. It will be held.

[0252] In operation, the circuit determines a communication direction based on a third set of one or more time division settings of the previously received plurality of time division settings for each of the one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the third set of time division settings including at least the time division setting indicated by the further setting switch notification.

[0253] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the determination of the communication direction for the full duplex resource is performed by the UE based on a configuration change notification received by a DCI message: Until the expiration of the validity period associated with the configuration change notification received in the DCI message. It will be held.

[0254] In an optional implementation, upon expiration of a validity period associated with the configuration switch notification, the circuitry determines a communication direction based on a third set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations for each of the one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the third set of time division configurations including at least a fallback time division configuration as an alternative to the time division configuration indicated by the configuration switch notification.

[0255] In an optional implementation, the fallback time division configuration is one of a plurality of time division configurations, and optionally, the fallback time division configuration is the same as or different from a previously used time division configuration in the first set of time division configurations.

[0256] In a further optional implementation, the circuitry determines that the validity period begins at a time associated with a received DCI message, such as a time slot in which the DCI message containing the configuration switch notification is received.

[0257] According to an eleventh aspect provided in addition to the tenth aspect, the circuit, in operation, controls the validity period by: a fixed value specified by the UE firmware; a cell common value that is optionally configured for the UE based on a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message or based on a System Information Block (SIB) message; a UE-specific value that is optionally configured for the UE based on a downlink control information message; The determination is based on one or more of the following:

[0258] In an optional implementation, the validity period is restarted when the UE is scheduled for uplink transmission or downlink reception on full duplex resources.

[0259] According to a twelfth aspect, provided in addition to the tenth or eleventh aspects, a circuit operates a timer for a validity period, the timer is set to an expiration value corresponding to the validity period, and the timer is started at a time related to a received DCI message, such as a time slot in which the DCI message containing a configuration switch notification is received.

[0260] In an optional implementation, the timer is reset when the UE is scheduled for uplink transmission or downlink reception on a full-duplex resource.

[0261] According to a thirteenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the circuit determines the communication direction according to a determination rule for how to combine one or more time division settings of each set of time division settings. The determination rule is specified by a deterministic time division setting among the time division settings of each set. The deterministic time division settings of the first set and the second set may be the same or different.

[0262] In an optional implementation, if a UE-specific time division setting is included in each set of time division settings used by the circuitry to determine the communication direction, the determinative time division setting is the UE-specific time division setting. The determination rule associated with the UE-specific time division setting is a determination rule in which the UE-specific time division setting sets a communication direction that is different from the communication direction set by the cell-common time division setting for one or more time intervals of the time intervals of the cell-common time division setting.

[0263] In an optional implementation, if the UE-specific time division setting is not included in each set of time division settings used by the circuitry to determine the communication direction, the determinative time division setting is the cell-common time division setting, and the determination rule associated with the cell-common time division setting is based only on the cell-common time division setting.

[0264] According to a fourteenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the information on the full duplex resource is one or more full-duplex resource time periods for the full-duplex resource; one or more full-duplex frequency regions of the full-duplex resource; Contains one or more of:

[0265] In an optional implementation, information regarding full duplex resources is received in one or more of system information broadcasts and Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol messages.

[0266] According to a 15th aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects, the time division setting sets the communication direction as one of an uplink direction, a downlink direction, or a flexible direction for each of one or more time intervals of the time division setting.

[0267] According to a 16th aspect provided in addition to any one of the 1st to 15th aspects, the receiver and transmitter, in operation, perform communication based on the determined communication direction, and in an optional implementation, the communication is communication with a base station serving the UE.

[0268] According to a seventeenth aspect, the following steps are performed by a user equipment (UE): receiving a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations; receiving information regarding full duplex resources; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among a plurality of previously received time division configurations; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; A method is provided, comprising:

[0269] According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising: a transmitter unit of the base station transmits a plurality of time division configurations; circuitry of the base station determines a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; the transmitter unit transmits information regarding full-duplex resources; and the circuitry determines one time division configuration to be used for the full-duplex resources from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; and the transmitter unit, in operation, transmits a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration.

[0270] In operation, the circuit determines a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division settings of the previously transmitted plurality of time division settings for each of one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the second set of time division settings including at least the indicated time division setting.

[0271] According to a nineteenth aspect, the following steps are performed by a base station: transmitting a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of a previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; transmitting information regarding full duplex resources; determining one time division configuration to be used for full duplex resources from among a plurality of previously transmitted time division configurations; transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; A method is provided, comprising:

[0272] According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls processing of a user equipment (UE), the processing comprising the following steps performed by the UE: receiving a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations; receiving information regarding full duplex resources; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among a plurality of previously received time division configurations; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0273] According to a twenty-first aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a base station, the processing comprising the following steps performed by the base station: transmitting a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of a previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations; transmitting information regarding full duplex resources; determining one time division configuration to be used for full duplex resources from among a plurality of previously transmitted time division configurations; transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations, wherein the second set of time division configurations includes at least the indicated time division configuration; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0274] Further variations including hardware and software implementations of the present disclosure The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or software operating in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the above-described embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by an LSI such as an integrated circuit. Each process described in each embodiment can be controlled, in whole or in part, by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed as an individual chip, or a single chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI can include a data input / output unit coupled to it. Depending on the level of integration, the LSI can also be referred to as an IC (integrated circuit), system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. However, the technology for implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and can be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, and reconfigurable processors, which can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells arranged within the LSI, can also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented using digital or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by future integrated circuit technologies, these future integrated circuit technologies can be used to integrate functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0275] The present disclosure can be implemented by any kind of apparatus, device, or system having a communication capability (referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0276] A communications device may include a radio transceiver (transceiver unit) and processing / control circuitry. The transceiver unit may include and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver unit as a transmitter and receiver may include an RF (radio frequency) module including an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0277] Some non-limiting examples of such communication devices include telephones (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, e-readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships) that provide communication capabilities, and various combinations thereof.

[0278] Communication devices are not limited to portable or mobile devices, but can also include any type of equipment, device, or system that is non-portable or fixed, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lights, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "thing" in an "Internet of Things" (IoT) network.

[0279] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communications satellite systems, etc., as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0280] A communications device may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications device may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications device.

[0281] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0282] (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).

[0283] 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 RRC. The uplink control signal may also 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.

[0284] (base station) In the present disclosure, a 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. Furthermore, 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.

[0285] (Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink) The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0286] For example, the present disclosure may be applied to uplink channels such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and sidelinks such as PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0287] 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.

[0288] (Data channel / Control channel) The present disclosure may be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in this disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0289] (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 demodulation reference signal (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).

[0290] (time interval) In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of a slot and a symbol, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a 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.

[0291] (frequency band) The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands.

[0292] (communication) The present disclosure may be applied to communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0293] The present disclosure may also be applied to a terrestrial network or a non-terrestrial network (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Network) that uses a satellite or a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS). The present disclosure may also be applied to a network with a large cell size or a terrestrial network in which the delay is large compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0294] (antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed by one or more physical antennas (multiple antennas are possible). That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna formed by multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas forming an antenna port is not defined. Instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit by which a terminal can transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplying a weight of a precoding vector.

[0295] Furthermore, the various embodiments may also be implemented by means of software modules, which 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 on any kind of computer-readable storage medium, for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. Furthermore, it should be noted that individual features of the different embodiments may also be the subject of another embodiment, individually or in any combination.

[0296] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and / or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as set forth in the specific embodiments 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.

Claims

1. A communication device, a receiver that, when operational, receives a plurality of time division configurations; and a circuit that, during operation, determines a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations previously received; The receiver, in operation, receives information regarding full-duplex resources; The receiver, during operation, receives a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among the previously received plurality of time division configurations; In operation, the circuit determines a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations for each of one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each complete full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration. Communication equipment.

2. the indicated time division setting is used in place of a previously used time division setting in the first set of time division setting, and the second set of time division setting includes at least the indicated time division setting as a replacement for a previously used time division setting in the first set of time division setting. The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. The plurality of time division settings include: Cell-common time division setting; a communication device specific time division setting; the first set of time division configurations includes one of the cell-common time division configuration and the communication device-specific time division configuration, and the received configuration switching notification of the DCI message indicates one of the cell-common time division configuration and the communication device-specific time division configuration; The circuit determines the communication direction of the full-duplex resource based on the indicated cell-wide time division configuration or the communication device-specific time division configuration. The communication device according to claim 1 .

4. The plurality of time division settings include: Including multiple cell common time division settings, the first set of time division configurations includes a first cell-common time division configuration among the plurality of cell-common time division configurations; The received setting switching notification of the DCI message indicates a second cell-common time division configuration that is different from the first cell-common time division configuration among the plurality of cell-common time division configurations; the circuit determines the direction of communication of the full-duplex resource based on the second set including the indicated second cell-wide time division configuration; The communication device according to claim 1 .

5. the plurality of time division settings further include one communication device-specific time division setting, a first set of the time division settings including the communication device-specific time division setting, and a second set of the time division settings including the communication device-specific time division setting; The communication device according to claim 4.

6. The plurality of time division settings include: A plurality of communication device specific time division configurations are included; the first set of time division configurations includes a first communication device-specific time division configuration among the plurality of communication device-specific time division configurations; the received setting switching notification of the DCI message indicates a second communication device-specific time division setting that is different from the first communication device-specific time division setting among the plurality of communication device-specific time division settings; the circuitry determines the direction of communication of the full-duplex resource based on the second set including the indicated second communication device specific time division configuration; The communication device according to claim 1 .

7. the plurality of time division configurations further include one cell-common time division configuration, a first set of the time division configurations including the cell-common time division configuration, and a second set of the time division configurations including the cell-common time division configuration; The communication device according to claim 6.

8. the DCI message is in format 2_0, a configuration switch notification of the DCI message is included in a field for carrying a slot format indicator indicating one slot format of a plurality of slot formats, and a value of the configuration switch notification indicates one of the plurality of time division configurations rather than a slot format. The communication device according to claim 1 .

9. The determination of the communication direction for the full duplex resource is performed by the communication device based on the setting change notification received in the DCI message. until receiving a further DCI message including a further configuration switch notification indicating one of the previously received plurality of time division configurations. It is carried out, In operation, the circuit determines a communication direction for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource based on a third set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, the third set of time division configurations including at least the time division configuration indicated by the further configuration switch notification. The communication device according to claim 1 .

10. The determination of the communication direction for the full duplex resource is performed by the communication device based on the setting change notification received by the DCI message. until the expiration of a validity period associated with the configuration change notification received in the DCI message. It is carried out, When a validity period associated with the configuration switch notification expires, the circuitry, in operation, determines a communication direction based on a third set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations for each of one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each full full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the third set of time division configurations including at least a fallback time division configuration as an alternative to the time division configuration indicated by the configuration switch notification; the fallback time division configuration is one of the plurality of time division configurations, the fallback time division configuration being the same as or different from the previously used time division configuration in the first set of time division configurations; The circuit, in operation, determines that the validity period begins at a time associated with the received DCI message, such as a time slot in which the DCI message containing the configuration switch notification is received. The communication device according to claim 1 .

11. The circuit, in operation, adjusts the valid period to: a fixed value specified by firmware of the communication device; a cell-common value that is optionally configured for the communication device based on a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message or based on a System Information Block (SIB) message; a communication device specific value that is optionally configured for the communication device based on a downlink control information message; and determining the presence or absence of the marker based on one or more of the following: the validity period is restarted when the communication device is scheduled for uplink transmission or downlink reception on the full duplex resource. The communication device according to claim 10.

12. the circuit, in operation, operates a timer for the validity period, the timer being set with an expiration value corresponding to the validity period, the timer being started at a time relative to the received DCI message, such as a time slot in which the DCI message containing the configuration switch notification is received; the timer is reset when the communication device is scheduled for uplink transmission or downlink reception on the full duplex resource. The communication device according to claim 10.

13. the circuit determines the direction of communication according to a determination rule for how to combine the one or more time division settings of each set of time division settings, the determination rule being specified by a deterministic time division setting among the time division settings of each set, and the deterministic time division settings of the first set and the second set being the same or different; When a communication device specific time division setting is included in each set of time division settings used by the circuit to determine the communication direction, the deterministic time division setting is the communication device specific time division setting, and a determination rule associated with the communication device specific time division setting is a determination rule that the communication device specific time division setting sets a communication direction different from the communication direction set by the cell common time division setting for one or more time intervals of a cell common time division setting, If a communication device-specific time division setting is not included in each set of time division settings used by the circuit to determine the communication direction, the deterministic time division setting is a cell-common time division setting, and a determination rule associated with the cell-common time division setting is based only on the cell-common time division setting. The communication device according to claim 1 .

14. The information about the full duplex resource includes: one or more full-duplex resource time periods of said full-duplex resource; one or more full-duplex frequency regions of said full-duplex resources; and The information regarding the full duplex resources is received in one or more of a system information broadcast and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message. The communication device according to claim 1 .

15. a time division configuration that configures the communication direction as one of an uplink direction, a downlink direction, or a flexible direction for each of one or more time intervals of the time division configuration; The communication device according to claim 1 .

16. the receiving unit and the transmitting unit, in operation, perform communication based on the determined communication direction, the communication being communication with a base station serving the communication device; The communication device according to claim 1 .

17. The following steps are performed by the communication device: receiving a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations previously received; receiving information regarding full duplex resources; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among the previously received plurality of time division configurations; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration; A method comprising:

18. a transmitter that transmits a plurality of time division configurations during operation; and a circuit that, during operation, determines a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations that have been previously transmitted; The transmitter, in operation, transmits information regarding full-duplex resources; In operation, the circuitry determines one time division configuration from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations to be used for the full duplex resource; The transmitter, in operation, transmits a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification, the configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; In operation, the circuit determines a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations for each of one or more full duplex time intervals of the full duplex resource and for each complete full duplex frequency region of the full duplex resource, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration. Base station.

19. The following steps are performed by the base station: transmitting a plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations previously transmitted; transmitting information regarding full duplex resources; determining one time division configuration from the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations to be used for the full duplex resource; transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration; A method comprising:

20. 1. An integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a communications device, said processing comprising: receiving a plurality of time-sharing configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations previously received; receiving information regarding full duplex resources; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration switch notification indicating a time division configuration to be used from among the previously received plurality of time division configurations; determining a communication direction for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously received plurality of time division configurations, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration; , an integrated circuit.

21. an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls processing of a base station, said processing comprising: transmitting multiple time-sharing configurations; determining a communication direction for each of a plurality of time intervals based on a first set of one or more time division configurations of the plurality of time division configurations previously transmitted; transmitting information about full-duplex resources; determining one time division configuration to be used for the full duplex resource from among the previously transmitted multiple time division configurations; transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) message including a configuration change notification indicating the determined one time division configuration; determining, for each of one or more full-duplex time intervals of the full-duplex resource and for each complete full-duplex frequency region of the full-duplex resource, a communication direction based on a second set of one or more time division configurations of the previously transmitted plurality of time division configurations, the second set of time division configurations including at least the indicated time division configuration; , an integrated circuit.

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