SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LINKING PDCCH CANDIDATES Background of the Invention

Abstract

A system and method for linking physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates are provided herein. According to some embodiments, the method includes receiving a configuration of first and second control resource sets (CORESETs) associated with first and second search space (SS) sets, determining that the first and second SS sets are configured with a common set of parameters, activating the first and second CORESETs in first and second TCI states, linking a first PDCCH candidate during a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity to a second PDCCH candidate during a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity, receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate, and detecting a PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates. Some embodiments may provide a simple method for linking PDCCH candidates in two SS sets to support both intra-slot and inter-slot PDCCH repeats in either a TDM or FDM manner.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 138,192, filed January 15, 2021, and Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 138,725, filed January 18, 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to linking physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates. [Background technology]

[0003] NR uses cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in both the downlink (i.e., from the network node (gNB) or base station to the user equipment or UE) and uplink (i.e., from the UE to the gNB). DFT-spread OFDM is also supported in the uplink. In the time domain, the NR downlink and uplink are organized into equal-sized subframes of 1 ms each. The subframes are further divided into multiple slots of equal duration. The slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. For a subcarrier spacing of Δf=15 kHz, there is only one slot per subframe, and each slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols.

[0004] Figure 1: NR time domain structure with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing. Data scheduling in NR is typically slot-based, an example of which is shown in Figure 1 with a 14-symbol slot, where the first two symbols contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the rest contain the Physical Shared Data Channel, either the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0005] In NR, different subcarrier spacing values ​​are supported. The supported subcarrier spacing values ​​(also called different numerologies) are Δf = (15 × 2 μ ) kHz, where μ∈0,1,2,3,4,Δf=15kHz is the basic subcarrier spacing. The slot duration for different subcarrier spacings is given by 1 / 2 μ is given by ms.

[0006] In the frequency domain, the system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each corresponding to 12 consecutive subcarriers. The RBs are numbered starting with 0 at one end of the system bandwidth. The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is shown in Figure 2, where only one resource block (RB) in a 14-symbol slot is shown. One OFDM subcarrier in one OFDM symbol interval forms one resource element (RE).

[0007] Downlink and uplink transmissions can be either dynamically scheduled, where the gNB sends a DL assignment or uplink grant to the UE via Downlink Control Information (DCI) via the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for each PDSCH or PUSCH transmission, or semi-persistent scheduled (SPS), where one or more DL SPS or UL configured grants (CGs) are semi-statically configured and activated or deactivated, respectively, by a DCI.

[0008] CORESET and Search Space

[0009] The UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates for potential PDCCHs. A PDCCH candidate consists of L ∈ [1, 2, 4, 8, 16] control channel elements (CCEs) in a control resource set (CORESET). A CCE consists of 6 resource element groups (REGs), where REG is equal to one RB in one OFDM symbol. L is called the CCE aggregation level.

[0010] The set of PDCCH candidates is defined from the perspective of the PDCCH search space (SS) set. The SS set can be a common search space (CSS) set or a UE-specific search space (USS) set. A UE can configure up to 10 SS sets per bandwidth part (BWP) to monitor PDCCH candidates.

[0011] Each SS set is associated with a CORESET. The CORESET consists of N resource blocks in the frequency domain and N ∈ {1, 2, 3} consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. According to Release 15 of NR, a UE can configure up to 3 CORESETS per bandwidth part. RB CORESET 个のリソースブロックと、時間領域内のN symb CORESET ∈{1,2,3}個の連続するOFDMシンボルで構成される。NRのリリース15によれば、UEは、帯域幅パートあたり最大3つのCORESETを構成され得る。

[0012] For each SS set, the UE is configured using parameters including: ● Search space configuration index s, 0 ≦ s ≦ 40 ● Association between search space set s and CORESET p ● PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots and PDCCH monitoring offset of Os slots ● PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot, indicating the first symbol of the CORESET within the slot for PDCCH monitoring ● Ts indicating the slot number(s) in which the search space set exists, duration of ks slots ● Number of PDCCH candidates Ms for each CCE aggregation level L (L) ● Indication that the search space set s is either a CSS set or a USS set ● DCI format for monitoring

[0013] The UE determines the PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the active DL BWP from the PDCCH monitoring period, the PDCCH monitoring offset, and the PDCCH monitoring pattern in the slot. For a search space set s, the UE determines that the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is (nf,N slot frame、μ + n s,f μ -Os) mod ks=0, then slot n in frame nf s,f μ Determine that N exists in slot frame、μ is the number of slots per radio frame. The UE receives the n s,f μ The PDCCH candidates in a search space set s consisting of Ts consecutive slots starting from are monitored, and the PDCCH candidates in a search space set s consisting of the next ks-Ts consecutive slots are not monitored.

[0014] According to 3GPP TS 38.213, for a search space set associated with CORESET p, slot n for active DL BWP of the serving cell corresponding to carrier indicator field value nCI is determined. s,f μ PDCCH candidate m in the search space set to s,nCI The CCE index for aggregation level L corresponding to is given by:

number

[0015] Now, for any CSS, Y p,ns,f μ = 0, and for USS, Y p,ns,f μ =(A p Y p,ns,f μ -1 ) mod D,Y p,-1 =n RNTI ≠0, p mod 3=0 for A p= 39827, p mod 3 = 1, A p =39829, pmod3=2 A p = 39839, and D = 65537.

[0016] i=0,..,L-1, N CCE,p is a function of CORESET p from 0 to N CCE,p is the number of CCEs numbered from -1, n CI is the carrier indicator field value if the UE is configured with a carrier indicator field by the CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig for the serving cell and the PDCCH is monitored. Otherwise, n CI = 0, and m s,nCI =0,..,M s,nCI (L) -1, where M s,nCI (L) is the number of PDCCH candidates that the UE is configured to monitor for aggregation level L of the search space set s of the serving cell corresponding to nCI, and for any CSS, M s,max (L) =M s,0 (L) Regarding USS, s,max (L) is the sum of all configured nCI values ​​for CCE aggregation level L in search space set s, M s,nCI (L) is the maximum value of n RNTI The RNTI value used for is the C-RNTI assigned to the UE.

[0017] NR HARQ ACK / NACK feedback on PUCCH

[0018] When receiving a PDSCH in the downlink from a serving gNB in ​​the nth slot, the UE feeds back a HARQ ACK in the n+kth slot to the gNB via PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) resources in the uplink if the PDSCH is successfully decoded, otherwise the UE sends a HARQ NACK in the n+kth slot to the gNB to indicate that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded.

[0019] In NR, up to four PUCCH resource sets may be configured in the UE. The PUCCH resource set with pucch-ResourceSetId=0 may have up to 32 PUCCH resources, while for PUCCH resource sets with pucch-ResourceSetId=1-3, each set may have up to 8 PUCCH resources. The UE determines the PUCCH resource configured in a slot based on the number of aggregated UCI (Uplink Control Information) bits to be transmitted in the slot. The UCI bits consist of HARQ ACK / NACK bits, Scheduling Request (SR) bits, and Channel State Information (CSI) bits.

[0020] The 3-bit PRI field in the DCI is mapped to PUCCH resources in a set of PUCCH resources having up to 8 PUCCH resources. In the first set of PUCCH resources, the number of PUCCH resources is R PUCCH If r is greater than 8, the UE selects the PUCCH resource and its index r PUCCH Determine where 0≦r PUCCH ≦R PUCCH -1, and is specifically determined by the following formula:

number

[0021] PDCCH repeat (repeated transmission)

[0022] Figure 3: Example of PDCCH repeat from multiple TRPs. NR Release 17 proposes to increase the reliability of the PDCCH with multiple TRPs by repeating the PDCCH across different TRPs, and in Figure 3 an example is shown where the PDCCH is repeated across two TRPs at different times, both containing the same DCI.

[0023] The PDCCH is repeated in two PDCCH candidates, each associated with one of the two TRPs. The two PDCCH candidates are linked, i.e., the location of one PDCCH candidate is obtainable from the other PDCCH candidate. When performing PDCCH detection, the UE can detect the PDCCH in each PDCCH candidate individually, or jointly detect (joint detection) by soft combining the two linked PDCCH candidates. The linked PDCCH candidates may be in two linked search space sets, each associated with a different CORESET. Each of the two associated CORESETs may be activated in a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with a corresponding TRP.

[0024] The TCI state activated for CORESET contains QCL (quasi-co-location) information between the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PDCCH transmitted in CORESET and one or two DL reference signals (RS), such as CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) or SSB (Synchronization Signal Block). The DL RS is called QCL source RS. The types of QCL information supported in NR are: ● 'QCL-TypeA': {Doppler shift, Doppler dispersion, average delay, delay dispersion} ● 'QCL-Type B': {Doppler shift, Doppler dispersion} ● 'QCL-Type C': {Doppler shift, average delay} ● 'QCL-TypeD': {Spatial Rx parameters}

[0025] The QCL information may be used by the UE to apply one or more channel characteristics estimated from those associated with the DL reference signal (CSI-RS or SSB) to the PDCCH reception. For example, if an SSB is configured as a source RS of QCL type D in an activated TCI state for CORESET, the same receive beam for receiving the SSB will be used by the UE to receive the PDCCH in CORESET. If a CSI-RS is configured as a source RS of QCL type A in an activated TCI state for CORESET, the Doppler shift, Doppler variance, mean delay, and delay variance estimated based on the CSI-RS may be used to determine channel estimation parameters for the PDCCH reception in CORESET. Improved systems and methods for linking PDCCH candidates are needed. Summary of the Invention

[0026] Systems and methods for linking multiple Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates are provided herein. According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets includes receiving, from a wireless node, a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, determining that the first SS set and the second SS set are configured with a common set of parameters, where the parameters include a PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots and a number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L. (L) and a downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored, the method comprising: activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state and a second CORESET in a second TCI state; linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of the first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of the second SS set; receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate from the wireless node; and detecting the PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates. Some embodiments may provide a simple way to link PDCCH candidates in two SS sets to support both intra-slot and inter-slot PDCCH repeats in either TDM or FDM manner.

[0027] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to the above and other problems. A method is proposed for how to link PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets.

[0028] Various embodiments are proposed herein to address one or more of the problems disclosed herein. The method includes a PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots, a duration of Ts < ks slots indicating the number of consecutive slots for PDCCH monitoring, and the number of PDCCH candidates Ms per aggregation level L (L) and a common set of parameters including one or more of either a CSS set or a USS set of SS set types, a DCI format for monitoring, and the number of start symbols of the corresponding CORESET, to configure a first SS set and a second SS set, and to configure an SS set specific PDCCH monitoring slot offset and a PDCCH monitoring pattern in one slot.

[0029] First link a first PDCCH monitoring slot in the first SS set to a second PDCCH monitoring slot in the second SS set, then link a first monitoring opportunity in the first PDCCH monitoring slot to a second monitoring opportunity in the second PDCCH monitoring slot, and then link a first PDCCH candidate in the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity to a second PDCCH candidate in the second linked PDCCH.

[0030] A method of PDCCH repeat on first and second search space (SS) sets in a wireless network comprising at least a wireless node and at least a user equipment (UE). The method includes configuring, by the wireless node, a first CORESET associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set (search space set) for the UE, a PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots, and the number of PDCCH candidates Ms per aggregation level L (L) and a common set of parameters including one or more of an SS set type which is either a CSS set or a USS set, and a DCI format for monitoring, to configure the first and second SS sets.

[0031] The method may include activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state, activating a second CORESET in a second TCI state, linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of a first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of a second SS set, transmitting, by the wireless node, a PDCCH on the first PDCCH candidate, repeating the PDCCH on the second PDCCH candidate, and detecting, by the UE, a PDCCH on the first and second PDCCH candidates.

[0032] According to some embodiments, the first and second PDCCH candidates correspond to the same CCE aggregation level and have the same PDCCH candidate index.

[0033] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises configuring the first and second SS sets with first and second PDCCH monitoring slot offsets Os1 and Os2, respectively, first and second durations Ts1 and Ts2 indicating a number of consecutive slots for PDCCH monitoring, and first and second PDCCH monitoring patterns within the PDCCH monitoring slots.

[0034] According to some embodiments, the symbol indices {l1, l2, ..., l Ns1} and the second PDCCH monitoring pattern is Ns2}, where Ns1 and Ns2 are integers.

[0035] According to some embodiments, the first slot n1 of the first SS set and the second slot n2 of the second SS set satisfy n1=nKs+Os1+i and n2=nKs+Os2+i, where n is an integer and i=0, 1, ..., min(Ts1, Ts2)-1.

[0036] According to some embodiments, the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at symbol li in the first slot of the first SS set and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at symbol si in the second slot of the second SS set, where i=1,...,min(Ns1,Ns2).

[0037] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a time offset between reception of the PDCCH and a scheduled one of the PDSCH, PUSCH, CSI-RS, and SRS, the time offset being determined between a later-in-time symbol of the first and second PDCCH candidates and a first symbol of the corresponding one of the PDSCH, PUSCH, CSI-RS, and SRS.

[0038] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a PUCCH resource for carrying a HARQ A / N associated with the scheduled PDSCH, wherein determining the PUCCH resource comprises determining a PDCCH candidate from among the first and second PDCCH candidates associated with an SS set having a smaller SS ID or associated with a CORESET having a smaller CORESET ID.

[0039] According to some embodiments, the PUCCH resource is determined based on the determined PDCCH candidate and an associated CORESET.

[0040] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises determining the starting symbol of the PDCCH such that the starting symbol is determined to be the starting symbol of the one of the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities that occurs later in time.

[0041] According to some embodiments, the first and second SS sets are linked via an identifier.

[0042] According to some embodiments, a method in a UE in a wireless network of at least one wireless node and at least one user equipment UE, comprising receiving PDCCH repeats on first and second search spaces (SS), the method comprising receiving, by the wireless node, from the network a configuration of a first CORESET associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, where the first SS set and the second SS set are linked and, under a condition that some SS set configuration parameters are the same for the first set and the second set, respectively, receiving and attempting to decode PDCCH from the first set and the second set.

[0043] Particular embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages: Some embodiments may provide a simple way to link PDCCH candidates in two SS sets to support both intra-slot and inter-slot PDCCH repeats in either TDM or FDM manner. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0044] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate several aspects of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0045] [Figure 1] indicates that data scheduling in New Radio (NR) is typically performed on a slot basis with 14-symbol slots, where the first two symbols contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the rest contain the Physical Shared Data Channel, either the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0046] [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 shows a basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid, where only one resource block (RB) is shown in a 14-symbol slot.

[0047] [Diagram 3] shows an example where a PDCCH is repeated across two TRPs at different times, both containing the same DCI.

[0048] [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an example of a cellular communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0049] [Figure 5A] 1 illustrates a method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] 1 illustrates a method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] [Figure 6A] and [Figure 6B] 1 illustrates a method performed by a base station to link PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0051] [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an example of linking intra-slot PDCCH candidates in two SS sets according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0052] [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an example of linked PDCCH candidates in two SS sets having the same monitoring slot, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0053] [Figure 9]1 illustrates an example of linking inter-slot PDCCH candidates in two SS sets according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0054] [Figure 10] 4 illustrates an example of associating PDCCH monitoring slots in two SS sets configured with the same PDCCH monitoring period Ks and duration Ts, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0055] [Figure 11] 1 illustrates an example of linked PDCCH candidates in two SS sets with different monitoring slot offsets, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0056] [Figure 12] 1 illustrates an example of associating PDCCH monitoring slots in two SS sets configured with the same PDCCH monitoring period Ks and different durations Ts1 and Ts2, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] [Figure 13] 13 shows an example in which the last symbol of the PDCCH is always defined as the last symbol of the PDCCH candidate that occurs last in time among multiple linked PDCCH candidates, regardless of which PDCCH candidate the PDCCH is detected in, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0058] [Figure 14] 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a radio access node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a radio access node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 16] 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of a radio access node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0059] [Figure 17] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0060] [Figure 19] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0061] [Figure 20] 16 illustrates an example embodiment of the host computer, base station, and UE of FIG. 15 in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

[0062] [Figure 21] 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system such as that of FIG. 20, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 22] 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system such as that of FIG. 20, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 23] 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system such as that of FIG. 20, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 24] 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method implemented in a communication system such as that of FIG. 20, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0063] The embodiments described below represent information that enables those skilled in the art to implement the embodiments and show the best mode of implementing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the present disclosure and recognize applications of these concepts not specifically addressed herein. It is to be understood that these concepts and applications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0064] Wireless Node: As used herein, a “wireless node” is either a radio access node or a wireless communication device.

[0065] Radio Access Node: As used herein, a "radio access node" or "radio network node" or "radio access network node" is any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to transmit and / or receive signals wirelessly. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP® Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a Home eNB, etc.), a relay node, a network node implementing some of the functionality of a base station (e.g., a network node implementing a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) or a network node implementing a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)), or a network node implementing some of the functionality of some other type of radio access node.

[0066] Core Network Node: As used herein, a "core network node" is a node that implements a core network function or any kind of node in any core network. Examples of core network nodes include a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), a service capability publishing function (SCEF), a home subscriber server (HSS), etc. Some other examples of core network nodes include nodes that implement an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network publishing function (NEF), a network function (NF) repository function (NRF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), etc.

[0067] Communication Device: As used herein, a "communication device" is any type of device that has access to an access network. Some examples of communication devices include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a sensor device, a meter, a vehicle, a home appliance, a medical device, a media player, a camera, or any type of consumer electronic device, such as, but not limited to, a television, a radio, a lighting fixture, a tablet computer, a laptop, or a personal computer (PC). A communication device can be a portable, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile terminal that allows for voice and / or data communication over wireless or wired connections.

[0068] Wireless Communication Device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which may be any type of wireless device that accesses (i.e., receives wireless services from) a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network). Some examples of wireless communication devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment devices (UEs) in 3GPP networks, machine type communication (MTC) devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Such wireless communication devices may be or may be integrated into mobile phones, smartphones, sensor devices, meters, vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronics, such as, but not limited to, televisions, radios, lighting fixtures, tablet computers, laptops, or PCs. Wireless communication devices may be portable, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that allow for voice and / or data communication over a wireless connection.

[0069] Network Node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is part of the RAN or in the core network of a cellular communications network / system.

[0070] Transmit / Receive Point (TRP): According to some embodiments, a TRP can be either a network node, a radio head, a spatial relationship, or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. A TRP can be represented by a spatial relationship or a TCI state according to some embodiments. According to some embodiments, a TRP can use multiple TCI states. According to some embodiments, a TRP can be part of a gNB that transmits and receives radio signals to and from a UE according to physical layer characteristics and parameters specific to that element. According to some embodiments, in multiple transmit / receive point (multi-TRP) operation, a serving cell can schedule a UE from two TRPs, providing better PDSCH coverage, reliability, and / or data rates. There are two different operation modes for multi-TRP: single DCI and multi-DCI. For both modes, the control of uplink and downlink operations is done by both the physical layer and the MAC. In single DCI mode, the UE is scheduled by the same DCI for both TRPs, and in multi-DCI mode, the UE is scheduled by independent DCI from each TRP.

[0071] It should be noted that this specification focuses on 3GPP® cellular communication systems and therefore 3GPP® terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP® terminology is often used, however, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP® systems.

[0072] In the description herein, reference may be made to the term "cell", however, it will be important to note that, particularly with regard to 5G NR concepts, beams may be used instead of cells, and thus the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0073] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a cellular communication system 400 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. According to embodiments described herein, the cellular communication system 400 is a 5G system (5GS) including a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) and a 5G Core (5GC). In this example, the RAN includes base stations 402-1 and 402-2, which in 5GS include NR base stations (gNBs) and optionally Next Generation eNBs (ng-eNBs) (e.g., LTE RAN nodes connected to 5GC), and control corresponding (macro) cells 404-1 and 404-2. The base stations 402-1 and 402-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as base stations 402 and individually as base stations 402. Similarly, the (macro) cells 404-1 and 404-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as (macro) cells 404 and individually as (macro) cells 404. The RAN may also include several low power nodes 406-1 to 406-4 that control corresponding small cells 408-1 to 408-4. The low power nodes 406-1 to 406-4 may be small base stations (such as pico or femto base stations) or remote radio heads (RRHs), or the like. Notably, although not shown, one or more of the small cells 408-1 to 408-4 may alternatively be provided by the base station 402. The low power nodes 406-1 to 406-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as low power nodes 406 and individually as low power nodes 206. Similarly, the small cells 408-1 to 408-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as small cells 408 and individually as small cells 408. The cellular communication system 400 also includes a core network 410, referred to as 5GC in 5G systems (5GS). The base station 402 (and optionally the low power node 406 ) is connected to a core network 410 .

[0074] The base station 402 and low power node 406 serve wireless communication devices 412-1 through 412-5 in corresponding cells 404 and 408. The wireless communication devices 412-1 through 412-5 are generally referred to herein collectively as wireless communication devices 412 and individually as wireless communication devices 412. In the description that follows, the wireless communication devices 412 are often UEs, although the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0075] Currently, several challenges exist: how to link PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets is an issue because the two linked SS sets may be configured with different parameters such as PDCCH monitoring period and slot offset, etc. Improved systems and methods for linking multiple PDCCH candidates are needed.

[0076] A system and method for linking physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates are provided herein. According to some embodiments, the method includes receiving a configuration of first and second control resource sets (CORESETs) associated with first and second search space (SS) sets, determining that the first and second SS sets are configured with a common set of parameters, activating the first and second CORESETs in first and second TCI states, linking a first PDCCH candidate during a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity to a second PDCCH candidate during a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity, receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate, and detecting a PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates. Some embodiments may provide a simple method for linking PDCCH candidates in two SS sets to support both intra-slot and inter-slot PDCCH repeats in either a TDM or FDM manner.

[0077] 5A illustrates a method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets, the method including receiving from the wireless node a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set (step 500A), and configuring a PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots and a number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, Ms (L) the UE may configure the SS set with a common set of parameters including one or more of: an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a UE specific search space (USS) set; and a DCI format to be monitored (step 502A); activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state and a second CORESET in a second TCI state (step 504A); linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of the first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of the second SS set (step 506A); receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate from the wireless node (step 508A); and detecting a PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates (step 510A).

[0078] 5B illustrates a method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets, the method including receiving from the wireless node (step 500B) a configuration of a first CORESET associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, where the first and second SS sets are linked and the first SS set and the second SS set have a PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots, a PDCCH monitoring offset of Os slots, and a number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, Ms (L) receiving a command to activate the first CORESET in the first TCI state and the second CORESET in the second TCI state (step 502B); the command is configured with a common set of parameters having one or more of: a duration of Ts slots; a number of starting symbols or PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot (number); an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; and a downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored; The method includes determining a first PDCCH candidate in a first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of a first SS set in the first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in a second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of a second SS set in the second slot (step 504B), receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a repeat of the PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate from the wireless node (step 506B), and detecting DCI carried by the PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates (step 508B).

[0079] 6A illustrates a method performed by a base station to link PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets, the method including configuring a wireless node with a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set (step 600A), and linking the first SS set and the second SS set with a PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots and a number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, Ms (L) and configuring the UE with a common parameter set including one or more of: an SS set type, the SS set type being either a common search space (CSS) set or a UE specific search space (USS) set; and a downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored (step 602A); activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state and activating a second CORESET in a second TCI state (step 604A); linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of the first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of the second SS set (step 606A); and transmitting to the wireless device a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate to the wireless node.

[0080] 6B illustrates a method performed by a base station to link PDCCH candidates in two linked SS sets, the method including configuring a wireless node with a configuration of a first CORESET associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set (step 600B), where the first SS set and the second SS set are linked and the first SS set and the second SS set are configured with a PDCCH monitoring period of ks slots, a PDCCH monitoring offset of Os slots, a duration of Ts slots, a starting symbol or number of PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot, and a number M of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L. s (L) and configuring with a common set of parameters having one or more of: an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; and a downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored (step 602B); activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state and a second CORESET in a second TCI state (step 604B); for each aggregation level, determining a first PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first SS set in the first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second SS set in the second slot (step 606B); and transmitting the PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and the same PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate to the wireless node (step 608B).

[0081] For the sake of explanation, assume that two linked SS sets, SS set #1 and SS set #2, are configured for the UE. SS set #1 and SS set #2 are associated with CORESET #1 and CORESET #2 respectively. CORESET #1 and CORESET #2 are activated in TCI state #1 and TCI state #2 respectively. The link can be made by the network configuring explicit indicators for each of the two configured SS sets to indicate the link (association) between the two SS sets to the UE. For example, the indicator can be the SS set ID within the SS set that indicates the linked SS set. Alternatively, values of identifiers are configured within each SS set, and then the UE assumes that the SS sets configured with the same value are linked together.

[0082] Link of PDCCH candidates in two SS sets within the same slot

[0083] For PDCCH candidates of two or more linked SS sets, according to one embodiment, the two or more SS sets are configured with the same (or common) configuration for one or more of the following parameters for PDCCH monitoring: ● A PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots and a PDCCH monitoring offset consisting of Os slots ● A duration consisting of Ts < ks slots indicating the number (number) of slots in which the search space set exists ● The number of PDCCH candidates Ms per CCE aggregation level L (L) ● Either a CSS set or a USS set ● The DCI format to be monitored ● The number (number) of the start symbol of the corresponding CORESET.

[0084] A UE configured by the network to use links between two or more SS sets (or PDCCH candidates) allows (or assumes) that at least one of the parameter configurations listed above is the same for those two or more SS sets. Thus, a UE does not expect to be configured by the network with two or more linked SS sets, and one or more of the parameters in the above list are configured to be different.

[0085] FIG. 7: Example of Links of Intra-Slot PDCCH Candidates in Two SS Sets FIG. 7 shows an example of configuring two SS sets. In this example, both of the two SS sets have the same PDCCH monitoring period of ks=5 slots and the same slot offset, i.e., O s1 =O s2 = 1 and the same duration consisting of Ts = 1 slots. Within each monitoring slot, both SS sets are composed of two starting symbols. In Fig. 7(a) the two SS sets are composed of different starting symbols of the associated CORESET, i.e. symbols 0 and 7 in SS set #1 and symbols 2 and 9 in SS set #2. Each of these starting symbols defines a PDCCH monitoring opportunity within the monitoring slot in each SS set. According to this example, each CORESET is composed of a duration of two symbols, and therefore each monitoring opportunity spans two symbols. The first monitoring opportunity in SS set #1 is linked to the first monitoring opportunity in SS set 2. Similarly, the second monitoring opportunity in SS set #1 is linked to the second monitoring opportunity in SS set 2.

[0086] The link between two PDCCH monitoring opportunities in two SS sets means that for each CCE aggregation level L, PDCCH candidates having the same PDCCH candidate index in two associated CORESETs are linked. The PDCCH can be repeated (repeated) in two linked PDCCH candidates. In Figure 7(a), two SS sets each constitute a different starting symbol, and thus, in the time division multiplexing (TDM) mode, the PDCCH can be repeated in two linked PDCCH candidates within the two SS sets. In Figure 7(b), two SS sets each constitute the same starting symbol, and a plurality of associated CORESETs are configured with different RBs. In this case, in two linked PDCCH candidates within the two SS sets, the PDCCH is repeated in the frequency division multiplexing (FDM) mode.

[0087] Figure 8: Example of linked PDCCH candidates in two SS sets having the same monitoring slot. As an example, Figure 8 shows linked PDCCH candidates in two SS sets for each aggregation level, where both CORESETs contain 9 CCEs, and the two SS sets each constitute 4, 2, and 1 PDCCH candidates at aggregation levels L = 1, 2, and 4, respectively.

[0088] Linking of PDCCH candidates in two SS sets in different slots

[0089] According to another embodiment, two SS sets constitute different slot offsets for PDCCH monitoring, but have the same configuration for one or more of the following parameters: ● PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots ● Duration of Ts < ks slots indicating the number of slots in which the search space set exists ● Number of PDCCH candidates Ms per CCE aggregation level L (L) ● Either a CSS set or a USS set ● DCI format to be monitored ● The number of the starting symbol of the corresponding CORESET.

[0090] The UE is not expected to be configured by the network with more than two linked SS sets, and the slot offset is configured differently for the two SS sets, where one or more of the parameters in the above list are configured differently.

[0091] Figure 9: Example of linking of inter-slot PDCCH candidates in two SS sets. Figure 9 shows an example of configuring two SS sets with the same PDCCH monitoring period of ks=5 slots and duration Ts=1, but with different slot offsets Os1=1 and Os2=2, respectively. Within each monitoring slot, both SS sets are configured with two starting symbols, i.e., symbols 0 and 7 in SS set #1 and symbols 2 and 9 in SS set #2, which are associated with two PDCCH monitoring opportunities in each of the two SS sets. The first monitoring opportunity in SS set #1 is linked to the first monitoring opportunity in SS set #2. The second monitoring opportunity in SS set #1 is linked to the second monitoring opportunity in SS set #2.

[0092] Generally, when two linked SS sets have different slot offsets, the PDCCH candidates of two CORESETs starting from each starting symbol within two related PDCCH monitoring slots are linked. The two linked monitoring slots within the two linked SS sets have the same starting slot within the monitoring duration within the same monitoring period in each of the two SS sets. This is shown in FIG. 10: an example of associating PDCCH monitoring slots in two SS sets composed of the same PDCCH monitoring period Ks and duration Ts. Let n1 be the slot in the first SS set and n2 be the slot in the second SS set. The two slots are linked when they satisfy n1 = nKs + Os1 + i and n2 = nKs + Os2 + i, where n is an integer and i = 0, 1,..., Ts - 1.

[0093] FIG. 11 shows an example of linked PDCCH candidates in two SS sets with different monitoring slot offsets, i.e., Os1 = 1 and Os2 = 2, where both CORESETs contain 9 CCEs, and the two SS sets constitute 4, 2, and 1 PDCCH candidates at aggregation levels L = 1, 2, and 4, respectively.

[0094] Linking of PDCCH Candidates in Two SS Sets with Different Durations

[0095] According to another embodiment, the two SS sets are composed of different durations. Let Ts1 and Ts2 indicate the number of slots in which search space sets 1 and 2 exist, respectively. Assuming that the same PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots is configured for both search space sets, then Ts1 < ks and Ts2 < ks. For other parameters configured for search space sets 1 and 2, one or more of the following parameters can be configured to be the same: ● PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots ● Number of PDCCH candidates Ms per CCE aggregation level L(L) ● Either a CSS set or a USS set ● DCI format to be monitored ● Number (number) of start symbols of the corresponding CORESET.

[0096] Figure 12: Example of associating PDCCH monitoring slots in two SS sets composed of the same PDCCH monitoring period Ks and different durations Ts1 and Ts2. Figure 12 shows an example of two SS sets having the same PDCCH monitoring cycle consisting of ks = 5 slots, but different durations Ts1 = 3 and Ts2 = 2. The two SS sets also constitute different slot offsets Os1 = 1 and Os2 = 2, respectively. Let n indicate the nth slot in any of the SS sets within the duration of each SS set. That is, in the case of SS set 1, n = 1, 2,..., Ts1, and in the case of SS set 2, n = 1, 2,..., Ts2. Then, the nth slots within the SS set durations of the two SS sets are linked, where n = 1, 2,..., min(Ts1, Ts2). In the example of Figure 12, the first slot within the duration Ts1 of SS set 1 is linked to the first slot within the duration Ts2 of SS set 2. Similarly, the second slot within the duration Ts1 of SS set 1 is linked to the second slot within the duration Ts2 of SS set 2. The PDCCH may be repeated in these two linked slots. However, since the duration of SS set 2 is shorter than the duration of SS set 1 (i.e., Ts2 < Ts1), the third slot within the duration Ts1 of SS set 1 is not linked to any slot within SS set 2. As a result, the PDCCH received in the third slot within the duration Ts1 of SS set 1 is not repeated.

[0097] Similarly, when the number of starting symbols of corresponding CORESETs in two SS sets are configured with different values ​​Ns1 and Ns2, for two linked PDCCH monitoring slots in two SS sets, only the first min(Ns1, Ns2) PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the two SS sets are linked.

[0098] Determining the last symbol of the PDCCH

[0099] In some scenarios in NR, the last symbol of the PDCCH is used by the UE as a time reference for calculating the time offset between the PDCCH and the scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH / CSI-RS / SRS. If the PDCCH is repeated in two PDCCH candidates, the last symbol of the PDCCH needs to be clearly defined. According to one embodiment, regardless of which PDCCH candidate the PDCCH is detected in, the last symbol of the PDCCH is always defined as the last symbol of the PDCCH candidate that is the latest in time among the linked PDCCH candidates, as shown in Figure 13.

[0100] Determination of the first symbol of the PDCCH

[0101] In NR, the PDSCH resource is indicated in a start and length indicator value (SLIV) format in the DCI. The number L of consecutive symbols counted from the start symbol S allocated for the PDSCH is determined from the start and length indicator SLIV as follows: If (L-1)≦ SLIV=14·(L-1)+S Other cases SLIV=14·(14-L+1)+(14-1-S) where 0<L≦14−S. The reference point S0 for the starting symbol S is defined as follows: ● when receiving a PDSCH scheduled by DCI format 1_2, configured with referenceOfSLIVDCI-1-2, having C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI with K0=0, and CRC scrambled by PDSCH mapping type B, the start symbol S is relative to the start symbol S0 of the PDCCH monitoring opportunity where DCI format 1_2 is detected; ● Otherwise the starting symbol S is relative to the start of the slot using S0=0.

[0102] In case of PDCCH repeats in two PDCCH candidates in two different PDCCH monitoring occasions, the start symbol S should not be relative to the start symbol S0 of the PDCCH monitoring occasion in which DCI format 1_2 is detected. Rather, it should always be relative to one of the two PDCCH monitoring occasions, regardless of via which one DCI format 1_2 is detected. According to one embodiment, the start symbol S is relative to the start symbol S0 of the PDCCH monitoring occasion occurring later in time.

[0103] PUCCH resource determination

[0104] In the case of two linked PDCCH candidates, the indices of the first CCEs for the two PDCCH candidates are generally different. If the two PDCCHs are in two different CORESETs, the number of CCEs in the two CORESETs may also be different.

[0105] According to one embodiment, the PUCCH resource associated to the scheduled PDSCH is based on the first CCE index of one of the linked PDCCH candidates and the number of CCEs of the corresponding CORESET. The PDCCH candidate used to determine the PUCCH resource may be the one in the CORESET with the smallest controlResourceSetId or, alternatively, the one in the SS set with the smallest searchSpaceId among the linked SS sets.

[0106] PDSCH Resource Mapping

[0107] In the case of two linked PDCCH candidates, if a PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH overlaps with resources in each of the CORESETs that contain the PDCCH, the resources corresponding to the two linked PDCCH candidates and the associated PDCCH DM-RS are not available for the PDSCH.

[0108] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Optional functionality is represented by dashed boxes. The radio access node 1400 may be, for example, a base station 402 or 406 or a network node that implements all or a portion of the functionality of a base station 402 or gNB described herein. As shown, the radio access node 1400 has a control system 1402 having one or more processors 1404 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), a memory 1406, and a network interface 1408. The one or more processors 1404 are also referred to herein as processing circuits. Additionally, the radio access node 1400 may include one or more radio units 1410, each including one or more transmitters 1412 and one or more receivers 1414 coupled to one or more antennas 1416. The radio units 1410 may be referred to as or be part of a radio interface circuit. According to some embodiments, the radio unit 1410 is external to the control system 1402 and is connected to the control system 1402, for example, via a wired connection (e.g., optical cable). However, according to some other embodiments, the radio unit(s) 1410 and potentially the antenna(s) 1416 are integrated with the control system 1402. The one or more processors 1404 operate to provide one or more functions of the wireless access node 1400, as described herein. According to an embodiment, the functions are implemented in software that is stored, for example, in the memory 1406 and executed by the one or more processors 1404.

[0109] 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualized embodiment of a radio access node 1400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This description is equally applicable to other types of network nodes. Moreover, other types of network nodes may have a similar virtualization architecture. Again, optional functionality is represented by dashed boxes.

[0110] As used herein, a "virtualized" radio access node is an implementation of the radio access node 1400 in which at least a portion of the functionality of the radio access node 1400 is implemented as virtual component(s) (e.g., via virtual machine(s) running on physical processing node(s) in network(s)). As shown, in this illustration, the radio access node 1400 may include a control system 1402 and / or one or more radio units 1410, as described above. The control system 1402 may be connected to the radio unit 1410, for example, via an optical cable or the like. The radio access node 1400 includes one or more processing nodes 1500 coupled to or included as part of a network(s) 1502. If present, the control system 1402 or radio units are connected to the processing node 1500 via the network 1502. Each processing node 1500 has one or more processors 1504 (eg, a CPU, ASIC, FPGA, and / or the like), a memory 1506, and a network interface 1508.

[0111] In this illustration, the functions 1510 of the radio access node 1400 described herein are implemented in one or more processing nodes 1500 or distributed across one or more processing nodes 1500 and the control system 1402 and / or radio unit 1410 in any desired manner. According to some particular embodiments, some or all of the functions 1510 of the radio access node 1400 described herein are implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environment hosted by the processing node 1500. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, additional signaling or communication between the processing node 1500 and the control system 1402 is used to execute at least some of the desired functions 1510. Notably, according to some embodiments, the control system 1402 may not be included, in which case the radio unit 1410 communicates directly with the processing node 1500 via an appropriate network interface.

[0112] According to some embodiments, a computer program is provided that includes instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform functions of the wireless access 1400 or node (e.g., processing node 1500) implementing one or more of the functions 1510 of the wireless access node 1400 in a virtual environment according to any of the embodiments described herein. According to some embodiments, a carrier is provided having the aforementioned computer program product. The carrier is one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a memory).

[0113] 16 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1400 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The radio access node 1400 has one or more modules 1600, each of which is implemented in software. The modules 1600 provide the functionality of the radio access node 1400 described herein. This description is equally applicable to the processing node 1500 of FIG. 15, where the modules 1600 may be implemented in one of the processing nodes 1500 or distributed across multiple processing nodes 1500 and / or distributed across the processing nodes 1500 and the control system 1402.

[0114] FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 1700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the wireless communication device 1700 includes one or more processors 1702 (e.g., CPU, ASIC, FPGA, etc.), memory 1704, and one or more transceivers 1706, each including one or more transmitters 1708 and one or more receivers 1710 coupled to one or more antennas 1712. The transceiver 1706 includes a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna 1712 configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1712 and the processor 1702, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. The processor 1702 is also referred to herein as a processing circuit. The transceiver 1706 is also referred to herein as a radio circuit. According to some embodiments, the functions of the wireless communication device 1700 described above may be fully or partially implemented in software, for example, stored in the memory 1704 and executed by the processor(s) 1702. It should be noted that the wireless communication device 1700 may include additional components not shown in FIG. 17 , such as, for example, one or more user interface components (e.g., input / output interfaces including a display, buttons, a touch screen, a microphone, a speaker, etc., and / or any other components for enabling input of information into and / or output of information from the wireless communication device 1700, a power source (e.g., a battery and associated power circuitry), etc.

[0115] According to some embodiments, a computer program is provided that includes instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the functions of the wireless communication device 1700 according to any of the embodiments described herein. According to some embodiments, a carrier is provided that carries the aforementioned computer program product. The carrier is one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory).

[0116] 18 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 1700 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 1700 includes one or more modules 1800, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1800 provide the functionality of the wireless communication device 1700 described herein.

[0117] With reference to FIG. 19, according to one embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunications network 1900, such as a 3GPP type cellular network, having an access network 1902, such as a RAN, and a core network 1904. The access network 1902 has a number of base stations 1906A, 1906B, 1906C, such as Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points (APs), each defining a corresponding coverage area 1908A, 1908B, 1908C. Each base station 1906A, 1906B, 1906C can be connected to the core network 1904 via a wired or wireless connection 1910. A first UE 1912 located in the coverage area 1908C is configured to be wirelessly connected or paged with the corresponding base station 1906C. A second UE 1914 in the coverage area 1908A can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 1906A. Although multiple UEs 1912, 1914 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is present within the coverage area and is connected to a corresponding base station 1906.

[0118] The telecommunications network 1900 is itself connected to a host computer 1916, which may be embodied in hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-executed server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 1916 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 1918 and 1920 between the telecommunications network 1900 and the host computer 1916 may extend directly from the core network 1904 to the host computer 1916, or may go through any intermediate network 1922. The intermediate network 1922 may be one or a combination of a public, private, or hosted network, if any, the intermediate network 1922 may be a backbone network or the Internet, and in particular the intermediate network 1922 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0119] The communication system of FIG. 19 generally provides connectivity between the connected UEs 1912, 1914 and the host computer 1916. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1924. The host computer 1916 and the connected UEs 1912, 1914 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 1924 using the access network 1902, the core network 1904, any intermediate networks 1922, and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as relays. The OTT connection 1924 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 1924 passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 1906 does not need to be informed of the past routing of incoming downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 1916 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 1912. Similarly, the base station 1906 does not need to be aware of the future routing of uplink communications originating from the UE 1912 towards the host computer 1916 .

[0120] Now, with reference to FIG. 20, an exemplary embodiment according to the UE, base station, and host computer embodiments discussed in the previous paragraph will be described. In the communication system 2000, the host computer 2002 has hardware 2004 including a communication interface 2006 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of another communication device of the communication system 2000. The host computer 2002 further has a processing circuit 2008 that may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 2008 may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 2002 further has software 2010, which is stored in or accessible to the host computer 2002 and executable by the processing circuit 2008. The software 2010 has a host application 2012. The host application 2012 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as the UE 2014, connecting via an OTT connection 2016 terminated at the UE 2014 and the host computer 2002. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 2012 may provide user data that is transmitted using the OTT connection 2016.

[0121] The communication system 2000 further includes a base station 2018 having hardware 2020 disposed within the communication system and enabling communication with the host computer 2002 and the UE 2014. The hardware 2020 may include a communication interface 2022 for setting up and maintaining wired or wireless connections with interfaces of other communication devices of the communication system 2000, as well as a wireless interface 2024 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 2026 with a UE 2014 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 20) served by the base station 2018. The communication interface 2022 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2028 to the host computer 2002. The connection 2028 may be direct, may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 20) of the communication system, and / or may pass through one or more intermediate networks external to the communication system. According to the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 2020 of the base station 2018 further includes processing circuitry 2030, which may include one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Additionally, the base station 2018 includes software 2032 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0122] The communication system 2000 further comprises the UE 2014 already mentioned. The hardware 2034 of the UE 2014 may comprise a wireless interface 2036 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 2026 with a base station serving the coverage area in which the UE 2014 is currently located. The hardware 2034 of the UE 2014 further comprises a processing circuit 2038 which may comprise one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2014 further comprises software 2040 which may be stored or accessible within the UE 2014 and which may be executable by the processing circuit 2038. The software 2040 comprises a client application 2042. The client application 2042 is operable, with the support of the host computer 2002, to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE 2014. In the host computer 2002, an executing host application 2012 may communicate with an executing client application 2042 via an OTT connection 2016 terminating in the UE 2014 and the host computer 2002. In providing services to a user, the client application 2042 may receive request data from the host application 2012 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2016 may transmit both the request data and the user data. The client application 2042 may interact with the user to generate the user data provided by the user.

[0123] It should be noted that the host computer 2002, base station 2018, and UE 2014 shown in Figure 20 may be similar to or identical to the host computer 1916, one of the base stations 1906A, 1906B, 1906C, and one of the UEs 1912, 1914 of Figure 19, respectively. That is, the internal operation of these entities may be as shown in Figure 20 or may be independent therefrom, and the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 19.

[0124] In Figure 20, the OTT connection 2016 is depicted abstractly to show communication between the host computer 2002 and the UE 2014 via the base station 2018, and the exact routing of messages through these devices, without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to be hidden from the UE 2014, or from the service provider operating the host computer 2002, or both. While the OTT connection 2016 is active, the network infrastructure may further determine to dynamically change the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0125] The wireless connection 2026 between the UE 2014 and the base station 2018 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 2014 using the OTT connection 2016 of which the wireless connection 2026 forms the final segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve, for example, data rates, latency, power consumption, etc., thereby providing advantages such as, for example, reduced user latency, relaxed file size limitations, better responsiveness, extended battery life, etc.

[0126] Measurement procedures may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors that one or more embodiments improve. Additionally, there may be optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2016 between the host computer 2002 and the UE 2014 in response to variability in the measurement results. The measurement procedures and / or network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2016 may be implemented in the software 2010 and hardware 2004 of the host computer 2002, or in the software 2040 and hardware 2034 of the UE 2014, or both. According to some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication devices through which the OTT connection 2016 passes, and the sensors may participate in the measurement procedures by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 2010, 2040 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 2016 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 2018 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2018. Such procedures and functionality may be those known and practiced in the art. According to some embodiments, measurements may have unique UE signaling that facilitates measurements of the host computer 2002 throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. Measurements may be performed by having the OTT connection 2016 send messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, while the software 2010 and 2040 monitor propagation times, errors, etc.

[0127] FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described in connection with FIG. 19 and FIG. 20. To simplify the disclosure, only the figures that refer to FIG. 21 are included in this section. In step 2100, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 2102 (which may be optional) of step 2100, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2104, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 2106 (which may be optional), the base station transmits the user data carried in the host computer initiated transmission to the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2108 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0128] FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described in connection with FIG. 19 and FIG. 20. To simplify the disclosure, only the figures that refer to FIG. 22 are included in this section. In step 2200 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2202, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmitted signal may be passed through the base station according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2204 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried by the transmitted signal.

[0129] FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described in connection with FIG. 19 and FIG. 20. To simplify the disclosure, only the figures that refer to FIG. 23 are included in this section. In step 2300 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2302, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 2304 (which may be optional) of step 2300, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 2306 (which may be optional) of step 2302, the UE executes a client application that provides the user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further take into account user input received from a user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data was provided, the UE begins transmitting the user data to the host computer in sub-step 2308. In step 2310 of the method, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0130] FIG. 24 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system has a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described in connection with FIG. 19 and FIG. 20. To simplify the disclosure, only the figures that refer to FIG. 24 are included in this section. In step 2400 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2402 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 2404 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0131] Any suitable step, method, feature, function, or benefit disclosed herein may be performed via one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may have several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may have one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, and the like. The program code stored in memory has program instructions for executing one or more communication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for executing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional units to perform the corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0132] Although the processes in the figures may indicate a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that such orders are exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform operations in different orders, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.).

[0133] Embodiment

[0134] Group A Embodiments

[0135] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a wireless device for linking PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets, the method comprising: receiving from a wireless node (500) a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set; and receiving a PDCCH monitoring period consisting of i.ks slots, and a number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, the number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, the number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L, and a number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L. (L) and iii. an SS set type, the SS set being either a common search space (CSS) set or a UE specific search space (USS) set; and iv. a downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored (502); activating the first CORESET in a first TCI state and the second CORESET in a second TCI state (504); linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of the first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of the second SS set (506); receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate from the wireless node (508); and detecting the PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates (510).

[0136] Embodiment 2: The method according to embodiment 1, wherein the first and second PDCCH candidates correspond to a same CCE aggregation level and have a same PDCCH candidate index.

[0137] Embodiment 3: A method according to any one of embodiments 1 and 2, further comprising configuring the first and second SS sets with one or more of: i. first and second PDCCH monitoring slot offsets Os1 and Os2; ii. first and second durations Ts1 and Ts2 indicating the number of consecutive slots to be subject to PDCCH monitoring; and iii. first and second PDCCH monitoring patterns within the PDCCH monitoring slot.

[0138] Embodiment 4: A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the first slot n1 of the first SS set and the slot n2 of the second SS set satisfy n1=nKs+Os1+i and n2=nKs+Os2+i, where n is an integer and i=0, 1, ..., min(Ts1, Ts2)-1.

[0139] Embodiment 5: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring pattern is a PDCCH monitoring pattern for symbol indexes {l1, l2, ..., l Ns1}, and the second PDCCH monitoring pattern comprises a set of starting symbols having symbol indices {s1, s2, ..., s Ns2}, where Ns1 and Ns2 are integers.

[0140] Embodiment 6: A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts with symbol li in the first slot of the first SS set, and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts with symbol si in the second slot of the second SS set, where i=1,...,min(Ns1,Ns2).

[0141] Embodiment 7: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, further comprising determining a time offset between reception of the PDCCH and a scheduled one of a PDSCH, a PUSCH, a CSI-RS, and an SRS, the time offset being determined between a latest occurring symbol of a first and a second PDCCH candidate and a first symbol of a corresponding one of a PDSCH, a PUSCH, a CSI-RS, and an SRS.

[0142] Embodiment 8: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 7, further comprising determining a PUCCH resource for carrying a HARQ A / N associated with a scheduled PDSCH, wherein determining the PUCCH resource comprises determining a PDCCH candidate from among the first and second PDCCH candidates associated with an SS set having a smaller SS ID or an SS associated with a CORESET having a smaller CORESET ID.

[0143] Embodiment 9: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the PUCCH resource is determined based on the determined PDCCH candidates and the associated CORESET.

[0144] Embodiment 10: A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, further comprising determining the start symbol of the PDCCH such that the start symbol is determined as the start symbol of one of the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities that occurs later in time.

[0145] Embodiment 11: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein the first and second SS sets are linked via an identifier.

[0146]

[0023] Embodiment 12: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising providing user data and transferring the user data to the base station via the transmission to a host computer.

[0147] Group B Embodiments

[0148] Embodiment 13: A method performed by a base station for linking a plurality of PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets, the method comprising: configuring a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set for a wireless node (600); configuring a PDCCH monitoring period consisting of i.ks slots; and configuring a number Ms of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level. (L) and iii. an SS set type, the SS set being either a Common Search Space (CSS) set or a UE Specific Search Space (USS) set; and iv. a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format to be monitored (602); activating a first CORESET in a first TCI state and a second CORESET in a second TCI state (604); linking a first PDCCH candidate in a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a first slot of the first SS set to a second PDCCH candidate in a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a second slot of the second SS set (606); and transmitting a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate to the wireless node (608).

[0149] Embodiment 14: The method according to embodiment 13, wherein the first and second PDCCH candidates correspond to a same CCE aggregation level and have a same PDCCH candidate index.

[0150] Embodiment 15: A method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 14, further comprising configuring the first and second SS sets with one or more of: i. first and second PDCCH monitoring slot offsets Os1 and Os2; ii. first and second durations Ts1 and Ts2 indicating the number of consecutive slots to be subject to PDCCH monitoring; and iii. first and second PDCCH monitoring patterns within the PDCCH monitoring slot.

[0151] Embodiment 16: A method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 15, wherein a first slot n1 of the first SS set and a second slot n2 of the second SS set satisfy n1=nKs+Os1+i and n2=nKs+Os2+i, where n is an integer and i=0, 1, ..., min(Ts1, Ts2)-1.

[0152] Embodiment 17: The method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 16, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring pattern is a PDCCH monitoring pattern for symbol indexes {l1, l2, ..., l Ns1}, and the second PDCCH monitoring pattern comprises a set of starting symbols having symbol indices {s1, s2, ..., s Ns2}, where Ns1 and Ns2 are integers.

[0153] Embodiment 18: A method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 17, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts with symbol li in the first slot of the first SS set, and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts with symbol si in the second slot of the second SS set, where i=1,...,min(Ns1,Ns2).

[0154] Embodiment 19: The method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 18, further comprising determining a time offset between reception of the PDCCH and a scheduled one of a PDSCH, a PUSCH, a CSI-RS, and an SRS, the time offset being determined between a symbol of a later PDCCH candidate of the first and second PDCCH candidates and the first symbol of a corresponding one of a PDSCH, a PUSCH, a CSI-RS, and an SRS.

[0155] Embodiment 20: The method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 19, further comprising: determining a PUCCH resource for carrying a HARQ A / N associated with a scheduled PDSCH; and determining the PUCCH resource comprises determining a PDCCH candidate from among the first and second PDCCH candidates associated with an SS set having a smaller SS ID or a CORESET having a smaller CORESET ID.

[0156] Embodiment 21: The method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 20, wherein the PUCCH resource is determined based on the determined PDCCH candidates and the associated CORESET.

[0157] Embodiment 22: A method according to any one of embodiments 13 to 21, further comprising determining a start symbol of the PDCCH such that the start symbol is determined as the start symbol of a later PDCCH monitoring opportunity among the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

[0158] Embodiment 23: The method of any of embodiments 13 to 22, wherein the first and second SS sets are linked via an identifier.

[0159] Embodiment 24: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising obtaining user data and transferring the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

[0160] Group C Embodiments

[0161] Embodiment 25: A wireless device for linking multiple PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets, the wireless device having a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in group A, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0162] Embodiment 26: A base station for linking multiple PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets, the base station having a processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group B, and a power supply circuit configured to provide power to the base station.

[0163] Embodiment 27: A user equipment (UE) for linking multiple PDCCH candidates in two linked search space (SS) sets, the UE having an antenna configured to transmit and receive radio signals, a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and a processing circuit and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit, the processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A, an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to enable input of information to the UE to be processed by the processing circuit, an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information from the UE processed by the processing circuit, and a storage battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0164] Embodiment 28: A communications system including a host computer having a processing circuit configured to provide user data and a communications interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the cellular network having a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the base station configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0165] Embodiment 29: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising the base station.

[0166] Embodiment 30: The communication system of the previous two embodiments, further comprising the UE, the UE configured to communicate with the base station.

[0167] Embodiment 31: A communication system according to any of the preceding three embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application thereby providing the user data, and the UE has processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0168] Embodiment 32: A method implemented in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; and initiating a transmission at the host computer conveying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the base station, the base station performing any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0169]

[0036] Embodiment 33: The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

[0170] Embodiment 34: The method of the previous two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, and the method further comprises executing at the UE a client application associated with the host application.

[0171] Embodiment 35: A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE having a radio interface and a processing circuit configured to perform the method of the previous three embodiments.

[0172] Embodiment 36: A communications system including a host computer having a processing circuit configured to provide user data and a communications interface configured to transfer the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the UE having a wireless interface and a processing circuit, the components of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0173] Embodiment 37: The communication system of any preceding embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0174] Embodiment 38: A communication system according to the previous two embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application thereby providing the user data, and the processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0175] Embodiment 39: A method implemented in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data at the host computer; and initiating a transmission at the host computer conveying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the base station, the UE performing any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0176]

[0046] Embodiment 40: The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising receiving, at the UE, the user data from the base station.

[0177] Embodiment 41: A communications system including a host computer, the communications system having a communications interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, the UE having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the UE configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0178] Embodiment 42: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising the UE.

[0179] Embodiment 43: The communication system of the previous two embodiments, further comprising the base station, the base station having a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to transfer the user data carried by transmissions from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0180] Embodiment 44: A communication system of any of the previous three embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application and the processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.

[0181] Embodiment 45: A communication system of any of the previous four embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application thereby providing requested data, and the processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application thereby providing the user data in response to the requested data.

[0182] Embodiment 46: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), comprising receiving, at the host computer, user data transmitted from the UE to the base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0183]

[0046] Embodiment 47: The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising: providing, at the UE, the user data to the base station.

[0184] Embodiment 48: The method of the previous two embodiments, further comprising: executing, at the UE, a client application thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and executing, at the host computer, a host application associated with the client application.

[0185] Embodiment 49: The method of the previous three embodiments, further comprising executing a client application in the UE and receiving input data for the client application in the UE, the input data being provided in the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, and the user data to be transmitted being provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0186] Embodiment 50: A communications system including a host computer having a communications interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, the base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the base station configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0187] Embodiment 51: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising the base station.

[0188] Embodiment 52: The communication system of the previous two embodiments, further comprising the UE, the UE configured to communicate with the base station.

[0189] Embodiment 53: A communication system of any of the previous three embodiments, wherein the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application and the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data received by the host computer.

[0190] Embodiment 54: A method implemented in a communications system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising receiving, at the host computer, user data from the base station derived from a transmission signal received by the base station from the UE, the UE performing any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group A.

[0191]

[0046] Embodiment 55: The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising receiving, at the base station, the user data from the UE.

[0192]

[0046] Embodiment 56: The method of the previous two embodiments further comprises initiating, at the base station, transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0193] Some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using one or more of the following suggestions.

[0194] Proposal 1: Support non-SFN scheme and option 2+case 1, i.e., option 3 (two SS sets associated with the corresponding CORESET) to confirm the operating assumptions for PDCCH reliability improvement.

[0195] Proposal 2: When PDCCH repetition is enabled for a UE, by default, two PDCCH candidates are linked. Whether more than two links can be set is FFS.

[0196] Proposal 3: Two blind decodes per PDCCH pair are counted towards the BD limit for a UE when the PDCCH consists of two linked PDCCH candidates.

[0197] Proposal 4: Support option 2 and use one of the linked PDCCH candidates in the CORESET with the smallest controlResourceSetId or the SS set with the smallest searchSpaceId in the linked SS set.

[0198] Proposal 5: The PDCCH symbol that occurs later in time in a pair of linked PDCCH candidates is defined as the last symbol, regardless of which PDCCH candidate the UE actually detects.

[0199] Proposal 6: The DAI counter DAI is incremented only the first time a PDCCH is transmitted in a linked pair of PDCCH candidates (ie, the first PDCCH opportunity).

[0200] Proposal 7: The existing procedure for Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook construction is only applied for the first PDCCH opportunity in case of PDCCH repeat, regardless of whether a PDCCH is actually detected in the first PDCCH opportunity and / or the second PDCCH opportunity.

[0201] Proposal 8: If a CORESET is not configured as unavailable for PDSCH and a PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH pair overlaps with resources in a CORESET that contains the PDCCH, PDSCH rate matching is performed by combining linked PDCCH candidates with corresponding DM-RS.

[0202] Proposal 9: DCI format 2-2 / 2-3 is also supported by multi-TRP based PDCCH enhancement.

[0203] Proposal 10: It is FFS whether one of the two activated TCI states is used as the default TCI state and is specified or indicated in the MAC CE that activates the TCI state.

[0204] Proposal 11: Consider first determining PDCCH enhancement using intra-slot PDCCH repetition.

[0205] Proposal 12: For codebook / non-codebook based multi-TRP PUSCH, support two separate SRI fields in the DCI, where the first SRI field indicates the SRI corresponding to the first TRP and the second SRI field indicates the SRI corresponding to the second TRP.

[0206] Proposal 13: For codebook-based multi-TRP PUSCH, support two separate TPMI fields in DCI, where a first TPMI field indicates a TPMI corresponding to a first TRP and a second TPMI field indicates a TPMI corresponding to a second TRP. The number of layers indicated in the first TPMI field and the second TPMI field are the same.

[0207] Proposal 14: Per TRP closed loop power control for PUSCH, option 3 is supported if a second TPC field is added in DCI format 0_1 / 0_2.

[0208] Proposal 15: Dynamic switching of PUSCH transmission to single-TRP and multi-TRP should be supported, i.e. each PUSCH transmission targets reception in one or two TRPs.

[0209] Proposal 16: Two SRI / TPMI fields are supported for PUSCH repeats towards the m-TRP.

[0210] Proposal 17: To dynamically indicate PUSCH transmission to a single TRP or multiple TRPs, each SRI / TPMI field includes a codepoint that indicates whether the SRI / TPMI field is disabled or not.

[0211] Proposal 18: Support option 1 for CG PUSCH transmission to multiple TRPs.

[0212] Proposal 19: For PUSCH repeat type B, reuse the same RV mapping method as for PUSCH repeat type A.

[0213] Proposal 20: Consider allowing back-to-back scheduling of PUSCH repeats over multiple DCIs for multiple TRPs in NR Release 17.

[0214] Proposal 21: Support A-CSI multiplexing on at least two PUSCH opportunities for different TRPs in NR Release 17 to improve A-CSI reliability.

[0215] Proposal 22: Intra-slot beam hopping (method 2) will not be supported in NR Release 17.

[0216] Proposal 23: Support multiple TRP intra-slot repeat (method 3) in NR Release 17.

[0217] Proposal 24: For intra-slot repetition, both short and long PUCCH formats are supported.

[0218] Proposal 25: For per-TRP closed-loop power control for PUCCH, in NR Release 17, support either option 3 (two TPC fields in DCI1_1 / 1_2) or option 4 (one codepoint in the TPC field indicating two TPC values).

[0219] In this disclosure, at least some of the following abbreviations may be used. In case of discrepancies between the abbreviations, how it is used above shall prevail. If listed multiple times below, the first listing shall prevail over any subsequent listings. ● 3GPP (registered trademark): Third Generation Partnership Project ● 5G: Fifth generation ● 5GC: Fifth generation core ● 5GS: Fifth Generation System ● ACK: Acknowledgement ● AF: Application Functions ● AMF: Access and Mobility Function ● AN: Access Network ● AP: Access Point ● ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit ● AUSF: Authentication Server Function ● BWP: Bandwidth Part ● C-RNTI: Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier ● CCE: Control Channel Element ● CG: Configured Grant ● CORESET: Control resource set ● CP-OFDM: Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ● CPU: Central Processing Unit ● CSI: Channel State Information ● CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal ● CSS: Common Search Space ● DCI: Downlink Control Information ● DFT: Discrete Fourier Transform ● DL: Downlink ● DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal ● DN: Data Network ● DSP: Digital Signal Processor ● eNB: Enhanced or evolved Node B ● FDM: Frequency domain multiplexing ● FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array ● gNB: New Radio Base Station ● gNB-CU: New wireless base station central unit ● gNB-DU: New Radio Base Station Distributed Unit ● HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request ● HSS: Home Subscriber Server ● IoT: Internet of Things ● IP: Internet Protocol ● LTE: Long Term Evolution ● MME: Mobility Management Entity ● MTC: Machine Type Communication ● NACK: Negative Acknowledgement ● NEF: Network Publishing Function ● NF: Network function ● NR: New Radio ● NRF: Network Function Repository Function ● NSSF: Network Slice Selection Function ● OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ● OTT: Over the top ● PC: Personal computer ● PCF: Policy Control Function ● PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel ● PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel ● P-GW: Packet Data Network Gateway ● PRI: Precoding rank indicator ● PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel ● PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel ● QCL: Quasi-collocation (near-identical arrangement) ● QoS: Quality of Service ● RAM: Random Access Memory ● RAN: Radio Access Network ● RB: Resource Block ● RE: Resource element ● REG: Resource element group ● RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identification ● ROM: Read-only memory ● RRH: Remote Radio Head ● RS: Reference signal ● RTT: Round Trip Time ● SCEF: Service Capability Exposure Function ● SLIV: Start and Length Indicator Values ● SMF: Session Management Facility ● SPS: Semi-persistent scheduling ● SR: Scheduling Request ● SRS: Sounding Reference Signal ● SS: Search Space ● SSB: Synchronous signal block ● TCI: Transmit Configuration Indicator ● TDM: Time domain multiplexing ● UDM: Unified Data Management ● UE: User Equipment ● UL: Uplink ● UPF: User Plane Function ● USS: UE specific search space

[0220] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and all such improvements and modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a wireless device for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in two linked search space (SS) sets, the method comprising: receiving from a wireless node a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set (500B); wherein the first SS set and the second SS set are linked and the first SS set and the second SS set are configured with a common set of parameters, the parameters comprising: A PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots; A PDCCH monitoring offset consisting of Os slots; Number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L Ms （Ｌ） and, a duration of Ts slots, the number of starting symbols or PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot; an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; A downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored; [0033] receiving a command to activate the first CORESET in a first TCI state and the second CORESET in a second TCI state (502B); determining (504B) for each aggregation level a first PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first SS set in a first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second SS set in a second slot; receiving a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a repeat of the PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate from the wireless node (506B); Detecting DCI carried by the PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates (508B); The method according to claim 1,

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second PDCCH candidates correspond to a same CCE aggregation level and have a same PDCCH candidate index in the respective CORESETs.

3. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities have the same index according to the first and second SS sets in the first and second slots, respectively.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first and second slots are the same slot.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: The first and second SS sets, First and second PDCCH monitoring slot offsets Os1 and Os2; First and second durations Ts1 and Ts2 indicating the number of consecutive slots to be monitored for PDCCH; the number of starting symbols in the first and second PDCCH monitoring patterns or PDCCH monitoring slots; and configuring with one or more of:

6. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first slot n1 of the first SS set and the second slot n2 of the second SS set satisfy n1=nKs+Os1+i and n2=nKs+Os2+i, where n is an integer and i=0, 1. . . . , min(Ts1, Ts2)-1.

7. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring pattern is a symbol index {l １ , l ２ ,... ,l Ｎｓ１ }, and the second PDCCH monitoring pattern comprises a set of starting symbols having symbol indices {s １ , s ２ ,... ,s Ｎｓ２ }, where Ns1 and Ns2 are integers.

8. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at a symbol li in the first slot of the first SS set, and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at a symbol si in the second slot of the second SS set, where i=1. . . . , min(Ns1, Ns2).

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: determining a time offset between reception of the PDCCH and a scheduled one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the time offset is determined between a later-occurring symbol of the first and second PDCCH candidates and a first symbol of a corresponding one of the PDSCH, the PUSCH, the CSI-RS, and the SRS.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: determining a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for carrying hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information associated with a scheduled PDSCH, wherein determining the PUCCH resource includes determining a PDCCH candidate from among the first and second PDCCH candidates associated with an SS set having a smaller SS ID or an associated CORESET having a smaller CORESET ID.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the PUCCH resource is determined based on the determined PDCCH candidate and the associated CORESET.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: determining a starting symbol of a PDCCH carrying DCI format 1_2 that schedules a PDSCH in mapping type B as the starting symbol of one of the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities that occurs later in time.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the first SS set and the second SS set are linked via an identifier.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the wireless device operates in a New Radio (NR) communications network.

15. 1. A method performed by a base station for transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in two linked search space (SS) sets, the method comprising: Configuring (600B) a wireless node with a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, where the first and second SS sets are linked; Configuring the first SS set and the second SS set using a common set of one or more parameters (602B), the parameters including: A PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots; A PDCCH monitoring offset consisting of Os slots; a duration of Ts slots, the number of starting symbols or PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot; Number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L Ms （Ｌ） and, an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; A downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored; [0033] activating (604B) the first CORESET in a first TCI state and the second CORESET in a second TCI state; Determining (606B) for each aggregation level a first PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first SS set in a first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second SS set in a second slot; transmitting to the wireless node a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and the same PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate (608B); The method according to claim 1,

16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate correspond to a same CCE aggregation level and have a same PDCCH candidate index in the respective CORESETs.

17. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities have the same index according to the first and second SS sets, respectively, in the first and second slots.

18. The method of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the first and second slots are the same slot.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, further comprising: The first and second SS sets, First and second PDCCH monitoring slot offsets Os1 and Os2; First and second durations Ts1 and Ts2 indicating the number of consecutive slots to be monitored for PDCCH; the number of starting symbols in the first and second PDCCH monitoring patterns or PDCCH monitoring slots; and configuring the first and second components in a first set of components with one or more of the following:

20. 20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first slot n1 of the first SS set and the second slot n2 of the second SS set satisfy n1=nKs+Os1+i and n2=nKs+Os2+i, where n is an integer and i=0, 1. . . . , min(Ts1, Ts2)-1.

21. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring pattern is a symbol index {l １ , l ２ ,... ,l Ｎｓ１ }, and the second PDCCH monitoring pattern comprises a set of starting symbols having symbol indices {s １ , s ２ ,... ,s Ｎｓ２ }, where Ns1 and Ns2 are integers.

22. 22. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at symbol li in the first slot of the first SS set, and the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity starts at symbol si in the second slot of the second SS set, where i=1. . . . , min(Ns1, Ns2).

23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, further comprising: determining a time offset between reception of a PDCCH and a scheduled one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the time offset is determined between a later occurring symbol of the first and second PDCCH candidates and a first symbol of a corresponding one of the PDSCH, the PUSCH, the CSI-RS, and the SRS.

24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23, further comprising: determining a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for carrying hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information associated with a scheduled PDSCH, wherein determining the PUCCH resource includes determining a PDCCH candidate from among the first and second PDCCH candidates associated with an SS set having a lower SS ID or an associated CORESET having a lower CORESET ID.

25. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the PUCCH resource is determined based on the determined PDCCH candidate and the associated CORESET.

26. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 25, further comprising: determining a starting symbol of a PDCCH carrying DCI format 1_2 that schedules a PDSCH in mapping type B, wherein the starting symbol is determined to be the starting symbol of a later occurring one of the first and second PDCCH monitoring opportunities.

27. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 26, wherein the first SS set and the second SS set are linked via an identifier.

28. A wireless device (1700), One or more transmitters (1708); One or more receivers (1710); a processing circuit (1702) associated with the one or more transmitters (1708) and the one or more receivers (1710), the processing circuit (1702) providing the wireless device (1700) with: receiving from a wireless node a configuration of a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, wherein the first and second SS sets are linked and the first SS set and the second SS set are configured with a common set of parameters, the parameters comprising: A PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots; A PDCCH monitoring offset consisting of Os slots; Number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L Ms （Ｌ） and, a duration of Ts slots, the number of starting symbols or PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot; an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; A downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored; [0033] receiving a command to activate the first CORESET in a first TCI state and the second CORESET in a second TCI state; determining, for each aggregation level, a first PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first SS set in a first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second SS set in a second slot; receiving, from the wireless node, a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and a repeat of the PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate; detecting DCI carried by the PDCCH in the first and second PDCCH candidates; 2. A wireless device configured to:

29. A wireless device (1700) according to claim 28, said wireless device (1700) being further adapted to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 to 14.

30. A radio access node (1400), One or more transmitters (1412); One or more receivers (1414); and a processing circuit (1404) associated with the one or more transmitters (1412) and the one or more receivers (1414), the processing circuit (1404) providing to the radio access node (1400): causing the wireless node to configure a first control resource set (CORESET) associated with a first SS set and a second CORESET associated with a second SS set, wherein the first and second SS sets are linked; The first SS set and the second SS set are configured with a common set of parameters, the parameters being: A PDCCH monitoring period consisting of ks slots; A PDCCH monitoring offset consisting of Os slots; a duration of Ts slots, the number of starting symbols or PDCCH monitoring opportunities per slot; Number of PDCCH candidates per aggregation level L Ms （Ｌ） and, an SS set type, which is either a common search space (CSS) set or a user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS) set; A downlink control information (DCI) format to be monitored; one or more of activating the first CORESET in a first TCI state and the second CORESET in a second TCI state; determining, for each aggregation level, a first PDCCH candidate in the first CORESET at a first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first SS set in a first slot and a second PDCCH candidate in the second CORESET at a second PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second SS set in a second slot; causing the wireless node to transmit a PDCCH in the first PDCCH candidate and the same as the PDCCH in the second PDCCH candidate; 2. A radio access node comprising:

31. A radio access node (1400) according to claim 30, wherein said radio access node (1500) is further adapted to perform a method according to any of claims 16 to 27.

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