Terminal device, network device, and method for indicating use of a transmission occasion

Abstract

An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a solution for indicating the use of transmission occasions. In the solution according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal device includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to determine a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations, and to transmit, via the transceiver, to a network device, indication information indicating the use status of at least one TO in the group of TOs. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the use status of the TOs to the network device so that the network device can adjust subsequent resource allocation to avoid wasting unused TOs, thereby improving communication performance and saving signaling overhead.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and more particularly to terminal devices, network devices, and methods for indicating the use of a transmission occasion. [Background technology]

[0002] Extended reality (XR) technology creates virtual and immersive environments or blends these virtual landscapes and features with the real world to enhance user experiences through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies. Low latency, high reliability, low power consumption, and large capacity are key service requirements for emerging XR applications. Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR), as the new global wireless standard following 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, aims to support XR applications, which require high throughput and low latency, along with large and variable packet sizes, along with cloud computing technology.

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15 (Rel-15) and Release 16 (Rel-16) introduced features that are the basis for specific extensions to XR. Furthermore, during Release 17 (Rel-17), traffic models and evaluation methods for XR were discussed. At the 3GPP Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network Working Group 1 (RAN1) Meeting #111 for Release 18 (Rel-18), candidate extension techniques for improving XR capabilities were discussed. Meanwhile, more objectives are being considered to specify needed changes to configured grant (CG) extensions. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] Generally, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for indicating the use of a transmission occasion.

[0005] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled to the processor, the processor configured to determine a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and transmit, via the transceiver, to a network device, an indication of a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0006] In a second aspect, a network device is provided, the network device comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled to the processor, the processor configured to: determine, via the processor, a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and receive, via the transceiver, from a terminal device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method is provided that is performed by a terminal device, the method including: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and transmitting, to a network device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided that is performed by a network device, the method including: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and receiving, from a terminal device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided having instructions stored thereon that, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method of the third aspect.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided having instructions stored thereon that, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method of the fourth aspect.

[0011] It should be understood that this summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent through the following description.

[0012] Some embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] 1 is a signaling chart illustrating a communication process according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 10A-10C are schematic diagrams illustrating determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; [Figure 3B] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C] 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. [Figure 3D] FIG. 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3E] 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. [Figure 3F] FIG. 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3G] FIG. 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs based on a time domain window, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an indexed TO, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] 10A-10C are schematic diagrams illustrating determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4C] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4D] FIG. 10 is a further schematic diagram of determining a group of TOs based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart of an example method implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of an example method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements.

[0015] Next, the principles of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to some embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are intended to help those skilled in the art understand and implement the present disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below. In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0016] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," "an embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but do not require that every embodiment include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0017] Terms such as “first” and “second” may be used herein to describe various elements, but it will be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The term “and / or” as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms. In some examples, values, procedures, or devices may be referred to as “best,” “lowest,” “highest,” “minimum,” “maximum,” etc. It will be appreciated that such descriptions indicate that a selection may be made between multiple functional alternatives used, and that such a selection need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferred over other selections.

[0018] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting of the embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. For example, the term "includes" and variations thereof should be read as open terms meaning "includes, but is not limited to." The term "based on" should be read as "based at least in part on." The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be read as "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" should be read as "at least one other embodiment." Other definitions, both explicit and implicit, may be included below.

[0019] The term "communication network" as used herein refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as 5G NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), or Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. In view of the rapid development in communications, there will also be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be deemed to limit the scope of the present disclosure to only the above-mentioned systems.

[0020] The term "network device," as used herein, generally refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device can access the network and receive services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (Node B or NB), a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), an NR NB (also called a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), an infrastructure device for V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communications, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), a Receive Point (RP), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node such as a Femto BS, a Pico BS, etc.

[0021] As used herein, the term "terminal device" generally refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), end user device, subscriber station (SS), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery devices), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms “terminal device,” “communications device,” “terminal,” “user equipment,” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0022] As mentioned above, more objectives are considered in Rel-18 to specify the required changes to CG extensions. Physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions may be dynamically scheduled by uplink (UL) grants in downlink control information (DCI), or PUSCH transmissions may correspond to CG type 1 or type 2 without dynamic grants. A UE will be configured by a network device with one or more CG configurations, where the CG configuration indicates the CG type, CG type 1 or CG type 2, and the periodicity of the CG configuration.

[0023] To meet the requirements for high throughput, low latency, large packet size, and variable packet size, 3GPP specifies that the UE be configured with multiple transmission occasions (TOs) for CG PUSCH transmission within the periodicity of a single CG configuration. The UE can transmit XR packets in all or part of the configured TOs immediately after the arrival of the TOs in the CG PUSCH transmission.

[0024] The inventors have found that the number of TOs not occupied or used by the UE may be less than the number of all configured TOs because the UE may not occupy or use all configured TOs. This means that there are some unused or wasted TOs configured in the CG configuration. However, the network device is unaware of the actual size of the XR packet, whether the configured TOs will be used by the UE, and the number of used TOs. Therefore, a signaling mechanism for TOs configured in the CG configuration should be further considered. Furthermore, the inventors have found that it would be advantageous for the UE to indicate to the network device the unused TOs configured in the CG configuration. Furthermore, the network device can reallocate the unused TOs for other UEs or other services, thereby increasing resource utilization of the wireless system as a whole.

[0025] In view of the above findings by the inventors and to solve problems in conventional solutions, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for indicating the use of transmission occasions. For example, both a terminal device and a network device may determine a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations in a similar manner. The terminal device may further transmit, to the network device, indication information indicating the use status of at least one TO in the group of TOs. In response to receiving, from the terminal device, the indication information indicating the use status of at least one TO in the group of TOs, the network device can know the use status of the TOs and further reallocate unused TOs for other UEs or other services, or reallocate the entire TO, including used or unused TOs, to achieve a more optimized signaling design. Through the solution of the present disclosure, a signaling mechanism may be introduced that enables the terminal device to indicate the use status of TOs to the network device, so that the network device can adjust subsequent resource allocation to avoid wasting unused TOs, thereby improving communication performance. The specific design of the format of the indication information in the present disclosure contributes to saving signaling overhead, for example, by adopting a limited number of bits to indicate the use of a TO associated with one or more CG configurations. The principles and implementation forms of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the figures.

[0026] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication network 100 includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120. The network device 110 may provide a service to the terminal device 120.

[0027] In system 100, it is assumed that terminal device 120 is located within the coverage of network device 110. In some examples, the link from network device 110 to terminal device 120 is referred to as the downlink (DL), while the link from terminal device 120 to network device 110 is referred to as the uplink (UL). In the downlink, network device 110 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and terminal device 120 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the uplink, terminal device 120 is a transmitting TX device (or transmitter), and network device 110 is an RX device (or receiver). In some embodiments, network device 110 and terminal device 120 may communicate using a direct link / channel. The DL may comprise one or more logical channels, including, but not limited to, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The UL may comprise one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). As used herein, the term "channel" may refer to a carrier or a portion of a carrier, consisting of a contiguous set of resource blocks (RBs), over which a channel access procedure is performed in a shared spectrum.

[0028] For example, communications in system 100 between network devices 110 and terminal devices 120 may be implemented according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G) cellular communications protocols, wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols now known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), and / or any other technology now known or to be developed in the future.

[0029] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable scenario. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in a reduced-capability NR device. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in one of the following: NR Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), NR sidelink extensions, NR systems using frequencies above 52.6 GHz, extended NR operation up to 71 GHz, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) / enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), NTNs, UE power saving extensions, NR coverage extensions, NB-IoT and LTE-MTC, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), NR multicast and broadcast services, or extensions to Multi-Radio Dual-Connectivity.

[0030] It should be understood that the number of devices (i.e., network devices 110 and terminal devices 120) and their connection relationships and types shown in Figure 1 are for illustrative purposes, without implying any limitation. System 100 may include any suitable number of devices adapted to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] Reference is further made to Figure 2, which shows a signaling chart illustrating a communication process 200 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, process 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1. Process 200 may involve network device 110 and terminal device 120.

[0032] The network device 110 transmits 210 one or more CG configurations 212 associated with at least one TO to the terminal device 120. On the other side of the communication, the terminal device 120 receives 214 one or more CG configurations 212. In some exemplary embodiments, one or more CG configurations 212 are used for PUSCH transmissions, each of which may indicate a CG type, periodicity, and at least one TO for the respective CG configuration.

[0033] In some exemplary embodiments, the CG type may indicate CG type 1, in which the uplink grant is provided by higher layer parameters in radio resource control (RRC) and stored as a configured uplink grant, or CG type 2, in which the uplink grant is provided by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and stored or cleared as a configured uplink grant based on signaling indicating configured uplink grant activation or deactivation. In some examples, CG type 1 PUSCH transmissions are semi-statically configured to operate without detection of an UL grant in a DCI upon reception of higher layer parameters configuredGrantConfig, including rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant. CG type 2 PUSCH transmissions are semi-persistently scheduled by an UL grant in a valid activation DCI upon reception of higher layer parameters configuredGrantConfig, which does not include rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant.

[0034] In some exemplary embodiments, the periodicity may indicate a particular duration of the CG PUSCH transmission. In some examples, the periodicity may be {1 / 7 ms, 0.5 ms, 1 ms, ..., 320 ms, 640 ms} for 15 kHz, 0.5 × {1 / 7 ms, 0.5 ms, 1 ms, ..., 1280 ms} for 30 kHz, or 0.25 × {1 / 7 ms, 0.5 ms, 1 ms, ..., 2560 ms} for 60 kHz. In some examples, different CG configurations may have the same periodicity or different periodicities. It should be understood that the periodicity may be any value, and the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0035] In some exemplary embodiments, a TO may refer to a data channel that may be used for user data transmission, e.g., CG PUSCH transmission. For example, a configured TO may occupy multiple time units, where a time unit may be ms, s, symbols, slots, subframes, frames, etc. In some examples, a specific number of TOs may be configured in a CG configuration or may be located within the periodicity of a CG configuration. It should be understood that the value of the specific number may be any positive integer, and the present disclosure does not limit this aspect.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2 , terminal device 120 may determine 220 a group of TOs associated with one or more CG configurations 212. On the other side of the communication, network device 110 may correspondingly determine 224 a group of TOs associated with one or more CG configurations 212. Terminal 120 may transmit 230 to network device 110 indication information 232 indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs. On the other side of the communication, network device 110 may receive 234 from terminal device 120 indication information 232 indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs. In the present disclosure, the usage status of a TO may indicate, for example, that the TO is being used or not being used by terminal device 120 for user data transmission of an XR service. In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information may be transmitted in one or more uplink control information (UCI) messages. It should be understood that the present disclosure does not limit the transmission method of the indication information.

[0037] The terminal 120 may transmit 240 an uplink transmission 242 to the network device 110. In some examples, the uplink transmission 242 may be a CG PUSCH (or UL-SCH) in at least one TO, meaning that at least one TO is used or occupied by the uplink transmission 242 of the terminal device 120. On the other side of the communication, the network device 110 receives 244 the uplink transmission 242.

[0038] Network device 110 may transmit one or more additional CG configurations to terminal device 120. In some examples, network device 110 may determine the one or more additional CG configurations based on instruction information 232 received from terminal device 120. It should be understood that the transmission of the one or more additional CG configurations may be before transmission 240, after transmission 240, or overlapped with transmission 240, and the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0039] In some demonstrative embodiments, in determining 220, terminal device 120 may determine a group of TOs based on a time-domain window. In some examples, terminal device 120 may determine multiple configured TOs associated with one or more configured CG configurations 212, where the group of TOs are configured TOs located within the time-domain window.

[0040] 3A illustrates a schematic diagram 310 for determining a group of TOs from multiple configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. If the length of the time-domain window is equal to P2 and the start positioning of the time-domain window is time T1, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. Within a single time-domain window, e.g., first time-domain window 311 and second time-domain window 312 as shown in FIG. 3A, there are a total of 12 TOs in the determined group of TOs, including four TOs from CG1 and eight TOs from CG2.

[0041] 3B illustrates another schematic diagram 320 for determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, network device 110 transmits CG configuration CG1 to terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1. If the length of the time-domain window is equal to twice the value of P1 and the start position of the time-domain window is time T1, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1. There are a total of four TOs in the determined group of TOs, all of which are from CG1 within a single time-domain window, e.g., first time-domain window 321 and second time-domain window 322, as shown in FIG. 3B.

[0042] In some examples, if a configured TO of multiple configured TOs spans a time domain window and a next time domain window, the configured TO is counted in one of the time domain window and the next time domain window, or any configured TO of multiple configured TOs is located within a single time domain window. In particular, terminal device 120 may be configured with multiple TOs, and terminal device 120 does not expect that the starting symbol of a TO is within one time domain window but the ending symbol of that TO is within another time domain window. For example, if the starting symbol of a configured TO is within one time window but the ending symbol of the configured TO is within a different time window, the TO is counted in the time domain window of the starting symbol or the ending symbol.

[0043] 3C shows a further schematic diagram 330 of determining a group of TOs from multiple configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. If the length of the time-domain window is equal to P2 and the start positioning of the time-domain window is time T1, the terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. In the case of FIG. 3C, the last TOs 333 from CG1 span the first time-domain window 331 and the second time-domain window 332, and then the last TOs 333 are counted in the time-domain window 331. Thus, there are a total of 11 TOs determined groups of TOs within the time domain window 331, including three TOs from CG1 and eight TOs from CG2.

[0044] 3D shows a further schematic diagram 340 of determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, network device 110 transmits CG configuration CG1 to terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in CG1's single periodicity P1. If the start positioning of the time-domain window is time T1, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1. In the case of FIG. 3D , the last TO 333 from CG1 spans the first time-domain window 341 and the second time-domain window 342, and then the last TO 333 is counted in time-domain window 341. Thus, there are a total of three TOs determined for the determined group of TOs, all of which are from CG1 within time-domain window 341.

[0045] In some examples, terminal device 120 may transmit indication information indicating the usage status of a valid TO in a group of TOs, or, if a TO is invalid, transmit indication information indicating that a TO is not in use, or determine that a group of TOs includes only valid TOs, and that a TO is invalid if it overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a symbol for a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB). For example, a common downlink symbol may be a downlink symbol configured by a time division duplex common downlink symbol indicated by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, and a dedicated downlink symbol may be a downlink symbol configured by a time division duplex common downlink symbol indicated by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and a symbol indicated by ssb-PositionsInBurst in System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1) or ssb-PositionsInBurst in ServingCellConfigCommon for reception of SS / PBCH blocks.

[0046] 3E shows a further schematic diagram 350 for determining a group of TOs from multiple configured CG configurations based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. If the length of the time-domain window is equal to P2 and the start positioning of the time-domain window is time T1, the terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. In the case of FIG. 3E, the second and third TOs from CG1 and the third through fifth TOs from CG2 in the first time domain 351 are overlapped with common / dedicated downlink symbols, or SSBs. Thus, there are a total of seven TOs determined groups of TOs within the time domain window 351, including two TOs from CG1 and five TOs from CG2.

[0047] FIG. 3F illustrates a further schematic diagram 360 for determining a group of TOs from a single configured CG configuration based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits a CG configuration CG1 to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs at a single periodicity P1 of CG1. If the length of the time-domain window is equal to twice the value of P1 and the start position of the time-domain window is time T1, the terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with CG1, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1. In the case of FIG. 3F, the second TO from CG1 in the first time domain 361 is overlapped with a common / dedicated downlink symbol, or SSB. Thus, there are a total of three TOs determined for the determined group of TOs, all of which are from CG1, within the single time-domain window.

[0048] In some examples, the length of the time-domain window is based on a periodicity associated with one or more CG configurations 212. In some examples, the length of the time-domain window is equal to (1-1) the periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, (1-2) the periodicity of a single CG configuration where a group of TOs is associated with the single CG configuration, (1-3) the maximum periodicity of one or more CG configurations, or (1-4) the maximum periodicity of one of multiple groups divided from the one or more CG configurations, where each of the multiple groups comprises at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations. In some examples, the terminal device 120 may identify multiple CG configurations of the one or more CG configurations as being within the same group of multiple groups based on at least one of a CG configuration index or a group index. In some examples, the length of the time-domain window is indicated by the network device 110 separately from the periodicity of the CG configuration. In some examples, the length of the time-domain window may be in time units such as ms, s, symbols, slots, subframes, frames, etc.

[0049] In some examples, the time-domain window is based on the time-domain position of the indication information. In some examples, the start position of the time-domain window is a time-domain position that is N time units after the start position or the end position of the indication information, where N is a positive integer. For example, if the indication information is transmitted at symbol #n and N is 1, the start symbol in the time domain is symbol #n+1. In another example, if the indication information is transmitted at symbol #n and N is X, the start symbol in the time domain is symbol #n+X.

[0050] In some examples, the time domain window is a time domain window among the multiple time domain windows through which the indication information is transmitted. In some examples, the multiple time domain windows are contiguous in the time domain, and the start position of the earliest time domain window among the multiple time domain windows is one of the following: (2-1) a position indicated by the network device, (2-2) a predefined position, (2-3) a start position of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or (2-4) a start position of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one of multiple groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the multiple groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations. For example, in the above case (2-2), the start position of the earliest time domain window may be defined in the 3GPP specifications as the sequence of symbol 0 in slot 0 of subframe 0 in frame 0. For example, in the above cases (2-3) or (2-4), if four CG configurations CG1, CG2, CG3, and CG4 are provided, and the earliest TO of CG1 is in slot #2, the earliest TO of CG2 is in slot #1, the earliest TO of CG3 is in slot #4, and the earliest TO of CG4 is in slot #5, then the start symbol of the earliest time domain window is the start symbol of slot #1.

[0051] FIG. 3G illustrates a further schematic diagram 370 for determining a group of TOs based on a time-domain window, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. The length of the time-domain window is equal to P2, and the start position of the earliest time-domain window among the multiple time-domain windows is determined based on any of the embodiments of cases (2-1) to (2-3) above, where the multiple time-domain windows are contiguous in the time domain. The indication information is transmitted within a second time-domain window 372. In such a case, the terminal device 120 determines the groups of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2 within the second time-domain window 372, respectively. Thus, there are a total of 12 TOs in the determined group of TOs, including four TOs from CG1 in the second time domain window 372 and eight TOs from CG2 in the second time domain window 372.

[0052] In some exemplary embodiments, in determining 220, the terminal device 120 may determine a group of TOs based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs. In some examples, the terminal device 120 may determine a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more CG configurations, where the plurality of configured TOs are indexed in a predefined order. In some examples, the predefined order comprises at least one of the following: (3-1) an increasing order of start or end positions in the time domain; (3-2) an increasing order of CG configuration indexes of one or more CG configurations; (3-3) an increasing order of TO lengths; or (3-4) an increasing order of frequency domain resource block indexes of the TOs. It will be understood that these orders of indexed TOs, for example, do not imply any limitations, and these orders may also be combined in any sequence and in any number.

[0053] 4A shows a schematic diagram 410 of indexed TOs according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity, P1, and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity, P2, of CG2. The TOs in CG1 and CG2 are indexed in ascending order of starting position in the time domain and ascending order of CG configuration index for the same starting position. In some examples, the positions may be in time units such as ms, s, symbols, slots, subframes, frames, etc.

[0054] In some examples, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is based on the time-domain position at which the indication information is transmitted. In some examples, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is one of (4-1) the Nth time unit after the time-domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer, or (4-2) the earliest TO following the Nth time unit after the time-domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer. For example, in the above case (4-1), if the indication information is transmitted at symbol #n and N is 1, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is symbol #n+1, and if the indication information is transmitted at symbol #n and N is X, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is symbol #n+X. In another example, in the above case (4-2), if the indication information is transmitted at TO #n and N is 1, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is TO #n+1, and if the indication information is transmitted at TO #n and N is X, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is TO #n+X.

[0055] 4B illustrates a schematic diagram 420 for determining a group of TOs from multiple configured CG configurations based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. If the predefined or indicated number of TOs is eight and the earliest TO of the earliest group of TOs is time T2, which is after the time-domain position T1 at which the indication information 232-1 is transmitted based on (4-1) above, the terminal device 120 determines a first group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. Starting at time T2, there are a total of eight TOs in the determined group of TOs, including the first eight TOs from CG1 and CG2. Then, when the second TO in the second group of TOs is at time T3b, which is after the time-domain position at T3a at which the next indication information 232-2 is transmitted, the terminal device 120 determines a second group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. Starting at time T3b, there are a total of eight TOs in the determined group of TOs, including the second eight TOs from CG1 and CG2.

[0056] 4C illustrates another schematic diagram 430 for determining a group of TOs from a plurality of configured CG configurations based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. If the predefined or indicated number of TOs is eight and the earliest TO of the earliest group of TOs is TO #10, which is the earliest TO after the time-domain position where the indication information is transmitted based on (4-2) above, the terminal device 120 determines a first group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, in other words, a group of TOs including TOs from CG1 and TOs from CG2, respectively. Starting from time TO #10, there are a total of eight TOs in the determined group of TOs, including the first eight TOs from CG1 and CG2.

[0057] In some examples, the group of TOs is a group of TOs among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs to which the indication information is transmitted. In some examples, among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs, the earliest TO among the earliest group of TOs is one of the following: (5-1) a TO indicated by a network device, (5-2) a predefined TO, (5-3) an earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or (5-4) an earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations. For example, in the above case (5-2), the earliest TO among the earliest group of TOs may be defined in the 3GPP specifications as the sequence of symbol 0 in slot 0 of subframe 0 in frame 0. For example, in the above case (5-3) or (5-4), if four CG configurations CG1, CG2, CG3, and CG4 are provided, and the earliest TO for CG1 is in slot #2, the earliest TO for CG2 is in slot #1, the earliest TO for CG3 is in slot #4, and the earliest TO for CG4 is in slot #5, then the earliest TO of the earliest group of TOs is earliest TO #1.

[0058] FIG. 4D shows a further schematic diagram 440 for determining a group of TOs based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the network device 110 transmits two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, to the terminal device 120, where CG1 provides two TOs in a single periodicity P1 of CG1 and CG2 provides eight TOs in a single periodicity P2 of CG2. The predefined or indicated number of TOs is eight, and the earliest TO among the earliest group of TOs among multiple consecutive groups of TOs is determined based on any of the above-described cases (5-1) to (5-4). The indication information is transmitted in TO #8. In such a case, the terminal device 120 determines the group of TOs associated with CG1 and CG2, respectively, from the group of TOs, with TO #8 being the last TO. Therefore, the determined group of TOs is eight TOs, from TO #1 to TO #8.

[0059] In some examples, terminal device 120 may transmit indication information indicating the usage status of a valid TO in a group of TOs, or, if a TO is invalid, transmit indication information indicating that a TO is not in use, or determine that a group of TOs includes only valid TOs, and that a TO is invalid if it overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a symbol for a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB). For example, a common downlink symbol may be a downlink symbol configured by a time division duplex common downlink symbol indicated by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, and a dedicated downlink symbol may be a downlink symbol configured by a time division duplex common downlink symbol indicated by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and a symbol indicated by ssb-PositionsInBurst in System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1) or ssb-PositionsInBurst in ServingCellConfigCommon for reception of SS / PBCH blocks.

[0060] In some exemplary embodiments, as a first embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information, the number of bits of the indication information is indicated by the network device 110. For example, the network device may indicate that the number of bits of the indication information is 4 bits.

[0061] In some examples, as a second embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information, the number of bits of the indication information is based on a set of values ​​configured by the network device, and the value indicates the number of unused TOs. In some examples, when the number of values ​​in the set of values ​​is N, the number of bits of the indication information is

[0062]

number

[0063] For example, if a set of eight values ​​{1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 16} is configured, the number of bits of the indication information can be, for example,

[0064]

number

[0065] In some examples, the set of values ​​includes at least one negative value, which indicates a required number of TOs or indicates that TOs are not sufficient. For example, when a set of eight values ​​{-1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 16} is configured, the number of bits of the indication information is, for example,

[0066]

number

[0067] By determining K, the number of TOs required is 3, and a negative value K means that |K| TOs are required or that there are insufficient resources for user data transmission. For example, a negative value K of −1 means that one TO is required or that there are insufficient resources for user data transmission.

[0068] In some exemplary embodiments, as a third embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information, the number of bits of the indication information is based on the number of TOs in the group of TOs. For example, when the number of TOs is M, the number of bits of the indication information is

[0069]

number

[0070] As a fourth embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information, the number of bits of the indication information is based on the maximum number of TOs in all time domain windows. For example, if the number of TOs in the first time domain window and the other time windows is M1, and the number of TOs in the second time window is M2, where M2 is greater than M1, the number of bits of the indication information may be:

[0071]

number

[0072] is.

[0073] In some exemplary embodiments, as a fifth embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information, the number of bits of the indication information is based on the number of remaining TOs following the information indication in the group of TOs. In some examples, when the number of remaining TOs following the information indication in the group of TOs is N, the number of bits of the indication information is

[0074]

number

[0075] For example, if the number of TOs is 8 in a single time window and the indication information is transmitted in the fourth time window, the number of bits of the indication information may be, for example:

[0076]

number

[0077] By decision, it is 2.

[0078] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information may indicate a number K indicating the usage status of the first K TOs or the last K TOs in the group of TOs based on any of the first to fifth embodiments of the number of bits of the indication information described above, where K is a positive integer. In some examples, the number K is represented by the number of bits of the indication information. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 3A , where the total number of TOs is 12 in a single time-domain window, the number of bits of the indication information is 4 based on the number of TOs in the group of TOs, and the number K is 4 to indicate the usage status (unused or used) of the first K TOs or the last K TOs in the group of TOs. In some examples, if the number of bits of the indication information is not sufficient to indicate all TOs, all of the TOs may be divided into multiple subgroups, each subgroup indicating the same usage status, and the indication information indicates the usage status for each of the multiple subgroups.

[0079] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information may be a bitmap based on the first, third, or fourth embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information described above, where each bit of the bitmap indicates the usage status of a TO or a subgroup of TOs in the group of TOs. In some examples, the group of TOs may be divided into N subgroups of TOs, where each bit has a one-to-one mapping with one of the N subgroups of TOs.

[0080] As a non-limiting example of determining the N subgroups of TOs, the group of TOs in a single time-domain window may be evenly divided into N subgroups. For example, if the total number of TOs in the group of TOs is M, then the N-1 subgroups

[0081]

number

[0082] TOs, and in the Nth subgroup

[0083]

number

[0084] There can be TOs.

[0085] As a non-limiting example of determining N subgroups of TOs, a group of TOs in a single time-domain window may be divided into N subgroups based on whether there is overlap among the group of TOs by steps 0 to 2 below, where the number N is determined based on the number of TOs and the results of steps 0 to 2 below.

[0086] Step 0: Add up the M TOs as a group of TOs.

[0087] Step 1: Among the M TOs, find the first TO with the smallest last OFDM symbol, and the TOs with starting symbols equal to or less than the smallest last OFDM symbol (including the first TO and overlapped with the first TO) belong to the TO subgroup.

[0088] Step 2: Assume the remaining TOs as M TOs, and perform step 1 until all TOs in the M TOs are subgrouped.

[0089] In such a case, the number of bits is equal to N, where N denotes the number of subgroups.

[0090] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information may indicate the start index of a TO and the end index of a TO based on any of the third to fifth embodiments of the number of bits of the indication information described above, to indicate the usage status of the TOs from the start index of the TO to the end index of the TO. For example, if the start index of a TO is TO #i and the end index of a TO is TO #j, the indication information may indicate that TOs from TO #i to TO #j are not in use. Alternatively, the indication information may indicate the start index of a TO and the number of TOs, to indicate the usage status of TOs having that number of TOs from the start index of the TO. For example, if the start index of a TO is TO #i and the number of TOs is X, the indication information may indicate that TOs from TO #i to TO #+X are not in use. In some exemplary embodiments, if the number of remaining or maximum TOs is M, the number of bits is

[0091]

number

[0092] The value may be based on

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information may include multiple fields, each corresponding to one or more CG configurations, indicating the usage status of a TO in the corresponding CG configuration. For example, the number of bits for each field may be determined based on the first, third, or fifth embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information described above by replacing the indication information with a field and replacing a group of TOs with a group of TOs associated with the CG configuration corresponding to the field. In some examples, the fields in the indication information correspond to an ascending order of CG configuration indexes. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A , in the case where there are two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, and four TOs from CG1 and eight TOs from CG2 in a single time-domain window, the number of fields may be 2, and the number of bits of the field corresponding to CG1 may be:

[0094]

number

[0095] Based on the determination based on the number of TOs from CG1 in the TO group, the number of bits in the field corresponding to CG2 is 2,

[0096]

number

[0097] Based on the determination based on the number of TOs from CG2 in the group of TOs, it is 3. Therefore, the fields in the indication information correspond to the order of first CG1 and then CG2, and the total number of bits in the indication information is 5, with the first 2 bits being used to indicate TOs from CG1 and the next 3 bits being used to indicate TOs from CG2.

[0098] In some examples, the indication information may include multiple fields based on the first embodiment of the number of bits of the indication information described above, each of the multiple fields corresponding to one or more CG configurations and indicating the usage status of the TO in the corresponding CG configuration. If the number of bits is M and there are N CG configurations, there may be M / N bits for each CG configuration. Specifically, for the first CG to the N-1th CG,

[0099]

number

[0100] For the bit, and the final CG

[0101]

number

[0102] For example, if the number of bits for one CG is not enough to indicate the use of TOs for a CG configuration, the TOs may be divided into multiple subgroups based on the embodiments described above in this disclosure. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 3A, there are two CG configurations, CG1 and CG2, and four TOs from CG1 and eight TOs from CG2 are within a single time-domain window. If the number of bits for the indication information is 8 bits, there may be four bits for each CG configuration. If the use status of TOs is indicated by a bitmap and four bits are not enough for the indication for CG2, the eight TOs for CG2 may be divided into four subgroups, and one bit is used to indicate the use status of TOs in the subgroup.

[0103] In some examples, the TOs are indexed in a predefined order, the predefined order comprising at least one of the following: (6-1) ascending order of start or end positions in the time domain, (6-2) ascending order of CG configuration indices of one or more CG configurations, (6-3) ascending order of TO lengths, or (6-4) ascending order of TO frequency domain resource block indices. It will be understood that these orders of indexed TOs, for example, do not imply any limitations, and these orders may also be combined in any sequence and in any number.

[0104] 5 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method implemented in a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the terminal device 120 with reference to FIG.

[0105] At block 510, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs associated with one or more CG configurations. At block 520, terminal device 120 transmits, to network device 110, an indication of the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0106] In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs based on a time-domain window. In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 120 determines a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more configured CG configurations, where the group of TOs are configured TOs located within the time-domain window.

[0107] In some exemplary embodiments, if a configured TO of multiple configured TOs spans a time-domain window and a next time-domain window, the configured TO is counted in one of the time-domain window and the next time-domain window, or any configured TO of multiple configured TOs lies within a single time-domain window. In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is based on a periodicity associated with one or more CG configurations.

[0108] In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is equal to the periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, the periodicity of a single CG configuration where a group of TOs is associated with the single CG configuration, the maximum periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, or the maximum periodicity of one of multiple groups divided from the one or more CG configurations, where each of the multiple groups comprises at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations. In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 120 identifies multiple CG configurations of the one or more CG configurations as being within the same group of the multiple groups based on at least one of a CG configuration index or a group index.

[0109] In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is indicated by the network device 110 independently of the periodicity of the CG configuration. In some exemplary embodiments, the time-domain window is based on the time-domain position of the indication. In some exemplary embodiments, the start positioning of the time-domain window is a time-domain position that is N time units after the start positioning or the end positioning of the indication information, where N is a positive integer.

[0110] In some exemplary embodiments, the time domain window is a time domain window among the plurality of time domain windows through which the indication information is transmitted. In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of time domain windows are contiguous in the time domain, and the start positioning of the earliest time domain window among the plurality of time domain windows is one of the following: a positioning indicated by the network device, a predefined positioning, a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0111] In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 120 determines a group of TOs based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is based on a time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is one of the Nth time unit after the time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer, or the earliest TO following the Nth time unit after the time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer.

[0112] In some exemplary embodiments, the group of TOs is a group of TOs among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs to which the indication information is sent. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO among the earliest group of TOs among the plurality of consecutive groups of TOs is one of the following: a TO indicated by the network device, a predefined TO, an earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or an earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0113] In some demonstrative embodiments, terminal device 120 determines a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more CG configurations, and the plurality of configured TOs are indexed in a predefined order.

[0114] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 120 transmits indication information indicating the usage status of a valid TO in a group of TOs, or, if a TO is invalid, transmits indication information indicating that the TO is not in use, or determines that the group of TOs includes only valid TOs, and if the TO overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block, the TO is invalid.

[0115] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is indicated by the network device. In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on a set of values ​​configured by the network device, the value indicating the number of unused TOs.

[0116] In some exemplary embodiments, the set of values ​​includes at least one negative value, where the negative value indicates a required number of TOs or indicates that there are not enough TOs.

[0117] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on one of the number of TOs in the group of TOs or the maximum number of TOs in all time domain windows.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on the number of remaining TOs following the information indication in the group of TOs.

[0119] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indicating a number K indicating the usage status of the first K TOs or the last K TOs in the group of TOs, where K is a positive integer and the number K is represented by the number of bits of the indication information.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indication information that is a bitmap, where each bit of the bitmap indicates the usage status of a TO or a subgroup of TOs in the group of TOs.

[0121] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indication information indicating a start index of the TO and an end index of the TO to indicate the usage status of the TOs from the start index of the TO to the end index of the TO, or indication information indicating a start index of the TO and the number of TOs to indicate the usage status of the TOs having that number of TOs from the start index of the TO.

[0122] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes a plurality of fields, each corresponding to one or more CG configurations and indicating the usage status of the TO in the corresponding CG configuration. In some exemplary embodiments, the fields in the indication correspond to an ascending order of the CG configuration index.

[0123] In some exemplary embodiments, the TOs are indexed in a predefined order, the predefined order comprising at least one of the following: ascending order of start or end positions in the time domain, ascending order of CG configuration indices of one or more CG configurations, ascending order of TO length, or ascending order of frequency domain resource block indices of the TOs.

[0124] 6 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the network device 110 with reference to FIG.

[0125] At block 610, the network device 110 determines a group of TOs associated with one or more CG configurations. At block 620, the network device 110 receives, from the terminal device, an indication of the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0126] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 110 configures a time domain window for terminal 120 such that terminal device 120 determines a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more configured CG configurations, where a group of TOs is a configured TO located within the time domain window.

[0127] In some exemplary embodiments, if a configured TO of multiple configured TOs spans a time-domain window and a next time-domain window, the configured TO is counted in one of the time-domain window and the next time-domain window, or any configured TO of multiple configured TOs lies within a single time-domain window. In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is based on a periodicity associated with one or more CG configurations.

[0128] In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is equal to the periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, the periodicity of a single CG configuration where a group of TOs is associated with a single CG configuration, the maximum periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, or the maximum periodicity of one of multiple groups divided from the one or more CG configurations, where each of the multiple groups comprises at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations. In some exemplary embodiments, at least one of a CG configuration index or a group index is used to determine that multiple CG configurations of the one or more CG configurations are within the same group of the multiple groups.

[0129] In some exemplary embodiments, the length of the time-domain window is indicated by the network device 110 independently of the periodicity of the CG configuration. In some exemplary embodiments, the time-domain window is based on the time-domain position of the indication. In some exemplary embodiments, the start positioning of the time-domain window is a time-domain position that is N time units after the start positioning or the end positioning of the indication information, where N is a positive integer.

[0130] In some exemplary embodiments, the time domain window is a time domain window among the plurality of time domain windows through which the indication information is transmitted. In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of time domain windows are contiguous in the time domain, and the start positioning of the earliest time domain window among the plurality of time domain windows is one of the following: a positioning indicated by the network device, a predefined positioning, a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0131] In some exemplary embodiments, network device 110 configures terminal device 120 with a number of TOs for determining a group of TOs. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is based on a time domain location at which the indication information is transmitted. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO in the group of TOs is one of the Nth time unit after the time domain location at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer, or the earliest TO following the Nth time unit after the time domain location at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer.

[0132] In some exemplary embodiments, the group of TOs is a group of TOs among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs for which the indication information is sent. In some exemplary embodiments, the earliest TO among the earliest group of TOs among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs is the TO indicated by network device 110.

[0133] In some exemplary embodiments, multiple configured TOs are associated with one or more CG configurations and are indexed in a predefined order.

[0134] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 110 receives, from terminal device 120, indication information indicating the use status of a valid TO in a group of TOs, or if the TO is invalid, receives indication information indicating that the TO is not in use, or is notified that the group of TOs includes only valid TOs and if the TO overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block, the TO is invalid.

[0135] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is indicated by the network device. In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on a set of values ​​configured by the network device, the value indicating the number of unused TOs.

[0136] In some exemplary embodiments, the set of values ​​includes at least one negative value, where the negative value indicates a required number of TOs or indicates that there are not enough TOs.

[0137] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on one of the number of TOs in the group of TOs or the maximum number of TOs in all time domain windows.

[0138] In some exemplary embodiments, the number of bits of the indication information is based on the number of remaining TOs following the information indication in the group of TOs.

[0139] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indicating a number K indicating the usage status of the first K TOs or the last K TOs in the group of TOs, where K is a positive integer and the number K is represented by the number of bits of the indication information.

[0140] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indication information that is a bitmap, where each bit of the bitmap indicates the usage status of a TO or a subgroup of TOs in the group of TOs.

[0141] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes indication information indicating a start index of the TO and an end index of the TO to indicate the usage status of the TOs from the start index of the TO to the end index of the TO, or indication information indicating a start index of the TO and the number of TOs to indicate the usage status of the TOs having that number of TOs from the start index of the TO.

[0142] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs includes a plurality of fields, each corresponding to one or more CG configurations and indicating the usage status of the TO in the corresponding CG configuration. In some exemplary embodiments, the fields in the indication correspond to an ascending order of the CG configuration index.

[0143] In some exemplary embodiments, the TOs are indexed in a predefined order, the predefined order comprising at least one of the following: ascending order of start or end positions in the time domain, ascending order of CG configuration indices of one or more CG configurations, ascending order of TO length, or ascending order of frequency domain resource block indices of the TOs.

[0144] 7 shows a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 700 may be considered a further exemplary implementation of terminal device 120 and network device 110 shown in FIG. 1. Thus, device 700 may be implemented in, or as at least a part of, terminal device 120 or network device 110.

[0145] As shown, device 700 includes a processor 710, a memory 720 coupled to the processor 710, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 740 coupled to the processor 710, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 740. The memory 710 stores at least a portion of a program 730. The TX / RX 740 is for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access nodes referred to in this disclosure may have several antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs, an S1 interface for communication between a mobility management entity (MME) / serving gateway (S-GW) and an eNB, an Un interface for communication between an eNB and a relay node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB and a terminal device.

[0146] The program 730 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 710, enable the device 700 to operate according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to FIGS. 1-6. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 710 of the device 700, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 710 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the combination of the processor 710 and the memory 720 may form a processing means 750 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0147] Memory 720 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. Although only one memory 720 is shown in device 700, there may be several physically separate memory modules within device 700. Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are slaved in time to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0148] In summary, embodiments of the present disclosure may provide the following solutions:

[0149] Clause 1. A terminal device comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and transmit, via the transceiver, to a network device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0150] Clause 2. The terminal device of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the group of TOs based on a time domain window.

[0151] Clause 3. The terminal device of clause 2, wherein the processor is configured to determine a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more configured CG configurations, wherein the group of TOs are configured TOs located within a time domain window.

[0152] Clause 4. A terminal device of clause 3, wherein if a configured TO of a plurality of configured TOs spans a time domain window and a next time domain window, the configured TO is counted in one of the time domain window and the next time domain window, or any configured TO of the plurality of configured TOs is located within a single time domain window.

[0153] Clause 5. The terminal device of clause 2, wherein the length of the time domain window is based on a periodicity associated with one or more CG configurations.

[0154] Clause 6. The terminal device of clause 5, wherein the length of the time domain window is equal to the periodicity of one of the one or more CG configurations, the periodicity of a single CG configuration, where a group of TOs is associated with a single CG configuration, the maximum periodicity of one or more CG configurations, or the maximum periodicity of one of multiple groups divided from one or more CG configurations, where each of the multiple groups comprises at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0155] Clause 7. The terminal device of clause 6, wherein the processor is further configured to identify, based on at least one of a CG configuration index or a group index, multiple CG configurations of the one or more CG configurations as being within the same group of the multiple groups.

[0156] Clause 8. A terminal device of clause 2 or 3, wherein the length of the time domain window is indicated by the network device independently of the periodicity of the CG configuration.

[0157] Clause 9. The terminal device of clause 2, wherein the time domain window is based on a time domain location of the indication information.

[0158] Clause 10. The terminal device of clause 9, wherein the start position of the time domain window is a time domain position that is an Nth time unit after the start position or the end position of the indication information, where N is a positive integer.

[0159] Clause 11. The terminal device of clause 9, wherein the time domain window is a time domain window among a plurality of time domain windows through which the indication information is transmitted.

[0160] Clause 12. A terminal device according to Clause 11, wherein the plurality of time domain windows are contiguous in the time domain, and the start positioning of the earliest time domain window among the plurality of time domain windows is one of the following: a positioning indicated by the network device, a predefined positioning, a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or a start positioning of the earliest periodicity or earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of the one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0161] Clause 13. The terminal device of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the group of TOs based on a predefined or indicated number of TOs.

[0162] Clause 14. The terminal device of clause 13, wherein the earliest TO in a group of TOs is based on a time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted.

[0163] Clause 15. A terminal device according to clause 14, wherein the earliest TO in the group of TOs is the Nth time unit after the time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer, or one of the earliest TOs following the Nth time unit after the time domain position at which the indication information is transmitted, where N is a positive integer.

[0164] Clause 16. The terminal device of clause 14, wherein the group of TOs is a group of TOs to which the indication information is sent, among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs.

[0165] Clause 17. The terminal device of clause 16, wherein, among a plurality of consecutive groups of TOs, the earliest TO of the earliest group of TOs is one of the following: a TO indicated by the network device, a predefined TO, an earliest TO of one or more CG configurations, or an earliest TO of one of a plurality of groups divided from all of one or more CG configurations, each of the plurality of groups comprising at least one CG configuration from the one or more CG configurations.

[0166] Clause 18. The terminal device of clause 13, wherein the processor is configured to determine a plurality of configured TOs associated with one or more CG configurations, the plurality of configured TOs being indexed in a predefined order.

[0167] Clause 19. A terminal device according to clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to: send indication information indicating the usage status of a valid TO in a group of TOs; if a TO is invalid, send indication information indicating that the TO is not in use; or determine that the group of TOs includes only valid TOs, and that a TO is invalid if it overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a symbol for a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block.

[0168] Clause 20. A terminal device according to clause 1, wherein the number of bits of the indication information is indicated by the network device.

[0169] Clause 21. A terminal device according to clause 20, wherein the number of bits of the indication information is based on a set of values ​​configured by the network device, the values ​​indicating the number of TOs that are not in use.

[0170] Clause 22. The terminal device of clause 21, wherein the set of values ​​includes at least one negative value, the negative value indicating a required number of TOs or indicating that there are not enough TOs.

[0171] Clause 23. The terminal device of clause 1, wherein the number of bits of the indication information is based on one of the number of TOs in a group of TOs or the maximum number of TOs in all time domain windows.

[0172] Clause 24. A terminal device according to clause 1, in which the number of bits of instruction information is based on the number of remaining TOs following the information instruction in a group of TOs.

[0173] Clause 25. A terminal device of any of clauses 20 to 24, including the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs indicating a number K indicating the usage status of the first K TOs or the last K TOs in the group of TOs, where K is a positive integer and the number K is represented by the number of bits of the indication information.

[0174] Clause 26. A terminal device according to clause 20 or 23, comprising: indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in a group of TOs, the indication information being a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap indicating the usage status of a TO or a subgroup of TOs in the group of TOs.

[0175] Clause 27. A terminal device according to Clause 23 or 24, wherein the indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in a group of TOs includes indication information indicating a start index of the TO and an end index of the TO to indicate the usage status of the TOs from the start index of the TO to the end index of the TO, or indication information indicating a start index of the TO and the number of TOs to indicate the usage status of TOs having that number of TOs from the start index of the TO.

[0176] Clause 28. The terminal device of clause 20, wherein the instruction information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in a group of TOs includes a plurality of fields, each of the plurality of fields corresponding to one or more CG configurations and indicating the usage status of the TO in the corresponding CG configuration.

[0177] Clause 29. A terminal device according to clause 28, wherein the fields in the instruction information correspond to the ascending order of the CG configuration indexes.

[0178] Clause 30. A terminal device according to any of clauses 13 to 19 or 25 to 29, wherein the TOs are indexed in a predefined order, the predefined order comprising at least one of the following: ascending order of start or end positions in the time domain, ascending order of CG configuration indices of one or more CG configurations, ascending order of length of the TOs, or ascending order of frequency domain resource block indices of the TOs.

[0179] Clause 31. A network device comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: determine, via the processor, a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and receive, via the transceiver, from a terminal device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0180] Clause 32. A method performed by a terminal device, comprising: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and transmitting, to a network device, indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0181] Clause 33. A method performed by a network device, comprising: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; and receiving, from a terminal device, indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs.

[0182] Clause 34. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor of a device, causing the device to perform the method according to clause 32.

[0183] Clause 35. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor of a device, causing the device to perform a method according to clause 33.

[0184] Through the solution of the present disclosure, a signaling mechanism may be introduced that enables a terminal device to indicate the usage status of a TO to a network device, so that the network device can adjust subsequent resource allocation to avoid wasting unused TOs, thereby improving communication performance. A specific design of the format of the indication information in the present disclosure contributes to saving signaling overhead, for example, by adopting a limited number of bits to indicate the usage of TOs associated with one or more CG configurations.

[0185] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0186] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a target real or virtual processor in a device to perform the processes or methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or separated among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for a program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0187] Program code for performing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0188] The above program code may be embodied on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that contains or can store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the above. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0189] Additionally, while operations are illustrated in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order or sequence illustrated, or that all of the illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while some specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0190] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0191] 100 Communication system, system 110 Network Devices 120 Terminal Device, Terminal 212 One or more CG compositions, one or more composed CG compositions 232, 232-1, 232-2 Instruction information 242 uplink transmission 311, 321 First time domain window 312, 322, 332, 342, 372 Second time domain window 331, 341 First time domain window, time domain window 333 Last TO 351 First Time Domain, Time Domain Window 352, 362, 371 Time domain window 361 First Time Domain 700 devices 710 processor 720 memory 730 Program 740 Transmitter (TX) and Receiver (RX), TX / RX 750 Processing means

Claims

1. a processor; a transceiver coupled to the processor; Equipped with the processor: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; transmitting, via the transceiver, to a network device, an indication of the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs; a terminal device configured to:

2. The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the group of TOs based on a time domain window.

3. the processor: determining a plurality of configured TOs associated with the one or more configured CG configurations, the group of TOs being the configured TOs located within the time-domain window; The terminal device of claim 2, configured to:

4. The terminal device of claim 2 , wherein a length of the time domain window is based on a periodicity associated with the one or more CG configurations.

5. The terminal device of claim 2 , wherein the time domain window is based on a time domain position of the indication information.

6. locating the start of the time domain window by: a time-domain position that is an Nth time unit after the start position or the end position of the indication information, where N is a positive integer; 6. The terminal device of claim 5, wherein:

7. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the time domain window is a time domain window in which the indication information is transmitted among a plurality of time domain windows.

8. the processor: transmitting indication information indicating the usage status of valid TOs in said group of TOs; If the TO is invalid, sending an indication that said TO is not in use; or determining that said group of TOs includes only valid TOs; configured to: The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the TO is invalid if it overlaps with a common downlink symbol, a dedicated downlink symbol, or a symbol for a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block.

9. The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein the number of bits of the indication information is indicated by the network device.

10. The number of bits of the indication information is the number of TOs in said group of TOs; or The maximum number of TOs in any time domain window The terminal device according to claim 1, based on one of the following:

11. The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the number of bits of the indication information is based on the number of remaining TOs following the information indication in the group of TOs.

12. The indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs is: the indication information indicating a start index of a TO and an end index of a TO, and indicating the usage status of the TO from the start index of the TO to the end index of the TO; or the indication information indicating a start index of a TO and the number of TOs, and indicating the usage status of a TO having the number of TOs from the start index of the TO; 12. A terminal device according to claim 10 or 11, comprising:

13. The indication information indicating the usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs is: the instruction information including a plurality of fields, each of the plurality of fields corresponding to each of the one or more CG configurations and indicating the usage status of the TO in the corresponding CG configuration; 10. The terminal device of claim 9, comprising:

14. a processor; a transceiver coupled to the processor; Equipped with the processor: determining, via the processor, groups of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; receiving, via the transceiver, from a terminal device, indication information indicating a usage status of at least one TO in the group of TOs; A network device configured to:

15. 1. A method performed by a terminal device, comprising: determining a group of transmission occasions (TOs) associated with one or more configured grant (CG) configurations; sending, to a network device, an indication of the usage status of at least one TO in said group of TOs; A method comprising:

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