Method and apparatus for interference reduction and coordination

Abstract

A method and apparatus for interference reduction and coordination in a wireless communication system, the method for operating a base station includes determining first information associated with a first serving cell, the first information including a first interference level from an interference level set, a first priority level from a priority level set, and a first resource from a resource set, the first interference level and the first priority level being associated with the first resource, the method further including transmitting the first information.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to interference protection and coordination in wireless communication systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) mobile communications has recently gained increasing momentum with global technology activity moving toward a variety of candidate technologies from industry and academia. Candidate enablers for 5G / NR mobile communications include large-scale antenna technologies from legacy cellular frequency bands to higher frequencies to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveforms (e.g., new radio access technologies (RATs)) that flexibly accommodate various services / applications with different requirements, and new multiple access schemes that support massive connectivity.

[0003] Following the deployment of fourth-generation (4G) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved fifth-generation (5G) or pre-5G communication systems to meet the growing demand for wireless data traffic. These 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also referred to as "beyond 4G networks" or "post-LTE (post long term evolution) systems." To achieve even higher data rates, the 5G communication system is expected to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, such as the 60 GHz band. To reduce radio wave propagation loss and extend transmission distances, techniques such as beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional multiple-input multiple-output (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antennas are being discussed for 5G communication systems. Furthermore, in the 5G communication system, development is underway to improve the system network based on next-generation small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving networks, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), receiver-end interference cancellation, etc. In the 5G system, hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK), Feher's quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM), and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) have been developed as advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) have been developed as advanced access technologies.

[0004] The Internet, a human-centric network of connectivity where people generate and consume information, is now evolving into the Internet of Things (IoT), where distributed entities like things exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE) has emerged, combining IoT technology connected to cloud servers with big data processing technology. Because technological elements such as sensing technology, wired / wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology are required to realize the IoT, sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and machine-type communication (MTC) have recently been researched. Such an IoT environment can provide intelligent Internet technology services that create new value in human life by collecting and analyzing data generated between connected things. The IoT will be applied to a variety of fields, including smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart or connected vehicles, smart grids, healthcare, smart home appliances, and next-generation medical services, through the convergence and combination of existing information technology (IT) with various industrial applications.

[0005] Accordingly, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as sensor networks, MTC, and M2M communications are implemented using beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. The application of the aforementioned big data processing technology on Cloud RAN can also be seen as an example of the convergence of 5G and IoT technologies.

[0006] As mentioned above, various services are provided by the development of wireless communication systems, and therefore, there is a demand for a method for easily providing such services. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to interference protection and coordination in wireless communication systems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In one embodiment, a method of operating a base station is provided, the method including determining first information related to a first serving cell, the first information including a first interference level from an interference level set, a first priority level from a priority level set, and a first resource from a resource set, the first interference level and the first priority level being associated with the first resource, and the method further including transmitting the first information.

[0009] In one embodiment, the method further includes transmitting second information relating to a range set including at least one of an interference power range set, a signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR) range set, a reference signal received power (RSRP) range set, and a transmission duration range set, wherein a first interference level associated with the first resource is further associated with a range from the range set provided by the second information.

[0010] In one embodiment, the first information is associated with each of at least two synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks transmitted on the first serving cell.

[0011] In one embodiment, the unit for the first resource from the resource set is at least one of an absolute time unit, number of symbols, or slot for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS); an absolute frequency unit, number of resource blocks (RB), or bandwidth part (BWP) associated with the reference SCS; and an absolute spatial unit, synchronization signal / primary broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block index, or SS / PBCH region.

[0012] In one embodiment, the method further includes receiving second information related to time, frequency, or space resources to be used for transmitting system information (SI) or paging related to a second serving cell, the second information including at least one of a periodicity and slot offset for transmitting the SI or paging, and frequency resources of a control resource set (CORESET#0) having index zero associated with scheduling the transmission of the SI or paging.

[0013] In one embodiment, the method further includes transmitting second information related to a set of disjoint time, frequency, or space resource patterns, and transmitting a signal using time, frequency, or space resources from a pattern from the pattern set, or a set of properties related to channel transmission or channel reception, the set of properties including at least one of a transmit power control parameter set, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, a maximum number of repetitions, and a set of slot timing values ​​for transmitting acknowledgement information after an associated reception slot.

[0014] In another embodiment, a first base station is provided, the first base station including a processor configured to determine first information related to a first serving cell, the first information including a first interference level from an interference level set, a first priority level from a priority level set, and a first resource from a resource set, the first interference level and the first priority level being associated with the first resource, and a transceiver unit operatively coupled to the processor, the transceiver unit configured to transmit the first information.

[0015] In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to transmit second information relating to a range set including at least one of an interference power range set, a signal-to-noise ratio and interference ratio (SINR) range set, a reference signal received power (RSRP) range set, and a transmission duration range set, wherein the first interference level associated with the first resource is further associated with a range from the range set provided by the second information.

[0016] In one embodiment, the first information is associated with each of at least two synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks transmitted on the first serving cell.

[0017] In one embodiment, the unit for the first resource from the resource set is at least one of: an absolute time unit, number of symbols, or slots for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS); an absolute frequency unit, number of resource blocks (RBs), or bandwidth portions (BWPs) for a reference SCS; and an absolute spatial unit, synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block index, or SS / PBCH region.

[0018] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second information relating to a set of time, frequency or space resources associated with each of at least two synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks transmitted on the second serving cell.

[0019] In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to receive second information related to time, frequency or space resources to be used for transmitting system information (SI) or paging related to the second serving cell, the second information including a periodicity and slot offset for the transmission of the SI or paging, and at least one of frequency resources of a control resource set (CORESET#0) having index zero associated with scheduling the transmission of the SI or paging.

[0020] In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to transmit second information related to a set of non-overlapping time, frequency, or space resource patterns and a set of properties related to a signal using time, frequency, or space resources from a pattern from the set of patterns, or a channel transmission or channel reception, where the set of properties is at least one of a transmit power control parameter set, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, a maximum number of repetitions, and a set of slot timing values ​​for transmitting acknowledgement information after an associated reception slot.

[0021] In yet another embodiment, a second base station is provided, the second base station including a transceiver configured to receive first information related to a first serving cell, the first information including a first interference level from an interference level set, a first priority level from a priority level set, and a first resource from a resource set, the first interference level and the first priority level being associated with a first resource.

[0022] In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to receive second information relating to a range set including at least one of an interference power range set, a signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR) range set, a reference signal received power (RSRP) range set, and a transmission duration range set, wherein the first interference level associated with the first resource is further associated with a range from the range set provided by the second information.

[0023] In one embodiment, the first information is associated with each of at least two synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks transmitted on the first serving cell.

[0024] In one embodiment, the unit for the first resource from the resource set is at least one of: an absolute time unit, number of symbols, or slots for a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS); an absolute frequency unit, number of resource blocks (RBs), or bandwidth portions (BWPs) for a reference SCS; and an absolute spatial unit, synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block index, or SS / PBCH region.

[0025] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit second information related to a set of time, frequency, or space resources associated with each of at least two synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) blocks transmitted on the second serving cell.

[0026] In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to transmit second information related to time, frequency or space resources to be used for transmitting system information (SI) or paging related to the second serving cell, the second information including a periodicity and slot offset for the transmission of the SI or paging, and at least one of frequency resources of a control resource set (CORESET#0) having index zero associated with scheduling the transmission of the SI or paging.

[0027] Other technical features will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

[0028] Before embarking on the following detailed description, it will be advantageous to refer to definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term "couple" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not they are in physical contact with one another. The terms "transmit," "receive," and "communicate," as well as their derivatives, include both direct and indirect communication. The terms "comprise" and "include," as well as their derivatives, mean "including" without limitation. The term "or" is inclusive and means "and / or." The phrase "associated with," as well as derivatives thereof, means "including," "contained within," "interconnected with," "containing," "enclosed in," "connected to or with," "coupled to or with," "capable of communicating with," "cooperate with," "interleave," "collocated with," "proximate to," "associated with or with," "having," "having the characteristics of," "related to or with." The term "controller" means any device, system, or portion thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be embodied in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be local or remote, centralized or distributed. The phrase "at least one of," when used in conjunction with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and that only any one item in the list may be required. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A, B, and C.

[0029] Furthermore, various functions described below may be embodied or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, associated data, or portions thereof suitable for implementation in suitable computer-readable program code. The term "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The term "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), hard disk drive, compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. "Non-transitory" computer-readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transmit transient electrical or other signals. Non-transitory computer-readable media include media on which data can be permanently stored and media on which data can be stored and later overwritten, such as rewritable optical disks or erasable memory devices.

[0030] Definitions of other specific words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, and those skilled in the art should understand that in many, if not most, instances, such definitions may apply to prior and future uses of the words and phrases so defined. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0031] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like parts and in which:

[0032] [Figure 1] 1 is a drawing illustrating an example wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary gNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless transmission path according to the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless receive path according to the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination regarding interference protection levels for resources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuration of multiple time / frequency / spatial resource sets, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for interference protection level determination for time / frequency / space resources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] A diagram showing an exemplary Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination regarding interference information or load information for time / frequency / space resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for exchanging load / interference information between two gNBs, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a drawing illustrating exemplary PDSCH and PDCCH transmissions, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for instructions by a first / attacker gNB to a second / victim gNB in ​​accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for radio resource control (RRC) configuration of assistance information for a UE, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] 1 is a drawing illustrating an example transmission of periodic or semi-permanent channel state information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for RRC configuration of periodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 16] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example setting in which a UE transmits a configured grant (CG)-physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with various transmit power levels in a victim cell, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 17] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example operation of a transmit timing constraint, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example operation of a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) transmission timing constraint, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] The following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, is provided to aid in a comprehensive understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. Although various specific details are included to aid in such understanding, these details should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications to the various embodiments described in the present disclosure can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Furthermore, descriptions of commonly known functions and configurations are omitted for the sake of clarity and conciseness.

[0034] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to their bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0035] The singular forms applicable to the use of "a," "an," and "the" should be understood to include plural references unless expressly indicated otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a "component surface" includes reference to one or more such surfaces.

[0036] While describing the present embodiment, technical contents that are widely known in the related technical field and are not directly related to the present disclosure will not be provided, and by omitting redundant explanations, the essence of the present disclosure will be clearly explained without being unclear.

[0037] For the same reason, elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or illustrated schematically in the drawings for clarity, and the dimensions of each element may not completely reflect their actual size. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements.

[0038] As used in this disclosure, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Phrases such as "at least one of," when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements, not individual elements of that list. Throughout this disclosure, the phrase "at least one of a, b, or c" refers to a alone, b alone, c alone, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, or a, b, and c, or variations thereof. The advantages and features of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as methods for achieving the same, will be more readily understood with reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. Accordingly, the embodiments may have different forms and should not be construed as limited to the description set forth in this disclosure. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the embodiments to those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to be defined solely by the appended claims.

[0039] It will be understood that combinations of blocks in a flowchart or process flowchart can also be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded into a general-purpose computer processor, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that the instructions executed by the computer processor or other programmable data processing device create units that perform the functions described in the flowchart blocks. The computer program instructions can also be stored in computer-usable or computer-readable memory that can instruct the computer or other programmable data processing device to implement the functions in a particular manner, and thus the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory can further create an item of manufacture that includes instruction units for performing the functions described in the flowchart blocks. The computer program instructions can also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing device, so that when a series of operations are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing device, the instructions for operating the computer or other programmable data processing device can provide operations to perform the functions described in the flowchart blocks by creating a computer-executed process.

[0040] Furthermore, each block may represent a portion, segment, or code of a module including one or more executable instructions for performing the specified logical function. It should be further noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of sequence. For example, two blocks illustrated as successive may in fact be executed substantially in parallel, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in reverse order, depending on the corresponding functions.

[0041] Here, the term "unit" in the embodiments of the present disclosure refers to a software or hardware component, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), that performs a specific function. However, the term "unit" is not limited to software or hardware. The "unit" may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or to operate one or more processors. Thus, for example, the term "unit" may refer to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, and may also include processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables. The functionality provided by the components and "units" may be associated with fewer components and "units" or may be divided into additional components and "units." Furthermore, the components and "units" may be implemented to implement one or more central processing units (CPUs) in a device or a secure multimedia card. In this embodiment, a "unit" also includes at least one processor. In this disclosure, a control unit is also referred to as a processor.

[0042] Wireless communication systems have evolved from initially providing voice-oriented services to broadband wireless communication systems providing, for example, high speed and high quality packet data services, namely, 3GPP® high speed packet access (HSPA), LTE (long-term evolution) or E-UTRA (evolved universal terrestrial radio access) and LTE-advanced (LTE-A), 3GPP®2 high rate packet data (HRPD) and UMB (ultra mobile broadband), and IEEE 802.16e communication standards. Fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) communication standards are being developed for 5G wireless communication systems.

[0043] One or more embodiments will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in the description of the present disclosure, specific detailed descriptions of relevant functions or configurations will be omitted if it is deemed that such descriptions may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present disclosure. All terms, including descriptive or technical terms, used in the present disclosure should be construed as having meanings that are obvious to those skilled in the art. However, these terms may have different meanings based on the intentions of those skilled in the art, precedents, or the emergence of new technologies. Therefore, the terms used in the present disclosure should be defined based on their meanings, along with the explanations throughout the specification. Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is a subject that allocates resources to a terminal, and also refers to at least one of a gNodeB, eNodeB, Node B, base station (BS), radio access unit, base station controller, and node on a network. The terminal may also include user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions, etc. In this disclosure, DL (downlink) refers to a radio transmission path of a signal transmitted from a base station to a terminal, and UL (uplink) refers to a radio transmission path of a signal transmitted from a terminal to a base station. Throughout this specification, a layer (or a layer device) is also referred to as an entity. Furthermore, although one or more embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below as an example of an LTE system or an LTE-A system, one or more embodiments may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel configurations. For example, this may include 5G mobile communication technologies (5G, New Radio (NR)) developed after LTE-A. Furthermore, one or more embodiments may also be applied to other communication systems through partial modifications within the scope of the present disclosure by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0044] In an LTE system, a representative example of a broadband wireless communication system, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is used in DL, and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDMA) is used in UL. UL refers to a radio link through which a terminal (UE) or MS transmits data or control signals to a BS or gNodeB, and DL refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits data or control signals to a terminal. In such multiple access methods, the data or control information of each user is classified by generally allocating and operating the data or control information so that the time and frequency resources for transmitting the data or control information related to each user do not overlap with each other, in other words, so that orthogonality is established.

[0045] Terms such as physical channels and signals in an existing LTE system or LTE-A system are also used to describe the method and apparatus proposed in this disclosure, but the content of this disclosure applies to a wireless communication system instead of the LTE system or the LTE-A system.

[0046] 1-19 discussed below and in this patent document, the various embodiments used to explain the principles of the present disclosure are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be embodied in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0047] The following documents are incorporated by reference into this disclosure, as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP® TS 38.211 v16.2.0, "NR; Physical channels and modulation"; 3GPP® TS 38.212 v16.2.0, "NR; Multiplexing and Channel coding"; 3GPP® TS 38.213 v16.2.0, "NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Control"; 3GPP® TS 38.214 v16.2.0, "NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Data"; 3GPP® TS 38.321 v16.1.0, "NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification"; 3GPP® TS 38.331 v16.1.0, "NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification"; 3GPP® TS 3GPP® TS 38.300 v16.2.0, "NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description; Stage 2"; 3GPP® TS 36.300 v16.2.0, "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2"; 3GPP® TS 36.423 v16.2.0, "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); X2 application protocol (X2AP)"; and 3GPP® TS 38.423 Rel-16 v16.2.0, "NG-RAN; Xn application protocol (XnAP)"

[0048] 1-3 below describe various embodiments implemented in a wireless communication system and using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques. The descriptions in FIGS. 1-3 are not intended to imply physical or architectural limitations on how different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communication system.

[0049] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network illustrated in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0050] 1, the wireless network includes gNB 101 (e.g., base station (BS)), gNB 102, and gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, such as the internet, a proprietary internet protocol (IP) network, or other data network.

[0051] The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of user equipment (UE) within the coverage area 120 of the gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes UE 111, which may be located at a small business (SB), UE 112, which may be located at an enterprise (E), UE 113, which may be located at a WiFi hotspot (HS), UE 114, which may be located at a first residence (R), UE 115, which may be located at a second residence (R), and UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, etc. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within the coverage area 125 of the gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and UEs 111-116 using 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication techniques.

[0052] Depending on the network type, the terms "base station" or "BS" may refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as a transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), 5G / NR base station (gNB), macrocell, femtocell, WiFi access point (AP), or other wireless-enabled device. The base station may provide wireless access via one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 5G / NR 3GPP® NR, long term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For convenience, the terms "BS" and "TRP" are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the network type, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may refer to any component such as a "mobile station," "subscribing station," "remote terminal," "wireless terminal," "receiving point," or "user device." For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone or smartphone) or is generally considered to be a base station device (e.g., a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0053] Dashed lines indicate the general extent of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are depicted as approximately circular for purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should certainly be understood that the coverage areas associated with gNBs, i.e., coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstacles.

[0054] As described in further detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116 may include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for interference mitigation and coordination, and in certain embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 may include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for interference mitigation and coordination.

[0055] Although Figure 1 illustrates an example wireless network, various modifications can be made to Figure 1. For example, the wireless network can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, gNB 101 can directly communicate with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102 and 103 can directly communicate with network 130 and provide those UEs with direct wireless broadband access to network 130. Moreover, gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0056] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary gNB 102 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 illustrated in Figure 2 is for illustrative purposes only; gNBs 101 and 103 of Figure 1 may have identical or similar configurations. However, the gNBs come in a wide variety of configurations, and Figure 2 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of the gNB.

[0057] 2, gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205a-205n, multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers 210a-210n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 215, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 220. gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 225, memory 230, and a backhaul or network interface (IF) 235.

[0058] The RF transceivers 210a-210n receive incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100, from the antennas 205a-205n. The RF transceivers 210a-210n downconvert the incoming RF signals to generate intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are transmitted to the RX processing circuitry 220, which filters, decodes, and / or digitizes the baseband or IF signals to generate processed baseband signals. The RX processing circuitry 220 transmits the processed baseband signals to the controller / processor 225 for further processing.

[0059] TX processing circuitry 215 receives analog or digital data (e.g., voice data, web data, email, or interactive video game data) from control unit / processor 225. TX processing circuitry 215 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. RF transceivers 210a-210n receive the processed baseband or IF signals from TX processing circuitry 215 and upconvert the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via antennas 205a-205n.

[0060] The controller / processor 225 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 225 may control the reception of uplink (UL) channel signals and the transmission of downlink (DL) channel signals via the RF transceivers 210a-210n, the RX processing circuitry 220, and the TX processing circuitry 215 in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 225 may also support additional functions, such as more advanced wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 225 may support beamforming or directional routing operations in which outgoing / incoming signals from / to multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of other functions may also be supported by the controller / processor 225 from the gNB 102.

[0061] Controller / processor 225 can also execute programs and other processes, such as an operating system (OS), that reside in memory 230. Controller / processor 225 can move data in and out of memory 230 as required by the executing processes.

[0062] The controller / processor 225 is also coupled to a backhaul or network interface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems via a backhaul connection or via a network. The interface 235 may support communication via any suitable wired or wireless connection. For example, when the gNB 102 is embodied as part of a cellular communication system (e.g., one that supports 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is embodied as an access point, the interface 235 may allow the gNB 102 to communicate via a wired or wireless local area network, or via a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (e.g., the Internet). Interface 235 includes any suitable structure that supports communication over a wired or wireless link, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

[0063] Memory 230 is coupled to controller / processor 225. A portion of memory 230 may include random access memory (RAM), and another portion of memory 230 may include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0064] While FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a gNB 102, various modifications can be made to FIG. 2 . For example, the gNB 102 can include any number of each of the components illustrated in FIG. 2 . As a particular example, an access point can include multiple interfaces 235, and a controller / processor 225 can assist in interference mitigation and coordination. As another particular example, while illustrated as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry 215 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 220, the gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (e.g., one per RF transceiver). Additionally, the various components of FIG. 2 can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components can be added as desired.

[0065] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary UE 116 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of UE 116 illustrated in Figure 3 is for illustrative purposes only; UEs 111-115 of Figure 1 may have identical or similar configurations. However, the UEs come in a wide variety of configurations, and Figure 3 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of the UE.

[0066] 3, the UE 116 includes an antenna 305, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 310, a TX processing circuit 315, a microphone 320, and an RX processing circuit 325. The UE 116 also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 345, a touchscreen 350, a display 355, and memory 360. The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.

[0067] The RF transceiver 310 receives incoming RF signals transmitted by gNBs in the network 100 from the antenna 305. The RF transceiver 310 downconverts the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are transmitted to the RX processing circuitry 325, which filters, decodes, and / or digitizes the baseband or IF signals to generate processed baseband signals. The RX processing circuitry 325 transmits the processed baseband signals to the speaker 330 (e.g., for voice data) or the processor 340 (e.g., for web browsing data) for further processing.

[0068] TX processing circuitry 315 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data (e.g., web data, email, or interactive video game data) from processor 340. TX processing circuitry 315 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceiver 310 receives the processed baseband or IF signal from TX processing circuitry 315 and upconverts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via antenna 305.

[0069] The processor 340 may include one or more processors or other processing devices and may execute an operating system (OS) 361 stored in memory 360 to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 340 may control the reception of downlink channel signals and the transmission of uplink channel signals by the RF transceiver 310, the RX processing circuitry 325, and the TX processing circuitry 315 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one processor or microcontroller.

[0070] Processor 340 may also execute other processes and programs resident in memory 360, such as processes for beam management. Processor 340 may move data in and out of memory 360 as required by the executing processes. In some embodiments, processor 340 is configured to execute applications 362 based on an operating system (OS) 361 or in response to signals received from the gNB or an operator. Processor 340 is also coupled to I / O interface 345, which provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptops and handheld computers. I / O interface 345 is a communication path between these accessories and processor 340.

[0071] Processor 340 is also coupled to a touchscreen 350 and a display 355. An operator of UE 116 can use touchscreen 350 to input data into UE 116. Display 355 can be a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering text and / or at least limited graphics from a website, so to speak.

[0072] Memory 360 is coupled to processor 340. A portion of memory 360 may include RAM, and another portion of memory 360 may include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0073] While FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a UE 116, various modifications may be made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added according to specific needs. As a specific example, the processor 340 may be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as a mobile phone or smartphone, the UE may be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0074] Following the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop and deploy improved 5G / NR or pre-5G communication systems to meet the demand for increased wireless data traffic and enable diverse vertical applications. Accordingly, 5G / NR or pre-5G / NR communication systems are also referred to as "beyond-4G networks" or "post-LTE systems." It is contemplated that the 5G / NR communication systems will be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, such as the 28 GHz or 60 GHz bands, to achieve higher data rates, or in lower frequency bands such as 6 GHz to enable robust coverage and mobility support. Aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to the deployment of 5G communication systems, 6G communication systems, or later releases that can use the terahertz (THz) band. To reduce radio wave propagation loss and extend transmission distance, techniques such as beamforming, massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output), FD-MIMO (full dimensional multiple-input multiple-output), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antennas are being discussed in 5G / NR communication systems.

[0075] In addition, in the 5G / NR communication system, developments are underway to improve the system network based on next-generation small cells, cloud RAN (radio access networks), ultra-high density networks, D2D (device-to-device) communication, wireless backhaul, moving networks, cooperative communication, CoMP (coordinated multi-points), and receiver-end interference cancellation.

[0076] A communication system includes a downlink (DL), which refers to transmission from a base station, or one or more transmitting points, to a UE, and an uplink (UL), which refers to transmission from a UE to a base station, or one or more receiving points.

[0077] A time unit for downlink (DL) signaling or uplink (UL) signaling on a cell is called a slot and includes one or more symbols. The symbol can also serve as a further time unit. A frequency (or bandwidth (BW)) unit is called a resource block (RB). One RB includes multiple subcarriers (SCs). For example, a slot can have a duration of 0.5 ms or 1 ms and include 14 symbols, and the RB can have 12 SCs with a spacing of 15 kHz or 30 kHz between the SCs.

[0078] DL signals include data signals carrying information content, control signals carrying DL control information (DCI), and reference signals (RS), also known as pilot signals. A gNB transmits data information or DCI over a respective physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) or physical DL control channel (PDCCH). The PDSCH or PDCCH may also be transmitted over a variable number of slot symbols, including one slot symbol. For simplicity, a DCI format that schedules PDSCH reception by a UE is referred to as a DL DCI format, and a DCI format that schedules physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission from a UE is referred to as a ULDCI format.

[0079] The gNB transmits one or more types of RSs, including channel state information (CSI-RS) and demodulation RS (DMRS). The CSI-RS is primarily intended for UEs to perform measurements and provide channel state information (CSI) to the gNB. For channel measurements, non-zero power CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resources are used. For interference measurement reports (IMRs), CSI interference measurement (CSI-IM) resources associated with the zero power CSI-RS (ZP CSI-RS) configuration are used. The CSI process includes NZP CSI-RS resources and CSI-IM resources.

[0080] The UE can determine the CSI-RS transmission parameters from the gNB via DL control signaling or higher layer signaling, i.e., radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The transmission instance of the CSI-RS can be indicated by DL control signaling or configured by higher layer signaling. The DMRS is transmitted only in the BW of the respective PDCCH or PDSCH, and the UE can use the DMRS to demodulate data or control information.

[0081] 4 and 5 illustrate example wireless transmit and receive paths according to the present disclosure. In the following description, transmit path 400 is also described as being implemented in a gNB (e.g., gNB 102), while receive path 500 is also described as being implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 116). However, it can be understood that receive path 500 is also implemented in a gNB, and transmit path 400 is also implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, receive path 500 is configured to support codebook design and structure for a system with a 2D antenna array as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0082] The transmit path 400 illustrated in Figure 4 includes a channel coding and modulation block 405, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 410, a size N inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block 415, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 420, a cyclic prefix (CP) addition block 425, and an up-converter (UC) 430. The receive path 500 illustrated in Figure 5 includes a down-converter (DC) 555, a cyclic prefix (CP) removal block 560, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 565, a size N fast Fourier transform (FFT) block 570, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 575, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 580.

[0083] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the channel coding and modulation block 405 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (e.g., low-density parity check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (e.g., with quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)) to generate a frequency-domain modulation symbol sequence.

[0084] The serial-to-parallel block 410 converts (i.e., demultiplexes) the serially modulated symbols to parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is the IFFT / FFT size used by the gNB 102 and the UE 116. The size-N IFFT block 415 performs an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. The parallel-to-serial block 420 converts (i.e., multiplexes) the parallel time-domain output symbols from the size-N IFFT block 415 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The add CP block 425 inserts a CP into the time-domain signal. The upconverter 430 modulates (i.e., upconverts) the output of the add CP block 425 to an RF frequency for transmission over a wireless channel. The signal may also be baseband filtered before conversion to an RF frequency.

[0085] After the transmitted RF signals from the gNB 102 pass through a wireless channel, they arrive at the UE 116, and the reverse operations to those at the gNB 102 are performed at the UE 116.

[0086] As illustrated in FIG. 5, downconverter 555 downconverts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and CP removal block 560 removes the CP to generate a serial time-domain baseband signal. Serial-to-parallel block 565 converts the time-domain baseband signal to parallel time-domain signals. N-FFT block 570 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. Parallel-to-serial block 575 converts the parallel frequency-domain signals into a sequence of modulated data symbols. Channel decoding and demodulation block 580 demodulates and then decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0087] Each of the gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmit path 400 as illustrated in Figure 4 similar to transmission in the downlink to the UEs 111-116, and may implement a receive path 500 as illustrated in Figure 5 similar to reception in the uplink from the UEs 111-116. Similarly, each of the UEs 111-116 may implement a transmit path 400 for transmission in the uplink to the gNBs 101-103, and may implement a receive path 500 for reception in the downlink from the gNBs 101-103.

[0088] Each of the components in Figures 4 and 5 may be implemented using hardware alone or a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in Figures 4 and 5 may also be implemented using software, while other components may also be implemented using configurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. For example, FFT block 570 and IFFT block 515 may also be implemented using configurable software algorithms, where the value of size N is also modified by the implementation.

[0089] Furthermore, even if FFT and IFFT are described as being used, they are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms, such as discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) functions, can be used. It will be understood that the value of the variable N can be any integer (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) for the DFT and IDFT functions, but can also be any integer that is a power of two (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.) for the FFT and IFFT functions.

[0090] While Figures 4 and 5 illustrate example wireless transmit and receive paths, various modifications may be made to Figures 4 and 5. For example, various components in Figures 4 and 5 may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components may be added according to specific needs. Also, Figures 4 and 5 are intended to illustrate examples of types of transmit and receive paths that may be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture may be used to support wireless communication in a wireless network.

[0091] The present disclosure relates to a pre-5G communication system, a 5G communication system, or a post-5G communication system that is provided to support one or more of higher data rates, lower latency, higher reliability, and massive connectivity, and post-4G communication systems such as LTE. While the present disclosure focuses on a 3GPP® 5G NR communication system, various embodiments also generally apply to UEs that operate under other RATs and / or standards, such as different releases / generations of the 3GPP® standard (including post-5G, 5G advanced, 6G, etc.), IEEE standards (e.g., 802.16 WiMAX and 802.11 Wi-Fi, etc.).

[0092] This disclosure relates to inter-cell interference coordination where two or more (adjacent) cells operate in the same frequency band and, therefore, at least for cell-edge UEs, transmission and / or reception in those cells is significantly affected by inter-cell interference. Although the focus of this disclosure is on inter-cell interference, for example, for UEs at the edges of two or more cells, it is contemplated that "interference" also applies to other spatial units / entities, such as TRPs, TPs, beams, for UEs at the edges of two or more TRPs / TPs / beams, and inter-TRP / inter-TP / inter-beam interference may also be considered.

[0093] There is a need to protect time / frequency / space resources from inter-cell interference. There is another need for interference-aware scheduling. There is yet another need for adjusted gNB / UE operation to accommodate resource protection, for example by reducing transmit power. There is a further need that the transmit and receive timing of the gNB / UE must be aligned with the timing of the protected resources.

[0094] The present disclosure provides improvements for inter-cell interference protection. Various embodiments present methods for indicating protected resources, such as time / frequency / space resources, that have multiple interference protection levels, where the interference protection levels correspond to specific levels or ranges related to transmission activity, transmission likelihood, transmit power level, etc. Various embodiments provide solutions for indicating priority levels related to resources, such that more important / critical resources are protected against inter-cell interference and therefore receive higher protection levels.

[0095] In this disclosure, various embodiments present solutions for assistance information indication of particular interfering transmissions and configuration information for those interfering transmissions. In this disclosure, various embodiments provide methods for time pattern configuration that facilitate CSI-RS transmissions, or configured grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) transmissions, subject to variable power levels, beam management and beam failure recovery, and transmission timing constraints aligned with the timing of interference-protected resources.

[0096] One synchronization focus for these improved schemes is low-band operation, where serving cell boundaries are large and many UEs may be affected by inter-cell interference. However, the present embodiments are general and can be applied to different frequency bands, including various frequency bands, e.g., mid-frequency bands such as 1-7 GHz, and high / mm frequency bands such as 24-100 GHz, in different frequency ranges (FR) such as FR1, FR2, and FR4 or FR2-2. Furthermore, the present embodiments are general and can be applied to a variety of use cases and settings, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC) and industrial internet of things (IIoT), massive machine type communication (mMTC) and IoT, sidelink / vehicle-to-everything (V2X), operation in unlicensed / shared spectrum (NR-U), non-terrestrial networks (NTN), RedCap (operation with reduced capability) UE, and private (non-public) networks (NPN).

[0097] The present disclosure addresses the aforementioned concepts and provides further design aspects to support inter-cell interference protection and coordination, and discloses novel solutions and embodiments for UE operation as well as inter-gNB message exchanges, summarized as follows and described in further detail below.

[0098] In one embodiment of E-1, coordination between an aggressor gNB and a victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference protection levels is provided. In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate on the same frequency band / carrier, a first gNB, e.g., an aggressor gNB serving a macro cell, can indicate (e.g., via the Xn interface) to a second gNB, e.g., a victim gNB serving a small cell, how much protection is provided for different time / frequency / spatial resources in terms of how much inter-cell interference is caused by the aggressor gNB and / or experienced by the victim gNB.

[0099] Thus, the first gNB minimizes or completely avoids all transmissions by the first gNB in ​​the time / frequency / space resources to facilitate scheduling opportunities for victim cells, such as the victim gNB's cell-edge UEs, thereby minimizing or eliminating all inter-cell interference associated with the given time / frequency / space resources. In this sense, these time / frequency / space resources are also referred to as "reduced activity allocation (RAA)" or "reduced activity resources (RAR)." Meanwhile, the first gNB has more freedom and flexibility to schedule and / or configure transmissions, such as UL / DL / SL, in the less protected or unprotected time / frequency / space resources.

[0100] Progressively, interference protection levels, ranging from "no protection" to "medium protection" to "full protection," vary depending on the transmission activity level, e.g., transmission presence / likelihood / density, transmission power level, transmission duration, transmission periodicity, service / traffic type, e.g., eMBB vs. URLLC, associated with the transmission, or UE density, e.g., the number of (active) UEs that can share and / or use the resource and receive / transmit, or latency / throughput requirements associated with transmission on the resource.

[0101] In one embodiment of E-1-1, coordination between an aggressor gNB and a victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference levels is provided, along with a priority level. In one embodiment, when two (neighboring) cells operate in the same frequency band, a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, can indicate to a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, the inter-cell interference level experienced on time / frequency / space resources, possibly along with a priority level to indicate how critical / important the resources are for the second gNB's operation, such as for scheduling critical services. According to this embodiment, such indication may include, or may implicitly indicate, a preferred interference protection level (as discussed in embodiment E-1 above) from the second gNB's perspective and a preferred resource set requested from the first gNB. Note that the first gNB, i.e., the aggressor gNB, may or may not consider such preferences and requests, and any action is up to the first gNB.

[0102] In one embodiment of E-2, coordination between an aggressor gNB and a victim gNB involved in inter-cell interference is provided by providing interference transmission assistance information. In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate on the same frequency band, a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, can indicate to a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB (e.g., via the Xn interface) the inter-cell interference level experienced on time / frequency / space resources, possibly along with a priority level to indicate how critical / important the resources are for second gNB operations, such as for scheduling / configuring critical services.

[0103] According to this embodiment, such an indication may include or implicitly indicate a preferred interference protection level from the perspective of the second / victim gNB (as discussed in embodiment E-1 above) and a preferred resource set requested from the first / aggressor gNB. Note that the first gNB, i.e., the aggressor gNB, may or may not take such preferences and requests into consideration, and any action is up to the first gNB. However, the indication of the priority level may help the first / aggressor cell or gNB to be more aware of the interference situation from the perspective of the second / victim gNB, but, for example, partially accept the request from the second / victim gNB, to more fully determine the more important / critical resources that must be protected, for example, in terms of reducing the transmission activity level (e.g., transmission likelihood / density / power level) associated with those resources.

[0104] In one embodiment of E-2-1, coordination between the aggressor gNB and the victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference is provided by indicating a preferred / requested configuration of "reduced activity / high protection" resources. In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate in the same frequency band, a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, can indicate (e.g., via the Xn interface) to a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, a preferred set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" time / frequency / space resources.

[0105] In one embodiment of E-3, a CSI-RS with variable transmit power for handling inter-cell interference is provided. In one embodiment, for periodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS (P / SP CSI-RS), a UE is configured with two / multiple different transmit power levels or differences between transmit power levels with two / multiple disjoint time patterns, such as two / multiple disjoint slot sets, and the UE receives the same CSI-RS (resources) with a first transmit power level in a first time pattern / first slot set and a second transmit power level in a second time pattern / second slot set, where the first transmit power level is different from the second transmit power level. The UE can consider the difference in CSI-RS transmit power levels when using a single time pattern or multiple time patterns for CSI-RS measurement to determine a CSI report.

[0106] In one embodiment of E-3-1, the configuration of two / multiple sets of uplink power control parameters for the CG-PUSCH is provided by the configuration for reduced active slots / protected resources. In one embodiment, the UE can be configured with two / multiple uplink power control parameter sets for the CG-PUSCH configuration, each of which corresponds to a set of slots / occasions / resources for CG-PUSCH transmission. According to this embodiment, the UE transmits the CG-PUSCH having a first power control parameter set in a first slot / resource set and a second power control parameter set in a second slot / resource set.

[0107] In one embodiment of E-3-2, the configuration of a time pattern for L1-Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) / L1-Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR) measurements used for beam management and / or link resumption procedures is provided by a configuration involving reduced activity slots / protected resources. In one embodiment, a UE may be configured with a time pattern, such as a set of slots / opportunities, for measurements of SSB and / or CSI-RS resources, such as L1 / L3 RSRP or SINR measurements or variations thereof, including radio link quality measurements for a bandwidth part (BWP) of the serving cell (i.e., for beam failure detection and / or new candidate beam identification), targeted at beam management and / or link resumption procedures (also known as beam failure resumption). According to this embodiment, the UE is not expected to use (e.g., is not allowed to average) the measurement results of SSB and / or CSI-RS resources when reporting the results of L1 / L3 RSRP or SINR measurements.

[0108] In one embodiment of E-4, a transmission timing constraint is provided based on a configuration of reduced activity slots / protected resources. In one embodiment, the UE is configured with a pattern of transmission timing constraints, such as K0, K1, and K2, based on a configuration of reduced activity slots, or more generally, protected resources, such that the UE transmission and / or reception timing, such as the transmission timing of dynamically scheduled PUSCHs, as well as the reception timing of dynamically scheduled PDSCHs and the transmission timing of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information feedback, overlaps with the reduced activity slots / protected resources.

[0109] In this disclosure, the terms "synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB)" and "SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block" are used interchangeably.

[0110] In this disclosure, the term "configuration" and its variants (e.g., "configured") are used to refer to one or more of system information signaling, such as via a master information block (MIB) or system information block (SIB), common upper layer / RRC signaling, and dedicated upper layer / RRC signaling.

[0111] The antenna ports are defined such that the channel carried by a symbol on an antenna port can be inferred from the channel carried by other symbols on the same antenna port.

[0112] In the case of a DMRS associated with a PDSCH, the channel on which a PDSCH symbol on one antenna port is carried is also inferred from the channel on which a DM-RS symbol on the same antenna port is carried if and only if the two symbols are in the same resource as the scheduled PDSCH, in the same slot and in the same PRG.

[0113] For a DMRS associated with a PDCCH, the channel on which a PDCCH symbol on one antenna port is carried is also inferred from the channel on which a DMRS symbol on the same antenna port is carried if and only if there are two symbols within the resource for which the UE can assume the same precoding is used.

[0114] For PBCH and associated DMRS, the channel carried by a PBCH symbol on one antenna port is also inferred from the channel carried by a DMRS symbol on the same antenna port if and only if the two symbols are within an SS / PBCH block transmitted in the same slot and have the same block index.

[0115] Two antenna ports are said to be quasi-colocated (QCL) if the large-scale properties of the channel through which symbols on one antenna port are carried are also inferred from the channel through which symbols on the other antenna port are carried, including one or more of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, mean gain, mean delay, and spatial Rx parameters.

[0116] A UE may assume that SS / PBCH blocks transmitted with the same block index on the same center frequency location are quasi-collocated with respect to Doppler spread, Doppler shift, mean gain, mean delay, delay spread, and spatial Rx parameters, if applicable. The UE does not assume quasi-collocation for any other SS / PBCH block transmissions.

[0117] In the absence of CSI-RS configuration, and unless configured differently, the UE may assume that the PDSCH DM-RS block and the SS / PBCH block are quasi-co-located with respect to Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread, and, if applicable, spatial Rx parameters. The UE may assume that the PDSCH DM-RSs within the same code division multiplexing (CDM) group are quasi-co-located with respect to Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread, and spatial Rx. The UE may also assume that the DMRS ports associated with the PDSCH are quasi-co-located with respect to QCL type A, QCL type D (if applicable), and mean gain. The UE may additionally assume that the DMRSs do not collide with the SS / PBCH blocks.

[0118] For decoding a PDSCH with a detected PDCCH with DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell, the UE is configured with a list of maximum MTCI-State settings in the higher layer parameter PDSCH-Config, where M depends on the UE capability maxNumberConfiguredTCIstatesPerCC. Each TCI-State contains parameters for setting a quasi co-located (QCL) relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and a DMRS port of the PDSCH, a DMRS port of the PDCCH, or a CSI-RS port of the CSI-RS resources.

[0119] The QCL relationship is set by the upper layer parameters qcl-Type1 for the first DLRS and qcl-Type2 (if set) for the second DLRS. For two DLRSs, the QCL types are not the same regardless of whether the references relate to the same or different DLRSs. The quasi-collocation type corresponding to each DLRS is given by the upper layer parameter qcl-Type in QCL-Info, which can take one of the following values: "QCL-Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread}; "QCL-Type B": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}; "QCL-Type C": {Doppler shift, mean delay}; and "QCL-Type D": {Spatial Rx parameters}.

[0120] The UE receives a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) activation command for mapping up to N (e.g., N=8) TCI states to codepoints of the DCI field "TransmissionConfigurationIndication". If a HARQ-ACK corresponding to a PDSCH carrying the activation command is transmitted in slot n, the indicated mapping of TCI states to codepoints of the DCI field "TransmissionConfigurationIndication" is applied after the MAC-CE application time, e.g., slot n. [Number] It can start from the first slot after.

[0121] Inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) has the task of managing radio resources so that inter-cell interference is kept under control. The ICIC mechanism includes a frequency domain component and a time domain component. ICIC is essentially a multi-cell radio resource management (RRM) function that needs to consider information from multiple cells (e.g., resource usage status and traffic load situation). The preferred ICIC method can be different for uplink and downlink.

[0122] Frequency domain ICIC manages radio resources, particularly radio resource blocks, and multiple cells coordinate the use of frequency domain resources.

[0123] In time division duplexing (TDD), the intended UL-DL configuration is exchanged via backhaul signaling, and frequency domain ICIC information is exchanged per subframe set, allowing multiple cells to coordinate their frequency domain resource usage across subframe sets.

[0124] In the case of time-domain ICIC, subframe utilization across different cells is coordinated on time via backhaul signaling configuration or operation, administration, and management (OAM) configuration in a so-called almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern. In the aggressor cell, the ABS is used to protect subframe resources in victim cells that experience strong inter-cell interference. The ABS is a subframe with reduced transmit power (including no transmission) and / or reduced activity for some physical channels. The eNB ensures backward compatibility towards the UE by transmitting system information as well as necessary control channels and physical signals.

[0125] ABS-based patterns are signaled to the UE to restrict UE measurements to certain subframes, so-called measurement resource restriction. There are different patterns depending on the type of cell (serving cell or neighbor cell) being measured and the measurement type (e.g., RRM, radio link monitoring (RLM)). Multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) subframes are also used for time-domain ICIC when MBSFN subframes are also included in the ABS pattern. The eNB cannot configure MBSFN subframes as ABS if they are used for other purposes (e.g., MBMS, LCS).

[0126] Extending cell coverage by connecting a UE to a cell that is weaker than the strongest detected cell is called cell range extension (CRE). In time-domain ICIC, a CRE UE can continue to be served by a victim cell (i.e., a weaker cell) while under strong interference from an aggressor cell (i.e., a stronger cell).

[0127] A UE under strong interference from an aggressor cell may need to mitigate the interference from the aggressor cell on some physical channels and signals in order to receive data from the serving cell, detect a weak cell, or perform measurements on a weak cell.

[0128] The network may provide SIB1 to the UE in the CRE domain through dedicated RRC signaling to assist the UE in acquiring system information.

[0129] The ICIC is located at the eNB.

[0130] RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restrictions are signaled to the UE so that the UE can measure "protected" resources of the serving cell and / or neighboring cells. There are three types of measurement resource restriction patterns that can be configured for the UE. In one example of Pattern 1, a single RRM / RLM measurement resource restriction for the PCell is provided. In another example of Pattern 2, a single RRM measurement resource restriction for a designated list of neighboring cells operating on the same carrier frequency as the PCell is provided. In yet another example of Pattern 3, a resource restriction for CSI measurement of the PCell is provided. In such an example, two configured subframe subsets are configured for each UE. The UE reports CSI for each configured subframe subset.

[0131] In the above example of Pattern 3, the selection of the two subframe subsets is up to the network, but typically the two subframe subsets are selected with the expectation that CSI measurements using the two configured subframe subsets will be subject to different levels of interference (e.g., one subframe subset indicates ABS, while the second subframe subset indicates non-ABS). In the case of periodic CSI reporting, the linkage of each CSI report involving the configured subframe subsets is defined in TS 36.331. In the case of aperiodic CSI reporting, the UE reports CSI based on the subframe subset that includes the CSI reference resource.

[0132] In RRC_CONNECTED, the RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restrictions are configured by dedicated RRC signaling.

[0133] The network can configure the CRS assistance information of the aggressor cell in the UE to help the UE mitigate interference from the CRS of the aggressor cell.

[0134] When time-domain inter-cell interference coordination is used for non-member UEs adjacent to a closed subscription group (CSG) cell, the OAM configures the CSG cell not to use a time-domain resource set (i.e., a subframe set), so that non-member UEs adjacent to the CSG cell can still be served by other cells. The OAM also configures neighboring cells of the CSG cell with protected time-domain resource sets not used by the CSG cell, so that the neighboring cells know which time-domain resources can be used for non-member UEs adjacent to the CSG cell.

[0135] If time domain inter-cell interference coordination is used to mitigate interference between two cells, e.g., using X2 signaling of ABS patterns from the interfering eNB to the interfered eNB, the following OAM requirements apply:

[0136] In one example, the OAM can set up associations between eNBs to use time domain inter-cell interference coordination.

[0137] In one example, if a common subset involving ABS patterns from multiple interfering cells is a desired deployment scenario, the OAM configuration ensures that a "common subset" exists between the ABS patterns of those interfering cells.

[0138] Whether a common ABS pattern from multiple eNBs is desirable or not depends on the deployment scenario of the time domain solution for inter-cell interference coordination.

[0139] How a receiving eNB derives a "usable ABS subset" from the ABS patterns coming from multiple neighboring eNBs is up to the eNB implementation.

[0140] An eNB using cell on / off can adaptively turn on and off downlink transmission of a cell. The cell whose downlink transmission is turned on can be configured as a deactivated secondary cell (SCell) for the UE. The cell performing on / off can transmit only periodic discovery signals, and the UE is also configured to measure discovery signals related to RRM. Cell on / off can be performed for purposes such as inter-cell interference coordination and avoidance, load balancing, and energy conservation. Criteria used for cell on / off include, for example, traffic load increase / decrease, UE arrival / departure (i.e., UE-cell association), and packet arrival / completion.

[0141] When a UE performs RRM measurements and discovery / signal-based measurements are configured for the UE, the UE can determine a cell or a cell's transmission point based on the discovery signal.

[0142] Inter-cell interference coordination in evolved-universal terrestrial radio access networks (E-UTRAN) is performed via the X2 interface. In case of a change in interference conditions, an eNB signals the new conditions to neighboring eNBs, e.g., neighboring eNBs for which the X2 interface is set up for mobility reasons.

[0143] When time domain inter-cell interference coordination is used to mitigate interference, an eNB signals the ABS pattern to neighboring eNBs, and the receiving eNB can utilize the ABS of the transmitting eNB with less interference.

[0144] A typical use case for a time domain solution for inter-cell interference coordination is when an eNB providing wider coverage (macrocell) and therefore more capacity limited, determines the ABS pattern and instructs that pattern to eNBs providing smaller coverage (small cells) in its area.

[0145] When inter-eNB CoMP is used, the eNB signals the CoMP hypotheses and associated benefit metrics to neighboring eNBs, which the receiving eNB can then take into account for RRM.

[0146] The load indication procedure is used to communicate interference coordination information between neighboring eNBs managing intra-frequency cells and neighboring frequency TDD cells.

[0147] The X2 user plane interface (X2-U) is defined between eNBs. The X2-U interface provides non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs. The user plane protocol stack for the X2 interface is illustrated in the LTE standard. The transport network layer is built on IP transport, and the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP-U) is used over the User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol (UDP / IP) to transport user plane protocol data units (PDUs).

[0148] The X2-U interface protocol stack is identical to the S1-U protocol stack.

[0149] In the case of DC, if the X2-U user data bearer is associated with an E-UTRAN radio access bearer (E-RAB) with the split bearer option configured, GTP-U carries packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs in the uplink and downlink, and a RAN container containing flow control information. The RAN container is carried in the "RAN container" field of the GTP-U extension header.

[0150] The flow control function applies only if the E-RAB is configured for the split bearer option and for DL ​​only, i.e., flow control information is provided only by the secondary eNB (SeNB) to the master eNB (MeNB) so that the MeNB controls the downlink user data flow to the SeNB. The flow control function is further described in TS 36.425.

[0151] An X2 control plane interface (X2-CP) is defined between two adjacent eNBs. The transport network layer is built on IP and is based on the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP). The application layer signaling protocol is called X2-AP (X2 application protocol).

[0152] Per X2-C interface instance, a single SCTP association may be used with one pair of stream identifiers for X2-C common procedures, and only some pairs of stream identifiers may also be used for X2-C specific procedures.

[0153] The source eNB communication context identifier assigned by the source eNB for the X2-C dedicated procedure and the target eNB communication context identifier assigned by the target eNB for the X2-C dedicated procedure are also used to distinguish UE-specific X2-C signaling transport bearers, and are conveyed in each X2AP message.

[0154] The RN terminates the X2-AP, in which case there is one X2 interface relationship between the RN and the donor eNB (DeNB).

[0155] TDD enhanced interference management and traffic adaptation (eIMTA) allows for adaptation of uplink and downlink configuration via L1 signaling. E-UTRAN configures UEs for TDD eIMTA operation.

[0156] For uplink scheduling and HARQ timing, the UE follows the reference uplink and downlink configuration as provided in SIB1. For downlink HARQ timing, the UE follows the reference uplink and downlink configuration provided via dedicated signaling.

[0157] The downlink subframes of the reference configuration provided in SIB1 are kept unchanged, while only a subset of uplink and special subframes are reconfigured to downlink subframes. E-UTRAN transmits L1 signaling on the Primary Cell (PCell) PDCCH to the UE to indicate which uplink and downlink configurations defined in TS 36.211 are currently used for one or more serving cells. The uplink and downlink configurations provided by the L1 signaling apply to multiple RRC-reconfigured radio frames.

[0158] The UE uses the L1-signaled uplink and downlink configuration for (E)PDCCH monitoring and CSI measurement.

[0159] UE RRM / RLM measurements are not affected by the TDD eIMTA configuration.

[0160] For DLCSI measurements of each serving cell, two subframe sets may be configured via RRC signaling.

[0161] For PUSCH / surrounding reference signal (SRS) UL power control of each serving cell, two subframe sets with separate power control parameters may be configured via RRC signaling.

[0162] Subframe set dependent overload indications and uplink and downlink configurations intended to be used by a cell are also exchanged between eNBs over the X2 interface to facilitate TDD eIMTA operation.

[0163] A UE supporting network assisted interference cancellation / suppression (NAICS) receiver functionality can mitigate PDSCH and CRS interference from an aggressor cell in order to more fully receive the PDSCH from the serving cell.

[0164] The network can configure the UE with the NAICS information of the aggressor cell to help the UE mitigate the PDSCH and CRS interference of the aggressor cell. To support NAICS, the eNB can exchange NAICS information with neighboring eNBs via X2 signaling.

[0165] Homogeneous network scenarios involving the operation of multiple adjacent macro cells can benefit from inter-cell interference coordination and resource conservation in the same frequency band. In such cases, reserving reduced activity slots, and more generally protected time / frequency / space resources, is advantageous for cell-edge UEs in adjacent cells, as they can operate with less or no interference and experience higher data rates without the need for modulation and coding scheme (MCS) reduction or rate matching. This is also particularly useful for operation in lower frequency bands, such as below 1 GHz.

[0166] Dominant interference conditions may occur when non-member UEs are close to a CSG cell. Depending on the network deployment and strategy, it may not be possible to switch UEs experiencing inter-cell interference to other E-UTRA carriers or other RATs. Time-domain ICIC is also used to allow such non-member UEs to continue to be served by a macro cell in the same frequency layer.

[0167] Such interference can also be mitigated by the CSG cell using ABS to protect its subframes from interference. Non-member UEs can signal using protected resources for cell measurements (RRM), RLM, and CSI measurements to the serving macrocell, allowing the UE to continue being served by the macrocell under strong interference from the CSG cell.

[0168] In RRC_CONNECTED, the network may find, such as via existing measurement events (defined as of LTE Release 8 / 9), that the UE experiences dominant interference from a CSG cell of which the UE is not a member, at which point the network may choose to configure an RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restriction for the UE. The network may also configure an RRM measurement resource restriction for neighboring cells to facilitate mobility from the serving macrocell. When the network detects that the UE is no longer severely interfered with by the CSG cell, the network may remove the RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restriction.

[0169] Time-domain ICIC is also used for pico UEs served at the edge of a serving pico cell, e.g., traffic offloading from a macro cell to a pico cell, to allow such UEs to continue to be served by a pico cell in the same frequency layer.

[0170] Such interference is also mitigated by the macrocell utilizing almost blank subframes (ABS) to protect the picocell's subframes from interference, and UEs served by the picocell use the protected resources for RRM, RLM, and CSI measurements for the serving picocell.

[0171] For UEs served by a picocell, the RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restriction can allow more accurate measurements of the picocell under strong interference from a macrocell. The picocell can selectively set the RRM / RLM / CSI measurement resource restriction only for those UEs that experience strong interference from the macrocell. Also, for UEs served by the macrocell, the network can set the RRM measurement resource restriction for neighboring cells to facilitate mobility from the macrocell to the picocell.

[0172] If different TDD DL / UL patterns are used between adjacent cells, UL transmission in one cell may also interfere with DL reception in other cells, which is called cross link interference (CLI).

[0173] To mitigate CLI, the gNB can exchange and adjust its intended TDD DL-UL configuration via the Xn and F1 interfaces, and the victim UE is also configured to perform CLI measurements. There are two types of CLI measurements: SRS-RSRP measurements, where the UE measures the SRS-RSRP via the SRS resources of the aggressor UE, and CLI-RSSI measurements, where the UE measures the overall received power observed via received signal strength indicator (RSSI) resources.

[0174] Tier 3 filtering is applied to CLI measurements and both triggered event and periodic reporting is supported.

[0175] Xn is the network interface between NG-RAN nodes.

[0176] An Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface is defined between two NG-RAN nodes. The transport network layer is built on IP transport, and GTP-U is used over UDP / IP to transport user plane PDUs.

[0177] Xn-U provides non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and supports the following functions: data forwarding and flow control.

[0178] Additional details of Xn-U can be found in TS 38.420.

[0179] An Xn control plane interface (Xn-C) is defined between two NG-RAN nodes. The transport network layer is built on IP and is based on SCTP. The application layer signaling protocol is called the Xn Application Protocol (Xn AP). The SCTP layer provides guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to transport signaling PDUs.

[0180] The Xn-C interface supports the following functions: Xn interface management; UE mobility management, including context transfer and RAN paging; and dual connectivity. Additional details of Xn-C can be found in TS 38.420.

[0181] The load reporting function is performed by exchanging load information over the Xn / X2 / F1 / E1 interfaces.

[0182] Radio resource usage (PRB usage per cell and per SSB region: DL / UL GBR PRB usage, DL / UL non-GBR PRB usage, DL / UL total PRB usage, and DL / UL scheduled PDCCH CCE usage); transmission network layer (TNL) capacity indicator (provided capacity and available capacity of UL / DL TNL); cell capacity class value (UL / DL relative capacity indicator); capacity value (per cell, per SSB region, and per slice: UL / DL available capacity); HW capacity indicator (provided throughput and available throughput via E1, percentage utilization via F1); RRC connection (number of RRC connections and available RRC connection capacity); and load-related information including the number of active UEs can be supported.

[0183] To accomplish the load reporting function, the Initiate Resource Status Report and Report Resource Status procedures are used.

[0184] An SSB consists of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), each occupying one symbol and 127 subcarriers, while a PBCH spans three OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, leaving one symbol unused in the middle of the SSS. The possible time locations of the SSBs within a half-frame are determined by the subcarrier spacing, and the period of the half-frame during which the SSBs are transmitted is set by the network. During a half-frame, different SSBs are also transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e., using different beams and across the cell's coverage area).

[0185] Within the frequency span of a carrier, multiple SSBs may be transmitted. The physical cell identifiers (PCIs) of SSBs transmitted at different frequency locations need not be unique; that is, different SSBs in the frequency domain may have different PCIs. However, when the SSBs are associated with remaining minimum system information (RMSI), they correspond to individual cells with unique NR cell global identifiers (NCGIs). Such SSBs are referred to as cell-defining SSBs (CD-SSBs). A PCell is associated with a CD-SSB located on the synchronization raster.

[0186] Polar coding and QPSK modulation are used for the MIB provided by the PBCH. The UE can assume band-specific subcarrier spacing for the SSB unless the network configures the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing. PBCH symbols carry frequency-multiplexed DMRS carried by the PBCH. The PBCH physical layer model is described in TS 38.202.

[0187] The MIB on the PBCH provides the UE with parameters (e.g., control resource set (CORESET) #0 setting) for monitoring the PDCCH to schedule the PDSCH carrying SIB1. The PBCH can also indicate if there is no associated SIB1, in which case the UE can be directed to a frequency range in which the UE can assume there is no SSB associated with SIB1, as well as other frequencies on which to search for the SSB associated with SIB1. The indicated frequency range is limited to within the same operator's contiguous spectrum allocation in which the SSB is detected.

[0188] The following identities are used in the NG-RAN to identify specific network entities: AMF Name, which is used to identify the AMF; and NCGI, which is used to globally identify an NR cell. The NCGI consists of the public land mobile network (PLMN) identity to which the cell belongs and the NR cell identity (NCI) of the cell. The PLMN ID included in the NCGI is also the first PLMN ID in the set of PLMN IDs associated with the NR cell identity in SIB1 according to broadcast order.

[0189] How to manage scenarios where different PLMN IDs are assigned by the operator per NCGI is left to the OAM and / or implementation: a gNB identifier (gNB ID) used to identify a gNB within a PLMN. The gNB ID is included in the NCI of the gNB's cell; a global gNB ID used to identify a gNB globally. The global gNB ID consists of the PLMN identity to which the gNB belongs and the gNB ID; the mobile country code (MCC) and mobile network code (MNC) are the same as those included in the NCGI.

[0190] It is not excluded that a cell served by a gNB does not broadcast the PLMN ID included in the global gNB ID. In one example, a tracking area identity (TAI) is used to identify a tracking area. The TAI consists of the PLMN identity to which the tracking area belongs and the tracking area code (TAC) of the tracking area (TA).

[0191] In one example, single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) is used to identify a network slice. In one example, a network identifier (NID) identifies a standard non-public network (SNPN) in combination with a PLMN ID. In one example, a closed access group (CAG) identifier is used to identify a closed access group (CAG) within a PLMN.

[0192] For a UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state, the BWP configured for the UE by the serving cell may overlap in the frequency domain with BWPs configured for other UEs by other cells within the carrier. Multiple SSBs may also be transmitted within the frequency span of the carrier used by the serving cell. However, from the UE's perspective, each serving cell is associated with at most a single SSB. There may be a scenario in which multiple SSBs, i.e., SSB1, SSB2, SSB3, and SSB4, each identifying two different cells with overlapping BWPs (NCGI=5 associated with SSB1 and NCGI=6 associated with SSB3), are configured on one carrier, and RRM measurements are performed by the UE on each of the available SSBs, i.e., SSB1, SSB2, SSB3, and SSB4.

[0193] There are 1,008 unique physical layer cell identities given by:

number

number

[0194] For example, a method for symbol group indication for PDSCH / PUSCH transmission uses start and length indicator values ​​(SLIV) as follows: The number of consecutive symbols L counted from the start symbol S (e.g., assigned to PDSCH / PUSCH) is determined from the start and length indicator (SLIV) as follows:

number

number

number

[0195] The PDSCH / PUSCH mapping type is set to Type A or Type B, based primarily on whether the transmission starts at the beginning of the slot or in the middle of the slot, and is defined in full detail in clause 7.4.1.1.2 of [TS 38.211]. Table 1 shows the valid S and L combinations.

[0196] [Table 1]

[0197] While the focus of this disclosure is on inter-cell interference, for example, in the case of a UE at the edge of two or multiple cells, it is contemplated that "interference" applies to other spatial units / entities such as TRP, TP, distributed unit (DU), remote unit (RU), access unit (AU), remote radio head (RRH), beam, for a UE at the edge of, for example, two or multiple TRP / TP / DU / RU / RRH / AU / RRH / beam, etc., and also includes inter-TRP / inter-TP / inter-DU / inter-RU / inter-AU / inter-RRH / beam interference, etc.

[0198] Various embodiments of the present disclosure consider two gNBs and / or two gNBs operating on the same frequency band / carrier, where a first gNB / cell causes interference and some UEs, such as a second gNB / cell and / or cell-edge UEs served by the second gNB / cell, experience interference. The former gNB / cell is referred to as the aggressor gNB / cell, and the latter gNB / cell is also referred to as the victim gNB / cell. In some scenarios, inter-cell interference may be primarily caused by one gNB / cell to another gNB / cell (e.g., by the first gNB / cell to the second gNB / cell) due to different transmit power levels, such as in heterogeneous networks where a macro cell interferes with a small / micro / pico cell.

[0199] In some other scenarios, inter-cell interference affects both gNBs / cells, such as in a homogeneous network, e.g., two macrocells (and their associated UEs) with comparable transmit power levels that interfere with each other, e.g., a first gNB causes interference to a second gNB / cell and associated (cell-edge) UEs, and the second gNB / cell causes interference to the first gNB / cell and associated (cell-edge) UEs.

[0200] In one embodiment of E-1, coordination between the aggressor gNB and victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference protection levels is provided.

[0201] In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate on the same frequency band / carrier, a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, can instruct a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, how much protection is provided for different time / frequency / space resources in terms of how much inter-cell interference can be caused by the aggressor gNB and / or experienced by the victim gNB. Such an indication can be reported as an Xn message or information element between the two gNBs (or as an F1 message / IE between different parts of a split gNB, for example, in case of inter-TRP interference coordination).

[0202] Thus, the first gNB minimizes or eliminates all inter-cell interference associated with some time / frequency / space resources by minimizing or completely avoiding all transmissions by the first gNB in ​​those time / frequency / space resources to facilitate scheduling opportunities associated with victim cells, such as the victim gNB's cell-edge UEs. Such time / frequency / space resources are referred to as reduced activity allocation (RAA) or reduced activity resources (RAR). Meanwhile, the first gNB has more freedom and flexibility to schedule and / or configure transmissions, such as UL / DL / SL, in less protected or unprotected time / frequency / space resources.

[0203] In one example, a first time / frequency / space resource set may have "first / highest level interference protection" or "maximum / highest / full protection" if a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, avoids all transmissions and receptions, such as UE-specific and cell-specific configured transmissions, as well as dynamically scheduled / triggered transmissions, on those time / frequency / space resources.

[0204] In another example, if a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, avoids most transmissions except for cell-specific configured transmissions, perhaps with a very restricted transmission set and a restricted transmission activity level, e.g., perhaps with a transmit power level below a first threshold, and / or a transmission duration below a second threshold, and / or a transmission period longer than a third threshold, then the second time / frequency / space resource set may have "second level interference protection" or "very protected." Similar, other levels of inter-cell interference protection may be considered.

[0205] In one example, the transmission activity threshold and corresponding interference protection level may also vary depending on different KPIs (key performance indicators) associated with transmissions that may be scheduled or configured on time / frequency / space resources, such as service / traffic type, e.g., eMBB vs. URLLC, or UE density, e.g., the number of (active) UEs, i.e., the number of (active) UEs that can share resources and / or receive / transmit using the resources or latency / throughput requirements, etc.

[0206] According to this embodiment of E-1, a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, can command an inter-cell interference protection level from two or more protection levels for each time and / or frequency and / or space resource. For example, the first gNB can command multiple protection levels ranging from "no protection" to "intermediate protection" to "full protection" in gradual interference protection. In one example, there are only two protection levels, such as "fully protected" (or simply, "protected") resources and "unprotected" resources (in which case there is no interference protection and / or no guarantees regarding interference protection levels).

[0207] In another example, the first gNB can indicate the protection level using a numerical metric, such as an [N] bit string, where N=1, 2, 3, where each value of the bit string is mapped to a predefined interference protection level, e.g., a string of all 0s corresponds to no protection and the attacker gNB is free to transmit, e.g., at any transmit power level, and a string of all 1s corresponds to full / maximum protection and the attacker gNB can, e.g., avoid resources entirely and / or limit transmissions to a minimum level, or using a percentage-like range, e.g., a number in the range [0,...,100], where each value indicates an interference protection level, e.g., a value of 0 can indicate no protection and a value of 100 can indicate full protection, as discussed above. For example, the determination / calculation of such interference protection levels / values ​​can be based on predetermined rules or formulas, perhaps in a specification with configurable parameters, or can be left to the gNB implementation.

[0208] According to this embodiment of E-1, a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, can provide inter-cell interference protection levels based on the granularity of time / frequency / spatial resource allocation.

[0209] For example, the first gNB may indicate time resources in absolute time units, such as milliseconds or fractions of milliseconds. For example, the first gNB may use Type A or Type B of PUSCH / PDSCH mapping and indicate time resources in units of slots per NR standard, or in units of less than one slot, such as per (OFDM) symbol and / or per symbol group with a set value related to the subslot length, e.g., 2, 3, 4, or 7 symbols, referred to as a subslot, per standard subcarrier spacing (SCS) setting. Thus, the first gNB may count the entire time domain resource in terms of subslots instead of slots. For example, the first gNB may indicate that a first symbol / subslot / slot is highly or more protected and a second symbol / subslot / slot is less or not protected.

[0210] In another example, the first gNB may indicate frequency resources in absolute time units such as 1 MHz. In another example, the first gNB may indicate frequency resources per physical / virtual resource block group (RBG) based on a predetermined / preconfigured definition of the RBG (e.g., the number of RBs / PRBs / virtual resource blocks (VRBs) in the RBG), per narrowband (NB), or per BWP, or per RB group within a carrier associated with a reference SCS, or in resource block (RB) units.

[0211] The narrowband / BWP may refer to, for example, a predetermined / preconfigured slice / portion of a contiguous frequency spectrum within a carrier bandwidth having a predetermined / preconfigured bandwidth, or may include an indication of a BWP to the second gNB, such as a BWP commonly configured for a group of multiple UEs operating in the cell (possibly in a transparent manner, i.e., multiple UEs in the group may or may not be aware of such common configuration), or a BWP configured for a UE, or a union, intersection, or other combination of BWPs configured for a UE or group of multiple UEs operating in the cell, or a BWP configured for each group of one or multiple subcarriers having a predetermined / configured size, or by an indication of a starting subcarrier in the group and a length / number of subcarriers in the group that can potentially change from one group to another. For example, the first gNB may indicate that the first RB / RBG / BWP is highly or more protected and the second RB / RBG / BWP is less or not protected.

[0212] In yet another example, the first gNB can indicate inter-cell interference protection levels for different time / frequency resources per spatial direction or per spatial region / unit. For example, when a gNB transmits more than one SSB in a cell (within an SSB burst set), the first gNB can indicate interference protection levels based on spatial resources, e.g., SSB index and / or SSB region, such as a geographical / direction / coverage region associated with the transmission direction of the SSB. According to that example, the mapping of SSBs (within an SSB burst set) of the first cell to spatial directions can be indicated by the first gNB to the second gNB, or can be determined by the second gNB / cell implementation with or without UE assistance. In another example, a set of spatial directions is predetermined or (pre)configured, and the first gNB is processed by a lower layer and indicates to a higher layer the inter-cell interference protection levels for different time / frequency resources directly for each predetermined / configured spatial direction without any explicit linkage involving beams or reference signals such as transparent SSB.

[0213] In one example, a set of protected resources is defined / configured only in one resource allocation domain, i.e., only in the time domain. For example, a protected resource set may also include a set of slots / subslots / symbols, and the entire channel / carrier bandwidth is considered to be protected during the set of slots / subslots / symbols (or variations thereof, e.g., "full protection," "high protection," "moderate protection," etc.). In such cases, the time-domain protected resource set may also be referred to as "reduced activity slots / symbols (RAS)."

[0214] In one example, a RAS set or RAS sets may be associated with only one interference protection level, while in another example, the first / aggressor gNB may configure multiple RAS sets or multiple RAS sets each associated with different interference protection levels and corresponding different activity reduction levels, e.g., different transmission activity levels / durations / amounts within those RASs.

[0215] In one example, the configuration and indication of time / frequency / spatial resources with a given inter-cell interference protection level and / or reduced activity is within a predetermined or configured time window, after which / subsequent resources / slots the same pattern is repeated. According to the example, the duration of such a time window may be based on one or more of a TDD UL / DL pattern configuration, a (max / average) HARQ timeline value configuration, a configured period for SSBs, etc. In one example, a frequency domain window may be considered in a similar manner, additionally or alternatively.

[0216] In one example, the indication of interference protection level is provided using a bitmap corresponding to all time / frequency resources, such that a first M-bit number corresponds to a first time / frequency resource, a second M-bit number corresponds to a second time / frequency resource, etc. The bitmap can be applied on a spatial unit basis, i.e., per SSB, if more than one SSB is transmitted in the cell. In another example, the indication is provided only for one or a subset of protection levels, e.g., for time / frequency / space resources with full / high / more protection, while other time / frequency / space resources are considered to have less / no interference protection.

[0217] In one example, time / frequency / spatial resources are explicitly indicated based on slot index, RB index, SSB index, etc. of finer / coarser allocations such as symbols / subslots / NBs / BWPs / subRBs as discussed above. For example, a first / aggressor gNB can indicate one or many explicit lists of time / frequency / spatial resources to a second / victim gNB (e.g., via the Xn interface) along with attributes / indexes / metrics capturing the interference protection level provided for each list of resources.

[0218] In one example, the list of resources may also include a list of time-domain allocations, such as a list of designated symbols in a designated slot based on parameters identical or similar to the SLIV, where the start and length of consecutive symbol groups are jointly coded into a single value, and the size and placement of the symbol groups are flexibly designated, and their properties may vary from one symbol group to another. The symbol groups may be based on a configured / designated mapping type, such as PUSCH / PDSCH mapping type B, or may use a default / predetermined mapping type, such as mapping type B.

[0219] Such time domain assignments may be with or without any frequency and / or spatial domain assignments / restrictions. In another example, the list of resources may also include a list of frequency domain assignments, such as a list of subcarrier groups with an indication of the starting subcarrier in the group and the length / number of subcarriers in the group that may potentially vary from one group to another. Again, such frequency domain assignments may be with or without any time and / or spatial domain assignments / restrictions.

[0220] In one example, the instruction regarding the protection level for time / frequency / space resources applies to a single indicated cell and / or a pre-determined and / or pre-configured list of cells and / or a list of cells indicated with the instruction for the protection level, the list including more than one cell, or without any explicit instruction of the recipient cell, the instruction regarding the protection level for time / frequency / space resources applies to all cells, or all pre-defined cells (e.g., per X2 configuration setup), or all cells receiving the instruction.

[0221] 6 illustrates an exemplary Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination (600) regarding interference protection levels for resources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination (600) illustrated in FIG. 6 is for illustrative purposes only.

[0222] 6 illustrates an exemplary Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination regarding interference protection levels for resources. Such an Xn message / IE may be part of an existing Xn message / IE, such as "Radio Resource Status," or may be a separate message / IE, such as "Interference Protection Information." Such an information element may include, for example, a cell ID, such as PCI and / or CGI, corresponding to the first / aggressor gNB. The information element may additionally include supporting information related to the IE, such as threshold values ​​corresponding to transmission likelihood / probability, transmit power, etc., used to determine different interference protection levels.

[0223] Furthermore, the assistance information includes not only the length of the time / frequency window in which the interference protection level is reported, but also the unit of the time / frequency resource in which the interference protection level is reported. The main entry of the information element also includes interference protection information, e.g., per SSB or per SSB region, if there is more than one SSB (in the SSB burst set) corresponding to the cell. Here, the interference protection information also includes information regarding interference protection levels within a predetermined / preconfigured interference protection level set corresponding to a list of time-domain and / or frequency-domain resources that may correspond in addition to the SSB index and / or SSB region, where the list may be based on a time / frequency unit indication, e.g., by using a bitmap or percentage string as previously discussed, or the list may be explicitly indicated by a time-unit and / or frequency unit indication, e.g., per symbol / subslot / slot and / or per RB / RBG / BWP.

[0224] If the interference protection information is per SSB and / or per SSB region, an SSB index (e.g., ranging from 0 to 63) may also be included with the interference protection information in the bitmap. In one example, if a particular SSB index is not included in an actually transmitted SSB in the SSB burst set, the interference protection information may be omitted for that SSB index. In another example, direction / angle information of a gNB beam, such as an SSB beam (e.g., azimuth and elevation, geography of the coverage area, etc.) may additionally be included. In yet another example, the spatial domain information may relate to a direction / spatial / angular / geographical region based on a predetermined or (pre)configured set of angles / directions, such as eight regions with global / local orientations, each covering a 45° planar region aligned with the north direction. According to that example, a pre-determined or (pre)configured set of mappings of spatial transmit filters and angles / directions associated with gNB beams, e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS, is up to the gNB implementation (at a lower layer). In one example, spatial-domain interference coordination, such as beam-level / SSB-region-specific reporting of interference protection levels, is eliminated, and information protection levels are reported only for time / frequency domain resources, without spatial distinction.

[0225] Table 2A (i.e., Tables 2A-1 through 2A-4) and Table 2B (i.e., Tables 2B-1 through 2B-4) provide example Xn interface messages for inclusion in [TS 38.423] that embody the structural details provided in Figure 6. The two tables (Table 2A and Table 2B) include similar information, except that Table 2A takes into account spatial domain coordination of gNBs by reporting information protection levels (including SSB index) by SSB, while Table 2B excludes such spatial / beam / SSB information.

[0226] Similar messages are also considered for the F1 interface, for inclusion in [TS 38.473], e.g., in the case of inter-TRP interference coordination.

[0227] [Table 2A-1] [Table 2A-2] [Table 2A-3] [Table 2A-4] [Table 2B-1] [Table 2B-2] [Table 2B-3] [Table 2B-4]

[0228] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method (700) for configuring multiple time / frequency / space resource sets according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the method (700) illustrated in FIG. 7 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 7 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the referenced functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the referenced functions. In particular, FIG. 7 illustrates a method (700) for configuring multiple time / frequency / space resource sets corresponding to multiple interference protection levels by a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, and instructing a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, to do so.

[0229] The first gNB configures (710) a first time / frequency / space resource set corresponding to a first cell operated by the first gNB with a first interference protection level, and configures (720) a second time / frequency / space resource set corresponding to the first cell operated by the first gNB with a second interference protection level.

[0230] For example, the time resource may be per millisecond, per slot, per subslot having a set subslot length / duration, or per symbol for a reference SCS configuration. For example, the frequency resource may be per MHz, per RB, per RBG, per BWP, or per subcarrier / subcarrier group for a reference SCS configuration. For example, the spatial resource may be per SSB. The first and second protection levels may be based on the amount of gNB activity within those resources, such as the presence or absence and / or likelihood of transmission, transmit power level, etc. The first gNB then indicates the first and second resource sets, along with the first and second interference protection levels, to the second gNB (730).

[0231] 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method (800) for determining an interference protection level for time / frequency / space resources based on a transmission activity level by a first gNB and instructing the same to a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the method (800) illustrated in FIG. 8 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 8 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the described functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the described functions.

[0232] As illustrated in FIG. 8, the first gNB has M+1 transmission activity thresholds.

number

[0233] The first gNB shall

number

[0234] In one example of E-1-1, along with the priority level, coordination between the aggressor gNB and victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference generation levels is provided.

[0235] In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate on the same frequency band, a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, can instruct a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, about the inter-cell interference level experienced on time / frequency / space resources, possibly along with a priority level to indicate how critical / important the resources are for second gNB operations, such as for scheduling / configuring critical services. For example, the second gNB may want to use a particular BWP for URLLC services.

[0236] According to the embodiment, such an indication may also include or indicate a preferred interference protection level (as discussed in embodiment E-1 above) from the perspective of the second / victim gNB and a preferred resource set requested from the first / aggressor gNB. Note that the first gNB may or may not take such preferences and requests into account, and any action is up to the first gNB. However, the indication of the priority level may help the first / aggressor cell or gNB to be more fully aware of the interference situation from the perspective of the second / victim gNB, but to more fully determine the more important / critical resources that must be protected, for example, in terms of reducing the transmission activity level (e.g., transmission likelihood / density / power level) associated with those resources, if, for example, it partially accepts the request from the second / victim gNB. Such an indication may be reported as an Xn message or information element between the two gNBs (or as an F1 message / IE between different parts of a split gNB, for example, in case of inter-TRP interference coordination).

[0237] Since the network has to deal with a diverse set of KPIs, the impact of interference management / protection is not uniform for all situations, eg, different interference levels may have different impacts for different channels, services, etc.

[0238] For example, the interference level may be based on a received power level in a time / frequency / space resource, and the resource accuracy may be in various units, as discussed in embodiment E-1 above. In one example, the inter-cell interference level experienced in a time / frequency / space resource may be based on a received signal quality, such as an L1-filtered and / or L3-filtered RSRP, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or a SINR. In one example, the interference level is based on a received power level, such as the energy per resource element (EPRE) of a transmission in the resource. In one example, the interference level is based on a maximum / minimum / average / weighted average and / or other function corresponding to the received signal quality / EPRE / RSRP / SINR, etc., across different subcarriers and / or symbols of the resource, or a combination thereof.

[0239] For example, the indication of interference level may include attributes such as one or more of "high interference", "medium interference", and "low interference", or may include a numerical metric such as an N-bit string, where N=1, 2, or 3 bits, where each value of the bit string is mapped to a predefined interference level, e.g., a string of all 0s may correspond to the lowest interference level and a string of all 1s may correspond to the highest interference level, or may use a range such as a percentage / metric in the range [0,...,100], where a value of 0 may indicate, e.g., the lowest interference level, while a value of 100 may indicate, e.g., the highest interference level.

[0240] For example, the priority levels of time / frequency / spatial resources may be based on physical layer priorities, such as whether the second gNB needs resources for dynamically scheduled versus configured transmissions, UE-specific versus cell-specific transmissions, data versus control versus reference signal transmissions, periodic versus semi-persistent versus aperiodic transmissions (e.g., resources associated with cell-specific transmissions have higher priority than resources associated with UE-specific transmissions, or, e.g., resources associated with control / PDCCH / PUCCH transmissions have higher priority than resources associated with data / PUSCH / PDSCH transmissions or reference signal / CSI-RS / SRS transmissions), service priorities, such as whether the second / victim gNB needs resources for eMBB or URLLC services (e.g., resources associated with URLLC transmissions have higher priority than resources associated with eMBB transmissions), or network hierarchy, such as whether the second gNB is a public network (PN) such as a PLMN or a second gNB. This may be based on whether the gNB is private / NPN, CAG or CSG, or, for example, if the resources are shared for transmission / reception by multiple UEs, it may be based on different KPIs such as UE density, e.g., the number of (active) UEs associated with the resource, or the latency / throughput requirements associated with the (potentially) scheduled or configured transmission / reception on the resource.

[0241] For example, the priority level indication may include attributes such as one or more of "high priority," "medium priority," "low priority," etc.; or a bit string where each value is mapped to a predefined priority level, e.g., a string of all 0s may correspond to the lowest priority level (e.g., indicating no / little desire for interference protection by the first / attacker gNB) and a string of all 1s may correspond to the highest priority level (e.g., indicating a strong desire for interference protection to be provided by the first / attacker gNB); or a numerical metric such as an N-bit string with N=1, 2, 3 bits; or a range such as a percentage or benefit metric in the range [0, ..., 100] may be used, where a value of 0 may indicate, e.g., the lowest priority, while a value of 100 may indicate, e.g., the highest priority.

[0242] In one example, the determination of the priority level is based on predetermined and / or configured rules or formulas in the system operating specifications, while in other examples, some or all elements of such determination are up to the gNB implementation. In one example, some parameters used for determining the interference level and / or priority level may be reported / indicated in the Xn interface message, for example, as part of the assistance information for the Xn message.

[0243] In one example, the interference level and priority level corresponding to a time / frequency / space resource can be jointly coded into the same parameter / field instead of two separate parameters / fields.

[0244] 9 illustrates an exemplary Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination (900) related to interference information or load information related to time / frequency / space resources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Such load information IE may be transmitted by a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, to a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB. The embodiment of the Xn message / IE for inter-gNB coordination (900) illustrated in FIG. 9 is for illustrative purposes only.

[0245] In one example, the load information IE may also include a cell ID, such as a physical cell ID (PCI) and / or CGI, corresponding to the second / victim gNB. The information element may also include additional support information related to IEs such as thresholds used to determine different interference levels experienced by resources associated with the second / victim gNB, such as an EPRE threshold, an RSRP threshold, or an SINR threshold.

[0246] The assistance information may additionally include units used to indicate time / frequency / spatial resources, e.g., in terms of symbols / subslots / slots and / or in terms of SC / RB / RBG / BWP. The main entry of the information element may also include experienced interference / load information, e.g., per SSB region or per SSB region, if there is more than one SSB corresponding to the cell (in the SSB burst set). Here, the load information may also include information related to the experienced inter-cell interference level within a pre-determined / pre-configured inter-cell interference level set corresponding to a list of time-domain and / or frequency-domain resources (corresponding to a given SSB index and / or within a given SSB region), where the list may be based on a time / frequency unit indication, e.g., by using a bitmap or percentage string as previously discussed, or an explicit list may be indicated in terms of time and / or frequency units. If the load information is for an SSB region or per SSB region, the SSB index (e.g., in the range 0 to 63) is also included with the load information in the bitmap. In one example, if a particular SSB index is not included in any actually transmitted SSBs in the SSB burst set, the load information is also omitted for that SSB index.

[0247] In one example, the inter-cell interference level included in the load information IE may be based, in part, on direct gNB measurements and / or UE-assisted / UE-based measurements during a measurement gap configured for a UE or group of UEs in the second / victim cell.

[0248] In one example, the spatial domain indication of load / interference level and / or priority level relating to time / frequency resources may be based on the SSB beam of the second / victim cell or gNB, as described in the above embodiment E-1 relating to the case of interference protection level indication by the first / aggressor gNB, or may be based on a pre-determined or (pre-)set directional / spatial / angular slice.

[0249] In another example, the usage of time / frequency domain windows for reporting interference levels and / or priority levels corresponding to time / frequency / spatial domain resources (e.g., via the Xn interface and / or F1 interface) also applies as described in the above embodiment E-1 in the case of an interference protection level indication by the first / aggressor gNB.

[0250] In one example, if the first / attacker gNB and the second / victim gNB operate with different numerologies, such as different SCSs or different normal / extended cyclic prefixes, the Xn message also includes an indication of the numerology, so that the gNB receiving the Xn message can correctly interpret the time duration and frequency bandwidth, e.g., one slot with SCS=15 kHz overlaps with two slots with SCS=30 kHz. Alternatively, a reference SCS setting or absolute time / frequency units may be used.

[0251] In another example, if one or both gNBs have different numerologies across different portions of their frequency spectrum, e.g., a first set of RBs has a first numerology and a second set of RBs has a second numerology, the Xn message also includes an indication of the respective frequency portions, e.g., an indication of the RB index, along with the numerology. According to that example, if a gNB can operate with two different numerologies associated with the same RBs or the same set of RBs, e.g., using two different antenna panels / subarrays / TRPs, the Xn message also includes an indication of the respective frequency portions, e.g., an indication of the RB index, along with the two corresponding numerologies, and possibly also with an indication of spatial / directional / angular / beam / SSB information associated with each of the two numerologies.

[0252] In one example, the load information may indicate a preferred or expected (maximum / average) inter-cell interference level for that time / frequency / space resource, instead of an already experienced inter-cell interference level.

[0253] Table 3A (i.e., Tables 3A-1 through 3A-5) and Table 3B (Tables 3B-1 through 3B-5) provide exemplary Xn interface messages for inclusion in [TS 38.423] that embody the structural details provided in FIG. 9. The two tables (Table 3A and Table 3B) include similar information, except that Table 3A considers spatial domain coordination of gNBs by reporting information protection level (including SSB index) by SSB, while Table 3B excludes such spatial / beam / SSB information. For example, in the case of interference coordination between TRPs, a similar message may be considered for inclusion in [TS 38.473] for the F1 interface.

[0254] [Table 3A-1] [Table 3A-2] [Table 3A-3] [Table 3A-4] [Table 3A-5] [Table 3B-1] [Table 3B-2] [Table 3B-3] [Table 3B-4] [Table 3B-5]

[0255] Figure 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method (1000) for exchanging load / interference information between two gNBs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the method (1000) illustrated in Figure 10 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 10 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the functions described, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0256] 10 illustrates an exemplary flow chart for the exchange of load / interference information between two gNBs, along with an indication of priority levels and / or preferred interference protection levels for time / frequency / space resources. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 10 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the functions described, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0257] The second / victim gNB determines 1010 the interference levels associated with each of the time / frequency / spatial resources, and determines 1020 a first interference level experienced by the first time / frequency / spatial resource set and a second interference level experienced by the second time / frequency / spatial resource set. Accordingly, the second gNB indicates 1030 to the first / aggressor gNB load information, such as the interference levels experienced by the time / frequency / spatial resources, such as the first resource set and the second resource set, along with the first and second interference levels.

[0258] In one example, the second gNB can also indicate to the first gNB the metrics and / or thresholds used to determine the interference level, and the second gNB can further indicate to the first gNB the priority level and / or preferred interference protection level for each resource in the first resource set and the second resource set (1040).

[0259] In one embodiment of E-2, coordination between aggressor gNBs and victim gNBs involved in inter-cell interference is provided by providing interference transmission assistance information.

[0260] In one embodiment, when two (neighboring) cells operate in the same frequency band, a first / aggressor gNB can instruct a second / victim gNB on its interfering transmissions in a time / frequency / space resource set having a particular interference protection level, possibly providing additional assistance information regarding the configuration of those interfering transmissions, which the second / victim gNB can take into account, for example, by appropriate scheduling or configuration of transmissions in SCs / RBs / RBGs / BWPs and / or symbols / subslots / slots that do not overlap with the interfering transmissions, or by providing assistance information to the UE that can cancel the interference caused by one or some of such interfering transmissions.

[0261] Such an indication may be reported as an Xn message or information element between the two gNBs (or as an F1 message / information element (IE) between different parts of a split gNB, for example in case of inter-TRP interference coordination).

[0262] For example, the interfering transmissions may include configured transmissions or transmissions scheduled by the first / aggressor gNB via a DCI format. In one example, the interfering transmissions may also include cell-specific transmissions, such as SSB transmissions, SIB transmissions, or paging transmissions that are fully or partially configured transmissions, or UE-specific (configured) transmissions that use resources, such as periodic or semi-persistent CSI-RS, SPS PDSCH transmissions, CG-PUSCH transmissions, periodic or semi-persistent SRS, etc., possibly shared across multiple UEs.

[0263] For example, a set of time / frequency / space resources indicated by a first gNB to a second gNB, or indicated as "RAS" or "RAA," to have a "high" inter-cell interference protection level may still overlap with some interfering transmissions in the first cell, e.g., as described above. Such overlap may occur, for example, when the interfering transmissions are periodic with a short period, and it may not be feasible or desirable to restrict resources with a "high" inter-cell interference protection level to non-interfering resources.

[0264] Furthermore, providing assistance information regarding such interfering transmissions, as well as an indication of the overlap of the first / aggressor gNB's interfering transmissions with "reduced activity" or "high protection" time / frequency / spatial resources, may also be useful, for example, when the "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources are not configured in fine-resolution resource allocation units such as symbols, but rather in coarser units such as slots, where there is likely little or no information or restrictions regarding the frequency-domain allocation of such "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources. As a result, basic indications such as interference protection level or reduced activity indication information may not provide sufficient information to the second / victim gNB as to whether the resources are completely free of interference, or if there is still the possibility of partial interference in at least some of those resources (e.g., some symbols).

[0265] Therefore, an indication of whether there is overlap between such "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources and some interfering transmissions would also be very useful. In particular, for cases where the interfering transmission is a (cell-specific) configured transmission, as opposed to a transmission scheduled by a DCI format, assistance information regarding the configuration information of such configured interfering transmissions (e.g., structure and allowed locations for SSB transmissions in half frames, or formulas for paging opportunity determination, etc.) along with the possible structure and pattern required by the system operating specifications can provide the second / victim gNB with additional / sufficient information to enable it to make better / clearer decisions about the interfering transmission, which can be used to provide assistance for interference-aware scheduling and / or possibly UE-based interference cancellation.

[0266] In one example, the aiding information from the first / aggressor gNB to the second / victim gNB also includes a list of time / frequency / spatial resource allocations for SSBs per cell, where multiple SSBs are transmitted within the frequency span of a carrier and linked to a unique CGI and therefore a unique PCI, including zero or one CD-SSB associated with a remaining minimum system information (RMSI), also known as SIB1, as well as zero, one or many non-CD-SSBs not associated with a RMSI / SIB1.

[0267] For each such SSB, the assistance information includes, for example, SSB-ToMeasure or ssb-PositionsInBurst, and possibly also direction / angle information of the SSB transmission, e.g., to indicate the SSB pattern using a filter or beam of spatial transmission for the SSB (within the SSB burst set), frequency domain information such as the ARFCN value, time domain information such as period, offset, e.g., subframe offset and / or duration, and / or spatial domain information such as a bitmap.

[0268] In one example, the assistance information from the first / aggressor gNB to the second / victim gNB may also include the RAS / RAR and overall configuration such as the overall time / frequency domain resource configuration of some / all transmissions overlapping with simply some / all resources configured and indicated as having a particular interference protection level such as a "high" inter-cell interference protection level.

[0269] In another example, only a partial configuration of transmissions, such as slots or RBs overlapping with RAS / RAR / protected resources, is provided, and the entire time / frequency domain configuration is not provided. In yet another example, the assistance information may include a superset of time / frequency / space resources to which the interfering transmission may be assigned, but the precise information of the actual time / frequency / space resources for the interfering transmission is not indicated.

[0270] 11 illustrates an exemplary PDSCH and PDCCH transmission 1100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the PDSCH and PDCCH transmission 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 is for illustrative purposes only.

[0271] For example, in the case of a SIB transmission or a paging transmission, the first / attacker gNB may indicate a slot (along with a period) and / or an RB set such as a frequency-domain allocation of CORESET#0, and the SIB transmission or the paging transmission may be scheduled by a DCI format in some symbols of the slot and / or in some RBs in the indicated set of RBs, but the exact allocation by the scheduling DCI is not exchanged between the two gNBs, as illustrated in Figure 11.

[0272] In another example, other configuration information, such as periodicity and / or slot offset, can be indicated by the first / aggressor gNB to the second / victim gNB. Here, SIB can refer to, for example, SIB1 and at least all SIB-x>1 that are broadcast / cell-specific. In yet another example, the assistance information can include one or more cell IDs, such as a physical / global cell ID, frequency information, such as a band number, a seed or initialization value for a (pseudo)random number generator for sequence generation, the number of antenna ports for transmission, etc. In yet another example, the assistance information can include a bit sequence value and / or information content for transmission, such as bit sequence information content embodied / carried by a MIB, PBCH, SIB, paging, etc.

[0273] As illustrated in Figure 11, PDSCH transmissions and PDCCH transmissions related to SIBs and / or paging are scheduled periodically with a period of X msec, the UE receives the PDCCH in a UE common CORESET such as CORESET#0, and PDSCH resources are scheduled according to the DCI format provided by the PDCCH in the same slot as the PDCCH and within a subset of the frequency allocation of CORESET#0.

[0274] [Table 4A-1] [Table 4A-2] [Table 4B]

[0275] Table 4A (i.e., Tables 4A-1 and 4A-2) includes an exemplary extension / amendment to "Served Cell Information NR" Xn IE9.2.2.11 in the Xn AP specification TS 38.423, which includes cell configuration information for NR cells that neighboring NG-RAN nodes may need for the Xn AP interface. Here, the red-highlighted rows illustrate exemplary assistance information that may be provided by a first / aggressor gNB to a second / victim gNB for inter-cell interference coordination purposes. For example, a new entry, "SSB Information List," also includes a list of configuration information, such as time / frequency / spatial resource allocations for SSBs, when multiple SSBs are configured for cells within a carrier (from the gNB's perspective).

[0276] The multiple SSBs may include zero, one, or multiple non-CD-SSBs, as defined in TS 38.300. For example, a new entry "NR Cell SIB1 / Common PDCCH Configuration" may include configuration information from [TS 38.331], including the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1 IE and / or the PDCCH-ConfigCommon IE, for configuration of cell-specific PDCCH parameters, such as CORESET#0, search space set#0, and paging search space. For example, a new entry "NR Cell SIB Scheduling Configuration" may include configuration information from [TS 38.331], including the SI-SchedulingInfo IE, required for SI message acquisition, especially for time-domain configuration of SIB-x>1, such as the periodicity of SIB-x>1 transmissions. For example, the new entry "NR Cell Paging Configuration" also includes configuration information from [TS 38.331], including PCCH-Config IEs for paging configuration information such as paging cycle, paging frame, and paging occasion.

[0277] Figure 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method (1200) for instruction by a first / aggressor gNB to a second / victim gNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the instruction may involve interference transmissions and configuration / support information that overlap with at least a portion of a reduced activity resource / allocation / slot configured for a high inter-cell interference protection level. The embodiment of the method (1200) illustrated in Figure 12 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 12 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the described functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the described functions.

[0278] A first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, configures and / or schedules transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS / SPS-PDSCH, etc.) on a first time / frequency / space resource set (1210). The first / aggressor gNB configures a second set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" time / frequency / space resources that overlap with the first resource set (1220). The first / aggressor gNB instructs a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, of the first and second resource sets (1230).

[0279] In one example, instead of indicating the entire first resource set, the first / aggressor gNB indicates only the second resource set and the overlap between the first resource set and the second resource set to the second / victim gNB. The first / aggressor gNB further indicates (1240) "assistance information" related to the configuration of transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS / SPS-PDSCH, etc.). For example, such assistance information may include time / frequency allocations for transmissions, as previously described.

[0280] In one example, reduced activity slots / allocations, or more generally protected, e.g., "high protection" time / frequency / space resources, and instructions for overlapping interfering transmissions from a first / macrocell or gNB having such assistance information, are provided by the first / aggressor gNB to the second / victim gNB when the period of the interfering transmissions is short compared to the duration of the time window for configuring and indicating the reduced activity slots / protected resources, and a significant number of opportunities for interfering transmissions overlap with the reduced activity slots / protected resources.

[0281] Once the second / victim gNB receives assistance information regarding interfering transmissions from the first / aggressor gNB that overlap with "reduced activity" or "high protection" time / frequency / spatial resources, the second / victim gNB can provide this information to a served UE, such as a cell-edge UE, via higher layer / RRC configuration, so that the UE can detect the interfering transmission, cancel the interfering transmission, and then detect the transmission from the second / victim gNB.

[0282] In one example, individual UE capabilities may be defined for interference cancellation corresponding to different signals, and / or for interference cancellation corresponding to a group of multiple signals or channels, a single UE capability may be defined for cancellation. For example, the individual UE capabilities may be defined for cancellation of SSBs, SIBs, and paging, or the single UE capability may be defined for cancellation of all SSBs, SIBs, and paging. The UE may have individual processing units for receiving and decoding transmissions from the UE's serving cell and for decoding and canceling (respectively) interfering transmissions from other cells. In one example, the UE capabilities may also apply to cell-specific transmissions. In another example, the UE capabilities may also apply to configured transmissions (rather than transmissions scheduled by a DCI format).

[0283] 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method (1300) for RRC configuration of assistance information related to a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the RRC configuration may be for assistance information related to a UE that has reported capabilities for interference cancellation. The embodiment of the method (1300) illustrated in FIG. 13 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 13 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the described functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the described functions.

[0284] The UE reports 1310 its capability for interference cancellation corresponding to neighboring cell transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS). The UE receives 1320 "assistance information" related to the configuration of neighboring cell transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS). The UE receives 1330 scheduling / configuration information for downlink reception from a serving cell. The UE uses the "assistance information" to determine 1340 that downlink reception from the serving cell is interfered with by neighboring cell transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS). The UE cancels 1350 the interference of the neighboring cell transmissions (e.g., SSB / SIB / paging / CSI-RS) to receive downlink reception from the serving cell.

[0285] In one embodiment of E-2-1, coordination between aggressor gNB and victim gNB regarding inter-cell interference is provided by indicating desired / requested settings regarding "reduced activity / high protection" resources.

[0286] In one embodiment, when two (adjacent) cells operate in the same frequency band, a second gNB, such as a victim gNB, can instruct a first gNB, such as an aggressor gNB, on a preferred set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" time / frequency / space resources.

[0287] Such an indication may be reported as an Xn message or information element between two gNBs (or as an F1 message / IE between different parts of a split gNB, for example, in case of inter-TRP interference coordination).

[0288] For example, such a request / advice / instruction may be based on a request by the second / victim gNB to configure all opportunities or all time / frequency allocations for configured transmissions, such as SIB, paging, periodic or semi-persistent CSI-RS reception, SPS PDSCH reception, CG-PUSCH transmission, and / or periodic or semi-persistent SRS, within the set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources configured by the first / aggressor gNB, such that these configured transmissions are not affected by inter-cell interference. This may also be beneficial when the density of "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources is low or when the periodicity of such configured transmissions in the second / victim cell is short.

[0289] The second / victim gNB may adjust or reconfigure its configured transmissions to have a high / maximum overlap with the "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources, but if there are still some opportunities and / or resources corresponding to the configured transmissions by the second / victim gNB that do not fit into the "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources configured by the first / attacker gNB, the second / victim gNB may request / recommend adjusting / modifying the "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources so that the "remaining" opportunities / resources corresponding to the configured transmissions are included in the "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources.

[0290] In one example, a second / victim gNB configures transmissions (e.g., SIB / paging / CSI-RS) on a first time / frequency / space resource set. The second / aggressor gNB receives configuration from the first gNB for a second set of “reduced activity” or “high protection” time / frequency / space resources that does not entirely include the first resource set. In one example, the order of the previous two statements is reversed, with the second / victim gNB configuring the first resource set after (and likely based on) the first / aggressor gNB configuring the first resource set. The second / victim gNB indicates a preferred third set of “reduced activity” or “high protection” time / frequency / space resources to the first / aggressor gNB by indicating the difference between the first and second resource sets.

[0291] In one example, if all opportunities for a common / cell-specific configured transmission, such as a SIB, and / or all time / frequency allocations are not entirely included in the set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources configured by the first / aggressor gNB, the second / victim gNB can use a dedicated RRC configuration to transmit the content of the common / cell-specific configured transmission, such as a SIB, and the second gNB can select the PDCCH / PDSCH resources that are entirely included in the set of "reduced activity" or "high protection" resources. To accomplish this, signaling of such dedicated RRC messages needs to be defined and supported.

[0292] In one embodiment of E-3, a CSI-RS with variable transmit power is provided to handle inter-cell interference.

[0293] In one embodiment, for periodic and / or semi-permanent CSI-RS (P / SP CSI-RS), a UE is configured with two / multiple different transmit power levels and corresponding two / multiple non-overlapping time patterns, such as two / multiple non-overlapping slot sets, and the UE receives the same CSI-RS (resources) with a first transmit power level in a first time pattern / first slot set and a second transmit power level in a second time pattern / second slot set, where the first transmit power level is different from the second transmit power level.

[0294] FIG. 14 illustrates an example transmission of periodic or semi-permanent CSI-RS 1400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the transmission is at variable transmit power levels in the aggressor cell or victim cell. Note that activation and release commands apply to the SPCSI-RS but not to the periodic CSI-RS (which is why the activation / release commands are illustrated with dashed arrows). The embodiment of periodic or semi-permanent CSI-RS 1400 transmission illustrated in FIG. 14 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 14 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the described functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the described functions.

[0295] As illustrated in FIG. 14, for a UE operating in a first / aggressor cell configured with a set of reduced activity slots (RAS), or more generally, a set of "high protection" time / frequency / space resources, the UE is also configured to receive P / SP CSI-RS with a first transmit power level outside the RAS set or when the P / SP CSI-RS does not overlap with the "high protection" time / frequency / space resource set, while the UE is configured to receive the same P / SP CSI-RS with a second transmit power level during the RAS set or when the P / SP CSI-RS overlaps with the "high protection" time / frequency / space resource set, where, for example, the second power level is lower than the first power level.

[0296] The latter is to ensure, for example, that the P / SP CSI-RS does not cause excessive inter-cell interference to UEs, such as cell-edge UEs of the second / victim cell, during / within reduced activity or protected slots / resources, and that the P / SP CSI-RS is still transmitted (and not completely empty) at reduced / even lower power between RASs or protected resources, so that CSI measurement occasions are not missed for UEs, such as cell-edge UEs of the first / aggressor cell, especially when semi-permanent CSI reporting (SP-CSI reporting) using short / normally short reporting windows is configured for the P / SP CSI-RS resources, or when the UE has a medium / high speed, to avoid degradation of CSI reporting accuracy and the associated link adaptation, beam management, etc.

[0297] In one example, the time pattern or slot set is periodic with a configurable period and / or slot offset. In another example, the time pattern or slot set is irregular or arbitrary, and a bitmap with a predetermined / configurable length is used to indicate which slots / resources are included or excluded from the pattern.

[0298] The following is an exemplary revised RRC message for CSI-RS resource configuration, where two or multiple (depending on the parameter "nrOfTimePatterns") transmit power levels are set using a bitmap whose size can be set appropriately based on the number of CSI-RS transmission opportunities that fall within one period of RAS / protected resource allocation, e.g., 40 msec, and where the parameters "powerControlOffsetList" and / or "powerControlOffsetSSlist" correspond to two or multiple time patterns set in the parameter "timePattern".

[0299] [Table 5]

[0300] In one example, a time pattern corresponding to one of the transmit power levels of the P / SP CSI-RS is not configured. According to this example, if a UE is configured for two different transmit power levels, the UE is explicitly configured for only a single time pattern or a single slot set corresponding to the lower (or higher) transmit power level. In such a case, the second time pattern or second slot set corresponding to the higher (or lower) transmit power level is implicitly determined by the UE to be for all P / SP CSI-RS transmission opportunities, except for those included in the explicitly configured time pattern corresponding to the lower (or higher) transmit power level (due to the original configuration of the P / SP CSI-RS resources).

[0301] Similarly, if a UE is configured for M transmit power levels, the UE is configured for M-1 time patterns or M-1 slot sets corresponding to the lowest M-1 transmit power levels (respectively the highest M-1 transmit power levels), and the final time pattern or slot set corresponding to the highest transmit power level (respectively the lowest M-1 transmit power levels) is implicitly determined by the UE.

[0302] In one example, the variation in transmit power of the P / SP CSI-RS may correspond only to a variation in the frequency domain, such as a first transmit power in a first frequency resource set, such as RBs, and a second transmit power in a second frequency resource set, such as RBs. In another example, the variation in transmit power of the P / SP CSI-RS may correspond to a variation in both the time domain and the frequency domain.

[0303] In one example, a UE is expected to report a single / same CSI measurement report (e.g., rank indicator (RI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), channel quality indicator (CQI), layer indicator (LI), etc.) for a P / SP CSI-RS resource across any of two / multiple non-overlapping time patterns corresponding to two / multiple different transmit power levels. For example, how to handle reduced transmit power levels for CSI-RS when making CSI-RS measurements and / or computing CSI reports, including whether / how to average RSRP, SINR, and / or other measurements across different time patterns / slots, may be left to the UE implementation.

[0304] For example, when a UE performs channel estimation and reports CSI, it may be expected that the transmit power offset is taken into account in two / multiple non-overlapping time patterns, and that only the channel / link characteristics, not the transmit power level, are reported. According to this example, it is up to the gNB to select PDSCH / PUSCH transmission characteristics such as the transmit power level, link adaptation parameters such as MCS, spatial transmit filters or spatial transmit beams such as TCI state or QCL information. For example, the gNB may select the same or different transmit power levels and / or MCS and / or TCI state / QCL assumptions corresponding to two / multiple time patterns / slots. In another example, the UE is expected to provide separate CSI reports for each of two / multiple non-overlapping time patterns corresponding to two / multiple different CSI-RS transmit power levels, and the UE may be configured with two / multiple CSI reporting settings corresponding to the two / multiple non-overlapping time patterns.

[0305] In one example, a 2 / multiple transmit level configuration for CSI-RS is applied to UEs reporting capabilities for processing (e.g., for receiving, measuring, reporting, etc.) CSI-RS with variable transmit power levels.

[0306] In one example, the configuration of two transmit power levels and corresponding time patterns / slots, e.g., two beams / spatial transmit filters / TCI states associated with two slot sets including transmission opportunities for a single CSI-RS resource, may be for reasons other than inter-cell interference and protection of time / frequency / spatial resources. The above-described mechanisms for CSI-RS transmit power levels and CSI reporting may also be applied to periodic or semi-persistent CSI-RS and periodic or semi-persistent SRS. The above-described mechanisms for CSI-RS transmit power levels and CSI reporting, in which the transmit power level is determined based on the slot / resource in which the aperiodic CSI-RS and / or aperiodic SRS is transmitted, may also be applied to aperiodic CSI-RS and / or aperiodic SRS.

[0307] Figure 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method (1500) for RRC configuration of periodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the RRC configuration of periodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS resources has two different transmit power levels, e.g., with normal activity and reduced activity, corresponding to two slot sets. The embodiment of the method (1500) illustrated in Figure 15 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 15 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the referenced functions, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the referenced functions.

[0308] The UE receives 1510 a configuration of a first slot set (associated with normal activity) and a second slot set (associated with reduced activity) for CSI-RS reception. In one example, the UE receives only the second slot set associated with reduced activity, implicitly determining the first slot set associated with normal activity. The UE receives 1520 a configuration of a first transmit power level and a second transmit power level associated with CSI-RS. In one example, the two transmit power levels can apply to a single CSI-RS resource or a group of CSI-RS resources, while in another example, the configured transmit power level can apply to all CSI-RS resources configured for the cell / BWP. The UE receives 1530 a configuration of periodic or semi-permanent CSI-RS (P / SP CSI-RS) resources. The UE receives 1540 P / SP CSI-RS in a first set of slots at a first power level and in a second set of slots at a second power level.

[0309] In one embodiment of E-3-1, two / multiple sets of configurations of uplink power control parameters related to CG-PUSCH are provided by configurations related to reduced activity slots / protected resources.

[0310] In one embodiment, a UE may be configured with two / multiple uplink power control parameter sets for CG-PUSCH configuration, each of which corresponds to a set of slots / opportunities / resources for CG-PUSCH transmission. The UE transmits the CG-PUSCH using a first power control parameter set in a first slot / resource set and a second power control parameter set in a second slot / resource set. Here, for an UL BWP (b) of a carrier (f) of a serving cell (c), the sets of power control parameters are set to a target received power (P O_PUSCH,b,f,c ), path loss reference signal, fractional path loss compensation coefficient (α b,f,c ) and closed-loop transmit power control (TPC) commands or PUSCH power control adjustment state (f b,f,c ) and includes at least one of the following.

[0311] Figure 16 illustrates an example setting (1600) in which a UE in a victim cell transmits a CG-PUSCH at various transmit power levels, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the setting (1600) illustrated in Figure 16 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 16 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the functions described, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0312] In one example, for a UE operating in a second / victim UE cell, as illustrated in FIG. 16, the UE may receive the first P O_PUSCH,b,f,c value, and reduced activity slots / protected resources outside the second P O_PUSCH,b,f,c The UE may be configured to transmit the CG-PUSCH with a second value, e.g., the second value may be greater than the first value, to compensate for the increased inter-cell interference expected in the non-protected slots / resources.b,f,c Value and reduced activity slots / protected resources outside the second alpha b,f,c For example, the second value is greater than the first value.

[0313] In another example, for a UE operating in a first / aggressor cell, the UE may be configured to receive the first P outside of the reduced activity slots / protected resources. O_PUSCH,b,f,c value, and reduced activity slots / protected resources, during the second P O_PUSCH,b,f,c The UE may be configured to transmit the CG-PUSCH with a value, e.g., the second value is greater than the first value, causing less inter-cell interference in those slots / resources. Similarly, the UE may be configured to transmit the CG-PUSCH with a value, e.g., the second value is greater than the first value, causing less inter-cell interference in those slots / resources. b,f,c The first value of α and the reduced activity slots / protected resources b,f,c , for example, the second value is greater than the first value.

[0314] In one example, a TPC command provided by a DCI format such as DCI format 2_2 with a CRC scrambled by TPC-PUSCH-RNTI may include an indication of whether the TPC command applies to the first or second set of slots, or the DCI format may include two TPC commands, one for the first set of slots and the second for the second set of slots. Alternatively, the same TCP command may be applied to all sets of slots when the TPC command is intended to compensate for SINR variations due to channel fooding rather than interference.

[0315] In one example, the time pattern or slot set is periodic with a configurable period and / or slot offset. In another example, the time pattern or slot set is irregular or arbitrary, where a bitmap with a predetermined / configurable length is used to indicate which slots / resources are included or excluded from the pattern.

[0316] In one embodiment of E-3-2, the configuration of the time pattern for L1-RSRP / L1-SINR measurements used for beam management and / or link restoration procedures is provided by a configuration involving reduced activity slots / protected resources.

[0317] In one embodiment, a UE may be configured with a time pattern, such as a set of slots / opportunities, for measuring SSB and / or CSI-RS resources, such as L1 / L3 RSRP or SINR measurements, or variations thereof, including radio link quality measurements for the serving cell's BWP (i.e., for beam failure detection and / or new candidate beam identification) and targeting the beam management and / or link restoration procedures (also known as beam failure restoration). According to that embodiment, the UE is not expected to take into account (e.g., is not allowed to average) the measurement results of SSB and / or CSI-RS resources when reporting the results of the L1 / L3 RSRP or SINR measurements.

[0318] The synchronization of such time pattern restrictions for beam management and / or link recovery procedures distinguishes cases where "poor" beam quality is due to spatial reasons, such as non-aligned / spatially blocked beam pairs of the UE and gNB, from cases where "poor" beam quality is due to temporal reasons, such as improper measurement timing, because the measurements are made on time slots / resources that are not part of the reduced activity slots / protected resources and therefore experience significant interference levels, such that SSB and / or CSI-RS measurements in the reduced activity slots / protected resources are not mixed (e.g., averaged) with measurements outside the reduced activity slots / protected resources.

[0319] In one example, the in-sync (IS) counter and / or out-of-sync (OOS) counter are expected to count incidents when RSRP / SINR measurements correspond to reduced active slots / protected resources. In another example, the time for link restoration procedures is expected to include only reduced active slots / protected resources when determining link failure events.

[0320] In one example, the time pattern or slot set is periodic with a configurable period and / or slot offset. In another example, the time pattern or slot set is irregular or arbitrary, and a bitmap with a predetermined / configurable length is used to indicate which slots / resources are included or excluded from the pattern.

[0321] In one embodiment of E-4, transmission timing constraints are provided by reduced activity slot / protected resource settings.

[0322] Figure 17 illustrates an example operation of a transmit timing constraint (1700) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the transmit timing constraint (1700) illustrated in Figure 17 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 17 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the functions described, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0323] In one embodiment, a UE is configured with a pattern of transmission timing constraints such as K0, K1, and K2 (as shown in FIG. 17) based on the configuration of reduced active slots, or more generally protected resources, and the UE transmission timing and / or UE reception timing, such as the reception timing of a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI format, the transmission timing of a PUCCH related to HARQ-ACK information, or the transmission timing of a PUSCH scheduled by a DCI format, overlaps with the reduced active slots / protected resources.

[0324] For example, the transmission timing constraints are K0, K1, and K2 to indicate the reception timing of the dynamically scheduled PDSCH and the transmission timing of the HARQ-ACK information feedback, as well as the transmission timing of the dynamically scheduled PUSCH, respectively.

[0325] Figure 18 illustrates an example operation of a HARQ-ACK transmission timing constraint (1800) in the presence of reduced activity slots, or more generally, time patterns constituting protected resources, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. One embodiment of the HARQ-ACK transmission timing constraint (1800) operation illustrated in Figure 18 is for illustrative purposes only. One or more of the components illustrated in Figure 18 may also be embodied by specialized circuitry configured to perform the functions described, or one or more of the components may also be embodied by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the functions described.

[0326] As shown in FIG. 18 , in one example, a UE may be configured with a time pattern, such as a slot set, for transmission / reception. According to the example, in one version (represented by option 1), the UE is expected to count the K0, K1, and K2 values ​​through the configured time pattern / slot set to determine transmission / reception timing, while in another version (represented by option 2), the UE is expected to count the K0, K1, and K2 values ​​across all slots to determine transmission / reception timing. If the determined timing falls outside the configured time pattern / slot set, the UE is expected to transmit / receive in the first / earliest next slot / symbol / resource included in the configured time pattern / slot set. In one example, the indicated K0, K1, and K2 parameters and / or pattern for transmission / reception timing constraints may be based on a symbol group, such as a subslot, having a predetermined or configured duration, used across the time domain as a sub-unit of time for K0 / K1 / K2 counting purposes.

[0327] In one example, if the UE is additionally configured with a TDD UL / DL configuration, the UE's transmission timing decision takes into account the TDD UL / DL configuration for reduced activity slots or protected resources and the configured time pattern / slot configuration. For example, DL reception may occur only in slots / subslots with a sufficient number of DL symbols (and / or flexible symbols) or only in DL-dedicated slots, and only in slots / time units configured as part of the time pattern for reduced activity slots or protected resources. In another example, UL transmission may occur only in slots / subslots with a sufficient number of UL symbols (and / or flexible symbols) or only in UL-dedicated slots, and only in slots / time units configured as part of the time pattern for reduced activity slots or protected resources.

[0328] A scenario in which such an approach is useful is when the existing bit width for indicating K0 / K1 / K2 in the scheduling DCI format and / or in the configuration is not sufficient to indicate the actual value of the transmission timing constraint, because, for example, the UE needs to skip various symbols / sub-slots / slots due to reduced activity slots or the configured time pattern / slot configuration involving protected resources, and possibly also due to the TDD DL / UL pattern configuration.

[0329] In one example, the configured time pattern / slot configuration related to the transmission / reception timing constraints may be applied to transmission / reception configured (by a higher layer, e.g., by RRC) and / or dynamically scheduled transmission / reception (e.g., by the MAC / Physical (PHY) layer, e.g., via DCI or MAC-CE).

[0330] In one example, the time pattern or slot set associated with the transmit / receive timing constraints is periodic with a configurable period and / or slot offset. In another example, the time pattern or slot set is irregular or arbitrary, and a bitmap with a predetermined / configurable length is used to indicate which slots / resources are included or excluded from the pattern.

[0331] It should be noted that different (time) patterns, such as different slot sets used for different purposes related to inter-cell interference protection and coordination, can be the same or different. For example, time patterns, such as slot sets configured for link adaptation, beam management and / or beam failure recovery, CG-PUSCH power control, and / or transmit / receive slot indication related to transmission time constraints, e.g., CSI-RS transmit power level and / or CSI calculation, can be the same or different. In one example, some / all such time patterns also implicitly or explicitly take into account the TDD UL / DL configuration, such that UE transmission belongs to UL slots / symbols and UE reception belongs to DL slots / symbols.

[0332] Note that the time / slot / resource pattern configured for the UE (i.e., for CSI-RS transmit power level and / or CSI calculation, e.g., for link adaptation, and / or for beam management and / or beam failure recovery, and / or for CG-PUSCH power control, and / or for transmit / receive slot indication such as for transmission time constraints) is up to the serving gNB implementation and may or may not be identical to a similar pattern indicated / exchanged between the gNB and another (neighboring) gNB (e.g., via the Xn interface), e.g., for interference protection and / or coordination purposes. However, there may be a relationship between the two pattern sets, e.g., the pattern configured in the UE may also be a subset of the pattern indicated / exchanged between the two gNBs (or a complement subset of the pattern).

[0333] The present disclosure can be applied to the NR specifications Rel-17 / 18 to provide improvements for inter-cell interference protection.

[0334] The present disclosure enables improved operation of 3GPP® 5G NR systems in lower frequency bands with larger serving cell boundaries, where many UEs may be affected by inter-cell interference. This includes scenarios involving at least macrocell-to-macrocell interference, macrocell-to-macrocell interference, and CAG / CSG-to-macro / small cell interference. However, the present disclosure is general and applies to various frequency bands in different FRs, such as FR1, FR2, and FR4 or FR2-2, as well as other frequency bands, including intermediate frequency bands, such as 1-7 GHz, and high / mm frequency bands, such as 24-100 GHz. Furthermore, the present disclosure is general and applies to various use cases and settings, such as eMBB, URLLC and IIoT, mMTC and IoT, sidelink / V2X, operation in NR-U, operation with NTN, RedCap UE, private or NPN.

[0335] The above flowcharts illustrate exemplary methods embodied in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, the various steps in each figure may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In other examples, steps may be omitted or substituted with other steps.

[0336] Although the present disclosure has been described by way of exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to include such changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the claims. Nothing in this application should be construed as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element that must be included in the scope of the claims. The scope of the subject matter sought to be patented is defined solely by the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a base station supporting wireless access and wireless backhaul in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving resource configuration information for a cell, the resource configuration information indicating an interference protection level associated with at least one symbol in a slot in an interference protection level set and a frequency resource in a frequency resource set; applying resource configuration information of the cell; the interference protection level set includes a first level, a second level, and a third level; the first level indicates that the base station can transmit or receive from the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; the second level indicates that the base station can transmit or receive in a limited manner in the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; The method, wherein the third level indicates that the base station cannot transmit or receive on the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource configuration information is associated with a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block transmitted on the cell.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unit of the frequency resource in the frequency resource set is a resource block (RB) group.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the resource block (RB) groups are indicated based on a resource block (RB) number associated with a standard subcarrier spacing (SCS).

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frequency resources and the interference protection level are indicated based on one or more time division duplexing (TDD) uplink / downlink (UL / DL) configurations.

6. The step of receiving resource configuration information includes:

2. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving an F1 message from another base station that includes the resource configuration information.

7. A base station that supports wireless access and wireless backhaul in a wireless communication system, The base station a transmitter / receiver; a processor connected to the transceiver; The processor: controlling the transceiver unit to receive resource configuration information for a cell, the resource configuration information indicating an interference protection level for at least one symbol in a slot in an interference protection level set and a frequency resource in a frequency resource set; configured to apply resource configuration information of the cell; the interference protection level set includes a first level, a second level, and a third level; the first level indicates that the base station can transmit or receive from the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; the second level indicates that the base station can transmit or receive in a limited manner in the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; The third level indicates that the base station cannot transmit or receive on the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol.

8. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the resource configuration information is associated with a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block transmitted on the cell.

9. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the unit of the frequency resource in the frequency resource set is a resource block (RB) group.

10. The base station of claim 9, wherein the resource block (RB) group is designated based on the number of resource blocks (RB) related to a standard subcarrier spacing (SCS).

11. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the frequency resources and the interference protection level are indicated based on one or more time division duplexing (TDD) uplink / downlink (UL / DL) configurations.

12. The processor further comprises: The base station according to claim 7 , configured to control the transceiver unit and to receive an F1 message including the resource configuration information from another base station.

13. A base station that supports wireless access and wireless backhaul in a wireless communication system, The base station a transmitter / receiver; a processor connected to the transceiver; The processor: determining resource configuration information for a cell, the resource configuration information indicating an interference protection level for at least one symbol in a slot in an interference protection level set and a frequency resource in a frequency resource set; configured to control the transceiver unit to transmit the resource configuration information; the interference protection levels include a first level, a second level, and a third level; the first level indicates that other base stations can transmit or receive on the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; the second level indicates that the other base station can transmit or receive in a limited manner in the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol; The base station, wherein the third level indicates that the other base station cannot transmit or receive on the indicated frequency resource of the at least one symbol.

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