SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION FORMAT SIZE DETERMINATION - Patent application

Abstract

Systems and methods configured to provide size matching for downlink control information (DCI) formats to limit the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use are described. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, size matching of at least two DCI formats of a set of DCI formats to limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use is implemented. The constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats may correspond to both a first number of DCI size parameters based on the total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and a second number of DCI size parameters based on the total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 647,593, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION FORMAT SIZING," filed March 23, 2018, and U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 360,961, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION FORMAT SIZING," filed March 21, 2019, the entireties of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to size-matching downlink control information (DCI) formats that are configurable to be different sizes, such as to limit a number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing available network resources. Such networks, which are typically multiple access networks, support communication for multiple users by sharing available network resources. One example of such a network is the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is a radio access network (RAN) defined as part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Examples of multiple access network formats include code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

[0004] A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations or Node Bs that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). The UEs may communicate with the base stations via a downlink and an uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.

[0005] A base station may transmit data and control information to a UE on the downlink and / or receive data and control information from a UE on the uplink. On the downlink, transmissions from a base station may experience interference due to transmissions from neighboring base stations or from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, transmissions from a UE may experience interference from uplink transmissions of other UEs communicating with neighboring base stations or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade performance on both the downlink and the uplink.

[0006] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks, and more short-range wireless systems are deployed in regions, increasing the possibility of interference and network congestion. Research and development continues to evolve wireless technologies to not only meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to evolve and improve the user experience of mobile communications.

[0007] To support the demand for mobile broadband access, wireless technologies implemented by various wireless communication systems have provided considerable flexibility with respect to resource allocation. However, such flexibility presents challenges for devices performing wireless communication to determine the specific resource allocation configuration being used. Thus, downlink control information (DCI) has been utilized to convey detailed information regarding the resource allocation configuration (e.g., grants, transmission timing, resource block assignments, demodulation schemes, antenna beam information, etc.). A number of different DCI formats may be provided, such as to accommodate the provision of different sets of control information associated with certain wireless communication scenarios. Various of those DCI formats may be of different sizes, such as to accommodate different sets of control information. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication using multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats is provided. The method of an embodiment may include determining a set of DCI formats of a plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, where some DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats are configurable to be different sizes. The method of an embodiment may also include size-matching at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use. The constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use may limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI sizes parameter and a second number of DCI size parameter, where the first number of DCI size parameter is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameter is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot.

[0009] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication using multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats is provided. The apparatus of an embodiment may include means for determining a set of DCI formats of a plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, where some DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats are configurable to be different sizes. The apparatus of an embodiment may also include means for size-matching at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use. The constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use may limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters, where the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot.

[0010] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for wireless communication using multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats may be provided. The program code of an embodiment may include code for determining a set of DCI formats of a plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, where some DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats are configurable to be different sizes. The program code of an embodiment may also include code for size-matching at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use. The constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use may limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters, where the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication using multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor of an embodiment may be configured to determine a set of DCI formats of a plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, where some DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats are configurable to be different sizes. The processor of an embodiment may also be configured to size-match at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use. The constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use may limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters, where the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot.

[0012] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure so that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and advantages are described below. The concepts and examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent structures do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The nature of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limitations of the claims.

[0013] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Furthermore, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash and a second label that distinguishes the similar components. When only a first reference label is used in this specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label, regardless of the second reference label. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a UE configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is an example timing diagram for wireless communications provided by a wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 11 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for performing size matching of downlink control information formats according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 5A] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of size matching based on initial carrier bandwidth portion, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of size matching based on initial carrier bandwidth portion, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The detailed description set forth below with reference to the accompanying drawings and appendix is ​​intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for providing a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in all cases and that in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity of presentation.

[0016] The present disclosure generally relates to providing or participating in authorized shared access between two or more wireless communication systems, also referred to as wireless communication networks. In various embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, and other communication networks. The terms "network" and "system" described herein may be used interchangeably.

[0017] OFDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are parts of the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Specifically, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups at the Telecommunications Institute that aims to define globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. This disclosure pertains to wireless technology evolutions from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond, which involve shared access to the wireless spectrum between networks that use a collection of new, different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0018] Specifically, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented using an OFDM-based unified air interface. To achieve these goals, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition to the development of new radio technologies for 5G NR networks. 5G NR is a service area that supports: (1) ultra-high density (e.g., approximately 1 million nodes / km); 2 (2) to the Massive Internet of Things (IoT), with ultra-low complexity (e.g., on the order of tens of bits per second), ultra-low energy (e.g., on the order of 10 years battery life), and deep coverage with the ability to reach difficult locations; (3) including mission-critical control with users having or lacking strong security to protect sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., on the order of 99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., on the order of 1 ms), and wide mobility range; and (4) extremely high capacity (e.g., on the order of 10 Tbps / km 2 ), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, rates experienced by users of 100 Mbps or more), and coverage with enhanced mobile broadband including a deep understanding of advanced discovery and optimization.

[0019] 5G NR may be implemented using optimized OFDM-based waveforms with scalable numerology and transmission time intervals (TTIs), having a common flexible framework for efficient multiplexing of services and features with dynamic low-latency time division duplexing (TDD) / frequency division duplexing (FDD) designs, and with advanced wireless technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of numerology in 5G NR with the scaling of subcarrier spacing may efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrums and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of FDD / TDD implementations below 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 15 kHz, for example, over bandwidths of 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, etc. For various other outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD above 3 GHz, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 30 kHz over an 80 / 100 MHz bandwidth. For various other indoor wideband implementations using TDD in the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments transmitting on a mmWave component at 28 GHz TDD, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0020] 5G NR's scalable numerology facilitates scalable TTIs for diverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs may be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs may be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained unified subframe design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments in the same subframe. The self-contained unified subframe supports communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink / downlink that can be flexibly configured per cell to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current traffic demands.

[0021] Various other aspects and features of the present disclosure are further described below. It will be apparent that the teachings herein can be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and that any particular structure, function, or both being disclosed herein are merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein, those skilled in the art will understand that the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspects, and that two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects described herein. In addition, such an apparatus may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects described herein. For example, a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus, and / or as instructions stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect may comprise at least one element of a claim.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a 5G network 100 including various base stations and UEs configured according to aspects of the disclosure. The 5G network 100 includes several base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (gNB), access point, etc. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to this particular geographic coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0023] A base station may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, or a small cell, such as a pico cell or femto cell, and / or other types of cells. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription with the network provider. A small cell, such as a pico cell, generally covers a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription with the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, also generally covers a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide unrestricted access as well as restricted access by UEs with an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs of a user in a home, etc.). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station. In the example shown in FIG. 1, base stations 105d and 105e are regular macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations enabled with one of three-dimensional (3D) MIMO, full dimension (FD) MIMO, or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c take advantage of their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to leverage 3D beamforming in both advanced and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. Base station 105f is a small cell base station that may be a home node or a portable access point. A base station may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0024] The 5G network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.

[0025] The UEs 115 are distributed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be fixed or mobile. The UEs may also be referred to as terminals, mobile stations, subscriber units, stations, etc. The UEs may be mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, tablet computers, laptop computers, cordless phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, etc. In one aspect, the UEs may be devices that include a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In another aspect, the UEs may be devices that do not include a UICC. In some aspects, UEs that do not include a UICC may also be referred to as internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115a-115d are examples of mobile smartphone type devices that access the 5G network 100. The UEs may also be machines that are specifically configured for connected communications, including machine type communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. The UEs 115e-115k are examples of various machines that are configured for communications that access the 5G network 100. A UE may be able to communicate with any type of base station, whether a macro base station, a small cell, etc. In FIG. 1, the lightning bolts (e.g., communication links) indicate wireless transmissions between the UE and a serving base station, which is a base station designated to serve the UE on the downlink and / or uplink, or desired transmissions between base stations, as well as backhaul transmissions between base stations.

[0026] In operation of the 5G network 100, the base stations 105a-105c serve the UEs 115a and 115b using coordinated spatial techniques such as 3D beamforming and coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multiple connections. The macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with the base stations 105a-105c, as well as the small cell base station 105f. The macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services to which the UEs 115c and 115d subscribe and receive. Such multicast services may include mobile television or stream video, or may include other services for providing local information, such as weather emergencies or alerts such as amber or grey alerts.

[0027] The 5G network 100 also supports mission-critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices such as the drone UE 115e. The redundant communications links with the UE 115e include those from the macro base stations 105d and 105e and the small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices such as the UE 115f (thermometer), the UE 115g (smart meter), and the UE 115h (wearable device) can communicate through the 5G network 100 with base stations such as the small cell base station 105f and the macro base station 105e directly or by communicating with another user device that relays the information to the network in a multi-hop configuration, such as the UE 115f communicating temperature measurement information to the smart meter UE 115g, which then reports the information to the network through the small cell base station 105f. The 5G network 100 may also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic low latency TDD / FDD communications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k communicating with a macro base station 105e.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station 105 and a UE 115, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. At the base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a PBCH, a PCFICH, a PHICH, a PDCCH, an EPDCCH, an MPDCCH, etc. The data may be for a PDSCH, etc. The transmit processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals. A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​the data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

[0029] At the UE 115, antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from the base station 105 and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain the received symbols from all demodulators 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols and provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 260 and provide decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0030] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a PUSCH) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a PUCCH). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), if applicable, and transmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by antennas 234, processed by a demodulator 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236, if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 115. The processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0031] The controllers / processors 240 and 280 may direct operation at the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller / processor 240 and / or other processors and modules at the base station 105 may perform or direct execution of various processes for the techniques described herein. The controller / processor 280 and / or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct execution of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 4 and / or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0032] Wireless communication systems operated by different network operation entities (e.g., network operators) may share a spectrum. In some instances, a network operation entity may be configured to use an entire designated shared spectrum for at least a period of time before another network operation entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different period of time. Thus, to allow a network operation entity to use the entire designated shared spectrum and to mitigate interfering communications between different network operation entities, some resources (e.g., time) may be partitioned and allocated to different network operation entities for certain types of communications.

[0033] For example, a network operating entity may be allocated some time resources reserved for exclusive communication by the network operating entity using the entirety of the shared spectrum. The network operating entity may also be allocated other time resources, where the entity is given priority over other network operating entities to communicate using the shared spectrum. These time resources prioritized for use by the network operating entity may be opportunistically utilized by other network operating entities if the prioritized network operating entity does not utilize the resources. Additional time resources may be allocated for opportunistic use by any network operator.

[0034] Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources among different network operation entities may be centrally controlled by a separate entity, autonomously determined by a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between the network operators' wireless nodes.

[0035] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band, which may include a licensed frequency spectrum or an unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) frequency spectrum. In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may perform a medium sensing procedure to contend for access to the frequency spectrum, as is conventional. For example, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may perform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure, such as a clear channel assessment (CCA), before communicating to determine if a shared channel is available. The CCA may include an energy detection procedure to determine if there are any other active transmissions. For example, the device may infer that a change in a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. In particular, a signal power concentrated within some bandwidth and exceeding a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless transmitter. The CCA may also include detection of a particular sequence that indicates the use of the channel. For example, another device may transmit a particular preamble before transmitting a data sequence. In some cases, the LBT procedure may include a wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel and / or based on the wireless node's own acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback for transmitted packets as a surrogate for collisions.

[0036] The use of medium sensing procedures to contend for access to the unlicensed shared spectrum may make communications inefficient. This may be particularly evident when multiple network operation entities (e.g., network operators) are attempting to access the shared resources. In the 5G network 100, the base stations 105 and UEs 115 may be operated by the same or different network operation entities. In some examples, an individual base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by two or more network operation entities. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operation entity. Requiring each base station 105 and UE 115 of different network operation entities to contend for the shared resources may result in increased signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a timing diagram 300 of coordinated resource partitioning. The timing diagram 300 includes a superframe 305 that may represent a fixed length of time (e.g., 20 ms). The superframe 305 may be repeated for a given communication session and may be used by a wireless system such as the 5G network 100 described with reference to FIG. 1. The superframe 305 may be divided into intervals such as an acquisition interval (A-INT) 310 and an arbitration interval 315. As described in more detail below, the A-INT 310 and the arbitration interval 315 may be subdivided into sub-intervals, designated for several resource types, and allocated to different network operation entities to facilitate coordinated communication between the different network operation entities. For example, the arbitration interval 315 may be divided into multiple sub-intervals 320. The superframe 305 may also be further divided into multiple subframes 325 that are fixed in length of time (e.g., 1 ms). Although timing diagram 300 shows three different network operation entities (e.g., Operator A, Operator B, and Operator C), the number of network operation entities using superframe 305 for cooperative communications may be more or less than the number shown in timing diagram 300.

[0038] The A-INT 310 may be a dedicated interval of the superframe 305 reserved for exclusive communications by network operation entities. In some examples, each network operation entity may be allocated some resources in the A-INT 310 for exclusive communications. For example, resources 330-a may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator A, such as through base station 105a, resources 330-b may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator B, such as through base station 105b, and resources 330-c may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator C, such as through base station 105c. Because resources 330-a are reserved for exclusive communications by operator A, neither operators B nor C can communicate during resources 330-a, even if operator A chooses not to communicate during those resources. That is, access to the exclusive resources is limited to the designated network operator. Similar constraints apply to resources 330-b for operator B and resources 330-c for operator C. Wireless nodes of operator A (eg, UE 115 or base station 105) may communicate any information desired among their exclusive resources 330-a, such as control information or data.

[0039] When communicating over exclusive resources, the network operation entity does not need to perform any medium sensing procedures (e.g., Listen Before Talk (LBT) or Clear Channel Assessment (CCA)) because the network operation entity knows that the resources are reserved. Because only designated network operation entities may communicate over exclusive resources, the likelihood of interfering communications may be reduced (e.g., no hidden node problem) compared to relying solely on medium sensing techniques. In some examples, the A-INT 310 is used to transmit control information, such as synchronization signals (e.g., SYNC signals), system information (e.g., System Information Blocks (SIBs)), paging information (e.g., Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) messages), or random access information (e.g., Random Access Channel (RACH) signals). In some examples, all of the wireless nodes associated with the network operation entity may transmit simultaneously during their exclusive resources.

[0040] In some examples, resources may be categorized as being prioritized for some network operating entities. Resources assigned priority for a network operating entity may be referred to as a guaranteed interval (G-INT) for that network operating entity. The interval of resources used by the network operating entity during the G-INT may be referred to as a preferred subinterval. For example, resource 335-a may be prioritized for use by operator A and thus may be referred to as the G-INT for operator A (e.g., G-INT-OpA). Similarly, resource 335-b may be prioritized for operator B, resource 335-c may be prioritized for operator C, resource 335-d may be prioritized for operator A, resource 335-e may be prioritized for operator B, and resource 335-f may be prioritized for operator C.

[0041] Although the various G-INT resources shown in FIG. 3 appear staggered to indicate their association with their respective network operation entities, these resources may all be on the same frequency bandwidth. Thus, when viewed along a time-frequency grid, the G-INT resources may appear as a contiguous column within the superframe 305. This partitioning of data may be an example of time division multiplexing (TDM). Also, when resources appear within the same subinterval (e.g., resource 340-a and resource 335-b), these resources represent the same time resource with respect to the superframe 305 (e.g., the resources occupy the same subinterval 320), but these resources are designated separately to indicate that the same time resource may be classified differently for different operators.

[0042] Once resources have been assigned priority (e.g., G-INT) to a network operation entity, that network operation entity may communicate using those resources without having to wait for or perform any medium sensing procedures (e.g., LBT or CCA). For example, a wireless node of operator A is free to communicate any data or control information during resource 335-a without interference from a wireless node of operator B or operator C.

[0043] In addition, a network operation entity may signal to another operator that it intends to use a particular G-INT. For example, with respect to resource 335-a, operator A may signal to operator B and operator C that it intends to use resource 335-a. Such signaling may be referred to as an activity indication. Moreover, since operator A has priority over resource 335-a, operator A may be considered a higher priority operator than both operator B and operator C. However, as discussed above, operator A does not need to send signaling to other network operation entities to ensure interference-free transmission between resource 335-a, because resource 335-a has been assigned priority over operator A.

[0044] Similarly, a network operation entity may signal to another network operation entity that it does not intend to use a particular G-INT. This signaling may also be referred to as an activity indication. For example, with respect to resource 335-b, operator B may signal to operator A and operator C that it does not intend to use resource 335-b for communication, even though the resource is assigned priority to operator B. With respect to resource 335-b, operator B may be considered to be a network operation entity with a higher priority than operators A and C. In such a case, operators A and C may attempt to use some resources of subsection 320 mechanistically. Thus, from operator A's perspective, subsection 320 including resource 335-b may be considered an opportunistic interval (O-INT) for operator A (e.g., O-INT-OpA). For purposes of illustration, resource 340-a of subsection 320 may represent O-INT for operator A. Also, from operator C's perspective, the same subinterval 320 may represent O-INT for operator C with corresponding resource 340-b. Resources 340-a, 335-b, and 340-b all represent the same time resource (e.g., a particular subinterval 320), but are identified separately to indicate that the same resource may be considered G-INT to some network operation entities but O-INT to other network operation entities.

[0045] To utilize resources opportunistically, operators A and C can perform a medium sensing procedure to check communications on a particular channel before transmitting data. For example, if operator B decides not to use resource 335-b (e.g., G-INT-OpB), operator A can use those same resources (e.g., represented by resource 340-a) by first checking the channel for interference (e.g., LBT) and then transmitting data if the channel is determined to be clear. Similarly, if operator C, in response to an indication that operator B did not plan to use its G-INT, wanted to opportunistically access resources during subinterval 320 (e.g., using O-INT represented by resource 340-b), operator C can perform a medium sensing procedure and access the resource if available. In some cases, two operators (e.g., operator A and operator C) may attempt to access the same resource, in which case the operators can use a contention-based procedure to avoid interfering communications. Operators may also be assigned sub-priorities designed to determine which operator will gain access to a resource when multiple operators are simultaneously attempting access.

[0046] In some instances, a network operation entity may not intend to use a particular G-INT assigned to it, but may not send an activity indication conveying an intent not to use the resource. In such a case, during a particular subinterval 320, a lower priority operation entity may be configured to monitor the channel to determine if a higher priority operation entity is using the resource. If the lower priority operation entity determines through LBT or similar methods that the higher priority operation entity does not intend to use that G-INT resource, the lower priority operation entity may attempt to access the resource opportunistically as described above.

[0047] In some examples, access to the G-INT or O-INT may be preceded by a reservation signal (e.g., Request to Send (RTS) / Clear to Send (CTS)), and the contention window (CW) may be chosen randomly between 1 and the total number of operating entities.

[0048] In some examples, the operational entity may use or be compatible with coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communications. For example, the operational entity may use CoMP and dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) in the G-INT and opportunistic CoMP in the O-INT, as needed.

[0049] 3, each subsection 320 includes a G-INT for one of operators A, B, or C. However, in some cases, one or more of the subsections 320 may include resources that are not reserved for exclusive or preferential use (e.g., unassigned resources). Such unassigned resources may be considered O-INT for any network operating entity and may be accessed opportunistically as described above.

[0050] In some examples, each subframe 325 may include 14 symbols (e.g., 250 μs for 60 kHz tone spacing). These subframes 325 may be standalone self-contained intervals C (ITCs), or the subframes 325 may be a portion of a longer ITC. An ITC may be a self-contained transmission that starts with a downlink transmission and ends with an uplink transmission. In some embodiments, an ITC may include one or more subframes 325 that operate consecutively during medium occupancy. In some cases, there may be up to eight network operators in the A-INT 310 (e.g., 2 ms in length), assuming a 250 μs transmission opportunity.

[0051] Although three operators are shown in FIG. 3, it should be understood that fewer or more network operation entities may be configured to operate in a coordinated manner as described above. In some cases, the location of the G-INT, O-INT, or A-INT within the superframe 305 for each operator is determined autonomously based on the number of network operation entities active in the system. For example, if there is only one network operation entity, each sub-interval 320 may be occupied by the G-INT for that single network operation entity, or the sub-interval 320 may alternate between the G-INT for that network operation entity and the O-INT to allow for other network operation entities to enter. If there are two network operation entities, the sub-interval 320 may alternate between the G-INT for the first network operation entity and the G-INT for the second network operation entity. If there are three network operation entities, the G-INT and O-INT for each network operation entity may be designed as shown in FIG. 3. If there are four network operating entities, the first four sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs for the four network operating entities, and the remaining two sub-intervals 320 may include O-INTs. Similarly, if there are five network operating entities, the first five sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs for the five network operating entities, and the remaining sub-intervals 320 may include O-INTs. If there are six network operating entities, all six sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs for each network operating entity. It should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and that other autonomously determined interval allocations may be used.

[0052] It should be understood that the coordination framework described with reference to Figure 3 is for illustrative purposes only. For example, the duration of the superframe 305 may be longer or shorter than 20 ms. Also, the number, duration, and location of the subintervals 320 and subframes 325 may differ from the illustrated configuration. Also, the type of resource designation (e.g., exclusive, preferential, non-allocated) may differ or include more or fewer sub-designations.

[0053] As can be appreciated from the above, the physical frame structure utilized by embodiments of the 5G network 100 is highly flexible with respect to the possible ways in which resources may be allocated. Thus, downlink control information (DCI) is transmitted by the base station 105 of an embodiment to provide various control information (e.g., grants, transmission timing, resource block allocation, demodulation schemes, antenna beam information, etc.) to one of the UEs 115 in wireless communication with one of the UEs 115. To accommodate the provision of different sets of control information, several different DCI formats may be supported.

[0054] An embodiment of the 5G network 100 may support eight DCI formats, designated, for example, 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3. These DCI formats may comprise DCI formats used for transmission of different data (e.g., transmission of payload data, control data, and combinations thereof), DCI formats used for different communication links (e.g., uplink scheduling or downlink scheduling), DCI formats carrying variously coded payloads (e.g., DCI payloads coded with Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) information (C-RNTI DCI) and DCI not coded with C-RNTI information (non-C-RNTI DCI)), DCI formats of different sizes (e.g., DCI formats having different DCI payload sizes with respect to other DCI formats, DCI formats having configurable DCI payload sizes, etc.), DCI formats received in different search intervals (e.g., DCI formats received in a common search space (CSS) and DCI formats received in a UE-specific search space (USS)), etc.

[0055] The computing resources utilized by receiving devices to detect and decode DCI increase with the number of possible different DCI format sizes that may be used for their wireless communications. For example, the complexity of a UE configured to blindly decode several different DCI formats with different DCI payload sizes may be quite high and may require a large amount of computing resources. Such an increase in complexity and utilization of computing resources may be problematic or even unsupportable for many mobile communication devices (e.g., battery-powered mobile communication devices). Thus, embodiments of the 5G network 100 impose constraints on the combinations of DCI formats that are simultaneously utilized (e.g., limiting the number of different sizes and / or types of DCI formats). As described more fully below, embodiments of the present disclosure enable such DCI format constraints to be met by implementing techniques for size-matching DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to limit the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use.

[0056] To aid in understanding the concepts of the present disclosure, an example DCI format framework comprising DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 is provided below. The concepts herein regarding size-matching DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to limit the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use are applicable to other DCI format frameworks that may have, for example, different numbers of DCI formats, different constraints on the number of different sizes and / or types of DCI formats utilized simultaneously, etc.

[0057] DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 may provide fallback DCI formats that may be monitored, for example, in a CSS (e.g., in any carrier bandwidth portion (BWP)) and monitored in a USS (e.g., in any BWP). According to an embodiment, DCI formats 0-0 (e.g., fallback downlink scheduling DCI) and 1-0 (e.g., fall back link scheduling DCI) may have the same size with respect to each other. When monitoring DCI in a BWP according to an embodiment, the size of DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0 in the CSS (independent of the RNTI) may be given by the initial downlink BWP, and the size of DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0 in the USS may be given by the active BWP as long as the DCI size budget is met, otherwise for DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0 in the USS the size may be given by the initial downlink BWP.

[0058] Non-fallback DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 may be received, for example, only in the USS (e.g., in any BWP). Radio resource control (RRC) signaling may be utilized to configure the UE for monitoring DCI in the USS. For example, RRC signaling for the USS may configure the UE to monitor only DCI formats 0-0 and 1-1, or to monitor only DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in the USS.

[0059] The size of DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 of the embodiment may be given by the active carrier bandwidth portion (BWP). That is, the resource allocation size for DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 of the embodiment is a function of the amount of available resources, which is variable depending on the carrier bandwidth and may vary with respect to the uplink and downlink. The size of fallback DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 may be much smaller than the size of non-fallback DCI formats 0-1 (e.g., non-fallback downlink grant DCI) and 1-1 (e.g., non-fallback back-up link grant DCI), each of which may have a different size with respect to each other. That is, DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0, 0-1, and 1-1 may have different sizes.

[0060] DCI formats 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 may be received, for example, only in the CSS (e.g., in any BWP). DCI formats 2-0 (e.g., slot format indicator DCI) and 2-1 (e.g., look-ahead indicator DCI) may comprise configurable DCI formats to be used to inform a group of UEs of a slot format and a configurable DCI format to be used to inform a group of UEs of a PRB and OFDM symbol, respectively, where the UE may assume that no transmission is intended for the UE. DCI formats 2-2 (e.g., transmit power control (TCP) DCI for PUCCH and PUSCH) and 2-3 (e.g., TPC / request DCI for SRS) may comprise DCI formats having the same size as DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0 to be used for scheduling RMSI / OSI, for paging, and for random access. For example, the DCI payload size for DCI formats 2-2 and 2-3 may be padded to match the size of DCI formats 0-0 / 1-0 as defined by the earlier BWP.

[0061] DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 1-1 of the embodiment comprise a C-RNTI DCI format (e.g., encoded with the C-RNTI). DCI formats 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 of the embodiment comprise a non-C-RNTI DCI format (e.g., not encoded with the C-RNTI, but encoded with any configured control resource set (CORESET) ID). Thus, DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 1-1 and DCI formats 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 of this exemplary implementation provide a first DCI type and a second DCI type, respectively.

[0062] In accordance with the example DCI format framework, for each search space configuration configured by UE-specific RRC signaling, the UE may be informed as part of the search space configuration whether the search space configuration is CSS or USS. Also, as part of the search space configuration, the UE may be given information regarding which DCI formats to monitor.

[0063] For example, if the search space configuration is CSS, the UE may be provided with information regarding one or more of DCI formats 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3. For DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in CSS, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE monitoring the DCI format using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by the C-RNTI, configuration set RNTI (CS-RNTI) (if configured), semi-persistent channel state information RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI) (if configured), random access RNTI (RA-RNTI), temporary C-RNTI (TC-RNTI), paging RNTI (P-RNTI), or system information RNTI (SI-RNTI). For DCI format 2-0, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE to monitor the DCI format using a CRC scrambled by the Slot Information Indicator RNTI (SFI-RNTI) and using SFI-related parameters provided for the SFI-PDCCH as part of the search space configuration. For DCI format 2-1, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE to monitor the DCI format using a CRC scrambled by the Interrupt RNTI (INT-RNTI) and using PI-related parameters provided for the Downlink Pre-Emp (Preemp-DL) as part of the search space configuration. For DCI format 2-2, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE to monitor the DCI format using a CRC scrambled by the Transmit Control Power PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI) or the TPC-PUCCH-RNTI. For DCI formats 2-3, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE monitoring the DCI format using a CRC scrambled by the TCP sounding reference signal RNTI (TCP-SRS-RNTI). In operation according to an embodiment, monitoring of multiple of the above DCI formats may be configured for one CSS.

[0064] If the search space configuration is USS, the UE may be provided with information regarding one or more of DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 1-1. For any of these DCI formats in USS, the UE may be provided with information that facilitates the UE monitoring the DCI format using CRC scrambled by the C-RNTI, CS-RNTI (if configured), TC-RNTI (if certain conditions are met), and SP-CSI-RNTI (if configured). In operation according to an embodiment, monitoring of multiple of the above-mentioned DCI formats may be configured for one USS.

[0065] The aforementioned exemplary DCI format framework, comprising DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, is summarized in Table 1 below. It can be easily seen from Table 1 that six DCI format sizing variants (shown as sizes 1 to 6 in the table columns) are defined for the eight DCI formats. In the exemplary DCI format framework, size 1 (shown in the leftmost sizing variant column of Table 1) for DCI format 0-0 / 1-0 for the initial DL BWP, and therefore for DCI formats 2-2 and 2-3, is mandatory to implement the fallback DCI format.

[0066] [Table 1A]

[0067] [Table 1B]

[0068] As can be appreciated from the above, the DCI of the exemplary DCI format framework defines several format size determination variants, which may be problematic for blind decoding by many UE configurations if all are used simultaneously. Thus, the exemplary DCI format framework as implemented in accordance with an embodiment limits the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use (e.g., used simultaneously in the same wireless communication slot, such as a slot of subframe 325 in superframe 305 as shown in timing diagram 300 of FIG. 3). For DCI formats of the same size, the UE can easily utilize parallel processing to decode the DCI. Thus, by limiting the number of different DCI format sizes utilized in any particular slot, the complexity of the UE and computing resources utilized to detect and decode the DCI can be kept to a reasonable level while DCI decoding performance remains acceptable.

[0069] A constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use implemented according to an embodiment includes a constraint on both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters, where the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot. As one particular example, the identifiers used to encode the DCI payloads may comprise a C-RNTI, the first number of DCI size parameters may define that at most four different DCI sizes are monitored by the UE per slot, and the second number of DCI size parameters may define that at most three different DCI sizes are monitored per C-RNTI.

[0070] Operations for providing DCI format size matching to limit the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated in Figure 4. Specifically, Figure 4 illustrates a flow 400 comprising functional blocks as may be implemented by logic circuitry of a controller / processor 240 of a base station 105. For example, one or more sets of instructions (and associated data) configured to implement the functional blocks of flow 400 when executed by the controller / processor 240 may be stored by memory 242 for loading and execution by the controller / processor 240 to provide operations as described herein.

[0071] In operation according to flow 400 of the illustrated embodiment, a set of DCI formats of a plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication is determined in block 401, where some DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats are configurable to be of different sizes. For example, a plurality of DCI formats (e.g., DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3) may provide a group of possible DCI formats for simultaneous use, and a set of DCI formats comprising a combination of DCI formats (e.g., a subset of DCI formats selected from DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3) may be selected for DCI transmission in a particular wireless communication slot.

[0072] As discussed above, DCI formats in the set of DCI formats may provide DCI payloads of different sizes. Thus, in block 402 of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a determination may be made as to whether the number of DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats exceeds a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use. For example, as described above for the exemplary DCI format framework, the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use implemented may include a constraint on both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters, where the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot and the second number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot. Thus, the determination in block 402 of the illustrated embodiment determines whether the number of DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats exceeds one or more number parameters of DCI sizes (e.g., both the first number of DCI size parameters and the second number of DCI size parameters in the above example).

[0073] If it is determined in block 402 that a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use will not be exceeded (e.g., one or more number parameters of DCI sizes will not be exceeded), processing according to the illustrated embodiment of flow 400 proceeds to block 404 for monitoring usage of the set of DCI formats, as described more fully below. However, if it is determined in block 402 that a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use will be exceeded (e.g., one or more number parameters of DCI sizes will be exceeded), processing according to the illustrated embodiment of flow 400 proceeds to block 403 for enforcing the constraint on the number of different DCI format sizes.

[0074] In implementing the constraint on the number of different DCI format sizes in block 403 of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, operations according to flow 400 of the illustrated embodiment size-match at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be different sizes to satisfy the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use (e.g., the DCI format sizes of the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats are size-matched to limit the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to one or more number parameters of the DCI format sizes). For example, as described above for the exemplary DCI format framework, the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use that is implemented may include a constraint on both a first number DCI size parameter and a second number DCI size parameter. Thus, size matching performed in accordance with block 403 of an embodiment may result in DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use satisfying both a first number of DCI size parameters (e.g., a number of DCI sizes parameter based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot) and a second number of DCI size parameters (e.g., a number of DCI sizes parameter based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot).

[0075] Size matching performed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may provide dynamic size matching during wireless communication. For example, dynamic size mapping may be performed with respect to BWP switching. Additionally or alternatively, dynamic size mapping may be performed with respect to changing the set of DCI formats for concurrent use. Such dynamic size mapping may be dynamically implemented on a slot-by-slot basis. Additionally or alternatively, dynamic size mapping may be based on a monitoring period and / or a monitoring occasion of a search space in which at least one DCI format of the set of DCI formats is searched. Dynamic size matching based on a monitored period may provide size matching of some DCI formats of the set of DCI formats, for example, based on a wireless communication slot in a monitoring period having a maximum number of DCI format sizes with respect to at least one of the first number of DCI size parameters and the second number of DCI size parameters.

[0076] In block 404 of the illustrated embodiment of flow 400, usage of the set of DCI formats is monitored for a monitoring period (e.g., a configurable period, such as a time period, a number of slots, a number of superframes, etc.) and / or a monitoring opportunity (e.g., a change in uplink or downlink BWP of a size-aligned DCI format, a change in one or more DCI formats of the set of DCI formats, etc.). Thus, processing according to the illustrated embodiment may proceed from monitoring in block 404 according to a monitoring period and / or when a monitoring opportunity occurs.

[0077] In block 405 of flow 400 shown in FIG. 4, a determination is made as to whether a BWP switch has occurred (e.g., a change in the uplink BWP or downlink BWP of a size-matched DCI format has been detected). If a mandatory BWP switch is determined to have occurred in block 405, processing according to the illustrated embodiment returns to block 403, where a size matching process is repeated for the DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats to appropriately correspond to the switched BWP. If a mandatory BWP switch is not determined to have occurred in block 405, processing according to the illustrated embodiment returns to block 402, where a determination is made as to whether the set of DCI formats remains in accordance with one or more number parameters of the DCI sizes. Thus, if the set of DCI formats changes such that the number of DCI format sizes exceeds one or more number parameters of the DCI sizes, processing can return to block 403, where a size matching process is performed for the set of DCI formats.

[0078] Having described operations for providing DCI format size matching to limit the number of DCI format sizes for a set of DCI formats for simultaneous use according to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of DCI format size matching implemented (e.g., according to block 403 of FIG. 4) for an example set of DCI formats are provided below in Tables 2-5. In each of the examples in Tables 2-5, the possible DCI formats for simultaneous use comprise DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, the first number of DCI size parameters specifies that at most four different DCI sizes per slot are monitored by the UE, and the second number of DCI size parameters specifies that at most three different DCI sizes per slot are monitored per C-RNTI. The specific examples provided are intended to aid in understanding the concepts of the present disclosure and are not intended to be limiting (e.g., with respect to the set of DCI formats, the specific number parameters of DCI sizes used to limit the number of DCI format sizes, or the DCI formats for which size matching may be performed).

[0079] In a first example of DCI format size alignment, shown in Table 2 below, the set of DCI formats selected for simultaneous use (as indicated by bold emphasis in Table 2) comprises DCI formats 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 in the CSS, and DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 in the USS. Referring to Table 1 above, without DCI format size alignment, the above set of DCI formats has five DCI format sizes (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6), which exceeds the first number of DCI size parameters that specify that at most four different DCI sizes are monitored by the UE per slot. Moreover, as seen in Table 1 and Table 2, the above set of DCI formats has three DCI sizes per slot (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 3, and 4) per C-RNTI, which does not exceed the second number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most three different DCI sizes per slot are monitored per C-RNTI. Thus, in the operation of the DCI matching logic of the embodiment, two DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats will be combined to satisfy the first number DCI size parameter, where the combined DCI format sizes can be either DCI formats for C-RNTI DCI or DCI formats for non-C-RNTI DCI to satisfy the second number DCI size parameter. In the example of Table 2, the DCI format sizes for DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 are matched to result in a set of DCI formats with four DCI sizes in total and three C-RNTI DCI sizes. Various techniques for implementing size matching of DCI formats, such as may be utilized in size matching DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 in this example, are described below.It should be understood that since the sizes of DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 may change when the downlink BWP or uplink BWP switches, embodiments may dynamically size-match some DCI formats of the set of DCI formats with respect to the BWP switch.

[0080] [Table 2]

[0081] In a second example of DCI format size alignment, shown in Table 3 below, the set of DCI formats selected for simultaneous use (as indicated by bold emphasis in Table 3) comprises DCI formats 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 in the CSS and DCI formats 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 1-1 in the USS. Referring to Table 1 above, without DCI format size alignment, the above set of DCI formats has six DCI format sizes (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), which exceeds the first number of DCI size parameters that specify that at most four different DCI sizes are monitored by the UE per slot. Moreover, as seen in Table 1 above, without size alignment of DCI formats, the above set of DCI formats has four DCI sizes per slot (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 2, 3, and 4) per C-RNTI, which exceeds the second number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most three different DCI sizes per slot are monitored per C-RNTI. Thus, in operation of the DCI alignment logic of the embodiment, two groups of two DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats will be combined to satisfy the first number DCI size parameter, where the combined DCI format sizes include at least two DCI format sizes of DCI formats for the C-RNTI DCI that are size-aligned to satisfy the second number DCI size parameter.In the example of Table 3, the DCI format sizes for DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 are aligned and the DCI format sizes for DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 are aligned to provide a set of DCI formats having four DCI sizes overall and three C-RNTI DCI sizes (the DCI format sizes for DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in the USS are size-aligned in this example to provide fallback DCI formats consistent with the example DCI format framework discussed above). Various techniques for implementing size alignment of DCI formats, as may be utilized in size-aligning DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0, DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1, and DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 in this example, are described below. It should be understood that since the size of DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 and / or DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1 may change when the downlink BWP or uplink BWP switches, embodiments may dynamically size-match some DCI formats of the set of DCI formats with respect to the BWP switch.

[0082] [Table 3]

[0083] In a third example of DCI format size alignment, shown in Table 4 below, the set of DCI formats selected for simultaneous use (as indicated by bold emphasis in Table 4) comprises DCI formats 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 in the CSS, and DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 in the USS. Referring to Table 1 above, without DCI format size alignment, the above set of DCI formats has five DCI format sizes (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6), which exceeds the first number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most four different DCI sizes are monitored by the UE per slot. Moreover, as seen in Table 1 above, without size alignment of DCI formats, the above set of DCI formats has three DCI sizes per slot (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 3, and 4) per C-RNTI, which does not exceed the second number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most three different DCI sizes per slot are monitored per C-RNTI. Thus, in the operation of the DCI alignment logic of the embodiment, two DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats will be combined to satisfy the first number DCI size parameter, where the combined DCI format sizes can be either DCI formats for C-RNTI DCI or DCI formats for non-C-RNTI DCI to satisfy the second number DCI size parameter. In the example of Table 4, the DCI format sizes for DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 are aligned to result in a set of DCI formats with four DCI sizes in total and two C-RNTI DCI sizes. Various techniques for implementing size matching of DCI formats, such as may be utilized in size matching DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 in this example, are described below.It should be understood that since the sizes of DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 may change when the downlink BWP or uplink BWP switches, embodiments may dynamically size-match some DCI formats of the set of DCI formats with respect to the BWP switch.

[0084] [Table 4]

[0085] In a fourth example of DCI format size alignment, shown in Table 5 below, the set of DCI formats selected for simultaneous use (as indicated by bold emphasis in Table 5) comprises DCI formats 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 in the CSS, and DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in the USS. Referring to Table 1 above, without DCI format size alignment, the above set of DCI formats has four DCI format sizes (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 2, 5, and 6), which does not exceed the first number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most four different DCI sizes are monitored by the UE per slot. Moreover, as can be seen in Table 1 and Table 5, the above set of DCI formats has two DCI sizes per slot (i.e., DCI format sizes 1, 2, 3, and 4) per C-RNTI, which does not exceed the second number DCI size parameter that specifies that at most three different DCI sizes per slot are monitored per C-RNTI. Thus, in operation of the DCI matching logic of the embodiment, none of the DCI format sizes of the set of DCI formats will be combined to satisfy the first number DCI size parameter or the second number DCI size parameter.

[0086] [Table 5]

[0087] Size matching of DCI formats may be performed, for example, by padding or truncating one or more portions of the DCI payload between the DCI formats for which size matching is performed. For example, zero padding of one or more portions of the DCI payload of the DCI format having a smaller payload size may be utilized for size matching according to an embodiment. Additionally or alternatively, truncation of one or more portions of the DCI payload of the DCI format having a larger payload size may be utilized for size matching according to an embodiment.

[0088] Size matching performed according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be based on a number of different criteria, for example, size matching may be based on radio resource control (RRC) configuration, configured DCI format size, initial BWP, active BWP, etc.

[0089] As an example of size matching based on an RRC configuration, some DCI formats of the set of DCI formats for which dynamic size matching is performed may comprise an uplink scheduling DCI format and a downlink scheduling DCI format, and an RRC configuration may be used for dynamic size matching. The RRC configuration for dynamic size matching may be used, for example, for size matching between DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 and / or between DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1.

[0090] In an example of size matching based on configured DCI format sizes, the dynamic size matching may be based on a configured DCI size for a set of DCI formats when the set of DCI formats comprises a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded with identifiers per wireless communication slot that is greater than a second number of DCI size parameters, or when the set of DCI formats comprises a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot that is greater than a first number of DCI size parameters. The configured DCI format sizes for dynamic size matching may be used, for example, for size matching between DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 and / or between DCI formats 2-0 and 2-1.

[0091] As an example of size matching based on the initial BWP, the resource allocation (RA) size of a first DCI format may be size-matched to the RA size of a second DCI format of the DCI formats to be size-matched, and then the entire DCI payload size of the first DCI format may be size-matched to the entire DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format. A specific example of this size matching based on the initial BWP is shown in FIG. 5A for size matching of DCI formats between fallback DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in CSS and the initial downlink BWP. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the uplink scheduling DCI format RA size is first matched to the downlink scheduling DCI format RA size, such as by using zero padding or truncation for the uplink scheduling DCI format RA. Then, the entire uplink scheduling DCI format size is size-matched to the downlink scheduling DCI format size, such as by using zero padding or truncation for other fields of the uplink scheduling DCI format.

[0092] As another example of size matching based on the initial BWP, the RA size of the initial BWP is used to attempt to size-match the overall DCI payload size of a first DCI format of the DCI formats to be size-matched to the overall DCI payload size of a second DCI format of the DCI formats to be size-matched, and to attempt to size-match the overall DCI payload size of the first DCI format to the overall DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format if the overall DCI payload size of the first DCI format does not match the overall DCI payload size of the second DCI format using the RA size of the initial BWP. A specific example of this size matching based on the initial BWP is shown in Figure 5B for DCI format size matching between fallback DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in the CSS and the initial downlink BWP. In the example shown in Figure 5B, the uplink scheduling DCI format RA size for the initial uplink BWP is allowed to go as far as to align the overall uplink scheduling DCI format size to the downlink scheduling DCI format size. Then, if the overall uplink scheduling DCI format size still does not match the downlink scheduling DCI format size, the overall uplink scheduling DCI format size may be size-aligned to the downlink scheduling DCI format size, such as by using zero padding.

[0093] As an example of size matching based on an active BWP, the RA size of a first DCI format may be size-matched to the RA size of a second DCI format among the DCI formats to be size-matched, and then the entire DCI payload size of the first DCI format may be size-matched to the entire DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format. The size matching of DCI formats between fallback DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in a USS, and the size matching of DCI formats between DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 may provide a specific example of this size matching based on an active downlink BWP. For example, an uplink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 0-0 or 0-1) RA size may first be matched to a downlink scheduling DCI format RA (e.g., 1-0 or 1-1) size using zero padding or truncation, etc., for the uplink scheduling DCI format RA. The overall uplink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 0-0 or 0-1) size may then be size-matched to the downlink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 1-0 or 1-1) using zero padding, truncation, etc. with respect to other fields of the uplink scheduling DCI format. In another example, the downlink RA size may be matched with respect to the active downlink BWP, and the uplink RA size may be matched with respect to the active uplink BWP. The size matching of the overall DCI for the DCI format may then be done using zero padding from the smaller to the larger.

[0094] As another example of size matching based on the active BWP, the RA size of the active BWP is used to attempt to size-match the overall DCI payload size of a first DCI format of the DCI formats to be size-matched to the overall DCI payload size of a second DCI format of the DCI formats to be size-matched, and to attempt to size-match the overall DCI payload size of the first DCI format to the overall DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format if the overall DCI payload size of the first DCI format does not match the overall DCI payload size of the second DCI format using the RA size of the active BWP. The size matching of DCI formats between fallback DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in the USS, and the size matching of DCI formats between DCI formats 0-1 and 1-1 may provide specific examples of this size matching based on the active BWP. For example, the uplink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 0-0 or 0-1) RA size for an active uplink BWP is allowed up to align the overall uplink scheduling DCI format size to the downlink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 1-0 or 1-1) size. Then, if the overall uplink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 0-0 or 0-1) size still does not match the downlink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 1-0 or 1-1) size, the overall uplink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 0-0 or 0-1) size may be size-aligned to the downlink scheduling DCI format (e.g., 1-0 or 1-1) size using zero padding, truncation, etc. with respect to other fields of the uplink scheduling DCI format.

[0095] As yet another example of size matching based on an active BWP, a downlink scheduling DCI format RA size of an active downlink BWP may be used in the overall DCI payload size of a downlink scheduling DCI format of the at least two DCI formats, and an uplink scheduling DCI format RA size of an active uplink BWP may be used in the overall DCI payload size of an uplink scheduling DCI format of the at least two DCI formats. According to this example, if the overall DCI payload size of the downlink scheduling DCI format and the payload size of the uplink scheduling DCI format do not match, the overall DCI payload size of one of the downlink scheduling DCI format and the uplink scheduling DCI format may be size-matched to the other of the uplink scheduling DCI format and the downlink scheduling DCI format, such as by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of either or both of the uplink scheduling DCI format and the downlink scheduling DCI format.

[0096] Although embodiments for providing DCI format size matching have been described with respect to DCI format matching for a primary link (e.g., a primary uplink and / or a primary downlink), it should be understood that DCI format size matching may be performed with respect to an auxiliary link. For example, DCI format matching may be performed with respect to an auxiliary uplink and / or an auxiliary downlink.

[0097] As an example of size matching of DCI formats for the auxiliary link, the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the primary link and the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the auxiliary link may be based on a maximum configured DCI size of the DCI format sizes for the primary link and the auxiliary link. As a specific example, a first DCI format may be used for the primary uplink and a second DCI format may be used for the auxiliary uplink corresponding to the primary uplink. In operation according to an embodiment, size matching one of the first DCI format and the second DCI format to the other of the second DCI format and the first DCI format may be based on a maximum configured DCI size for the other of the second DCI format and the first DCI format.

[0098] As another example of size matching of DCI formats for the auxiliary link, the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the auxiliary link may be based on a configured DCI size for the DCI format used for the corresponding primary link. As a specific example, a first DCI format may be used for the primary downlink and a second DCI format may be used for the auxiliary uplink corresponding to the primary uplink associated with the primary downlink. In operation according to an embodiment, size matching of the second DCI format to the first DCI format may be based on the configured DCI size for the first DCI format.

[0099] As yet another example of size matching of DCI formats performed for auxiliary links, the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the primary downlink, the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the primary uplink, and the DCI format size for the DCI format used for the auxiliary links may be based on the active BWP (e.g., an active primary downlink BWP, an active primary uplink BWP, and an active auxiliary link BWP). As a specific example, a first DCI format may be used for the primary downlink, a second DCI format may be used for the primary uplink corresponding to the primary downlink, and a third DCI format may be used for the auxiliary uplink corresponding to the primary uplink. In operation according to an embodiment, size-matching two of the first DCI format, the second DCI format, and the third DCI format to the remaining one of the third DCI format, the second DCI format, and the first DCI format may be based on a maximum configured DCI size for the remaining one of the third DCI format, the second DCI format, and the first DCI format (e.g., the DCI format size is determined by the maximum DCI format size of the primary downlink DCI format, the primary uplink DCI format, and the auxiliary uplink DCI format).

[0100] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0101] The functional blocks and modules of Figures 2 and 4 may comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, software code, firmware code, etc., or any combination thereof.

[0102] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein are merely examples, and that the components, methods, or interactions of various aspects of the disclosure may be combined or performed in ways other than those shown and described herein.

[0103] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0104] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0105] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, or a general purpose or special purpose processor. A connection may also be properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0106] The term "and / or" as used herein, including in the claims, when used in a list of two or more items means that any one of the listed items can be used alone, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be used. For example, if a composition is described as including components A, B, and / or C, the composition can include A only, B only, C only, a combination of A and B, a combination of A and C, a combination of B and C, or a combination of A, B and C. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, in a list of items ending with "at least one of," "or" indicates a disjunctive list, such as, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or any of these in any combination thereof.

[0107] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications of the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. [Explanation of symbols]

[0108] 100 5G Network 105 Base station 105a base station 105b base station 105c base station 105d base station 105e base station 105f base station 115 UE 115a UE 115b UE 115c UE 115d UE 115e UE 115f UE 115g UE 115h UE 115i UE 115j UE 115k UE 212 Data Source 220 Transmit Processor 230 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 232 Modulators and demodulators 232a~232t Modulator 234 Antenna 234a~234t Antenna 236 MIMO Detector 238 Receive Processor 239 Data Sink 240 Controllers / Processors 242 Memory 244 Scheduler 252a~252r Antenna 254 Demodulator 254a~254r Modulators, demodulators 256 MIMO Detector 258 Receive Processor 260 Data Sink 262 Data Sources 264 Transmit Processor 266 TX MIMO Processor 280 Controller / Processor 282 Memory 300 Timing Diagram 305 Super Frame 310 Earned Sections 315 Arbitration Area 320 Subinterval 325 Subframe 330-a Resources 330-b Resources 330-c Resources 335-a Resources 335-b Resources 335-c Resources 335-d Resources 335-e Resources 335-f Resources 340-a Resources 340-b Resources 400 Flow

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication using a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats, comprising: determining a set of DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, the DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats being configurable to be of different sizes; and size-matching at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be of different sizes so as to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use; the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use limits the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters; the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot; the second number of DCI size parameters being based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded with an identifier per wireless communication slot; the first number of DCI size parameters is smaller than the number of DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats; the first number of DCI size parameters is greater than the second number of DCI size parameters; The method further comprises dynamically size-matching the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats when a change in an uplink bandwidth portion (BWP) or a downlink BWP is detected. method.

2. The step of dynamically performing size matching comprises: or - dynamically size-matching, for each wireless communication slot, the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats on the wireless communication slot; 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: dynamically size-matching the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats based on a monitoring opportunity of a search space in which at least one DCI format of the set of DCI formats is searched.

3. the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats for which dynamic size matching is performed comprise an uplink scheduling DCI format and a downlink scheduling DCI format, and the method comprises: The method of claim 1, further comprising using a radio resource control (RRC) configuration for the dynamic size matching.

4. determining that the set of DCI formats comprises a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded using identifiers per wireless communication slot that is greater than the second number of DCI size parameters; and dynamically size-matching the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats based on a configured DCI size for the set of DCI formats, or determining that the set of DCI formats comprises a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot that is greater than the first number DCI size parameter; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: dynamically size-matching the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats based on a configured DCI size for the set of DCI formats.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising padding information of a first DCI format of the at least two DCI formats, where size matching is performed dynamically with respect to a second DCI format of the at least two DCI formats.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: clipping information of a first DCI format of the at least two DCI formats, where size matching is performed dynamically with respect to a second DCI format of the at least two DCI formats.

7. The size matching step includes: size-matching a resource allocation (RA) size of a first DCI format of the at least two DCI formats to an RA size of a second DCI format of the at least two DCI formats; size-matching an overall DCI payload size of the first DCI format to an overall DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format; Contains, or using an initial carrier bandwidth portion (BWP) resource allocation (RA) size to attempt to size-match an overall DCI payload size of a first DCI format of the at least two DCI formats to an overall DCI payload size of a second DCI format of the at least two DCI formats; if the total DCI payload size of the first DCI format does not match the total DCI payload size of the second DCI format using the RA size of the initial BWP, size-matching the total DCI payload size of the first DCI format to the total DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format; Contains, or using a resource allocation (RA) size of an active carrier bandwidth portion (BWP) to attempt to size-match an overall DCI payload size of a first DCI format of the at least two DCI formats to an overall DCI payload size of a second DCI format of the at least two DCI formats; if the total DCI payload size of the first DCI format does not match the total DCI payload size of the second DCI format using the RA size of the active BWP, size-matching the total DCI payload size of the first DCI format to the total DCI payload size of the second DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the first DCI format; Contains, or using a downlink scheduling DCI format resource allocation (RA) size of an active downlink carrier bandwidth portion (BWP) in an overall DCI payload size of a downlink scheduling DCI format of the at least two DCI formats; using an uplink scheduling DCI format RA size of an active uplink BWP in an overall DCI payload size of an uplink scheduling DCI format of the at least two DCI formats; if the overall DCI payload size of the downlink scheduling DCI format and the overall DCI payload size of the uplink scheduling DCI format do not match, size-matching the overall DCI payload size of one of the downlink scheduling DCI format and the uplink scheduling DCI format to the other of the uplink scheduling DCI format and the downlink scheduling DCI format by padding or truncating information of the DCI payload of the uplink scheduling DCI format or one of the downlink scheduling DCI formats.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

8. the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats for which dynamic size matching is performed comprise a first DCI format used for an uplink and a second DCI format used for a supplementary uplink corresponding to the uplink; the method comprising size-matching one of the first DCI format and the second DCI format to the other of the second DCI format and the first DCI format based on a configured DCI size for the other of the second DCI format and the first DCI format. or the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats for which dynamic size matching is performed comprise a first DCI format used for a downlink and a second DCI format used for a supplementary uplink corresponding to an uplink associated with the downlink; size-matching the second DCI format to the first DCI format based on a configured DCI size for the first DCI format. or the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats for which dynamic size matching is performed comprise a first DCI format used for a downlink, a second DCI format used for an uplink corresponding to the downlink, and a third DCI format used for an auxiliary uplink corresponding to the uplink; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises size-matching two of the first DCI format, the second DCI format, and the third DCI format to a remaining one of the third DCI format, the second DCI format, and the first DCI format based on a configured DCI size for the remaining one of the third DCI format, the second DCI format, and the first DCI format.

9. the set of DCI formats includes DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in a common search space (CSS) and DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in a UE-specific search space (USS), and if the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use, a schedule of the number of DCI format sizes, is not met for the set of DCI formats, size-matching at least two DCI formats comprises size-matching DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in a USS to DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0 in a CSS. or the set of DCI formats includes DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0, and the step of size-matching at least two DCI formats comprises a step of size-matching a resource allocation (RA) size of an initial uplink bandwidth portion (BWP) to attempt to size-match an overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 to an overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0, and a step of size-matching the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 to the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0 by zero-padding the DCI payload of the DCI format 0-0 using the RA size of the initial uplink BWP if the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 does not match the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0. or 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of DCI formats includes DCI formats 0-0 and 1-0, and wherein the step of size-aligning at least two DCI formats comprises the steps of size-aligning a downlink resource allocation (RA) size for an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) and size-aligning an uplink RA size for an active uplink BWP to attempt to size-align an overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 to an overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0, and if the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 does not match the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0, size-aligning the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 0-0 and the overall DCI payload size of the DCI format 1-0 by zero-padding the DCI payload of the DCI format 0-0 or the DCI format 1-0.

10. said step of size-matching at least two DCI formats further comprising: size-matching a DCI format size for a DCI format used for a primary link; and size-matching a DCI format size for the DCI format used for the secondary link based on a maximum configured DCI size of the configured DCI size for the primary link and a configured DCI size for the secondary link. size-matching a DCI format size for a DCI format used for a secondary link to a configured DCI size for a DCI format used for a corresponding primary link; or size-matching a DCI format size for a DCI format used for a primary downlink, a DCI format size for a DCI format used for a primary uplink, and a DCI format size for a DCI format used for a secondary link based on an active bandwidth portion (BWP); The method of claim 1 , comprising one of:

11. 1. An apparatus configured for wireless communication using a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats, comprising: means for determining a set of DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats for simultaneous use during wireless communication, the DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats being configurable to be of different sizes; means for size-matching at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats that are configurable to be of different sizes so as to satisfy a constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use; the constraint on the number of DCI format sizes for simultaneous use limits the number of DCI format sizes for the set of DCI formats for simultaneous use to both a first number of DCI size parameters and a second number of DCI size parameters; the first number of DCI size parameters is based on a total number of DCI format sizes per wireless communication slot; the second number of DCI size parameters being based on a total number of DCI format sizes for DCI formats used to carry DCI payloads encoded with an identifier per wireless communication slot; the first number of DCI size parameters is smaller than the number of DCI formats of the plurality of DCI formats; the first number of DCI size parameters is greater than the second number of DCI size parameters; means for dynamically size-matching the at least two DCI formats of the set of DCI formats when a change in an uplink bandwidth portion (BWP) or a downlink BWP is detected. Device.

12. 11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having recorded thereon program code for wireless communication using a plurality of Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats, the program code comprising computer executable program code for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10.

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