Uplink transmission in new radio unlicensed bands

Flexible BWP management and PUCCH resource selection mechanisms address the challenges of uplink transmissions in new radio unlicensed bands, enhancing efficiency and adaptability for diverse wireless devices.

JP7806948B2Active Publication Date: 2026-01-27KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV
View PDF 4 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
JP2025015912
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2019-11-04
Filing Date
2025-02-03
Publication Date
2026-01-27
Estimated Expiration
2040-11-04

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing uplink transmissions in new radio unlicensed bands, particularly due to the need for flexible and adaptive bandwidth management and resource allocation to support diverse wireless devices with varying capabilities.

Method used

The implementation of flexible bandwidth part (BWP) management and PUCCH resource selection mechanisms that adapt to traffic conditions, device capabilities, and network configurations, enabling efficient uplink transmissions in unlicensed bands.

Benefits of technology

Enhances uplink transmission efficiency by optimizing bandwidth utilization and resource allocation, supporting diverse wireless devices and improving overall network performance in unlicensed frequency bands.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure 0007806948000051
    Figure 0007806948000051
  • Figure 0007806948000052
    Figure 0007806948000052
  • Figure 0007806948000053
    Figure 0007806948000053
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

To improve indexing of a subset of CCEs within an RB set.SOLUTION: A wireless device receives configuration parameters of a bandwidth part comprising resource block (RB) sets, where control channel elements (CCEs) are across the RB sets and a subset of the CCEs, within each RB set of the RB sets, are indexed from a same initial value. Control information is received via one or more CCEs of a first subset, of the CCEs, within an RB set of the RB sets. The wireless device transmits a signal via an uplink resource based on an index of a CCE of the one or more CCEs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 28
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 930,130, filed November 4, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0002] A base station can communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wireless devices and / or base stations can support multiple technologies and / or multiple releases of the same technology. Wireless devices may have certain capabilities depending on the category and / or capabilities of the wireless devices. When this disclosure refers to a base station communicating with multiple wireless devices, this disclosure may also refer to a subset of all wireless devices in the coverage area. For example, this disclosure may refer to multiple wireless devices of a given LTE or 5G release that include a given capability and are located in a given sector of the base station. In this disclosure, multiple wireless devices may refer to selected wireless devices and / or a subset of all wireless devices in the coverage area that perform according to the disclosed methods, etc. There may be multiple base stations or multiple wireless devices in the coverage area that may not comply with the disclosed methods. For example, those wireless devices or base stations may perform based on older releases of LTE or 5G technology. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0003] Some examples of various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings.

[0004] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B illustrate an example of a mobile communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0005] [Figure 2] Figures 2A and 2B show the new radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol stacks, respectively.

[0006] [Figure 3] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

[0007] [Figure 4] FIG. 4A shows an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

[0008] FIG. 4B shows an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU.

[0009] [Figure 5] 5A and 5B show the mapping between downlink and uplink logical, transport, and physical channels, respectively.

[0010] [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram illustrating RRC state transitions for a UE.

[0011] [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows an example of the structure of an NR frame in which OFDM symbols are grouped.

[0012] [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows an example of a slot configuration in the time and frequency domain of an NR carrier.

[0013] [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier.

[0014] [Figure 10]FIG. 10A shows a three carrier aggregation configuration with two component carriers.

[0015] FIG. 10B shows an example of how aggregation cells can be configured into one or more PUCCH groups.

[0016] [Figure 11] FIG. 11A shows an example of an SS / PBCH block structure and location.

[0017] FIG. 11B shows an example of a CSI-RS mapped to the time and frequency domain.

[0018] [Figure 12] 12A and 12B show examples of three downlink and uplink beam management procedures, respectively.

[0019] [Figure 13] 13A, 13B, and 13C show a four-step contention-based random access procedure, a two-step contention-free random access procedure, and an alternative two-step random access procedure, respectively.

[0020] [Figure 14] FIG. 14A shows an example of a CORESET configuration for bandwidth portions.

[0021] FIG. 14B shows an example of CCE to REG mapping for DCI transmission on CORESET and PDCCH processing.

[0022] [Figure 15] FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless device communicating with a base station.

[0023] [Figure 16] 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16D show example structures for uplink and downlink transmissions.

[0024] [Figure 17] 17A, 17B and 17C show examples of MAC subheaders.

[0025] [Figure 18] FIG. 18A shows an example of a DL MAC PDU.

[0026] FIG. 18B shows an example of a UL MAC PDU.

[0027] [Figure 19] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of multiple LCIDs for downlink in accordance with one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] [Figure 20] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of multiple LCIDs for an uplink according to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] [Figure 21] 21A and 21B illustrate an example of a SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] [Figure 22] FIG. 22 illustrates an example of BWP management according to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] [Figure 23] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of a search space configuration according to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] [Figure 24] FIG. 24 illustrates an example of a control resource set configuration according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] [Figure 25] FIG. 25A is a flowchart of downlink transport block provisioning according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 25B illustrates an example of PUCCH resource determination according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] [Figure 26] FIG. 26 illustrates an example of a PUCCH resource indication according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] [Figure 27] FIG. 27A illustrates an example of a control resource set (CORESET) configuration according to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 27B illustrates an example of a CORESET configuration in an NR-U system according to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] [Figure 28] FIG. 28 illustrates an example of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] [Figure 29] FIG. 29 illustrates an example of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] [Figure 30] FIG. 30 illustrates an example of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] [Figure 31] FIG. 31 illustrates an example of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] [Figure 32] FIG. 32 is a flowchart of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] [Figure 33]FIG. 33 is a flowchart of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] [Figure 34] FIG. 34 is a flowchart of PUCCH resource selection according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0045] In this disclosure, various embodiments are presented as examples of how the disclosed technology may be implemented and / or how the disclosed technology may be practiced in environments and scenarios. It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and details can be made without departing from the scope. Indeed, after reading the specification, it will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art how to implement alternative embodiments. The present embodiments should not be limited by any of the exemplary embodiments. Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Limitations, features, and / or elements from the disclosed exemplary embodiments may be combined to create further embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure. Figures highlighting features and advantages are shown by way of example only. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible and configurable to be utilized in ways other than those shown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may be rearranged in some embodiments or used only as options.

[0046] Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosed mechanisms may be executed when certain criteria are met, for example, in a wireless device, a base station, a wireless environment, a network, a combination of the above, etc. Exemplary criteria may be based at least in part on, for example, wireless device or network node configuration, traffic load, initial system settings, packet size, traffic characteristics, a combination of the above, etc. Once one or more criteria are met, various exemplary embodiments may be applied. Thus, it may be possible to implement exemplary embodiments that selectively implement the disclosed protocols.

[0047] As used herein, the terms "a," "an," and similar terms are interpreted as "at least one" and "one or more." Similarly, any term ending in the suffix "(s)" should be interpreted as "at least one" and "one or more." As used herein, the term "may" is interpreted as "may, for example." In other words, the term "may" indicates that the phrase following the term "may" is one example of multiple suitable possibilities and may or may not be used by one or more of various embodiments. As used herein, the terms "comprises" and "consists of" recite one or more components of a described element. The term "comprises" is interchangeable with "includes" and does not exclude unrecited components that are included in the described element. In contrast, "consists of" provides a complete recitation of one or more components of a described element. As used herein, the term "based on" should be interpreted as "based at least in part on," rather than, for example, "based only on." As used herein, the term "and / or" refers to any possible combination of the listed elements. For example, "A, B, and / or C" can refer to A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C.

[0048] If A and B are sets and every element of A is also an element of B, then A is said to be a subset of B. Only non-empty sets and subsets are considered herein. For example, possible subsets of B = {cell1, cell2} are {cell1}, {cell2}, and {cell1, cell2}. The phrase "based on" (or equivalently, "based at least on") indicates that the phrase following the term "based on" is one example of many suitable possibilities that may or may not be used in one or more of various embodiments. The phrase "in response to" (or equivalently, "at least in response to") indicates that the phrase following the phrase "in response to" is one example of many suitable possibilities that may or may not be used in one or more of various embodiments. The phrase "according to" (or equivalently, "at least in response to") indicates that the phrase following the phrase "according to" is one example of many suitable possibilities that may or may not be used in one or more of various embodiments. The phrase "adopted / used" (or equivalently "at least adopted / used") indicates that the phrase following the phrase "adopted / used" is one example of many suitable possibilities that may or may not be used in one or more of various embodiments.

[0049] The term "configured" may relate to the capacity of a device, regardless of whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. "Configured" may also refer to specific settings of a device that affect the operational characteristics of the device, regardless of whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. In other words, hardware, software, firmware, registers, memory values, etc. may be "configured" within a device, regardless of whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state, to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as "control message originating in a device" may mean that the control message has parameters that can be used to configure specific characteristics in the device or that can be used to implement specific actions in the device, regardless of whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state.

[0050] In this disclosure, a parameter (or equivalently referred to as a field, or information element (IE)) can contain one or more information objects, which in turn can contain one or more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE)N contains parameter (IE)M, which contains parameter (IE)K, which in turn contains parameter (IE)J, then N contains K and N contains J. In an exemplary embodiment, when one or more messages contain multiple parameters, it means that a parameter of the multiple parameters is included in at least one of the one or more messages, but need not be included in each of the one or more messages.

[0051] Furthermore, many features presented above are described as optional by the use of "may" or parentheses. For the sake of brevity and readability, this disclosure does not explicitly describe each and every variation that may be obtained by selecting from a set of optional features. This disclosure should be construed as explicitly disclosing all such variations. For example, a system described as having three optional features can be embodied in seven ways: with only one of the three possible features, with any two of the three features, or with three of the three features.

[0052] Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may be implemented as modules. Here, a module is defined as an element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g., hardware with biological components), or a combination thereof, which may be behaviorally equivalent. For example, a module may be implemented as a software routine written in a computer language configured to run on a hardware machine (e.g., C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab, etc.) or Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, or LabVIEW MathScript. It may also be possible to implement modules using physical hardware incorporating discrete or programmable analog, digital, and / or quantum hardware. Examples of programmable hardware include computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). Computers, microcontrollers, and microprocessors are programmed using languages ​​such as assembly, C, and C++. FPGAs, ASICs, and CPLDs are often programmed using hardware description languages ​​(HDLs) such as Verilog or VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL), which configure the connections between the programmable device's less functional internal hardware modules. The above techniques are often used in combination to achieve a functional modular result.

[0053] 1A illustrates an example of a mobile communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The mobile communication network 100 may be, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN) run by a network operator. As shown in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 100 includes a core network (CN) 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and wireless devices 106.

[0054] The CN 102 may provide the wireless device 106 with an interface to one or more data networks (DNs), such as a public DN (e.g., the Internet), a private DN, and / or an intra-operator DN. As part of its interfacing function, the CN 102 may set up an end-to-end connection between the wireless device 106 and one or more DNs, authenticate the wireless device 106, and provide charging functionality.

[0055] The RAN 104 may connect the CN 102 to the wireless devices 106 via wireless communication over an air interface. As part of the wireless communication, the RAN 104 may provide scheduling, radio resource management, and retransmission protocols. The communication direction over the air interface from the RAN 104 to the wireless devices 106 is known as the downlink, and the communication direction over the air interface from the wireless devices 106 to the RAN 104 is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0056] The term wireless device may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass any mobile or fixed (non-portable) device for which wireless communication is required or available. For example, a wireless device may be a phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, a laptop, a sensor, a meter, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a vehicular roadside unit (RSU), a relay node, an automobile, and / or any combination thereof. The term wireless device encompasses other terms, including user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), access terminal (AT), mobile station, handset, wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), and / or wireless communication device.

[0057] The RAN 104 may include one or more base stations (not shown). The term base station may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass a Node B (associated with UMTS and / or 3G standards), an evolved Node B (eNB, associated with E-UTRA and / or 4G standards), a remote radio head (RRH), a baseband processing unit coupled to one or more RRHs, a repeater or relay node used to extend the coverage area of ​​a donor node, a next generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB), a generation Node B (gNB, associated with NR and / or 5G standards), an access point (AP, e.g., associated with WiFi or other suitable wireless communication standard), and / or any combination thereof. A base station may include at least one gNB central unit (gNB-CU) and at least one gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU).

[0058] The base stations included in the RAN 104 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating over the air interface with the wireless devices 106. For example, one or more base stations may include three sets of antennas for controlling three cells (or sectors), respectively. The size of a cell may be determined by the range over which a receiver (e.g., a base station receiver) can successfully receive transmissions from a transmitter (e.g., a wireless device transmitter) operating in the cell. Together, the base station cells may provide wireless coverage to the wireless devices 106 over a wide geographic area to support wireless device mobility.

[0059] In addition to three-sector sites, other implementations of base stations are possible. For example, one or more base stations of the RAN 104 may be implemented as sector sites having more or less than three sectors. One or more base stations of the RAN 104 may be implemented as access points, as baseband processing units coupled to multiple remote radio heads (RRHs), and / or as repeater or relay nodes used to extend the coverage area of ​​a donor node. The baseband processing units coupled to the RRHs may be part of a centralized or cloud RAN architecture, and the baseband processing units may be centralized or virtualized within a pool of baseband processing units. A repeater node may amplify and rebroadcast radio signals received from a donor node. A relay node may perform the same / similar functions as a repeater node, but may decode radio signals received from a donor node and remove noise before amplifying and rebroadcasting the radio signals.

[0060] The RAN 104 may be deployed as a homogeneous network of macrocell base stations with similar antenna patterns and similar high levels of transmit power. The RAN 104 may be deployed as a heterogeneous network. In a heterogeneous network, small cell base stations may be used to provide small coverage areas, such as coverage areas that overlap with the relatively large coverage areas provided by macrocell base stations. The small coverage areas may be provided in areas of high data traffic (or so-called hot spots) or areas where macrocell coverage is weak. Examples of small cell base stations include, in order of decreasing coverage area, microcell base stations, picocell base stations, and femtocell or home base stations.

[0061] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to provide global standardization of specifications for mobile communication networks similar to the mobile communication network 100 of FIG. 1A. To date, 3GPP has produced specifications for three generations of mobile networks: a third-generation (3G) network known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a fourth-generation (4G) network known as Long Term Evolution (LTE), and a fifth-generation (5G) network known as 5G Systems (5GS). Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to a RAN for a 3GPP 5G network, referred to as a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN). Embodiments may be applicable to the RAN for other mobile communication networks, such as the RAN 104 of FIG. 1A, RANs for earlier 3G and 4G networks, and future networks yet to be specified (e.g., a 3GPP 6G network). The NG-RAN implements a 5G radio access technology known as New Radio (NR) and may be adapted to implement other radio access technologies, including 4G radio access technology or non-3GPP radio access technologies.

[0062] 1B illustrates another example mobile communication network 150 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The mobile communication network 150 may be, for example, a PLMN run by a network operator. As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile communication network 150 includes a 5G core network (5G-CN) 152, an NG-RAN 154, and UEs 156A and 156B (collectively, UEs 156). These components may be implemented and operate in the same or similar manner as the corresponding components described with respect to FIG. 1A.

[0063] The 5G-CN 152 provides the UE 156 with an interface to one or more DNs, such as a public DN (e.g., the Internet), a private DN, and / or an intra-operator DN. As part of its interfacing functions, the 5G-CN 152 may set up an end-to-end connection between the UE 156 and one or more DNs, authenticate the UE 156, and provide charging functions. Compared to the CNs of 3GPP 4G networks, the 5G-CN 152 may be based on a service-based architecture. This means that the architecture of the nodes that make up the 5G-CN 152 may be defined as network functions that provide services through interfaces to other network functions. The network functions of the 5G-CN 152 may be implemented in several ways: as network elements on dedicated or shared hardware, as software instances running on dedicated or shared hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud-based platform).

[0064] As shown in FIG. 1B, the 5G-CN 152 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 158A and a user plane function (UPF) 158B, shown in FIG. 1B as a single component AMF / UPF 158, for simplicity. The UPF 158B may function as a gateway between the NG-RAN 154 and one or more DNs. The UPF 158B may perform functions such as packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and user plane policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, uplink classification to support routing of traffic flows to one or more DNs, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink / downlink rate enforcement, and uplink traffic validation), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 158B may function as an anchor point for intra / inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, an external protocol (or packet) data unit (PDU) session point interconnected to one or more DNs, and / or a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UE 156 may be configured to receive services via a PDU session, which is a logical connection between the UE and the DN.

[0065] The AMF 158A may perform functions such as termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, NAS signaling security, access stratum (AS) security control, inter-CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmissions), registration area management, intra-system and inter-system mobility support, access authentication, access authorization including checking roaming rights, mobility management control (subscription and policy), support for network slicing, and / or session management function (SMF) selection. NAS may refer to functions operating between the CN and the UE, and AS may refer to functions operating between the UE and the RAN.

[0066] 5G-CN 152 may include one or more additional network functions not shown in FIG. 1B for clarity. For example, 5G-CN 152 may include one or more of a Session Management Function (SMF), an NR Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), an Application Function (AF), and / or an Authentication Server Function (AUSF).

[0067] The NG-RAN 154 may connect the 5G-CN 152 to the UE 156 via wireless communication over the air interface. The NG-RAN 154 may include one or more gNBs (collectively, gNBs 160), illustrated as gNB 160A and gNB 160B, and / or one or more ng-eNBs (collectively, ng-eNBs 162), illustrated as ng-eNB 162A and ng-eNB 162B. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may more generally be referred to as base stations. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNB 162 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the UE 156 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the gNBs 160 and / or one or more of the ng-eNBs 162 may include three sets of antennas for controlling three cells (or sectors), respectively. Together, the gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 cells may provide radio coverage to the UE 156 over a wide geographic area to support UE mobility.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 1B, the gNB 160 and / or the ng-eNB 162 may be connected to the 5G-CN 152 via an NG interface and to other base stations via an Xn interface. The NG and Xn interfaces may be established using direct physical connections and / or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) transport network. The gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the UE 156 via a Uu interface. For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, the gNB 160A may be connected to the UE 156A via a Uu interface. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with protocol stacks. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces may be used by the network elements of FIG. 1B to exchange data and signaling messages and may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may process data of interest to the user. The control plane may process signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0069] The gNB 160 and / or ng-eNB 162 may be connected to one or more AMF / UPF functions of the 5G-CN 152, such as the AMF / UPF 158, by one or more NG interfaces. For example, the gNB 160A may be connected to the UPF 158B of the AMF / UPF 158 by an NG User Plane (NG-U) interface. The NG-U interface may provide for the provisioning of user plane PDUs between the gNB 160A and the UPF 158B (e.g., non-guaranteed provisioning). The gNB 160A may be connected to the AMF 158A using an NG Control Plane (NG-C) interface. The NG-C interface may provide, for example, NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, forwarding of NAS messages, paging, PDU session management and configuration forwarding, and / or sending of alert messages.

[0070] The gNB 160 may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156 over the Uu interface. For example, the gNB 160A may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156A over the Uu interface associated with a first protocol stack. The ng-eNBs 162 may provide Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156 over the Uu interface, where E-UTRA refers to a 3GPP 4G radio access technology. For example, the ng-eNB 162B may provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156B over the Uu interface associated with a second protocol stack.

[0071] The 5G-CN 152 has been described as being configured to handle NR and 4G radio access. Those skilled in the art will understand that it may be possible for the NR to connect to a 4G core network in a mode known as "non-standalone operation." In non-standalone operation, the 4G core network is used to provide (or at least support) control plane functions (e.g., initial access, mobility, and paging). Although only one AMF / UPF 158 is shown in FIG. 1B, one gNB or ng-eNB may be connected to multiple AMF / UPF nodes to provide redundancy and / or load sharing across multiple AMF / UPF nodes.

[0072] 1B, interfaces between network elements (e.g., Uu, Xn, and NG interfaces) may be associated with protocol stacks that the network elements use to exchange data and signaling messages. The protocol stacks may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may process data of interest to users, and the control plane may process signaling messages of interest to network elements.

[0073] 2A and 2B show example NR user plane and NR control plane protocol stacks, respectively, for the Uu interface between UE 210 and gNB 220. The protocol stacks shown in Figures 2A and 2B may be the same as or similar to those used for the Uu interface between UE 156A and gNB 160A shown in Figure 1B, for example.

[0074] 2A shows an NR user plane protocol stack including five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, physical layers (PHYs) 211 and 221 may provide transport services to the upper layers of the protocol stack and may correspond to Layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above the PHYs 211 and 221 include media access control layers (MAC) 212 and 222, radio link control layers (RLC) 213 and 223, packet data convergence protocol layers (PDCP) 214 and 224, and service data application protocol layers (SDAP) 215 and 225. Together, these four protocols may constitute Layer 2, or the data link layer, of the OSI model.

[0075] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers in the NR user plane protocol stack. Starting from the top of FIGS. 2A and 3, the SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform QoS flow processing. The UE 210 may receive services via a PDU session, which may be a logical connection between the UE 210 and the DN. A PDU session may have one or more QoS flows. A UPF (e.g., UPF 158B) in the CN may map IP packets to one or more QoS flows of the PDU session based on QoS requirements (e.g., in terms of delay, data rate, and / or error rate). The SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform mapping / de-mapping between one or more QoS flows and one or more data radio bearers. The mapping / de-mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers may be determined by the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220. The SDAP 215 at the UE 210 may be informed of the mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers via reflected mapping or control signaling received from the gNB 220. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220 may mark the downlink packets with a QoS flow indicator (QFI) that can be observed by the SDAP 215 at the UE 210 to determine the mapping / demapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers.

[0076] PDCP 214 and PDCP 224 may perform header compression / decompression to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface, encryption / decryption to prevent unauthorized decryption of data transmitted over the air interface, and integrity protection (to ensure that control messages originate from the intended source). PDCP 214 and 224 may perform retransmission of untransmitted packets, in-sequence delivery and reordering of packets, and elimination of duplicate received packets for intra-gNB handover, for example. PDCP 214 and 224 may perform packet duplication to improve the likelihood of a packet being received and to eliminate any duplicate packets at the receiver. Packet duplication may be useful for services that require high reliability.

[0077] Although not shown in FIG. 3 , the PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform mapping / demapping between split radio bearers and RLC channels in a dual connectivity scenario. Dual connectivity is a technique that allows a UE to connect to two cells, or more generally, two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). A split bearer is when a single radio bearer, such as one of the radio bearers provided by the PDCPs 214 and 224 as a service to the SDAPs 215 and 225, is handled by a cell group in dual connectivity. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may map / demap the split radio bearer between the RLC channels belonging to the cell group.

[0078] The RLCs 213 and 223 may perform segmentation, retransmission via automatic repeat request (ARQ), and removal of duplicate data units received from the MACs 212 and 222, respectively. The RLCs 213 and 223 may support three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). Based on the transmission mode in which the RLC is operating, the RLC may perform one or more of the indicated functions. This RLC configuration may be per logical channel, independent of numerology and / or transmission time interval (TTI) duration. As shown in FIG. 3, the RLCs 213 and 223 may provide RLC channels as services to the PDCPs 214 and 224, respectively.

[0079] The MAC 212 and MAC 222 may perform multiplexing / demultiplexing of logical channels and / or mapping between logical channels and transport channels. Multiplexing / demultiplexing may include multiplexing / demultiplexing of data units belonging to one or more logical channels to / from transport blocks (TBs) delivered to / from the PHYs 211 and 221. The MAC 222 may be configured to perform scheduling, scheduling information reporting, and priority handling between UEs through dynamic scheduling. Scheduling may be performed at the gNB 220 (at the MAC 222) for the downlink and uplink. The MACs 212 and 222 may be configured to perform error correction, priority handling between the logical channels of the UE 210 through logical channel prioritization, and / or padding through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) (e.g., one HARQ entity per carrier in the case of carrier aggregation (CA)). The MAC 212 and MAC 222 may support one or more numerologies and / or transmission timings. In one embodiment, mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization can control which numerology and / or transmission timing a logical channel can use. As shown in Figure 3, MACs 212 and 222 can offer logical channels as services to RLCs 213 and 223.

[0080] The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform transport channel to physical channel mapping and digital and analog signal processing functions to transmit and receive information over the air interface. These digital and analog signal processing functions may include, for example, encoding / decoding and modulation / demodulation. The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform multi-antenna mapping. As shown in Figure 3, the PHYs 211 and 221 may provide one or more transport channels as services to the MACs 212 and 222.

[0081] Figure 4A shows an example of a downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack. Figure 4A shows a downlink data flow of three IP packets (n, n+1, and m) through the NR user plane protocol stack, generating two TBs at gNB 220. The uplink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack can be similar to the downlink data flow shown in Figure 4A.

[0082] The downlink data flow in Figure 4A begins when the SDAP 225 receives three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In Figure 4A, the SDAP 225 maps IP packets n and n+1 to the first radio bearer 402 and maps IP packet m to the second radio bearer 404. An SDAP header (labeled "H" in Figure 4A) is added to the IP packets. Data units from / to higher protocol layers are called service data units (SDUs) of the lower protocol layers, and data units to / from lower protocol layers are called protocol data units (PDUs) of the higher protocol layers. As shown in Figure 4A, the data units from the AP 225 are SDUs of the lower protocol layer PDCP 224 and PDUs of the SDAP 225.

[0083] The remaining protocol layers in FIG. 4A may perform associated functions (e.g., with respect to FIG. 3), add corresponding headers, and forward their respective outputs to the next lower layer. For example, PDCP 224 may perform IP header compression and encryption and forward its output to RLC 223. RLC 223 may optionally perform segmentation (e.g., as shown for IP packet m in FIG. 4A) and forward its output to MAC 222. MAC 222 may multiplex several RLC PDUs and attach MAC subheaders to the RLC PDUs to form transport blocks. In NR, the MAC subheader may be distributed throughout the MAC PDU, as shown in FIG. 4A. In LTE, the MAC subheader may be located entirely at the beginning of the MAC PDU. The NR MAC PDU structure may reduce processing time and associated delays because the MAC PDU subheader may be calculated before the complete MAC PDU is assembled.

[0084] 4B shows an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU. The MAC subheader includes an SDU length field to indicate the length (e.g., in bytes) of the MAC SDU to which the MAC subheader corresponds, a logical channel identifier (LCD) field to identify the logical channel on which the MAC SDU originated to assist in the demultiplexing process, a flag (F) to indicate the size of the SDU length field, and a reserved bit (R) field for future use.

[0085] FIG. 4B further illustrates a MAC Control Element (CE) inserted into a MAC PDU by a MAC, such as MAC 223 or MAC 222. For example, FIG. 4B illustrates two MAC CEs inserted into a MAC PDU. A MAC CE may be inserted at the beginning of a MAC PDU for downlink transmission (as shown in FIG. 4B) and at the end of a MAC PDU for uplink transmission. MAC CEs may be used for in-band control signaling. Examples of MAC CEs include scheduling-related MAC CEs, such as buffer status reports and power headroom reports; activation / deactivation MAC CEs, such as those for PDCP duplicate detection activation / deactivation, channel state information (CSI) reports, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions, and pre-configured components; discontinuous reception (DRX)-related MAC CEs; timing advancement MAC CEs; and random access-related MAC CEs. A MAC CE may be preceded by a MAC subheader of a format similar to that described for the MAC SDU and may be identified with a reserved value in the LCID field, which indicates the type of control information included in the MAC CE.

[0086] Before describing the NR control plane protocol stack, we first describe logical, transport, and physical channels and the mapping between channel types. One or more channels may be used to perform functions related to the NR control plane protocol stack, as described below.

[0087] Figures 5A and 5B show the mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels for the downlink and uplink, respectively. Information is transmitted through channels between the RLC, MAC, and PHY of the NR protocol stack. Logical channels can be used between the RLC and MAC and can be classified as control channels, which carry control and configuration information within the NR control plane, or as traffic channels, which carry data within the NR user plane. Logical channels can be classified as dedicated logical channels dedicated to a specific UE or as common logical channels that can be used by multiple UEs. Logical channels can also be defined by the type of information they carry. The set of logical channels defined by NR includes, for example, - a paging control channel (PCCH) for displaying paging messages used to page UEs whose location is unknown to the network at cell level; - a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) for carrying system information messages in the form of a Master Information Block (MIB) and several System Information Blocks (SIBs), which can be used by UEs to obtain information about how the cell is configured and how to operate within the cell; - a Common Control Channel (CCCH) for transmitting control messages together with random access; - a dedicated control channel (DCCH) for transmitting control messages to and from a specific UE for configuring the UE; - Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) for transmitting user data to and from a specific UE.

[0088] Transport channels are used between the MAC and PHY layers and may be defined by how they transmit the information they transmit over the air interface. The set of transport channels defined by NR includes, for example: - a paging channel (PCH) for transmitting paging messages originating from the PCCH; - a Broadcast Channel (BCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCCH; - Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH) for transmission of downlink data and signaling messages, including SIBs from BCCH - an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) for transmitting uplink data and signaling messages; - A Random Access Channel (RACH) that allows a UE to connect to the network without prior scheduling.

[0089] The PHY can pass information between processing levels of the PHY using physical channels. A physical channel may have an associated set of time-frequency resources for carrying information for one or more transport channels. The PHY generates control information to support the lower-level operation of the PHY and may provide control information to the lower levels of the PHY via physical control channels known as L1 / L2 control channels. The set of physical channels and physical control channels defined by NR includes, for example: - a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCH; - a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages from the DL-SCH and paging messages from the PCH; - a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for carrying Downlink Control Information (DCI), which may include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands; - a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and, in some cases, Uplink Control Information (UCI), as described below; - a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for carrying UCI, which may include a HARQ acknowledgement, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and a scheduling request (SR); - A Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) for random access.

[0090] Similar to the physical control channel, the physical layer generates physical signals to support the low-level operations of the physical layer. As shown in Figures 5A and 5B, the physical layer signals defined by NR include the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMSR), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS). These physical layer signals are described in more detail below.

[0091] 2B shows an example of an NR control plane protocol stack. In FIG. 2B, the NR control plane protocol stack may use first four protocol layers that are the same / similar to the example NR user plane protocol stack. These four protocol layers include PHY 211 and 221, MAC 212 and 222, RLC 213 and 223, and PDCP 214 and 224. Instead of having SDAP 215 and 225 at the top of the stack like the NR user plane protocol stack, the NR control plane stack has radio resource control (RRC) 216 and 226 and NAS protocols 217 and 237 at the top of the NR control plane protocol stack.

[0092] The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functions between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 (e.g., AMF 158A), or more generally, between the UE 210 and the CN. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functions between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 via signaling messages called NAS messages. There is no direct path between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 over which NAS messages can be transmitted. NAS messages may be transmitted using the ASs of the Uu and NG interfaces. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functions such as authentication, security, connection setup, mobility management, and session management.

[0093] The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide a control plane function between the UE 210 and the gNB 220, or more generally, between the UE 210 and the RAN. The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide a control plane function between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 via signaling messages called RRC messages. The RRC messages may be transmitted between the UE 210 and the RAN using signaling radio bearers and the same / similar PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY protocol layers. The MAC may multiplex control plane and user plane data within the same transport block (TB). The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functions such as broadcasting system information related to the AS and NAS, paging initiated by the CN or RAN, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 210 and the RAN, security functions including key management, establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of signaling and data radio bearers, mobility functions, QoS management functions, UE measurement reporting and reporting control, radio link failure (RLF) detection and recovery, and / or NAS message forwarding. As part of establishing an RRC connection, the RRCs 216 and 226 may establish an RRC context, which may involve setting parameters for communication between the UE 210 and the RAN.

[0094] 6 is an example diagram illustrating RRC state transitions for a UE. The UE may be the same as or similar to the wireless device 106 shown in FIG. 1A, the UE 210 shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, or any other wireless device described in this disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the UE may be in at least one of three RRC states: RRC connected 602 (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED), RRC idle 604 (e.g., RRC_IDLE), and RRC inactive 606 (e.g., RRC_INACTIVE).

[0095] In the RRC connection 602, the UE has an established RRC context and may have at least one RRC connection with a base station. The base station may be similar to one of one or more base stations included in the RAN 104 shown in FIG. 1A, one of the gNB 160 or ng-eNB 162 shown in FIG. 1B, the gNB 220 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, or any other base station described in this disclosure. The base station to which the UE is connected may have the UE's RRC context. The RRC context, referred to as the UE context, may include parameters for communication between the UE and the base station. These parameters may include, for example, one or more AS contexts, one or more radio link configuration parameters, bearer configuration information (e.g., associated with data radio bearers, signaling radio bearers, logical channels, QoS flows, and / or PDU sessions), security information, and / or PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and / or SDAP layer configuration information. In the RRC connection 602, the UE's mobility may be managed by the RAN (e.g., the RAN 104 or the NG-RAN 154). The UE may measure signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from the serving cell and neighboring cells and report these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE. The UE's serving base station may request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations based on the reported measurements. The RRC state may transition from RRC Connected 602 to RRC Idle 604 via a Connection Release procedure 608 or to RRC Inactive 606 via a Connection Inactivation procedure 610.

[0096] In RRC idle 604, no RRC context may be established for the UE. In RRC idle 604, the UE may not have an RRC connection with a base station. During RRC idle 604, the UE may be in a sleep state most of the time (e.g., to conserve battery power). The UE may wake up periodically (e.g., once per discontinuous reception cycle) to monitor for paging messages from the RAN. UE mobility may be managed by the UE through a procedure known as cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602 via a connection establishment procedure 612, which may involve a random access procedure as discussed in more detail below.

[0097] In RRC Inactive 606, the previously established RRC context is maintained in the UE and the base station. This reduces signaling overhead and allows for a faster transition to RRC Connected 602 compared to transitioning from RRC Idle 604 to RRC Connected 602. In RRC Inactive 606, the UE is in a sleep state and UE mobility may be managed by the UE through cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC Inactive 606 to RRC Connected 602 by a Connection Resume procedure 614 or to RRC Idle 604 via a Connection Release procedure 616 that is the same as or similar to the Connection Release procedure 608.

[0098] The RRC state may be associated with a mobility management mechanism. In RRC Idle 604 and RRC Inactive 606, mobility is managed by the UE through cell reselection. The purpose of mobility management in RRC Idle 604 and RRC Inactive 606 is to allow the network to notify the UE of events via paging messages without broadcasting the paging messages throughout the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanism used in RRC Idle 604 and RRC Inactive 606 may enable the network to track the UE on a cell group level so that paging messages can be broadcast on cells of the cell group in which the UE currently resides instead of the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms in RRC Idle 604 and RRC Inactive 606 track UEs on a cell group level. They can do so using different levels of grouping granularity. For example, there may be three levels of granularity of cell grouping: individual cells, cells within a RAN area identified by a RAN Area Identifier (RAI), and cells within a group of RAN areas, called a tracking area and identified by a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI).

[0099] The tracking area may be used to track the UE at the CN level. The CN (e.g., CN 102 or 5G-CN 152) may provide the UE with a list of TAIs associated with the UE registration area. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell associated with a TAI that is not included in the list of TAIs associated with the UE registration area, the UE may perform a registration update with the CN to allow the CN to update the UE's location and provide the UE with a new UE registration area.

[0100] The RAN area may be used to track the UE at the RAN level. For a UE in the RRC inactive 606 state, the UE may be assigned a RAN notification area. The RAN notification area may include one or more cell identities, a list of RAIs, or a list of TAIs. In one embodiment, a base station may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. In one embodiment, a cell may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell that is not included in the RAN notification area assigned to the UE, the UE may perform a notification area update with the RAN to update the RAN notification area of ​​the UE.

[0101] A base station that stores the RRC context for a UE, or the last serving base station for the UE, may be referred to as an anchor base station. The anchor base station may maintain the RRC context for the UE at least during the time the UE remains in the RAN notification area of ​​the anchor base station and / or during the time the UE remains in RRRC inactive 606.

[0102] A gNB, such as gNB 160 in FIG. 1B, can be divided into two parts: a central unit (gNB-CU) and one or more distributed units (gNB-DUs). The gNB-CU can be coupled to one or more gNB-DUs using an F1 interface. The gNB-CU may include RRC, PDCP, and SDAP. The gNB-DU may include RLC, MAC, and PHY.

[0103] In NR, physical signals and physical channels (FIGS. 5A and 5B) may be mapped onto orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. OFDM is a multicarrier communication scheme that transmits data on F orthogonal subcarriers (or tones). Before transmission, the data may be mapped to a series of complex symbols (e.g., M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) or M-phase shift keying (M-PSK) symbols), called source symbols, which are divided into F parallel symbol streams. The F parallel symbol streams may be treated as if they were in the frequency domain and used as input to an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block, which converts them to the time domain. The IFFT block takes F source symbols, one from each of the F parallel symbol streams at a time, and can use each source symbol to modulate the amplitude and phase of one of the F sinusoidal basis functions corresponding to the F orthogonal subcarriers. The output of the IFFT block may be F time-domain samples representing a sum of the F orthogonal subcarriers. The F time-domain samples may form a single OFDM symbol. After some processing (e.g., adding a cyclic prefix) and upconversion, the OFDM symbols provided by the IFFT block can be transmitted over the air interface on a carrier frequency. The F parallel symbol streams can be mixed using an FFT block before being processed by the IFFT block. This processing produces discrete Fourier transform (DFT) pre-coded OFDM symbols, which can be used by UEs in the uplink to reduce the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Inverse processing can be performed on the OFDM symbols at the receiver using the FFT block to recover the data mapped to the source symbols.

[0104] FIG. 7 shows an example of an NR frame structure in which OFDM symbols are grouped. NR frames may be identified by a system frame number (SFN). The SFN may repeat at a period of 1024 frames. As shown, one NR frame may have a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms) and may include 10 subframes, each of which has a duration of 1 ms. The subframes may be divided into slots, each of which includes, for example, 14 OFDM symbols per slot.

[0105] The duration of a slot may depend on the numerology used for the OFDM symbol of the slot. NR supports flexible numerology to accommodate different cell deployments (e.g., cells with carrier frequencies less than 1 GHz up to cells with carrier frequencies in the mm-wave range). Numerologies may be defined in terms of subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration. For numerology in NR, subcarrier spacing may be scaled up by a power of two from the baseline subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and cyclic prefix duration may be scaled down by a power of two from the baseline cyclic prefix duration of 4.7 μm. For example, NR defines numerologies using the following subcarrier spacing / cyclic prefix duration combinations: 15 kHz / 4.7 μm, 30 kHz / 2.3 μm, 60 kHz / 1.2 μm, 120 kHz / 0.59 μm, and 240 kHz / 0.29 μm.

[0106] A slot may have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols). Numerologies with higher subcarrier spacing have shorter slot durations and correspondingly more slots per subframe. Figure 7 illustrates this numerology-dependent slot duration and slot-per-subframe transmission structure (for ease of illustration, a numerology with 240 kHz subcarrier spacing is not shown in Figure 7). While a subframe in NR may be used as a numerology-independent time reference, a slot may be used as the unit by which uplink and downlink transmissions are scheduled. To support low latency, scheduling in NR is decoupled from slot duration and may begin with any OFDM symbol and end with as many symbols as necessary for transmission. These partial slot transmissions may be referred to as minislot or subslot transmissions.

[0107] Figure 8 shows an example of a slot configuration in the time and frequency domains of an NR carrier. A slot includes resource elements (REs) and resource blocks (RBs). An RE is the smallest physical resource in NR. An RE spans one OFDM symbol in the time domain by one subcarrier in the frequency domain, as shown in Figure 8. An RB spans 12 consecutive REs in the frequency domain, as shown in Figure 8. An NR carrier may be limited to a width of 275 RBs or 275 x 12 = 3300 subcarriers. If used, these restrictions may limit an NR carrier to 50, 100, 200, and 400 MHz for subcarrier spacings of 15, 30, 60, and 120 kHz, respectively, and the 400 MHz bandwidth may be set based on the 400 MHz per carrier bandwidth limit.

[0108] Figure 8 shows a single numerology used across the entire bandwidth of an NR carrier. In other example configurations, multiple numerologies may be supported on the same carrier.

[0109] NR may support a wide range of carrier bandwidths (e.g., up to 400 MHz with 120 kHz subcarrier spacing). Not all UEs may be able to receive the full bandwidth of a carrier (e.g., due to hardware limitations). Also, receiving the full carrier bandwidth may be prohibitive from a UE power consumption perspective. In one embodiment, to reduce power consumption and / or for other purposes, the UE may adapt the size of its reception bandwidth based on the amount of traffic the UE intends to receive. This is referred to as bandwidth adaptation.

[0110] NR defines a bandwidth portion (BWP) to support UEs that cannot receive the entire carrier bandwidth and supports bandwidth adaptation. In one embodiment, a BWP may be defined by a subset of contiguous RBs on a carrier. A UE may be configured (e.g., via the RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell (e.g., up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs per serving cell). At a given time, one or more of the BWPs configured for a serving cell may be active. These one or more BWPs may be referred to as the active BWPs of the serving cell. When a serving cell is configured with a secondary uplink carrier, the serving cell may have one or more first active BWPs on the uplink carrier and one or more second active BWPs on the secondary uplink carrier.

[0111] For unpaired spectrum, a downlink BWP from a set of configured downlink BWPs may be linked with an uplink BWP from a set of configured uplink BWPs if the downlink BWP index of the downlink BWP and the uplink BWP index of the uplink BWP are the same. For unpaired spectrum, the UE may expect the center frequency of the downlink BWP to be the same as the center frequency of the uplink BWP.

[0112] For a downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), the base station may configure the UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. A search space is a set of locations in the time and frequency domain where the UE can find control information. The search space may be a UE-specific search space or a common search space (potentially usable by multiple UEs). For example, the base station may configure the UE with a common search space on the PCell or on a primary secondary cell (PSCell) for an active downlink BWP.

[0113] For an uplink BWP within a set of configured uplink BWPs, the BS can configure the UE with one or more resource sets for one or more PUCCH transmissions. The UE can receive downlink receptions (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) within the downlink BWP according to the configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration) for the downlink BWP. The UE can transmit uplink transmissions (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) within the uplink BWP according to the configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix length for the uplink BWP).

[0114] One or more BWP indicator fields may be provided in the downlink control information (DCI). The value of the BWP indicator field may indicate which BWPs of a set of configured BWPs are active downlink BWPs for one or more downlink receptions. The value of the one or more BWP indicator fields may indicate active uplink BWPs for one or more uplink transmissions.

[0115] The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a default downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs associated with the PCell. If the base station does not provide a default downlink BWP for the UE, the default downlink BWP may be the initial active downlink BWP. The UE may determine which BWP is the initial active downlink BWP based on the CORESET configuration obtained using the PBCH.

[0116] The base station can configure the UE with a BWP inactivity timer value for the PCell. The UE can start or restart the BWP inactivity timer at any appropriate time. For example, the UE may start or restart the BWP inactivity timer (a) when the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP other than the default downlink BWP for paired spectrum operation, or (b) when the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP or an active uplink BWP other than the default downlink BWP or uplink BWP for unpaired spectrum operation. If the UE does not detect a DCI for a certain period of time (e.g., 1 ms or 0.5 ms), the UE may run the BWP inactivity timer towards expiration (e.g., increasing it from zero to the BWP inactivity timer value or decreasing it from the BWP inactivity timer value to zero). When the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE may switch from the active downlink BWP to the default downlink BWP.

[0117] In one embodiment, a base station may semi-statically configure a UE with one or more BWPs, and the UE may switch the active BWP from a first BWP to a second BWP in response to receiving a DCI indicating the second BWP as the active BWP and / or in response to expiration of a BWP inactivity timer (e.g., if the second BWP is a default BWP).

[0118] Downlink and uplink BWP switching (BWP switching refers to switching from a currently active BWP to a non-currently active BWP) may occur independently in paired spectrum. In unpaired spectrum, downlink and uplink BWP switching may be performed simultaneously. Switching between configured BWPs may occur based on RRC signaling, DCI, expiration of the BWP inactivity timer, and / or initiation of random access.

[0119] FIG. 9 shows an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier. A UE configured with three BWPs may switch from one BWP to another at a switch point. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the BWPs include BWP 902 with a 40 MHz bandwidth and 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, BWP 904 with a 10 MHz bandwidth and 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, and BWP 906 with a 20 MHz bandwidth and 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. BWP 902 may be the initial active BWP, and BWP 904 may be the default BWP. A UE can switch between BWPs at a switch point. In the example of FIG. 9, the UE may switch from BWP 902 to BWP 904 at switch point 908. The switch at switch point 908 may occur for any suitable reason, such as in response to expiration of a BWP inactivity timer (indicating switching to the default BWP) and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch from the active BWP 904 to BWP 906 at switching point 910 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 906 as the active BWP. The UE may switch from the active BWP 906 to BWP 904 at switching point 912 in response to expiration of a BWP inactivity timer and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch from the active BWP 904 to BWP 902 at switching point 914 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 902 as the active BWP.

[0120] If the UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default downlink BWP in the set of configured downlink BWPs and timer values, the UE procedure for switching the BWP on the secondary cell may be the same / similar to that on the primary cell. For example, the UE may use timer values ​​and default downlink BWP for the secondary cell in the same / similar manner that the UE uses these values ​​for the primary cell.

[0121] To provide higher data rates, carrier aggregation (CA) can be used to aggregate two or more carriers and transmit simultaneously to the same UE. The aggregated carriers in CA may be called component carriers (CCs). When using CA, there are many serving cells for the UE and one cell for the CC. A CC can have three configurations in the frequency domain:

[0122] 10A shows three CA configurations with two CCs. In the intra-band, contiguous configuration 1002, two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are located immediately adjacent to each other within the frequency band. In the intra-band, non-contiguous configuration 1004, two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are separated by a gap. In the intra-band configuration 1006, two CCs are located in frequency bands (frequency band A and frequency band B).

[0123] In one embodiment, up to 32 CCs may be aggregated. The aggregated CCs may have the same or different bandwidths, subcarrier spacing, and / or duplexing schemes (TDD or FDD). A serving cell of a UE using CA may have a downlink CC. For FDD, one or more uplink CCs may optionally be configured for the serving cell. Being able to aggregate more downlink carriers than uplink carriers may be useful, for example, when a UE has more data traffic on the downlink than on the uplink.

[0124] When CA is used, one of the UE's aggregation cells may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). The PCell may be a serving cell to which the UE initially connects during RRC connection establishment, re-establishment, and / or handover. The PCell may provide the UE with NAS mobility information and security inputs. A UE may have different PCells. In the downlink, a carrier corresponding to a PCell may be referred to as a downlink primary CC (DL PCC). In the uplink, a carrier corresponding to a PCell may be referred to as an uplink primary CC (UL PCC). Other aggregation cells of the UE may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells). In one embodiment, an SCell may be configured after a PCell is configured for the UE. For example, the SCell may be configured via an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure. In the downlink, a carrier corresponding to an SCell may be referred to as a downlink secondary CC (DL SCC). In the uplink, a carrier corresponding to an SCell may be referred to as an uplink secondary CC (UL SCC).

[0125] A configured SCell for a UE may be activated and deactivated based on, for example, traffic and channel conditions. Deactivating an SCell may mean that PDCCH and PDSCH reception on the SCell is stopped and PUSCH, SRS, and CQI transmission on the SCell is stopped. A configured SCell may be activated and deactivated using a MAC CE with respect to FIG. 4B. For example, the MAC CE may use a bitmap (e.g., one bit per SCell) to indicate which SCells (e.g., among a subset of configured SCells) for a UE are activated or deactivated. A configured SCell may be deactivated in response to expiration of an SCell deactivation timer (e.g., one SCell deactivation timer per SCell).

[0126] Downlink control information, such as scheduling assignments and scheduling grants for a cell, may be transmitted on the cell corresponding to the assignment and grant, known as self-scheduling. DCI for a cell may be transmitted on another cell, known as cross-carrier scheduling. Uplink control information for aggregation cells (e.g., HARQ acknowledgments and channel state feedback such as CQI, PMI, and / or RI) may be transmitted on the PUCCH of the PCell. A large number of aggregated downlink CCs may overload the PUCCH of the PCell. Cells may be divided into multiple PUCCH groups.

[0127] 10B shows an example of how aggregation cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups. The PUCCH group 1010 and the PUCCH group 1050 may each include one or more downlink CCs. In the example of FIG. 10B, the PUCCH group 1010 includes three downlink CCs: a PCell 1011, an SCell 1012, and an SCell 1013. The PUCCH group 1050 includes three downlink CCs: a PCell 1051, an SCell 1052, and an SCell 1053. One or more uplink CCs may be configured as a PCell 1021, an SCell 1022, and an SCell 1023. One or more other uplink CCs may be configured as a Primary SCell (PSCell) 1061, an SCell 1062, and an SCell 1063. Uplink control information (UCI) associated with downlink CCs of PUCCH group 1010, denoted as UCI 1031, UCI 1032, and UCI 1033, may be transmitted on the uplink of PCell 1021. Uplink control information (UCI) associated with downlink CCs of PUCCH group 1050, denoted as UCI 1071, UCI 1072, and UCI 1073, may be transmitted on the uplink of PSCell 1061. In one example, if the aggregation cell depicted in FIG. 10B were not divided into PUCCH group 1010 and PUCCH group 1050, a single uplink PCell and PCell for transmitting UCI associated with downlink CCs could be overloaded. By dividing the transmission of UCIs between PCell 1021 and PSCell 1061, overloading may be prevented.

[0128] A cell including a downlink carrier and an optional uplink carrier may be assigned a physical cell ID and a cell index. The physical cell ID or cell index may identify the downlink carrier and / or uplink carrier of a cell, depending on, for example, the context in which the physical cell ID is used. The physical cell ID may be determined using a synchronization signal transmitted on a downlink component carrier. The cell index may be determined using an RRC message. In this disclosure, the physical cell ID may be referred to as a carrier ID. The cell index may be referred to as a carrier index. For example, when this disclosure refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlink carrier, this disclosure may mean that the first physical cell ID is for a cell including the first downlink carrier. The same concept may apply, for example, to carrier activation. When this disclosure indicates that a first carrier is activated, this specification may mean that the cell including the first carrier is activated.

[0129] In CA, the multi-carrier nature of the PHY may be exposed to the MAC. In one embodiment, a HARQ entity may operate on the serving cell. Transport blocks may be generated per assignment / grant per serving cell. Transport blocks and potential HARQ retransmissions of transport blocks may be mapped to the serving cell.

[0130] In the downlink, a base station may transmit (e.g., unicast, multicast, and / or broadcast) one or more reference signals (RS) (e.g., PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS, and / or PT-RS as shown in FIG. 5A) to the UE. In the uplink, the UE may transmit one or more RSs to the base station (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, and / or SRS as shown in FIG. 5B). The PSS and SSS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to synchronize the UE to the base station. The PSS and SSS may be provided within a synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block that includes the PSS, SSS, and PBCH. The base station may periodically transmit bursts of the SS / PBCH block.

[0131] FIG. 11A illustrates an example of the structure and location of SS / PBCH blocks. A burst of SS / PBCH blocks may include one or more SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., four SS / PBCH blocks as shown in FIG. 11A). Bursts may be transmitted periodically (e.g., every two frames or every 20 milliseconds). Bursts may be limited to half-frames (e.g., the first half-frame having a 5 millisecond duration). It will be appreciated that FIG. 11A is an example, and these parameters (e.g., the number of SS / PBCH blocks per burst, the periodicity of the burst, and the location of the burst within a frame) may be configured based on, for example, the carrier frequency of the cell in which the SS / PBCH blocks are transmitted, the numerology or subcarrier spacing of the cell, configuration by the network (e.g., using RRC signaling), or any other suitable factor. In one example, the UE may assume a subcarrier spacing for the SS / PBCH blocks based on the monitored carrier frequency, unless the wireless network configures the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing.

[0132] An SS / PBCH block may span one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., four OFDM symbols as shown in the example of FIG. 11A) or one or more subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 240 consecutive subcarriers). The PSS, SSS, and PBCH may have a common center frequency. The PSS may be transmitted first and may span, for example, one OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The SSS may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., the last two symbols) and may span one OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The PBCH may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., over the next three OFDM symbols) and may span 240 subcarriers.

[0133] The location of the SS / PBCH block in the time and frequency domain may not be known to the UE (e.g., when the UE is searching for a cell). To find and select a cell, the UE may monitor the carrier for a PSS. For example, the UE may monitor a frequency location within the carrier. If the PSS is not found after a certain period of time (e.g., 20 milliseconds), the UE may search for a PSS at a different frequency location within the carrier as indicated by the synchronization raster. If the PSS is found at a location in the time and frequency domain, the UE may determine the location of the SSS and PBCH, respectively, based on the known structure of the SS / PBCH block. The SS / PBCH block may be a cell-defined SS block (CD-SSB). In one embodiment, a primary cell may be associated with the CD-SSB. The CD-SSB may be located on the synchronization raster. In one embodiment, cell selection / search and / or reselection may be based on the CD-SSB.

[0134] The SS / PBCH block may be used by the UE to determine one or more parameters of the cell. For example, the UE may determine a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell based on the PSS and SSS sequences, respectively. The UE may determine the location of a frame boundary of the cell based on the location of the SS / PBCH block. For example, the SS / PBCH block may indicate that it was transmitted according to a transmission pattern, in which the SS / PBCH block is a known distance from the frame boundary.

[0135] The PBCH may use QPSK modulation and may employ forward error correction (FEC). The FEC may use polarity coding. One or more symbols spanned by the PBCH may carry one or more DMRSs for demodulation of the PBCH. The PBCH may include an indication of the cell's current system frame number (SFN) and / or SS / PBCH block timing index. These parameters may facilitate time synchronization of the UE to the base station. The PBCH may include a master information block (MIB) used to provide one or more parameters to the UE. The MIB can be used by the UE to find the remaining minimum system information (RSSI) associated with the cell. The RMSI may include system information block type 1 (SIB1). SIB1 may include information necessary for the UE to access the cell. The UE may use one or more parameters in the MIB to monitor the PDCCH, which may be used to schedule the PDSCH. The PDSCH may include SIB1. SIB1 may be decoded using the parameters provided in the MIB. The PBCH may indicate the absence of SIB1. Based on the PBCH indicating the absence of SIB1, the UE may point to a frequency. The UE may search for an SS / PBCH block on the frequency to which the UE is pointed.

[0136] The UE may assume that one or more SS / PBCH blocks transmitted with the same SS / PBCH block index are quasi-co-located (QCL'd) (e.g., have the same / similar Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and / or spatial Rx parameters). The UE may not assume that the QCL's for SS / PBCH block transmissions have different SS / PBCH block indices.

[0137] SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., blocks within a half frame) may be transmitted in spatial directions (e.g., using different beams across the coverage area of ​​a cell). In one embodiment, a first SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a first spatial direction using a first beam, and a second SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a second spatial direction using a second beam.

[0138] In one embodiment, within the frequency span of a carrier, a base station may transmit multiple SS / PBCH blocks. In one embodiment, a first PCI of a first SS / PBCH block of the multiple SS / PBCH blocks may be different from a second PCI of a second SS / PBCH block of the multiple SS / PBCH blocks. The PCIs of SS / PBCH blocks transmitted at different frequency locations may be different or the same.

[0139] The CSI-RS may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE to obtain channel state information (CSI). The base station may configure the UE with one or more CSI-RS for channel estimation or any other suitable purpose. The base station may configure the UE with one or more of the same / similar CSI-RS. The UE may measure one or more CSI-RS. The UE may estimate downlink channel conditions and / or generate a CSI report based on measurements of one or more downlink CSI-RS. The UE may provide the CSI report to the base station. The base station may perform link adaptation using feedback provided by the UE (e.g., estimated downlink channel conditions).

[0140] A base station can semi-statically configure a UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. The CSI-RS resources may be associated with a location and periodicity in the time and frequency domains. The base station can selectively activate and / or deactivate CSI-RS resources. The base station can indicate to the UE that CSI-RS resources in a CSI-RS resource set are activated and / or deactivated.

[0141] A base station may configure a UE to report CSI measurements. The base station may configure the UE to provide CSI reports periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. For periodic CSI reporting, the UE may be configured with the timing and / or periodicity of the CSI reports. For aperiodic CSI reporting, the base station may request a CSI report. For example, the base station may instruct the UE to measure configured CSI-RS resources and provide a CSI report regarding the measurements. For semi-persistent CSI reporting, the base station may configure the UE to periodically send periodic reports and selectively activate or deactivate them. The base station may configure the UE with a CSI-RS resource set and CSI report using RRC signaling.

[0142] The CSI-RS configuration may include, for example, one or more parameters indicating up to 32 antenna ports. The UE may be configured to use the same OFDM symbol for the downlink CSI-RS and control resource set (CORESET) when the downlink CSI-RS and CORESET are spatially QCL'd and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside the physical resource block (PRB) configured for CORESET. The UE may be configured to use the same OFDM symbol for the downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH block when the downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH block are spatially QCL'd and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside the PRB configured for the SS / PBCH block.

[0143] The downlink DMRS may be transmitted by a base station and may be used by a UE for channel estimation. For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH). An NR network may support one or more variable and / or configurable DMRS patterns for data demodulation. At least one downlink DMRS configuration may support a frontloaded DMRS pattern. The frontloaded DMRS may be mapped to one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with the number (e.g., maximum number) of frontloaded DMRS symbols for the PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, in the case of single-user MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. In the case of multi-user MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to four orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. The wireless network can support a common downlink and uplink DMRS structure (e.g., at least for CP-OFDM). The DMRS positions, DMRS patterns, and / or scrambling sequences may be the same or different. The base station may transmit the downlink DMRS and corresponding PDSCH using the same precoding matrix. The UE may use one or more downlink DMRs for coherent demodulation / channel estimation of the PDSCH.

[0144] In one example, a transmitter (e.g., a base station) may use a precoder matrix for a portion of a transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmitter may use a first precoder matrix for a first bandwidth and a second precoder matrix for a second bandwidth. The first precoder matrix and the second precoder matrix may be different based on the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth. The UE may assume that the same precoding matrix is ​​used across a set of PRBs. The set of PRBs may be denoted as a precoding resource block group (PRG).

[0145] The PDSCH may include one or more layers. The UE may assume that at least one symbol with a DMRS is present on one or more layers of the PDSCH. Higher layers may configure up to three DMRSs for the PDSCH.

[0146] The downlink PT-RS may be transmitted by the base station and may be used by the UE for phase noise compensation. The presence or absence of the downlink PT-RS depends on the RRC configuration. The presence and / or pattern of the downlink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis using a combination of RRC signaling and / or an association with one or more parameters used for other purposes (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) that may be indicated by DCI. If configured, the dynamic presence of the downlink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters, including at least the MCS. An NR network may support multiple PT-RS densities defined in the time and / or frequency domain. The frequency domain density, if present, may be associated with at least one configuration of the scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume the same precoding for the DMRS and PT-RS ports. The number of PT-RS ports may be less than the number of DM-RS ports within the scheduled resources. The downlink PT-RS may be restricted to the UE's scheduled time / frequency period. The downlink PT-RS may be transmitted on symbols to facilitate phase tracking at the receiver.

[0147] The UE may transmit an uplink DMRS to a base station for channel estimation. For example, the base station may use the uplink DMRS for coherent demodulation of one or more uplink physical channels. For example, the UE may transmit the uplink DMR on the PUSCH and / or PUCCH. The uplink DM-RS may span a range of frequencies similar to the range of frequencies associated with the corresponding physical channel. The base station may configure the UE with one or more uplink DMRS configurations. At least one DMRS configuration may support a frontloaded DMRS pattern. The frontloaded DMRS may be mapped to one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). One or more uplink DMRS may be configured to transmit on one or more symbols of the PUSCH and / or PUCCH. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with the number (e.g., maximum number) of frontloaded DMRS symbols for the PUSCH and / or PUCCH that the UE may use to schedule single-symbol DMRS and / or dual-symbol DMRS. An NR network may support a common DMRS structure for the downlink and uplink (e.g., for cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM)), where the DMRS position, DMRS pattern, and / or DMRS scrambling sequence may be the same or different.

[0148] The PUSCH may include one or more layers, and the UE may transmit at least one symbol having a DMRS present on one or more layers of the PUSCH. In one embodiment, higher layers may configure up to three DMRSs for the PUSCH.

[0149] The uplink PT-RS (which may be used by the base station for phase tracking and / or phase noise compensation) may or may not be present depending on the UE's RRC configuration. The presence and / or pattern of the uplink PT-RS may be configurable on a UE-specific basis by a combination of one or more parameters used for other purposes (e.g., Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by RRC signaling and / or DCI. If configured, the dynamic presence of the uplink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters, including at least the MCS. The wireless network may support multiple uplink PT-RS densities defined in the time / frequency domain. The frequency domain density, if present, may be associated with at least one configuration of the scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume the same precoding for the DMRS and PT-RS ports. The number of PT-RS ports may be less than the number of DM-RS ports within the scheduled resources. For example, the uplink PT-RS may be restricted to the UE's scheduled time / frequency period.

[0150] The SRS may be transmitted by the UE to the base station for channel condition estimation to support uplink channel-dependent scheduling and / or link adaptation. The SRS transmitted by the UE may enable the base station to estimate uplink channel conditions at one or more frequencies. The base station scheduler can allocate one or more resource blocks for uplink PUSCH transmission from the UE using the estimated uplink channel conditions. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS resource sets. For an SRS resource set, the base station may configure the UE with one or more SRS resources. The applicability of the SRS resource set may be configured by higher layer (e.g., RRC) parameters. For example, if higher layer parameters indicate beam management, SRS resources in one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., having the same / similar time-domain behavior, periodicity, aperiodicity, and / or the like) may be transmitted instantaneously (e.g., simultaneously). The UE may transmit one or more SRS resources in the SRS resource set. An NR network may support aperiodic, periodic, and / or semi-persistent SRS transmission. A UE may transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, which may include higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and / or one or more DCI formats. In one embodiment, at least one DCI format may be used for a UE to select at least one of one or more configured SRS resource sets. SRS trigger type 0 may refer to an SRS triggered based on higher layer signaling. SRS trigger type 1 may refer to an SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats. In one embodiment, if a PUSCH and an SRS are transmitted in the same slot, the UE may be configured to transmit the SRS after the transmission of the PUSCH and the corresponding uplink DMRS.

[0151] The base station may quasi-statistically configure the UE with one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of an SRS resource configuration identifier, a number of SRS ports, a time-domain behavior of the SRS resource configuration (e.g., an indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS), slot, minislot, and / or subframe-level periodicity, an offset for periodic and / or aperiodic SRS resources, a number of OFDM symbols in the SRS resource, a starting OFDM symbol of the SRS resource, an SRS bandwidth, a frequency hopping bandwidth, a cyclic shift, and / or an SRS sequence ID.

[0152] Antenna ports are defined such that the channel through which a symbol on an antenna port is carried can be inferred from the channel through which another symbol on the same antenna port is carried. When a first symbol and a second symbol are transmitted on the same antenna port, a receiver may infer the channel (e.g., fade gain, multipath delay, and / or the like) for carrying a second symbol on the antenna port from the channel through which the first symbol on the antenna port is carried. A first antenna port and a second antenna port may be referred to as quasi-colocated (QCL) if one or more large-scale characteristics of the channel through which the first symbol on the first antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel through which the second symbol on the second antenna port is transmitted. The one or more large-scale properties may include at least one of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and / or spatial receive (Rx) parameters.

[0153] In a channel that uses beamforming, beam management is required. Beam management may include beam measurement, beam selection, and beam indication. A beam may be associated with one or more reference signals. For example, a beam may be identified by one or more beamforming reference signals. A UE may perform downlink beam measurement based on a downlink reference signal (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) and generate a beam measurement report. The UE can perform a downlink beam measurement procedure after an RRC connection is set up with the base station.

[0154] 11B shows an example of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) mapped to the time and frequency domain. The squares shown in FIG. 11B may span resource blocks (RBs) within the bandwidth of a cell. The base station may transmit one or more RRC messages containing CSI-RS resource configuration parameters indicating one or more CSI-RS. One or more of the following parameters may be set by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC and / or MAC signaling) for the CSI-RS resource configuration: CSI-RS resource configuration identity, number of CSI-RS ports, CSI-RS configuration (e.g., symbol and resource element (RE) location within a subframe), CSI-RS subframe configuration (e.g., subframe location, offset, and radio frame periodicity), CSI-RS power parameters, CSI-RS sequence parameters, code division multiplexing (CDM) type parameters, frequency density, transmit comb, quasi-coordinate location (QCL) parameters (e.g., QCL-scramblingidentity, crs-portscount, mbsfn-subframeconfiglist, csi-rs-configZPid, qcl-csi-rs-configNZPid), and / or other radio resource parameters.

[0155] The three beams shown in FIG. 11B may be configured for a UE in a UE-specific configuration. Three beams are shown in FIG. 11B (Beam #1, Beam #2, and Beam #3), and more or fewer beams may be configured. Beam #1 may be assigned with CSI-RS 1101, which may be transmitted on one or more subcarriers within the RB of the first symbol. Beam #2 may be assigned with CSI-RS 1102, which may be transmitted on one or more subcarriers within the RB of the second symbol. Beam #3 may be assigned with CSI-RS 1103, which may be transmitted on one or more subcarriers within the RB of the third symbol. By using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), the base station may transmit another CSI-RS associated with another UE's beam using other subcarriers within the same RB (e.g., those not used to transmit CSI-RS 1101). By using time domain multiplexing (TDM), the beam used for a UE may be configured so that the UE's beam uses symbols from the other UE's beam.

[0156] The CSI-RS (e.g., CSI-RSs 1101, 1102, and 1103) shown in FIG. 11B may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for one or more measurements. For example, the UE may measure the reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources. The base station may configure the UE with a reporting configuration, and the UE may report RSRP measurements to the network (e.g., via one or more base stations) based on the reporting configuration. In one embodiment, the base station may determine one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, including several reference signals, based on the reported measurement results. In one embodiment, the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, MAC CE, and / or DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states. In one embodiment, the UE may or may not have beam correspondence capability. If the UE has beam correspondence capability, the UE may determine the spatial domain filter of the transmit (Tx) beam based on the spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam. If the UE does not have beam correspondence capability, the UE may perform an uplink beam selection procedure to determine the spatial domain filter of the Tx beam. The UE may perform the uplink beam selection procedure based on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources configured for the UE by the base station. The base station may select and indicate an uplink beam for the UE based on measurements of one or more SRS resources transmitted by the UE.

[0157] In a beam management procedure, a UE may evaluate (e.g., measure) the channel quality of one or more beam pair links, including a transmit beam transmitted by a base station and a receive beam received by the UE. Based on the evaluation, the UE may transmit a beam measurement report indicating one or more beam pair quality parameters, including, for example, one or more beam identifications (e.g., beam index, reference signal index, or the like), RSRP, precoding matrix indicator (PMI), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI).

[0158] FIG. 12A shows examples of three downlink beam management procedures, P1, P2, and P3. Procedure P1 may enable UE measurements at the transmit (Tx) beams of a transmit receive point (TRP) (or multiple TRPs) to support selection of one or more base station Tx beams and / or UE Rx beams (shown as ellipses in the top and bottom rows of P1, respectively). Beamforming at a TRP may include a Tx beam sweep of a set of beams (shown as an ellipse rotating counterclockwise as indicated by the dashed arrows in the top rows of P1 and P2). Beamforming at a UE may include an Rx beam sweep of a set of beams (shown as an ellipse rotating clockwise as indicated by the dashed arrows in the bottom rows of P1 and P3). Procedure P2 may be used to enable UE measurements at the Tx beams of a TRP (shown as an ellipse rotating counterclockwise as indicated by the dashed arrows in the top row of P2). The UE and / or base station may perform procedure P2 using a smaller set of beams than used in procedure P1 or using narrower beams than used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement. The UE may perform procedure P3 for Rx beam determination by using the same Tx beam at the base station and sweeping the Rx beam at the UE.

[0159] FIG. 12B shows examples of three uplink beam management procedures, U1, U2, and U3. Procedure U1 may be used, for example, to enable the base station to perform measurements on the UE's Tx beams to support the selection of one or more UE Tx beams and / or base station Rx beams (shown as ellipses in the top and bottom rows of U1, respectively). Beamforming at the UE may include, for example, a Tx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating clockwise as indicated by dashed arrows in the bottom rows of U1 and U3). Beamforming at the base station may include, for example, an Rx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating counterclockwise as indicated by dashed arrows in the top rows of U1 and U2). Procedure U2 may be used to enable the base station to adjust its Rx beam when the UE uses a fixed Tx beam. The UE and / or base station may perform procedure U2 using a smaller set of beams than used in procedure P1 or using narrower beams than used in procedure P1. This may be called beam refinement. The UE may perform procedure U3 to adjust its Tx beam when the base station uses a fixed Rx beam.

[0160] The UE may initiate a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure based on detecting a beam failure. The UE may transmit a BFR request (e.g., a preamble, UCI, SR, MAC CE, and / or the like) based on initiating the BFR procedure. The UE may detect beam failure based on determining that the quality of the beam pair link of the associated control channel is unsatisfactory (e.g., has an error rate higher than an error rate threshold, a received signal power lower than a received signal power threshold, a timer expiration, and / or the like).

[0161] A UE may measure the quality of a beam-pair link using one or more reference signals (RSs), including one or more SS / PBCH blocks, one or more CSI-RS resources, and / or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). The quality of the beam-pair link may be based on one or more of a block error rate (BLER), an RSRP value, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, and / or a CSI value measured on the RS resources. The base station may indicate that an RS resource is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with one or more DM-RSs of a channel (e.g., a control channel, a shared data channel, and / or the like). An RS resource and one or more DMRSs of a channel may be QCLed when the channel characteristics (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameters, fading, and / or the like) from a transmission to the UE over the RS resource are similar or identical to the channel characteristics from a transmission to the UE over the channel.

[0162] The network (e.g., a gNB and / or ng-eNB of the network) and / or the UE may initiate a random access procedure. A UE in an RRC_IDLE state and / or a UE in an RRC_INACTIVE state may initiate a random access procedure to request connection setup to the network. A UE may initiate a random access procedure from an RRC_CONNECTED state. A UE may initiate a random access procedure to request uplink resources (e.g., for SR uplink transmission when there are no PUCCH resources available) and / or to acquire uplink timing (e.g., when the uplink synchronization state is not synchronized). A UE may initiate a random access procedure to request one or more system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., SIB2, SIB3, and / or other system information such as similar). A UE may initiate a random access procedure for a beam failure recovery request. The network may initiate a random access procedure to establish time alignment for handover and / or for SCell addition.

[0163] Figure 13A shows a four-step contention-based random access procedure. Before the procedure begins, the base station may send a configuration message 1310 to the UE. Figure 13A includes the transmission of four messages: Msg1 1311, Msg2 1312, Msg3 1313, and Msg4 1314. Msg1 1311 may include and / or be referred to as a preamble (or random access preamble). Msg2 1312 may include and / or be referred to as a random access response (RAR).

[0164] The configuration message 1310 may be transmitted, for example, using one or more RRC messages. The one or more RRC messages may indicate one or more random access channel (RACH) parameters to the UE. The one or more RACH parameters may include at least one of general parameters (e.g., RACH-configGeneral), cell-specific parameters (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon), and / or dedicated parameters (e.g., RACH-configDedicated) for one or more random access procedures. The base station may broadcast or multicast the one or more RRC messages to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages may be UE-specific (e.g., dedicated RRC messages transmitted to the UE in RRC_CONNECTED and / or RRC_INACTIVE states). The UE may determine time-frequency resources and / or uplink transmit power for transmission of Msg1 1311 and / or Msg3 1313 based on the one or more RACH parameters. Based on one or more RACH parameters, the UE may determine the receive timing and downlink channel for receiving Msg2 1312 and Msg4 1314.

[0165] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may indicate one or more physical RACH (PRACH) opportunities available for transmitting Msg1 1311. The one or more PRACH opportunities may be predefined. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more available sets of one or more PRACH opportunities (e.g., prach-ConfigIndex). The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more PRACH opportunities and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more preambles and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more reference signals may be SS / PBCH blocks and / or CSI-RS. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate the number of SS / PBCH blocks mapped to the PRACH opportunity and / or the number of preambles mapped to the SS / PBCH block.

[0166] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may be used to determine the uplink transmit power of Msg1 1311 and / or Msg3 1313. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a reference power for the preamble transmission (e.g., a received target power and / or an initial power of the preamble transmission). There may be one or more power offsets indicated by the one or more RACH parameters. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a power ramping step, a power offset between SSB and CSI-RS, a power offset between the transmissions of Msg1 1311 and Msg3 1313, and / or a power offset value between preamble groups. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more thresholds for which the UE may determine at least one reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) and / or uplink carrier (e.g., a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and / or a complementary uplink (SUL) carrier).

[0167] Msg1 1311 may include one or more preamble transmissions (e.g., a preamble transmission and one or more preamble retransmissions). The RRC message may be used to configure one or more preamble groups (e.g., Group A and / or Group B). A preamble group may include one or more preambles. The UE may determine the preamble group based on a path loss measurement and / or the size of Msg3 1313. The UE may measure the RSRP of one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) and determine at least one reference signal having an RSRP above an RSRP threshold (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB and / or rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS). The UE may select at least one preamble associated with one or more reference signals and / or a selected preamble group, for example, when an association between one or more preambles and at least one reference signal is configured by the RRC message.

[0168] The UE may determine a preamble based on one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310. For example, the UE may determine the preamble based on a path loss measurement, an RSRP measurement, and / or the size of Msg3 1313. As another example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more thresholds for determining a preamble format, a maximum number of preamble transmissions, and / or one or more preamble groups (e.g., Group A and Group B). The base station may configure the UE with an association between one or more preambles and one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) using the one or more RACH parameters. If an association is configured, the UE may determine a preamble to include in Msg1 1311 based on the association. Msg1 1311 may be transmitted to the base station via one or more PRACH opportunities. The UE may use one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) for preamble selection and PRACH opportunity determination. One or more RACH parameters (eg, ra-ssb-OccasionMskIndex and / or ra-OccasionList) may indicate an association between a PRACH occasion and one or more reference signals.

[0169] The UE may perform a preamble retransmission if no response is received after a preamble transmission. The UE may increase uplink transmit power for the preamble retransmission. The UE may select an initial preamble transmit power based on a path loss measurement and / or a target received preamble power configured by the network. The UE may decide to retransmit the preamble and may ramp up the uplink transmit power. The UE may receive one or more RACH parameters (e.g., PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP) indicating a ramping step for the preamble retransmission. The ramping step may be the amount of incremental increase in uplink transmit power for the retransmission. If the UE determines the same reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) as the previous preamble transmission, the UE may ramp up the uplink transmit power. The UE may count the number of preamble transmissions and / or retransmissions (e.g., PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_STATEER). The UE may determine that the random access procedure has completed unsuccessfully, for example, if the number of preamble transmissions exceeds a threshold configured by one or more RACH parameters (e.g., preambleTransMax).

[0170] Msg2 1312 received by the UE may include an RAR. In some scenarios, Msg2 1312 may include multiple RARs corresponding to multiple UEs. Msg2 1312 may be received after or in response to the transmission of Msg1 1311. Msg2 1312 may be scheduled on the DL-SCH and indicated on the PDCCH using a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). Msg2 1312 may indicate that Msg1 1311 has been received by the base station. Msg2 1312 may include a time alignment command that the UE may use to adjust its transmission timing, a scheduling grant for the transmission of Msg3 1313, and / or a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). After transmitting the preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) in which it monitors the PDCCH for Msg2 1312. The UE may determine when to start the time window based on the PRACH opportunity the UE uses to transmit the preamble. For example, the UE may start the time window one or more symbols after the last symbol of the preamble (e.g., on the first PDCCH opportunity from the end of the preamble transmission). The one or more symbols may be determined based on numerology. The PDCCH may be within a common search space configured by an RRC message (e.g., a Type 1-PDCCH common search space). The UE may identify the RAR based on the Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). The RNTI may be used in response to one or more events that initiate the random access procedure. The UE may use a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The RA-RNTI may be associated with the PRACH opportunity on which the UE transmits the preamble. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI based on the OFDM symbol index, slot index, frequency domain index, and / or UL carrier indicator of the PRACH opportunity. Examples of RA-RNTI may be as follows: RA-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id where s_id may be the index of the first OFDM symbol of the PRACH opportunity (e.g., 0≦s_id<14), t_id may be the index of the first slot of the PRACH opportunity within the system frame (e.g., 0≦t_id<80), f_id may be the index of the PRACH opportunity in the frequency domain (e.g., 0≦f_id<8), and ul_carrier_id may be the UL carrier used for preamble transmission (e.g., 0 for NUL carrier and 1 for SUL carrier). The UE may transmit Msg3 1313 in response to successful reception of Msg2 1312 (e.g., using the resources identified in Msg2 1312). Msg3 1313 may be used for contention resolution, for example, in the contention-based random access procedure shown in FIG. 13A. In some scenarios, multiple UEs may transmit the same preamble to the base station, and the base station may provide the UE with a corresponding RAR. If multiple UEs interpret the RAR as corresponding to themselves, a mismatch may occur. Contention resolution (e.g., use of Msg3 1313 and Msg4 1314) may be used to increase the likelihood that a UE does not mistakenly use the identity of another UE. To perform contention resolution, the UE may include a device identifier (e.g., C-RNTI, if assigned, TC-RNTI included in Msg2 1312, and / or any other suitable identifier) ​​in Msg3 1313.

[0171] Msg4 1314 may be received after or in response to the transmission of Msg3 1313. If a C-RNTI was included in Msg3 1313, the base station addresses the UE on the PDCCH using the C-RNTI. If the UE's unique C-RNTI is detected on the PDCCH, the random access procedure is determined to have completed successfully. If a TC-RNTI is included in Msg3 1313 (e.g., the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or is otherwise not connected to a base station), Msg4 1314 is received using the DL-SCH associated with the TC-RNTI. If the MAC PDU is successfully decoded and matches the CCCH SDU sent (e.g., transmitted) in Msg3 1313 or otherwise includes a corresponding UE contention resolution identity EtOAc CE, the UE may determine that contention resolution was successful and / or the UE may determine that the random access procedure was completed successfully.

[0172] A UE may be configured with a complementary uplink (SUL) carrier and a normal uplink (NUL) carrier. Initial access (e.g., random access procedure) may be supported on the uplink carrier. For example, a base station may configure a UE with two separate RACH configurations, one for the SUL carrier and one for the NUL carrier. For random access in a cell configured with an SUL carrier, the network may indicate which carrier (NUL or SUL) to use. The UE may determine the SUL carrier, for example, if the measured quality of one or more reference signals is lower than a broadcast threshold. Uplink transmissions of the random access procedure (e.g., Msg1 1311 and / or Msg3 1313) can remain on the selected carrier. The UE may switch uplink carriers during the random access procedure (e.g., between Msg1 1311 and Msg3 1313) in one or more instances. For example, the UE may determine and / or switch uplink carriers for Msg1 1311 and / or Msg3 1313 based on a channel clearance assessment (e.g., listen before speak).

[0173] Figure 13B shows a two-step contention-free random access procedure. Similar to the four-step contention-based random access procedure shown in Figure 13A, the base station can transmit a configuration message 1320 to the UE before the procedure begins. The configuration message 1320 may be similar in some respects to the configuration message 1310. Figure 13B includes the transmission of two messages, Msg1 1321 and Msg2 1322. Msg1 1321 and Msg2 1322 may be similar in some respects to Msg1 1311 and Msg2 1312, respectively, shown in Figure 13A. As can be seen from Figures 13A and 13B, the contention-free random access procedure may not include messages similar to Msg3 1313 and / or Msg4 1314.

[0174] 13B may be initiated for beam failure recovery, other SI requests, SCell addition, and / or handover. For example, the base station may indicate or assign to the UE the preamble to be used for Msg1 1321. The UE may receive an indication of the preamble (e.g., ra-PreambleIndex) from the base station via PDCCH and / or RRC.

[0175] After transmitting the preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) in which it monitors the PDCCH for the RAR. In the case of a beam failure recovery request, the base station may configure the UE with a separate time window and / or separate PDCCH within the search space indicated by the RRC message (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId). The UE may monitor for PDCCH transmissions addressed to the Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) over the search space. In the contention-free random access procedure shown in FIG. 13B, the UE may determine that the random access procedure has completed successfully after or in response to the transmission of Msg1 1321 and the reception of the corresponding Msg2 1322. The UE may determine that the random access procedure has completed successfully, for example, if the PDCCH transmission is addressed to the C-RNTI. The UE may determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed, for example, if the UE receives an RAR including a preamble identifier corresponding to the preamble transmitted by the UE and / or if the RAR includes a MAC sub-PDU including the preamble identifier. The UE may determine the response as an indication of confirmation for the SI request.

[0176] 13C shows another two-step random access procedure. Similar to the random access procedure shown in FIG. 13A and 13B, the base station can transmit a configuration message 1330 to the UE before the procedure begins. The configuration message 1330 can be similar in some respects to the configuration message 1310 and / or the configuration message 1320. FIG. 13C includes the transmission of two messages, namely, Msg A 1331 and Msg B 1332.

[0177] Msg A 1331 may be transmitted in an uplink transmission by the UE. Msg A 1331 may include one or more transmissions of preamble 1341 and / or one or more transmissions of transport block 1342. Transport block 1342 may include content similar and / or equivalent to the content of Msg3 1313 shown in FIG. 13A. Transport block 1342 may include UCI (e.g., SR, HARQ ACK / NACK, and / or similar). The UE may receive Msg B 1332 after or in response to the transmission of Msg A 1331. Msg B 1332 may include content similar and / or equivalent to the content of Msg2 1312 (e.g., RAR) shown in FIGs. 13A and 13B and / or Msg4 1314 shown in FIG. 13A.

[0178] The UE can initiate the two-step random access procedure of Figure 13C for licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. The UE may determine whether to initiate the two-step random access procedure based on one or more factors. The one or more factors may be the radio access technology in use (e.g., LTE, NR, and / or the like), whether the UE has a valid TA, the cell size, the RRC state of the UE, the type of spectrum (e.g., licensed vs. unlicensed), and / or any other suitable factor.

[0179] The UE may determine radio resources and / or uplink transmit power for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342 included in Msg A 1331 based on the two-step RACH parameters included in the configuration message 1330. The RACH parameters may indicate a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), time-frequency resources, and / or power control for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342. The time-frequency resources for transmission of the preamble 1341 (e.g., PRACH) and the time-frequency resources for transmission of the transport block 1342 (e.g., PUSCH) may be multiplexed using FDM, TDM, and / or CDM. The RACH parameters may enable the UE to determine the receive timing and downlink channel for monitoring and / or receiving Msg B 1332.

[0180] The transport block 1342 may include data (e.g., delay-sensitive data), a UE identifier, security information, and / or device information (e.g., International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)). The base station may send Msg B 1332 in response to Msg A 1331. Msg B 1332 may include at least one of a preamble identifier, a timing advance command, a power control command, an uplink grant (e.g., a radio resource allocation and / or MCS), a UE identifier for contention resolution, and / or an RNTI (e.g., a C-RNTI or TC-RNTI). The UE may determine that the two-step random access procedure is successfully completed if the preamble identifier in Msg B 1332 matches the preamble transmitted by the UE and / or the UE identifier in Msg B 1332 matches the UE identifier (e.g., transport block 1342) in Msg A 1331.

[0181] The UE and the base station may exchange control signaling, which may be referred to as L1 / L2 control signaling and may originate from the PHY layer (e.g., Layer 1) and / or the MAC layer (e.g., Layer 2). The control signaling may include downlink control signaling transmitted from the base station to the UE and / or uplink control signaling transmitted from the UE to the base station.

[0182] The downlink control signaling may include downlink scheduling assignments, uplink scheduling grants indicating uplink radio resources and / or transport formats, slot format information, preemption indications, power control commands, and / or any other suitable signaling. A UE may receive downlink control signaling in a payload transmitted by a base station on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The payload transmitted on the PDCCH may be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). In some scenarios, the PDCCH may be a group-common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) that is common to a group of UEs.

[0183] The base station may attach one or more cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits to the DCI to facilitate detection of transmission errors. If the DCI is intended for a UE (or a group of UEs), the base station may scramble the CRC parity bits with an identifier of the UE (or an identifier of the group of UEs). Scrambling the CRC parity bits with an identifier may include modulo-2 addition (or exclusive-OR) of the identifier value and the CRC parity bits. The identifier may include a 16-bit value, the Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI).

[0184] DCIs may be used for different purposes. The purpose may be indicated by the type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC parity bits. For example, a DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) may indicate paging information and / or system information change notification. The P-RNTI may be predefined as "FFFE" in hexadecimal. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI) may indicate a broadcast transmission of system information. The SI-RNTI may be predefined as "FFFE" in hexadecimal. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may indicate a random access response (RAR). A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) may indicate a unicast transmission of dynamic scheduling and / or a random access of PDCCH order trigger. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with the Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) may indicate contention resolution (e.g., Msg3 similar to Msg3 1313 shown in FIG. 13A). Encodings of other RNTIs configured in the UE by the base station include Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), Transmit Power Control-PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), Transmit Power Control-PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), Transmit Power Control-SRS RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), Modulation and Coding Scheme Cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), and / or the like.

[0185] Depending on the purpose and / or content of the DCI, a base station may transmit the DCI in one or more DCI formats. For example, DCI format 0_0 may be used for scheduling the PUSCH in a cell. DCI format 0_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., has a compact DCI payload). DCI format 0_1 ​​may be used for scheduling the PUSCH in a cell (e.g., has a larger DCI payload than DCI format 0_0). DCI format 1_0 may be used for scheduling the PDSCH in a cell. DCI format 1_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., has a compact DCI payload). DCI format 1_1 may be used for scheduling the PDSCH in a cell (e.g., has a larger DCI payload than DCI format 1_0). DCI format 2_0 may be used to provide a slot format indication to a group of UEs. DCI format 2_1 may be used to inform a group of UEs of the physical resource blocks and / or OFDM symbols that the UE assumes are not intended for transmission to the UE. DCI format 2_2 may be used to transmit transmit power control (TPC) commands for PUCCH or PUSCH. DCI format 2_3 may be used to transmit a group of TPC commands for SRS transmission by one or more UEs. DCI formats for new features may be defined in future releases. DCI formats may have different DCI sizes or share the same DCI size.

[0186] After scrambling the DCI with the RNTI, the base station may process the DCI using channel coding (e.g., polarity coding), rate matching, scrambling, and / or QPSK modulation. The base station may map the coded and modulated DCI onto resource elements used and / or configured for the PDCCH. Based on the payload size of the DCI and / or the base station's coverage, the base station may transmit the DCI via the PDCCH occupying several consecutive control channel elements (CCEs). The number of consecutive CCEs (called aggregation levels) may be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and / or any other suitable number. A CCE may include multiple (e.g., 6) resource element groups (REGs). A REG may include a resource block within an OFDM symbol. The mapping of the coded and modulated DCI onto resource elements may be based on a mapping of CCEs and REGs (e.g., CCE-REG mapping).

[0187] FIG. 14A shows an example of a CORESET configuration for a bandwidth portion. A base station may transmit DCI via a PDCCH on one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A CORESET may include time-frequency resources on which a UE attempts to decode the DCI using one or more search spaces. A base station may configure CORESETs in the time-frequency domain. In the example of FIG. 14A, a first CORESET 1401 and a second CORESET 1402 occur at the first symbol in a slot. The first CORESET 1401 overlaps with the second CORESET 1402 in the frequency domain. The third CORESET 1403 occurs at the third symbol in a slot. The fourth CORESET 1404 occurs at the seventh symbol of the slot. The CORESETs may have different numbers of resource blocks in the frequency domain.

[0188] FIG. 14B shows an example of CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing. The CCE-to-REG mapping may be interleaved (e.g., to provide frequency diversity) or non-interleaved (e.g., to facilitate interference coordination and / or frequency-selective transmission of control channels). A base station may perform different or identical CCE-to-REG mappings on different CORESETs. A CORESET may be associated with a CCE-to-REG mapping by RRC configuration. A CORESET may be configured with an antenna port quasi-coordinated (QCL) parameter. The QCL parameter of an antenna port may indicate the QCL information of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDCCH reception within the CORESET.

[0189] The base station may send an RRC message to the UE including configuration parameters for one or more CORESETs and one or more search space sets. The configuration parameters may indicate an association between the search space set and the CORESET. The search space set may include a set of PDCCH candidates formed by CCEs at a given aggregation level. The configuration parameters may indicate the number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored per aggregation level, the PDCCH monitoring periodicity and PDCCH monitoring pattern, one or more DCI formats to be monitored by the UE, and / or whether the search space set is a common search space set or a UE-specific search space set. The set of CCEs in the common search space set may be predefined and known to the UE. The set of CCEs in the UE-specific search space set may be configured based on the UE's identity (e.g., C-RNTI).

[0190] As shown in FIG. 14B , the UE may determine time-frequency resources of the CORESET based on the RRC message. The UE may determine CCE-to-REG mapping (e.g., interleaved or non-interleaved, and / or mapping parameters) for the CORESET based on configuration parameters of the CORESET. The UE may determine the number of search space sets (e.g., up to 10) configured on the CORESET based on the RRC message. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to the configuration parameters of the search space sets. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs to detect one or more DCIs. The monitoring may include decoding one or more PDCCH candidates of the set of PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI format. The monitoring may include decoding DCI content of one or more PDCCH candidates having possible (or configured) PDCCH positions, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., the number of CCEs in the common search space, the number of PDCCH candidates, and / or the number of PDCCH candidates in the UE-specific search space), and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding may be referred to as blind decoding. The UE may determine the valid DCI for the UE in response to a CRC check (e.g., scrambling bits against CRC parity bits of the DCI matching the RNTI value). The UE may process information included in the DCI (e.g., scheduling assignment, uplink grant, power control, slot format indication, downlink preemption, and / or the like).

[0191] The UE may transmit uplink control signaling (e.g., uplink control information (UCI)) to the base station. The uplink control signaling may include a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment for a received DL-SCH transport block. The UE may transmit the HARQ acknowledgment after receiving the DL-SCH transport block. The uplink control signaling may include channel state information (CSI) indicating the channel quality of the physical downlink channel. The UE may transmit the CSI to the base station. The base station may determine transmit format parameters (e.g., including multiple antennas and beamforming schemes) for the downlink transmission based on the received CSI. The uplink control signaling may include a scheduling request (SR). The UE may transmit the SR indicating that uplink data is available for transmission to the base station. The UE may transmit the UCI (e.g., a HARQ acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK), a CSI report, an SR, etc.) via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). A UE may transmit uplink control signaling via the PUCCH using one of several PUCCH formats.

[0192] There may be five PUCCH formats, and the UE may determine the PUCCH format based on the size of the UCI (e.g., the number of uplink symbols for UCI transmission and the number of UCI bits). PUCCH format 0 may have a length of one or two OFDM symbols and may contain two or fewer bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 0 to transmit UCI on PUCCH resources if the transmission is more than one or two symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK information bits with positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) is one or two. PUCCH format 1 may occupy between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may contain two or fewer bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 1 if the transmission is four or more symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is one or two. PUCCH format 2 may occupy one or two OFDM symbols and may contain more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 2 if the transmission is more than one or two symbols and the number of UCI bits is two or more. PUCCH format 3 may occupy between 4 and 14 OFDM symbols and may include more than 2 bits. A UE may use PUCCH format 3 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more, and the PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code. PUCCH format 4 may occupy between 4 and 14 OFDM symbols and may include more than 2 bits. A UE may use PUCCH format 4 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more, and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code.

[0193] The base station may transmit configuration parameters for multiple PUCCH resource sets to the UE, for example, using an RRC message. Multiple PUCCH resource sets (e.g., up to four sets) may be configured on the uplink BWP of the cell. A PUCCH resource set may be configured with a PUCCH resource set index, multiple PUCCH resources with the PUCCH resource identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-Resourceid), and / or the number (e.g., maximum number) of UCI information bits that the UE can transmit using one of the multiple PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. When configured with multiple PUCCH resource sets, the UE may select one of the multiple PUCCH resource sets based on the total bit length of the UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and / or CSI). If the total bit length of the UCI information bits is two or less, the UE may select the first PUCCH resource set whose PUCCH resource set index is equal to "0." If the total bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than 2 and less than or equal to a first configured value, the UE may select a second PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '1'. If the total bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than the first configured value and less than or equal to a second configured value, the UE may select a third PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '2'. If the total bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than the second configured value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1406), the UE may select a fourth PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '3'.

[0194] After determining a PUCCH resource set from the multiple PUCCH resource sets, the UE may determine a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resource set for UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) transmission. The UE may determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1) received on the PDCCH. The 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI may indicate one of eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. Based on the PUCCH resource indicator, the UE can transmit UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) using the PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI.

[0195] 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device 1502 communicating with a base station 1504 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 may be part of a mobile communication network, such as the mobile communication network 100 shown in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 150 shown in FIG. 1B, or other communication network. Only one wireless device 1502 and one base station 1504 are shown in FIG. 15. However, it will be understood that a mobile communication network may include multiple UEs and / or multiple base stations having the same or similar configuration as that shown in FIG. 15.

[0196] The base station 1504 may connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) via wireless communication over an air interface (or radio interface) 1506. The direction of communication from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 over the air interface 1506 is known as the downlink, and the direction of communication from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 over the air interface is known as the uplink. The downlink transmission may be separated from the uplink transmission using FDD, TDD, and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0197] On the downlink, data transmitted from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 may be provided to the processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data may be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. On the uplink, data transmitted from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 may be provided to the processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502. The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may implement Layer 3 and Layer 2 OSI functions to process the data for transmission. Layer 2 may include, for example, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, and the MAC layer with respect to Figures 2A, 2B, 3, and 4A. Layer 3 may include the RRC layer with respect to Figure 2B.

[0198] After being processed by processing system 1508, data to be transmitted to wireless device 1502 may be provided to transmit processing system 1510 of base station 1504. Similarly, after being processed by processing system 1518, data to be transmitted to base station 1504 may be provided to transmit processing system 1520 of wireless device 1502. Transmit processing system 1510 and transmit processing system 1520 may implement the OSI functions of Layer 1. Layer 1 may include the PHY layer with respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3, and 4A. For transmit processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, forward error correction coding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping of transport channels to physical channels, modulation of physical channels, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0199] At the base station 1504, a receive processing system 1512 may receive uplink transmissions from the wireless device 1502. At the wireless device 1502, a receive processing system 1522 may receive downlink transmissions from the base station 1504. The receive processing system 1512 and the receive processing system 1522 may implement the OSI functions of Layer 1. Layer 1 may include the PHY layer with respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3, and 4A. For receive processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, error detection, forward error correction decoding, deinterleaving, demapping of transport channels to physical channels, demodulation of the physical channels, MIMO or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0200] 15, the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 may include multiple antennas. The multiple antennas may be used to implement one or more MIMO or multi-antenna techniques, such as spatial multiplexing (e.g., single-user MIMO or multi-user MIMO), transmit / receive diversity, and / or beamforming. In other examples, the wireless device 1502 and / or the base station 1504 may have a single antenna.

[0201] Processing system 1508 and processing system 1518 may be associated with memory 1514 and memory 1524, respectively. Memory 1514 and memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer-readable media) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by processing system 1508 and / or processing system 1518 to perform one or more functions discussed herein. Although not shown in FIG. 15 , transmit processing system 1510, transmit processing system 1520, receive processing system 1512, and / or receive processing system 1522 may be coupled to memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer-readable media) that stores computer program instructions or code that may be executed to perform one or more of their respective functions.

[0202] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may include one or more controllers and / or one or more processors. The one or more controllers and / or the one or more processors may include, for example, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and / or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate and / or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, on-board units, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may perform at least one of signal coding / processing, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that may enable the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment.

[0203] Processing system 1508 and / or processing system 1518 may be connected to one or more peripheral devices 1516 and one or more peripheral devices 1526, respectively. The one or more peripheral devices 1516 and one or more peripheral devices 1526 may include software and / or hardware that provide features and / or functionality, such as a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a display, a touchpad, a power supply, a satellite transceiver, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hands-free headset, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a media player, an internet browser, an electronic control unit (e.g., for a vehicle), and / or one or more sensors (e.g., an accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature sensor, radar sensor, lidar sensor, ultrasonic sensor, light sensor, camera, and / or the like). Processing system 1508 and / or processing system 1518 may receive user input data and / or provide user output data from the one or more peripheral devices 1516 and / or one or more peripheral devices 1526. The processing system 1518 in the wireless device 1502 can receive power from a power source and / or can be configured to distribute power to other components in the wireless device 1502. The power source may include one or more power sources, such as a battery, a solar cell, a fuel cell, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can be connected to a GPS chipset 1517 and a GPS chipset 1527, respectively. The GPS chipset 1517 and the GPS chipset 1527 can be configured to provide geographic location information of the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504, respectively.

[0204] FIG. 16A illustrates an exemplary structure for uplink transmission. A baseband signal representing a physical uplink shared channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may include at least one of scrambling, modulation of scramble bits to generate complex-valued symbols, mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or more transmission layers, transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols, precoding of the complex-valued symbols, mapping of the precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements, generation of complex-valued time-domain single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) or CP-OFDM signals to antenna ports, and / or the like. In one example, if transform precoding is enabled, an SC-FDMA signal for uplink transmission may be generated. In one example, if transform precoding is not enabled, a CP-OFDM signal for uplink transmission may be generated according to FIG. 16A. These functions are illustrated by way of example, and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

[0205] 16B shows an example structure for modulation and upconversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued SC-FDMA or CP-OFDM baseband signal and / or a complex-valued Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering may be used before transmission.

[0206] 16C illustrates an exemplary structure of a downlink transmission. The baseband signal representing the physical downlink channel can perform one or more functions. The one or more functions can include scrambling coded bits within a codeword to be transmitted on the physical channel, modulating the scrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols, mapping the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or more transmission layers, precoding the complex-valued modulation symbols on the layers for transmission on the antenna ports, mapping the complex-valued modulation symbols of the antenna ports to resource elements, generating a complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal per antenna port, and / or the like. These functions are shown by way of example, and it is anticipated that other mechanisms can be implemented in various embodiments.

[0207] 16D shows another example structure for modulating and upconverting a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering may be used before transmission.

[0208] A wireless device may receive one or more messages (e.g., RRC messages) from a base station including configuration parameters for multiple cells (e.g., a primary cell, a secondary cell). The wireless device may communicate with at least one base station (e.g., two or more base stations in dual connectivity) via the multiple cells. The one or more messages (e.g., as part of the configuration parameters) may include physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, and RRC layer parameters for configuring the wireless device. For example, the configuration parameters may include parameters for configuring physical and MAC layer channels, bearers, etc. For example, the configuration parameters may include parameters indicating timer values ​​for the physical layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PCDP layer, SDAP layer, RRC layer, and / or communication channels.

[0209] A timer may begin execution when started and continue to run until stopped or expires. A timer may be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. A timer may be associated with a value (e.g., a timer may be started or restarted from a value, or may start from zero and expire when the value is reached). A timer's duration may not be updated until the timer is stopped or expires (e.g., due to BWP switching). A timer may be used to measure the period / window of a process. When this specification refers to implementations and procedures related to one or more timers, it will be understood that there are multiple ways to implement one or more timers. For example, it will be understood that one or more of multiple ways for implementing a timer may be used to measure the period / window of a procedure. For example, a random access response window timer may be used to measure the window time for receiving a random access response. In one embodiment, the time difference between two timestamps may be used instead of the start and expiration of the random access response window timer. When the timer is restarted, the process for measuring the time window may be restarted. Other example implementations may be provided for restarting the measurement of the time window.

[0210] The gNB may transmit one or more MAC PDUs to the wireless device. In one embodiment, the MAC PDU may be a bit string whose length is byte-aligned (e.g., a multiple of 8 bits). In one embodiment, the bit string may be represented by a table with the most significant bit being the leftmost bit of the first row of the table and the least significant bit being the rightmost bit of the last row of the table. More generally, the bit string is read from left to right, then in row reading order. In one embodiment, the bit order of the parameter field in the MAC PDU is represented with the most significant bit first in the leftmost bit and the least significant bit last in the rightmost bit.

[0211] In one embodiment, the MAC SDU may be a bit string whose length is byte-aligned (e.g., a multiple of 8 bits). In one embodiment, the MAC SDU may be included in the MAC PDU after the first bit. In one embodiment, the MAC CE may be a bit string whose length is byte-aligned (e.g., a multiple of 8 bits). In one embodiment, the MAC subheader may be a bit string whose length is byte-aligned (e.g., a multiple of 8 bits). In one embodiment, the MAC subheader may be located immediately before the corresponding MAC SDU, MAC CE, or padding. The MAC entity may ignore the value of the reserved bit in the DL MAC PDU.

[0212] In one embodiment, a MAC PDU may include one or more MAC sub-PDUs. A MAC sub-PDU of the one or more MAC sub-PDUs may include a MAC subheader only (including padding), a MAC subheader and a MAC SDU, a MAC subheader and a MAC CE, and / or a MAC subheader and padding. The size of the MAC SDU may be variable. A MAC subheader may correspond to a MAC SDU, a MAC CE, or padding.

[0213] In one embodiment, if the MAC subheader corresponds to a MAC SDU, a variable-sized MAC CE, or padding, the MAC subheader may include a 1-bit long R field, a 1-bit long F field, a multi-bit long LCID field, and / or a multi-bit long L field.

[0214] Figure 17A shows an example of a MAC subheader with an R field, an F field, an LCID field, and an L field. In the example MAC subheader of Figure 17A, the LCID field may be 6 bits long, and the L field may be 8 bits long. Figure 17B shows an example of a MAC subheader with an R field, an F field, an LCID field, and an L field. In the example MAC subheader of Figure 17B, the LCID field may be 6 bits long, and the L field may be 16 bits long. If the MAC subheader corresponds to a fixed-size MAC CE or padding, the MAC subheader may include a 2-bit long R field and a multi-bit long LCID field. Figure 17C shows an example of a MAC subheader including an R field and an LCID field. In the example MAC subheader of Figure 17C, the LCID field may be 6 bits long, and the R field may be 2 bits long.

[0215] Figure 18A shows an example of a DL MAC PDU. Multiple MAC CEs, such as MAC CEs 1 and 2, can be arranged together. A MAC sub-PDU containing a MAC CE can be arranged before any MAC sub-PDU containing a MAC SDU or a MAC sub-PDU containing padding. Figure 18B shows an example of a UL MAC PDU. Multiple MAC CEs, such as MAC CEs 1 and 2, can be arranged together. A MAC sub-PDU containing a MAC CE can be arranged after all MAC sub-PDUs containing a MAC SDU. Furthermore, a MAC sub-PDU can be arranged before a MAC sub-PDU containing padding.

[0216] In one embodiment, the MAC entity of the gNB can transmit one or more MAC CEs to the MAC entity of the wireless device. Figure 19 shows an example of multiple LCIDs that can be associated with one or more MAC CEs. The one or more MAC CEs include at least one of an SP ZP CSI-RS resource set activation / deactivation MAC CE, a PUCCH spatial relationship activation / deactivation MAC CE, an SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC CE, an SP CSI report activation / deactivation MAC CE for PUCCH, a UE-specific PDCCH TCI status indication MAC CE, a UE-specific PDSCH TCI status indication MAC CE, an aperiodic CSI trigger state sub-selection MAC CE, an SP CSI-RS / CSI-IM resource set activation / deactivation MAC CE, a UE contention resolution identity MAC CE, a timing advance command MAC CE, a DRX command MAC CE, a long DRX command MAC CE, an SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE (1 octet), an SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE (4 octets), and / or a duplicate activation / deactivation MAC CE. In one example, a MAC CE, such as a MAC CE transmitted by a MAC entity of a gNB to a MAC entity of a wireless device, may have an LCID in a MAC subheader corresponding to the MAC CE. Different MAC CEs may have different LCIDs in the MAC subheader corresponding to the MAC CE. For example, an LCID given by 111011 in a MAC subheader may indicate that the MAC CE associated with the MAC subheader is a Long DRX command MAC CE.

[0217] In one embodiment, the MAC entity of the wireless device may transmit one or more MAC CEs to the MAC entity of the gNB. Figure 20 illustrates an example of one or more MAC CEs. The one or more MAC CEs may include at least one of a short buffer status report (BSR) MAC CE, a long BSR MAC CE, a C-RNTI MAC CE, a configured authorization confirmation MAC CE, a single-entry PHR MAC CE, a multiple-entry PHR MAC CE, a short barring BSR, and / or a long barring BSR. In one embodiment, the MAC CE may have an LCID in a MAC subheader corresponding to the MAC CE. Different MAC CEs may have different LCIDs in the MAC subheaders corresponding to the MAC CE. For example, an LCID given by 111011 in a MAC subheader may indicate that the MAC CE associated with the MAC subheader is a short barring command MAC CE.

[0218] In carrier aggregation (CA), two or more component carriers (CCs) may be aggregated. Using CA techniques, a wireless device may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or more CCs depending on the capabilities of the wireless device. In one embodiment, a wireless device may support CA for adjacent and / or non-adjacent CCs. CCs may be organized into cells. For example, CCs may be organized into one primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCells). When configured with CA, a wireless device may have one RRC connection with the network. During RRC connection establishment / re-establishment / handover, the cell providing NAS mobility information may be the serving cell. During RRC connection re-establishment / handover procedures, the cell providing security input may be the serving cell. In one embodiment, the serving cell may refer to the PCell. In one embodiment, the gNB may send one or more messages to a wireless device including configuration parameters for one or more SCells depending on the capabilities of the wireless device.

[0219] When configured with CA, the base station and / or wireless device may use an SCell activation / deactivation mechanism to improve battery or power consumption of the wireless device. When a wireless device is configured with one or more SCells, the gNB may activate or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. An SCell may be deactivated unless the SCell state associated with the SCell is set to "activated" or "dormant" upon configuration of the SCell.

[0220] The wireless device may activate / deactivate the SCell in response to receiving the SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE. In one embodiment, the gNB may send one or more messages including an SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) to the wireless device. In one embodiment, the wireless device may deactivate the SCell in response to expiration of the SCell timer.

[0221] When the wireless device receives an SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE activating the SCell, the wireless device may activate the SCell. In response to the SCell activation, the wireless device may perform operations including SRS transmission on the SCell, CQI / PMI / RI / CRI reporting for the SCell, PDCCH monitoring on the SCell, PDCCH monitoring for the SCell, and / or PUCCH transmission on the SCell. In response to the SCell activation, the wireless device may start or restart a first SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) associated with the SCell. The wireless device may start or restart the first SCell timer in a slot when the SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE activating the SCell is received. In one embodiment, in response to the SCell activation, the wireless device may (re)initialize one or more suspended configured uplink grants of configured grant type 1 associated with the SCell according to a stored configuration. In one embodiment, in response to the SCell activation, the wireless device may trigger a PHR.

[0222] When the wireless device receives an SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE that deactivates an activated SCell, the wireless device may deactivate the activated SCell. In one embodiment, when a first SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) associated with the activated SCell expires, the wireless device may deactivate the activated SCell. In response to deactivation of an activated SCell, the wireless device may stop the first SCell timer associated with the activated SCell. In one embodiment, in response to deactivation of an activated SCell, the wireless device may clear one or more configured downlink assignments and / or one or more configured uplink grants of configured uplink grant type 2 associated with the activated SCell. In one embodiment, in response to deactivation of an activated SCell, the wireless device may suspend one or more configured uplink grants of configured uplink grant type 1 associated with the activated SCell and / or flush HARQ buffers associated with the activated SCell.

[0223] When an SCell is deactivated, the wireless device may not perform operations including transmitting an SRS on the SCell, reporting the CQI / PMI / RI / CRI of the SCell, transmitting on a UL-SCH on the SCell, transmitting on a RACH on the SCell, monitoring at least one first PDCCH on the SCell, monitoring at least one second PDCCH on the SCell, and / or transmitting a PUCCH on the SCell. When the at least one first PDCCH on the activated SCell indicates an uplink grant or a downlink assignment, the wireless device may restart a first SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) associated with the activated SCell. In one embodiment, when the at least one second PDCCH on a serving cell (e.g., a PCell or a SCell configured with a PUCCH, i.e., a PUCCH SCell) scheduling the activated SCell indicates an uplink grant or a downlink assignment for the activated SCell, the wireless device may restart a first SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) associated with the activated SCell. In one embodiment, when an SCell is deactivated, if there is an ongoing random access procedure on the SCell, the wireless device may abort the ongoing random access procedure on the SCell.

[0224] FIG. 21A shows an example of a one-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE. A first MAC PDU subheader having a first LCID (e.g., "111010" as shown in FIG. 19) can identify a one-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE. The size of the one-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE may be constant. The one-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE may include a single octet. The single octet may include a first number C field (e.g., 7) and a second number R field (e.g., 1). FIG. 21B shows an example of a four-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE. A second MAC PDU subheader having a second LCID (e.g., "111001" as shown in FIG. 19) can identify a four-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE. The size of the four-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE may be constant. The 4-octet SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE may include 4 octets. The four octets may include a third number C field (e.g., 31) and a fourth number R field (e.g., 1).

[0225] In FIG. 21A and / or FIG. 21B, when an SCell with SCell index i is configured, C i The field may indicate the activation / deactivation status of the SCell with SCell index i. i When the field is set to 1, the SCell with SCell index i can be activated. i If the field is set to zero, the SCell with SCell index i may be deactivated. In one embodiment, if there is no SCell configured with SCell index i, the wireless device i The R field may be ignored. In Figures 21A and 21B, the R field may indicate reserved bits. The R field may be set to zero.

[0226] A base station (gNB) can configure a wireless device (UE) with an uplink (UL) bandwidth portion (BWP) and a downlink (DL) BWP to enable bandwidth adaptation (BA) on a PCell. If carrier aggregation is configured, the gNB can further configure the UE with at least a DL BWP to enable BA on an SCell (i.e., there may be no UL BWP on the UL). For a PCell, the initial active BWP may be the first BWP used for initial access. For an SCell, the first active BWP may be the second BWP that the UE is configured to operate on when the SCell is activated. In paired spectrum (e.g., FDD), the gNB and / or UE can switch between the DL BWP and the UL BWP individually. In unpaired spectrum (e.g., TDD), the gNB and / or UE can switch between the DL BWP and the UL BWP simultaneously.

[0227] In one embodiment, the gNB and / or UE can switch between configured BWPs via a DCI or a BWP inactivity timer. If a BWP inactivity timer is configured for the serving cell, the gNB and / or UE can switch the active BWP to a default BWP in response to expiration of the BWP inactivity timer associated with the serving cell. The default BWP can be configured by the network. In one embodiment, for an FDD system, if configured with BA, one UL BWP and one DL BWP for each uplink carrier can be simultaneously active in the active serving cell. In one embodiment, for a TDD system, one DL / UL BWP pair can be simultaneously active in the active serving cell. Operating with one UL BWP and one DL BWP (or one DL / UL pair) can improve UE battery consumption. BWPs other than the one active UL BWP and one active DL BWP on which the UE can operate can be deactivated. In a stopped BWP, the UE may not monitor the PDCCH and / or may not transmit on the PUCCH, PRACH, and UL-SCH.

[0228] In one embodiment, a serving cell may be configured with up to a first number (e.g., four) of BWPs. In one embodiment, for an activated serving cell, there may be one active BWP at any time. In one embodiment, BWP switching for a serving cell may be used to activate inactive BWPs and deactivate active BWPs at a time. In one embodiment, BWP switching may be controlled by a PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant. In one embodiment, BWP switching may be controlled by a BWP inactivity timer (e.g., bwp-InactivityTimer). In one embodiment, BWP switching may be controlled by a MAC entity in response to the initiation of a random access procedure. Upon addition of an SpCell or activation of an SCell, one BWP may be initially activated without receiving a PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant. The active BWP for a serving cell may be indicated by RRC and / or PDCCH. In one embodiment, for unpaired spectrum, a DL BWP may be paired with a UL BWP, and BWP switching may be common to both UL and DL.

[0229] FIG. 22 shows an example of BWP switching on an SCell. In one example, a UE may receive an RRC message including parameters of the SCell and one or more BWP configurations associated with the SCell. The RRC message may include an RRC connection reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration), an RRC connection re-establishment message (e.g., RRCRestablishment), and / or an RRC connection setup message (e.g., RRCSetup). Of the one or more BWPs, at least one BWP may be configured as a first active BWP (e.g., BWP1) and one BWP may be configured as a default BWP (e.g., BWP0). The UE may receive a MAC CE to activate the SCell at the nth slot. The UE may start an SCell deactivation timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer) and initiate CSI-related actions for the SCell and / or initiate CSI-related actions for the first active BWP of the SCell. In response to activating the SCell, the UE may start monitoring the PDCCH on BWP1.

[0230] In one embodiment, the UE may start / restart a BWP inactivity timer (e.g., bwp-InactivityTimer) at the mth slot in response to receiving a DCI indicating DL allocation on BWP1. The UE may switch back to the default BWP (e.g., BWP0) as the active BWP at the sth slot if the BWP deactivation timer expires. The UE may deactivate the SCell and / or stop the BWP inactivity timer if the sCellDeactivationTimer expires.

[0231] In one embodiment, the MAC entity may apply normal operations to the active BWP of the activated serving cell configured with the BWP, including transmitting on the UL-SCH, transmitting on the RACH, monitoring the PDCCH, transmitting the PUCCH, receiving the DL-SCH, and / or (re)initializing a suspended configured uplink grant of configured grant type 1, if any, according to the stored configuration.

[0232] In one embodiment, on an inactive BWP of each activated serving cell configured in the BWP, the MAC entity may not transmit on the RACH, may not monitor the PDCCH, may not transmit the PUCCH, may not transmit the SRS, may not receive the DL-SCH, may clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants of configured grant type 2, and / or may suspend any configured uplink grants of configured type 1.

[0233] In one embodiment, when a MAC entity receives a PDCCH for a BWP switch of a serving cell, the UE may perform a BWP switch to the BWP indicated by the PDCCH while a random access procedure associated with this serving cell is not in progress. In one embodiment, if the bandwidth fraction indicator field is configured with DCI format 1_1, the bandwidth fraction indicator field value may indicate an active DL BWP from a configured DL BWP set for DL ​​reception. In one embodiment, if the bandwidth fraction indicator field is configured with DCI format 0_1, the bandwidth fraction indicator field value may indicate an active UL BWP from a configured UL BWP set for UL transmission.

[0234] In one embodiment, for the primary cell, the UE may be provided with a default DL BWP among the DL BWPs configured for the UE by the upper layer parameter Default-DL-BWP. In one embodiment, if the UE is not provided with a default DL BWP by the upper layer parameter Default-DL-BWP, the default DL BWP may be the initial active DL BWP. In one embodiment, the UE may be provided with a timer value for the primary cell by the upper layer parameter bwp-InactivityTimer. If configured, the UE may increment the timer every 1 millisecond interval for frequency range 1 and every 0.5 milliseconds for frequency range 2 if running, which is if the UE cannot detect DCI format 1_1 for paired spectrum operation or if the UE cannot detect DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 0_1 ​​for unpaired spectrum operation during the interval.

[0235] In one embodiment, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a higher layer parameter Default-DL-BWP indicating a default DL BWP among the configured DL BWPs, and the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter bwp-InactivityTimer indicating a timer value, the UE procedures on the secondary cell may be the same as those on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.

[0236] In one embodiment, if a UE is configured with the higher layer parameter Active-BWP-DL-SCell as the first active DL BWP and with the higher layer parameter Active-BWP-UL-SCell as the first active UL BWP on a secondary cell or carrier, the UE may use the indicated DL BWP and the indicated UL BWP on the secondary cell as the first active DL BWP and the first active UL BWP on the secondary cell or carrier, respectively.

[0237] In one embodiment, the set of PDCCH candidates for a wireless device to monitor is defined in terms of a PDCCH search space set, which includes a CSS set or a USS set. The wireless device monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following search space sets:A Type0-PDCCHCSS set configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB, or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon, or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI in the primary cell of the MCG; A Type0A-PDCCHCSS set configured by searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI in the primary cell of the MCG; A Type1-PDCCHCSS set configured by ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI or TC-RNTI in the primary cell; A Type2-PDCCHCSS set configured by ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI or TC-RNTI in the primary cell; a Type2-PDCCHCSS set configured by the pagingSearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with a CRC scrambled by I, a Type3-PDCCHCSS set configured by the SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common for DCI formats with a CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, or TPC-SRS-RNTI, and for the primary cell only, C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI, and a USS set configured by the SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=ue-Specific for DCI formats with a CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, or CS-RNTI.

[0238] In one embodiment, the wireless device determines a PDCCH monitoring opportunity on an active DL BWP based on one or more PDCCH configuration parameters, including a PDCCH monitoring periodicity within a slot, a PDCCH monitoring offset, and a PDCCH monitoring pattern. For search space sets (SSs), the wireless device determines whether the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is:

number

number

number

number

number

[0239] In an embodiment, the wireless device performs the following for a search space set s associated with CORESETp:

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0240] In one example, a UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to configuration parameters of a search space set including multiple search spaces (SSs). The UE may monitor the set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs to detect one or more DCIs. The monitoring may include decoding one or more PDCCH candidates in the set of PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI format. The monitoring may include decoding DCI content of one or more PDCCH candidates having possible (or configured) PDCCH positions, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., the number of CCEs, the number of PDCCH candidates in a common SS, and / or the number of PDCCH candidates in a UE-specific SS), and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding may be referred to as blind decoding.

[0241] FIG. 23 shows an example of an SS configuration. In one example, the one or more SS configuration parameters of the SS may include at least one of an SS ID (searchSpaceId), a control resource set ID (controlResourceSetId), a monitoring slot periodicity and offset parameter (monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset), a value of the SS period (Period), a monitoring symbol indicator (monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot), a number of candidates for the aggregation level (nrofCandidates), and / or an SS type (searchSpaceType) indicating a common SS type or a UE-specific SS type. The monitoring slot periodicity and offset parameter may indicate a slot (e.g., within a radio frame) and a slot offset (e.g., relative to the start of a radio frame) for PDCCH monitoring. The monitoring symbol indicator may indicate which symbols of a slot the wireless device may monitor for the PDCCH on the SS. The control resource set ID may identify a control resource set in which the SS may be located.

[0242] FIG. 24 illustrates an example of a configuration of a control resource set (CORESET). In one embodiment, a base station may transmit one or more configuration parameters of the CORESET to a wireless device. The configuration parameters may include at least one of a CORESET ID identifying the CORESET, a frequency resource indication, a duration parameter indicating the number of symbols in the CORESET, a CCE-REG mapping type indicator, multiple TCI states, an indicator indicating whether a TCI is present in the DCI, and the like. The frequency resource indication, which may include a number of bits (e.g., 45 bits), indicates frequency domain resources, where each bit of the indication corresponds to a group of 6 RBs, and the grouping starts from the first RB group in the BWP of a cell (e.g., SpCell, SCell). The first (leftmost / most significant) bit corresponds to the first RB group in the BWP, and so on. A bit set to 1 indicates that the RB group corresponding to that bit belongs to the frequency domain resource of this CORESET. Bits corresponding to groups of RBs that are not completely included in the BWP for which the CORESET is configured are set to zero.

[0243] 25A illustrates an example of a flowchart for receiving data in a wireless device. In one example, the wireless device receives one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters for a cell, the cell including one or more BWPs. The configuration parameters indicate one or more CORESETs and / or one or more search spaces (SSs) configured on a BWP of the one or more BWPs. The one or more CORESETs and / or one or more SSs may be implemented as the examples of FIG. 23 and / or FIG. 24.

[0244] As shown in FIG. 25A, based on one or more RRC messages, the wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates on one or more SSs in one or more CORESETs of the active BWP to detect DCI indicating downlink allocation for the PDSCH. Monitoring the PDCCH candidates on the SS may include attempting to decode DCI content of the PDCCH candidates having one or more PDCCH monitoring locations, one or more CCEs based on an aggregation level, multiple PDCCH candidates, and one or more DCI formats. The one or more RRC messages may indicate the number of PDCCH candidates for each aggregation level on the SS. The wireless device may determine the number of CCEs for each aggregation level for detecting DCI. In one embodiment, the wireless device may determine one CCE for detecting DCI when aggregation level is 1, two CCEs when aggregation level is 2, four CCEs when aggregation level is 4, eight CCEs when aggregation level is 8, and 16 CCEs when aggregation level is 16. FIG. 25B shows an example of CCEs and REGs on the BWP.

[0245] In one embodiment, the wireless device may be configured to monitor a PDCCH when the PDCCH monitoring opportunity is:

number

number

number

number

number

[0246] As shown in Figure 25A, when monitoring PDCCH candidates on the SS, the wireless device may receive (or successfully decode) DCI on one or more CCEs. The one or more CCEs may start from a starting CCE index. The DCI may include a time resource indicator of the downlink allocation, a frequency resource indicator of the downlink allocation, a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI), and a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator.

[0247] In response to receiving the DCI, the wireless device may receive symbols of a transport block (TB) via a downlink allocation. The wireless device may attempt to decode the TB based on the received symbols. The wireless device may generate a positive acknowledgement (ACK) in response to successful decoding. The wireless device may generate a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in response to unsuccessful decoding.

[0248] In one embodiment, the wireless device may transmit an ACK / NACK over a PUCCH resource at a time determined based on the value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator. The wireless device may determine the PUCCH resource based on the PRI of the DCI, the starting CCE index of one or more CCEs for which the wireless device receives the DCI, the cell index of the cell for which the wireless device monitors PDCCH candidates, and the RNTI value for receiving the DCI.

[0249] 25B illustrates an example of PUCCH resource determination. In one example, a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages including a cell's BWP, configuration parameters of the BWP with bandwidth, including one or more radio resource units (e.g., RBs as shown in FIG. 8). The configuration parameters may indicate resource allocation for one or more CORESETs. A CORESET is a set of resources in the frequency domain.

number

number

number

[0250] In one embodiment, the wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates for an SS on one or more CCEs with RBGs in the CORESET on the active BWP. A CCE may include multiple (e.g., six) resource element groups (REGs). A REG may include one RB in one OFDM symbol. REGs in the CORESET are numbered in increasing order in a time-first manner, starting with 0 for the first OFDM symbol and the lowest-numbered resource block in the CORESET. In one embodiment, the CORESET consists of one CCE-to-REG mapping indicator.

[0251] In one embodiment, the CCE to REG mapping of a CORESET may be interleaved or non-interleaved and is described by a REG bundle: -REG Bundle i

number

number

number

[0252] In one embodiment, for non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping, L=6 and f (x)=x. In one embodiment, for interleaved CCE to REG mapping,

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0253] In one embodiment, the set of PDCCH candidates for a UE to monitor is defined in terms of a PDCCH search space set. The search space set may be a CSS set or a USS set. The UE monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following search space sets: - Type0-PDCCHPDCCH CSS set configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - Type0A-PDCCH CSS set configured by searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation in PDCCH-ConfigCommong for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - Type1-PDCCHPDCCH CSS set configured by ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI or TC-RNTI on the primary cell; - Type2-PDCCHPDCCH CSS set configured by packingSearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - a Type3-PDCCH CSS set configured by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common for DCI formats with INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, or TPC-SRS-RNTI and CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, RNTI, or CS-RNTI only for the primary cell; and - For DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, or CS-RNTI, a USS set configured by the SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=ue-Specific.

[0254] In an embodiment, the wireless device performs the following for a search space set s associated with CORESETp:

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0255] In FIG. 25B, a cell's BWP may include M RBGs indexed from RBG 0 to RBG M-1. A CORESET configured on the BWP may occupy multiple RBGs of the M RBGs based on a bitmap (e.g., frequency domain resources). Bit 0, corresponding to RBG 0, set to 1 may indicate that RBG 0 belongs to the CORESET, and so on. The RBG number of radio resources may be mapped to multiple CCEs, a number of CCEs indexed from CCÉ0 to CCÉ(N-1), based on a CCE-to-REG mapping indicator (e.g., CCE-to-REG-MappingType). A wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates for an SS on a subset of the number of CCEs, including, for example, CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, etc.

[0256] In one embodiment, the wireless device may receive DCI on the SS based on the above equation, starting from CCE 2. The wireless device may determine the PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK feedback based on the PRI value of the DCI, the starting CCE index (e.g., CCE 2 in the example of FIG. 25B).

[0257] In one embodiment, the wireless device may not have a dedicated PUCCH resource configuration. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource set based on a predefined PUCCH resource table for transmitting HARQ-ACK information on the PUCCH. The PUCCH resource set includes 16 resources, each corresponding to a PUCCH format, a starting symbol, a period, a PRB offset, and a cyclic shift index set for PUCCH transmission.

[0258] In one embodiment, the wireless device is PUCCH , and may determine a PUCCH resource having:

number

[0259] In one example, a wireless device may be configured with a dedicated PUCCH resource configuration by a higher layer. In one example, the PUCCH resource may include a PUCCH resource index (e.g., provided by pucch-resourceID), an index of the first PRB before frequency hopping or without frequency hopping by startingPRB, an index of the first PRB after frequency hopping by secondHopPRB, an indication of intra-slot frequency hopping by intraSlotFrequencyHopping, and / or a configuration for a PUCCH format from PUCCH format 0 through PUCCH format 4, as provided by the format.

[0260] In one embodiment, when the wireless device transmits HARQ-ACK information on the PUCCH in response to detecting the last DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1) in the PDCCH reception among multiple DCIs having values ​​of the PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field indicating the same slot for PUCCH transmission, the wireless device may use index r PUCCH , 0≦r PUCCH ≦R PUCCH -1, determine a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources (the first set when consisting of multiple sets of PUCCH resources) as:

number

[0261] In one embodiment, a wireless device may transmit one or more uplink control information (UCI) to a base station via one or more PUCCH resources. The one or more UCI may include at least one of HARQ-ACK information, a scheduling request (SR), and / or a CSI report. In one embodiment, a PUCCH resource may be identified by at least a frequency location (e.g., a starting PRB) and / or a PUCCH format. The PUCCH format may be configured using an initial cyclic shift value and a time-domain location parameter (e.g., a starting symbol index) of a base sequence. In one embodiment, the PUCCH format may be at least one of PUCCH format 0, PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4. PUCCH format 0 may have a length of one or two OFDM symbols and may be two bits or less. PUCCH format 1 occupies four to fourteen OFDM symbols and may be two bits or less. PUCCH format 2 occupies one or two OFDM symbols and may be greater than two bits. PUCCH format 3 occupies 4 to 14 OFDM symbols and may be larger than 2 bits. PUCCH format 4 occupies 4 to 14 OFDM symbols and may be larger than 2 bits. PUCCH resources may be configured on the PCell or on the PUCCH secondary cell.

[0262] In one example, when configured with multiple UL BWPs, the base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to the wireless device including configuration parameters for one or more PUCCH resource sets (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, or more than 4) in the UL BWP of the multiple UL BWPs. Each PUCCH resource set may be configured with a PUCCH resource set index, a list of PUCCH resources where each PUCCH resource is identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-Resourceid), and / or a maximum number of UCI information bits that the wireless device may transmit using one of the list of multiple PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set.

[0263] In one embodiment, when configured with one or more PUCCH resource sets, a wireless device may select one of the one or more PUCCH resource sets based on the bit length of UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ-ARQ bits, SR, and / or CSI) that the wireless device may transmit. In one embodiment, when the bit length of the UCI information bits is less than or equal to 2, the wireless device may select a first PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '0'. In one embodiment, when the bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than 2 and less than or equal to a first configuration value, the wireless device may select a second PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '1'. In one embodiment, when the bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than a first configuration value and less than or equal to a second configuration value, the wireless device may select a third PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to '2'. In one embodiment, when the bit length of the UCI information bits is greater than the second configuration value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1706), the wireless device may select a fourth PUCCH resource set whose PUCCH resource set is equal to "3".

[0264] In one example, the wireless device may determine a PUCCH format from a plurality of PUCCH formats, including PUCCH format 0, PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, and / or PUCCH format 4, based on the number of uplink symbols and the number of UCI bits of the UCI transmission. In one example, if the transmission is more than one symbol or two symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK information bits with positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) is one or two, the wireless device may transmit UCI on the PUCCH using PUCCH format 0. PUCCH format 0 may be based on DFT-spread OFDM, for example, to reduce cubic meters. In one example, if the transmission is more than four symbols or more and the number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is one or two, the wireless device may transmit UCI on the PUCCH using PUCCH format 1. PUCCH format 1 may be based on DFT-spread OFDM, for example, to reduce cubic meters. In one embodiment, if a transmission is more than one symbol or two symbols and the number of UCI bits is greater than two, the wireless device may transmit UCI on the PUCCH using PUCCH format 2. PUCCH format 2 may be based on OFDM. In one embodiment, if a transmission is more than four symbols or more, the number of UCI bits is greater than two, and the PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code, the wireless device may transmit UCI on the PUCCH using PUCCH format 3. PUCCH format 3 may be based on DFT-spread OFDM, for example, to reduce cubic meters. In one embodiment, if a transmission is more than four symbols or more, the number of UCI bits is greater than two, and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code, the wireless device may transmit UCI on the PUCCH using PUCCH format 4. PUCCH format 4 may be based on DFT-spread OFDM, for example, to reduce cubic meters.

[0265] In one embodiment, to transmit HARQ-ACK information on a PUCCH resource, the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource from a PUCCH resource set. The PUCCH resource set may be determined as described above. The wireless device may determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator field in DCI received on the PDCCH (e.g., having a DCI for DCI format 1_0 or 1_1). The 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator field in the DCI may indicate one of the eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. The wireless device may transmit the HARQ-ACK information on the PUCCH resource indicated by the 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator field of the DCI.

[0266] 26 shows an example of mapping of PUCCH resource indication (PRI) field values ​​to PUCCH resources in a PUCCH resource set (e.g., having up to eight PUCCH resources). In one example, if the PUCCH resource indicator of a DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or 1_1) is '000', the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-ResourceId) having a first value in a PUCCH resource list of the PUCCH resource set. If the PUCCH resource indicator of a DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 or 1_1) is '001', the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-ResourceId) having a second value in a PUCCH resource list of the PUCCH resource set, etc. Similarly, to transmit HARQ-ACK information, SR and / or CSI multiplexed on the PUCCH, the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource from a list of PUCCH resource sets based on at least a PUCCH resource indicator of the DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_0 / 1_1).

[0267] In an exemplary embodiment, Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) may be implemented for transmissions in cells configured in unlicensed bands (for convenience, referred to as LAA and / or NR-U cells, e.g., LAA and NR-U cells. LAA and NR-U cells may refer to any cell that is compatible and operates in unlicensed bands. A cell may operate as a non-standalone cell with an anchor cell in a licensed band or as a standalone cell without an anchor cell in a licensed band). LBT may include clear channel assessment. For example, in an LBT procedure, a device may apply a clear channel assessment (CCA) check before using a channel. For example, CCA includes at least energy detection to determine the presence (e.g., the channel is occupied) or absence (e.g., the channel is clear) of other signals on the channel. Regulations in a given country may affect the LBT procedure. For example, European and Japanese regulations mandate the use of LBT in unlicensed bands, e.g., the 5 GHz unlicensed band. Aside from regulatory requirements, carrier sensing via LBT is one way to fairly share unlicensed spectrum.

[0268] In an exemplary embodiment, discontinuous transmission on an unlicensed carrier with a limited maximum transmission duration may be enabled. Some of these functions may be supported by one or more signals transmitted from the start of discontinuous downlink transmission in an unlicensed band, and channel reservation may be enabled by transmission of a signal by an NR-U node after or in response to gaining channel access based on a successful LBT operation. Other nodes may receive a signal (e.g., transmitted for channel reservation) at an energy level above a certain threshold that may indicate that the channel is occupied. Functions that need to be supported by one or more signals for operation in an unlicensed band with discontinuous downlink transmission may include one or more of the following: detection of downlink transmissions in an unlicensed band (including cell identification) by a wireless device; time and frequency synchronization of the wireless device.

[0269] In an exemplary embodiment, DL transmission and frame structure design for operation in unlicensed bands may employ subframe, (mini)slot, and / or symbol boundary alignment according to the carrier-aggregated timing relationship across the serving cell aggregated by CA. This may not mean that base station transmissions start on subframe, (mini)slot, and / or symbol boundaries. Unlicensed cell operation (e.g., LAA and / or NR-U) may support transmission of PDSCH, for example, when not all OFDM symbols can be transmitted in a subframe according to LBT. Delivery of control information required for PDSCH may also be supported.

[0270] LBT procedures may be employed for fair and friendly coexistence between 3GPP systems (e.g., LTE and NR) and other operators and technologies operating in unlicensed spectrum. For example, a node intending to transmit on a carrier in unlicensed spectrum can perform clear channel assessment (e.g., as part of one or more LBT procedures) to determine whether the channel is free to use. The LBT procedure may include at least energy detection to determine whether the channel is used. For example, regulatory requirements in some regions, such as Europe, specify an energy detection threshold such that if the node receives energy above this threshold, the node assumes the channel is not free. A node may comply with such regulatory requirements and, optionally, use a lower threshold for energy detection than the threshold specified by the regulatory requirements. Radio access technologies (e.g., LTE and / or NR) may employ mechanisms to adaptively change the energy detection threshold. For example, NR-U may employ a mechanism to adaptively lower the energy detection threshold from an upper limit. The adaptation mechanism may not prevent static or semi-static setting of the threshold. In one embodiment, a Category 4 LBT (CAT4 LBT) mechanism or other type of LBT mechanism may be implemented.

[0271] Various example LBT mechanisms may be implemented. In one embodiment, for some signals, in some implementation scenarios, in some situations, and / or at some frequencies, the LBT procedure may not be performed by the transmitting entity. In one embodiment, Category 1 (CAT1, e.g., no LBT) may be implemented in one or more cases. For example, a channel in an unlicensed band may be held by a first device (e.g., a base station for DL ​​transmission), and a second device (e.g., a wireless device) takes over for transmission without performing CAT1 LBT. In one embodiment, Category 2 (CAT2, e.g., LBT without random backoff and / or one-shot LBT) may be implemented. The period for determining that a channel is idle may be deterministic (e.g., by regulation). The base station may send an uplink grant indicating one type of LBT (e.g., CAT2 LBT) to the wireless device. CAT1 LBT and CAT2 LBT may be used for COT sharing. For example, the base station may send an uplink grant (respurious uplink control information) including the type of LBT. For example, CAT1 LBT and / or CAT2 LBT in an uplink grant (or uplink control information) may indicate to a receiving device (e.g., a base station and / or a wireless device) to trigger COT sharing. In one embodiment, Category 3 (CAT3, e.g., LBT with random backoff using a fixed-size contention window) may be implemented. The LBT procedure may include the following steps as one of its components: A transmitting entity may draw a random number N within a contention window. The size of the contention window may be specified by a minimum and a maximum value of N. The size of the contention window may be fixed. The random number N may be used in the LBT procedure to determine the duration for which the channel is sensed idle before the transmitting entity transmits on the channel. In one embodiment, Category 4 (CAT4, e.g., LBT with random backoff using a variable-size contention window) may be implemented.The transmitting entity can draw a random number N within the contention window. The size of the contention window can be specified by a minimum and maximum value for N. The transmitting entity can change the size of the contention window when drawing the random number N. The random number N is used in the LBT procedure to determine the duration for which the channel is perceived to be idle before the transmitting entity transmits on the channel.

[0272] In unlicensed bands, the LBT type (CAT1, CAT2, CAT3, and / or CAT4) may be configured per cell via control messages (RRC, MAC CE, and / or DCI). In one embodiment, the LBT type (CAT1, CAT2, CAT3, and / or CAT4) may be configured per BWP via control messages (RRC, MAC CE, and / or DCI). For example, the LBT type (CAT1, CAT2, CAT3, and / or CAT4) may be determined based on the numerology configured in at least the BWP. In this case, BWP switching may change the LBT type.

[0273] In one embodiment, a wireless device may employ an uplink (UL) LBT. The UL LBT may be different from the downlink (DL) LBT (e.g., by using different LBT mechanisms or parameters), for example, because the NR-U UL may be based on scheduled access, which affects the wireless device's chances of channel contention. Other considerations motivating a different UL LBT include, but are not limited to, multiplexing of multiple wireless devices within a subframe (slot and / or minislot).

[0274] In one embodiment, a DL transmission burst may be a continuous (unicast, multicast, broadcast, and / or a combination thereof) transmission by a base station (e.g., one or more wireless devices) on a carrier component (CC). A UL transmission burst may be a continuous transmission from one or more wireless devices to a base station on a CC. In one embodiment, DL transmission bursts and UL transmission bursts on a CC in the unlicensed spectrum may be scheduled in a TDM manner on the same unlicensed carrier. Switching between DL and UL transmission bursts may require an LBT (e.g., CAT1 LBT, CAT2 LBT, CAT3 LBT, and / or CAT4 LBT). For example, a given moment may be part of a DL transmission burst or a UL transmission burst.

[0275] Channel Occupancy Time (COT) sharing may be adopted in radio access technologies (e.g., LTE and / or NR). COT sharing may be a mechanism for one or more wireless devices to share a channel perceived as idle by at least one of the one or more wireless devices. For example, one or more first devices occupy a channel based on LBT (e.g., the channel is perceived as idle based on CAT4 LBT), and one or more second devices share it using LBT (e.g., 25us LBT) within a maximum COT (MCOT) limit. For example, MOCT limits may be given per priority class, logical channel priority, and / or wireless device-specific. COT sharing may enable UL concessions in unlicensed bands. For example, a base station may transmit an uplink grant to a wireless device for UL transmission. For example, the base station may occupy a channel and transmit a control signal to one or more wireless devices indicating that the one or more wireless devices may use the channel. For example, the control signal may include an uplink grant and / or a specific LBT type (e.g., CAT1 LBT and / or CAT2 LBT). One or more wireless devices may determine COT sharing based at least on an uplink grant and / or a specific LBT type. The wireless device may perform UL transmission with a dynamic grant and / or a configured grant (e.g., Type 1, Type 2, autonomous UL) at a specific LBT (e.g., a CAT2 LBT such as 25 us LBT) for a set period, such as when COT sharing is triggered. COT sharing may be triggered by the wireless device. For example, a wireless device performing UL transmission based on a configured grant (e.g., Type 1, Type 2, autonomous UL) may transmit uplink control information indicating COT sharing (UL-DL switching within (M)COT). The start time of DL transmission in COT sharing triggered by the wireless device may be indicated in one or more ways. For example, one or more parameters in the uplink control information indicate the start time.For example, the resource configuration of the configured grant configured / activated by the base station may indicate a start time. For example, the base station may be authorized to perform a DL transmission after or in response to an UL transmission on a configured grant (e.g., Type 1, Type 2, and / or autonomous UL). There may be a delay (e.g., at least 4 ms) between the uplink grant and the UL transmission. The delay may be predefined, semi-statically configured by the base station (via an RRC message), and / or dynamically indicated by the base station (e.g., via the uplink grant). The delay may not be taken into account in the COT period.

[0276] In one embodiment, the initial active DL / UL BWP may be 20 MHz (or approximately) for a first unlicensed band, for example, in the 5 GHz unlicensed band. The initial active DL / UL BWP in one or more unlicensed bands may be similar (e.g., approximately 20 MHz in the 5 GHz and / or 6 GHz unlicensed spectrum), for example, if similar channelization is used in one or more unlicensed bands (e.g., by regulation). In the case of a wideband, a base station may configure a wideband with one or more BWPs. For example, for 80 MHz, a base station may configure four BWPs, each configured with approximately 20 MHz. Active BWPs (DL and / or UL) may be switched between each other based at least on a BWP switching mechanism. For example, a base station may configure a wideband with one or more subbands when a cell includes a single BWP. For example, for 80 MHz, a base station may configure four subbands, each configured with approximately 20 MHz. For example, a wireless device may implement LBT subbands over subbands and may transmit data via scheduled resources on one or more subbands for which LBT indicates an idle state.

[0277] In one embodiment, carrier aggregation between a PCell configured in a licensed band and an SCell configured in an unlicensed band may be supported. In one embodiment, an SCell can have both DL and UL, or DL ​​only. In one embodiment, dual connectivity between a PCell configured on a licensed band (e.g., an LTE cell) and a PSCell configured on an unlicensed band (e.g., an NR-U cell) may be supported. In one embodiment, standalone operation in an unlicensed band, where all carriers are in one or more unlicensed bands, may be supported. In one embodiment, a cell may support DL in an unlicensed band and UL in a licensed band, or vice versa. In one embodiment, dual connectivity between a PCell on a licensed band (e.g., an NR cell) and a PSCell on an unlicensed band (e.g., an NR-U cell) may be supported.

[0278] In one example, the radio access technology (e.g., LTE and / or NR) operating bandwidth may be an integer multiple of 20 MHz, for example, if the absence of Wi-Fi cannot be guaranteed (e.g., by regulation) in the unlicensed bands (e.g., 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and / or sub-7 GHz) in which the radio access technology (e.g., LTE and / or NR) is operating. In one example, a wireless device may perform one or more LBTs in increments of 20 MHz. In one example, receiver-assisted LBT (e.g., an RTS / CTS-type mechanism) and / or on-demand receiver-assisted LBT (e.g., receiver-assisted LBT that is enabled only when needed) may be used. In one example, techniques to enhance spatial reuse may be used.

[0279] In one embodiment, a wideband carrier with multiple channels (subbands, SBs, RB sets, etc.) is supported in the unlicensed spectrum. In one embodiment, there may be one active BWP within the carrier. A channel (subband, RB set, etc.) may include multiple RBs within the BWP for data / control signal transmission. In this specification, a channel may also be referred to as a subband, SB, RB set, etc. In one embodiment, a BWP with one or more channels may be activated. In one embodiment, if the absence of Wi-Fi cannot be guaranteed (e.g., due to regulations), LBT may be performed in 20 MHz increments. In this case, there may be multiple parallel LBT procedures for this BWP. The actual transmission bandwidth may be affected by the SB, which may result in dynamic bandwidth transmission within this active wideband BWP.

[0280] In one embodiment, one or more active BWPs may be supported. To improve BWP utilization efficiency, the BWP bandwidth may be the same as the bandwidth of the SB for the LBT. For example, LBT may be performed on each BWP. The network may activate / deactivate the BWP based on the amount of data transmitted. In one embodiment, one or more non-overlapping BWPs may be activated for a wireless device within a wide component carrier, which may be similar to a carrier aggregation. To improve BWP utilization efficiency, the BWP bandwidth may be the same as the bandwidth of the SB for the LBT, i.e., the LBT may be a carrier-out on each BWP. Successful LBT on multiple SBs requires that the wireless device be capable of supporting one or more narrow or wide RFs, which may include one or more activated BWPs.

[0281] In one embodiment, a single wideband BWP may be activated for wireless devices within a component carrier. The bandwidth of the wideband BWP may be in units of the LBT SB. For example, if the LBT SB is 20 MHz in the 5 GHz band, the wideband BWP bandwidth may include multiples of 20 MHz. The actual transmission bandwidth may be affected by the SB, with LBT success resulting in dynamic bandwidth transmission within this active wideband BWP.

[0282] In one embodiment, in a wideband (e.g., 80 MHz) configuration on a BWP, the frequency resources of the SS (or CORESET) may be spread (or traversed) within the BWP. The frequency resources of the SS (or CORESET) may be limited to the SB of the BWP. The SB may be in units of 20 MHz, for example, for an LBT procedure in an NR-U cell. Figures 27A and 27B show two SS / CORESET configurations in the frequency domain for a BWP with multiple BWPs in a cell, or for a cell (in the case of a single BWP configured on a cell).

[0283] 27A shows an example of an SS / CORESET configuration in a BWP. In one example, the frequency resource indication of a first SS or first CORESET configuration may indicate frequency resource distribution over multiple RB groups within the BWP. The multiple RB groups are not limited to or are not within the SB (e.g., 20 MHz) of the BWP. Distributing frequency resources within the BWP may allow the base station to flexibly allocate PDCCH resources for different UEs or different signaling purposes (e.g., common or UE-specific).

[0284] Figure 27B shows an example of an SS / CORESET configuration in a BWP. In one example, the frequency resource indication of the first SS or first CORESET configuration indicates that the frequency resource is limited to the bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) of the first SB (SB0 in Figure 27B) of the BWP. To maintain the same (or similar) CORESET / SS configuration (e.g., up to 40 SSs per cell, or up to 12 or 20 CORESETs per cell) of a UE operating in a licensed cell, a CORESET identified by a CORESET ID may be allocated with the same number of RBs (or RB groups) in each SB of the BWP. The same number of RBs (or RB groups) may be located at the same frequency location (e.g., relative to the starting frequency location of each SB) of each SB of the BWP. As shown above, the pattern of mapping a CORESET to the RBs of an SB may be replicated to the mapping of a CORESET to other SBs of the BWP.

[0285] In one embodiment, a BWP may include multiple (e.g., four) LBT SBs (SBs, or RB sets), each occupying multiple RBs (or RB groups) of the BWP. A first LBT SB may overlap in the frequency domain with a second LBT SB. A first LBT SB may not overlap in the frequency domain with a second LBT SB.

[0286] In response to the frequency resources of the first CORESET being confined to the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP and replicated in each SB of the BWP, the wireless device may monitor the PDCCH on the first SS of the first CORESET of one or more SBs (e.g., SB0, SB1 in FIG. 27B ) of the multiple SBs of the BWP based on configuration or a predefined rule. Confining the frequency resources of the CORESET within the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP may increase signal transmission robustness and / or save power consumption of the wireless device. In one embodiment, the base station may perform an LBT procedure in accordance with the SBs of the BWP. In response to the LBT procedure being successful on one of the SBs of the BWP, the base station may transmit a DCI via the PDCCH on one of the SBs of the BWP. In response to the LBT procedure being successful on the multiple SBs of the BWP, the base station may transmit a DCI via the PDCCH on the multiple SBs of the BWP, or the base station may transmit multiple DCIs via the PDCCH on the multiple SBs of the BWP, where each DCI may be transmitted on a corresponding one of the multiple SBs.

[0287] In one embodiment, the base station may allocate, to a CORESET (e.g., in the high-layer parameter "frequencyDomainResources" of the CORESET in the RRC message as shown in FIG. 24), a physical resource block (PRB) confined within one of the SBs of the BWP corresponding to the CORESET for a search space set configuration associated with multiple monitoring locations in the frequency domain. Within the search space set associated with the CORESET, each of the multiple monitoring locations in the frequency domain corresponds to (and / or is confined to) an SB of the SB. Each of the multiple monitoring locations may have a frequency-domain resource allocation pattern that is replicated from the pattern configured in the CORESET. In an embodiment, CORESET parameters other than the frequency-domain resource allocation pattern may be identical for each of the multiple monitoring locations in the frequency domain.

[0288] In one embodiment, prior to receiving DCI, the wireless device may not know on which SBs the base station may be able to successfully perform an LBT procedure (e.g., if the LBT procedure indicates that the channel is clear on the SB), and may not know on which SBs the base station may be able to transmit DCI. When configured with multiple LBT SBs on a BWP, the wireless device may monitor the PDCCH on multiple SBs to receive DCI.

[0289] In one embodiment, the base station may send one or more RRC messages to the wireless device including configuration parameters for the search space, the configuration parameters indicating one or more SBs on which the wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates in the search space. The wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates associated with the search space on one or more SBs based on the configuration parameters.

[0290] In existing technology, a wireless device may index CCEs from a first initial number (e.g., 0) to a second number (e.g., the maximum / total number configured in CORESET) of radio resources on a BWP (or a cell if a BWP is not configured in the cell), as shown in FIG. 25B . The CCEs span the frequency resources of the BWP. The wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates of an SS to detect DCI on one or more CCEs. The wireless device may receive DCI on at least one CCE of the one or more CCEs. The wireless device may determine a starting CCE of the at least one CCE based on a CCE index, such as a starting CCE with the lowest CCE index among the at least one CCE. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK feedback based on at least one of the CCE index of the starting CCE of the at least one CCE from which the wireless device receives DCI, the total number of CCEs, and the PRI of the DCI.

[0291] In an NR-U cell (or a BWP of a cell), a wireless device may monitor an SS (or monitor PDCCH candidates of an SS) on one or more SBs of the BWP. In one embodiment, when a wireless device is permitted to transmit at most one DCI for data scheduling in the BWP, the wireless device may receive one DCI of one or more SBs based on the LBT procedure at the base station. By adopting existing technology, the wireless device may determine different PUCCH resources for UCI transmission when receiving DCI on different SBs of the BWP. By implementing existing technology, the wireless device may determine PUCCH resources for transmitting UCI such that the base station needs to allocate (or reserve) more PUCCH resources than the wireless device actually uses to transmit UCI. This may result in reduced system throughput and / or reduced uplink resource utilization efficiency. Existing technology may result in collisions of UCI transmissions on the PUCCH (within the same wireless device or between different wireless devices), reduced system throughput, increased uplink transmission delay, and / or increased power consumption. Therefore, there is a need to improve the PUCCH resource allocation method for wideband NR-U in order to improve uplink resource utilization efficiency, system throughput, reduce UCI transmission collisions, reduce power consumption, etc.

[0292] In one exemplary embodiment, the wireless device may index the CCEs of the CORESET from the same initial value (e.g., 0) for each RB set of the BWP. In one example, the wireless device may index the CCEs of the CORESET in a first RB set of the BWP from 0 to N-1, where N is the total number of CCEs of the CORESET in the RB set. The wireless device may index the CCEs of the CORESET in a second RB set of the BWP from 0 to N-1. Based on indexing the CCEs of the CORESET from the same initial value in different RB sets of the BWP, the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on the CCE index of the starting CCE of one or more CCEs from which the wireless device receives the DCI, the PUCCH resource index indicated by the DCI, and the total number of CCEs of the CORESET. Based on the exemplary embodiment, the wireless device may select / determine the same PUCCH resource regardless of which RB the wireless device receives the DCI in. The exemplary embodiments may enable a base station to reduce PUCCH resource allocation / reservation for wireless devices, thus improving uplink resource utilization efficiency.

[0293] FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a PUCCH resource allocation / determination method for a wideband NR-U cell.

[0294] In one embodiment, a base station may transmit one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters of a cell (e.g., a PCell or SCell) to a wireless device. A cell may include multiple BWPs. A cell may include a single BWP. In one embodiment, a BWP may include multiple (e.g., four) LBT SBs (sets of SBs or RBs, which may be referred to equally herein), with each SB occupying multiple RBs (or RB groups) of the BWP. As shown in FIG. 28, the SBs of the BWP include SB0, SB1, SB2, etc. The configuration parameters may indicate multiple CORESETs configured on the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that the frequency resources of the CORESETs of the multiple CORESETs are limited to the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP. The frequency resource mapping pattern of the CORESET on the first SB (e.g., defining which resource blocks of the first SB the CORESET includes, as indicated by frequencyDomainResources in FIG. 24) is replicated to the remaining SBs of the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that multiple SSs are configured on the CORESET. For each SS of the plurality of SSs, the configuration parameters may include a monitoring frequency location parameter (e.g., a bitmap or monitoring location indicator as shown in FIG. 28) that indicates which SB the monitoring frequency location of the SS is configured to. As shown in FIG. 28, i ) includes the bit string "110...", which indicates a monitored frequency location that includes SB0, SB1. In response to the monitored frequency location including SB0, SB1, the wireless device i may be monitored, and SS on the remaining SBs (e.g., SB2 and SB3) i does not need to be monitored.

[0295] In one embodiment, SS on SB0 and SB1 i In response to monitoring the SS i DCI on CCE and / or SS on SB1 iThe wireless device may attempt to detect DCI on CCEs (e.g., simultaneously or sequentially) on SBs of the BWP. The wireless device may index the CCEs on different SBs of the BWP with the same initial value (e.g., 0) to N-1 (e.g., N is the total number of CCEs in the SB). Based on the indexing of the CCEs, the wireless device may attempt to detect a first DCI on CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, ... on SB0, and a second DCI on CCE2, CC4, CCE6, ... on SB1. Here, CC2, CC4, CC6, ... may be the DCIs on SBs of the SS by implementing the example of FIG. 25B. i is determined.

[0296] In one embodiment, the wireless device receives the SS signal on SB0 of the BWP. i The wireless device may receive a first DCI on a CCE of SS on SB1 of the BWP. i The wireless device may receive the first DCI and / or the second DCI on the CCE of SB0. The wireless device may receive the first DCI and / or the second DCI based on the LBT procedure performed by the base station on SB0 and SB1. In one embodiment, the base station may transmit the first DCI on SB0 when the base station determines that the channel is clear on SB0 based on the LBT procedure performed on SB0. The base station may transmit the second DCI on SB1 when the base station determines that the channel is clear on SB1 based on the LBT procedure performed on SB1. Based on indexing CCEs from the same initial value on different SBs, the wireless device may determine that the first starting CCE on SB0 on ​​which the first DCI is received may have the same CCE index as the second starting CCE on SB1 on which the second DCI is received. The first DCI may indicate the same PRI value as the second DCI.

[0297] In response to receiving the DCI (the first DCI or the second DCI), the wireless device may attempt to detect a TB based on the downlink allocation of the DCI. The wireless device may determine acknowledgement information for the receipt of the TB based on the detection of the TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the TB is successful, the wireless device may determine that the acknowledgement information includes a positive acknowledgement (ACK) for the receipt of the TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the TB is not successful, the wireless device may determine that the acknowledgement information includes a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the receipt of the TB.

[0298] In one example, a wireless device can determine a PUCCH resource for transmitting acknowledgement information based on the PR of the starting CCE, the DCI, by implementing the exemplary embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 25A and / or FIG. 25B. As shown in FIG. 28, the starting CCE may have a CCE index equal to 2, regardless of the SB from which the wireless device receives the DCI. By implementing the exemplary embodiment, the wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on the CCE index of the starting CCE, where the CCEs within an SB are indexed from the same initial value for each SB of the BWP. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on the CCE index of the starting CCE, regardless of the SB from which the wireless device receives the DCI (the first DCI or the second DCI). Otherwise, based on existing technology, the wireless device may determine different starting CCE indices when receiving DCI on different SBs. Therefore, the wireless device may determine different PUCCH resources for transmitting UCI based on different starting CCE indices. The exemplary embodiments may enable a base station to reduce PUCCH resource allocation / reservation for wireless devices, thus improving uplink resource utilization efficiency.

[0299] In an NR-U cell (or a BWP of a cell), a wireless device may monitor an SS (or monitor PDCCH candidates for an SS) on one or more SBs of the BWP. The wireless device may receive multiple DCIs on multiple SBs of one or more SBs, where each DCI is received via the search space of the CORESET on a respective SB of the one or more SBs. The wireless device may receive multiple DCIs on multiple SBs if the base station successfully completes the LBT procedure for the multiple SBs. Receiving multiple DCIs on multiple SBs may increase system throughput, for example, when each DCI schedules a respective TB. Based on existing techniques, the wireless device may determine the same PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmissions for different TBs scheduled by the multiple DCIs. This may result in collisions of HARQ-ACK transmissions for different TBs. Therefore, existing techniques may result in collisions of UCI transmissions on the PUCCH (within the same wireless device or between different wireless devices), reduced system throughput, increased uplink transmission delay, and / or increased power consumption. Therefore, there is a need to improve the PUCCH resource allocation method for wideband NR-U in order to improve uplink resource utilization efficiency, system throughput, reduce UCI transmission collisions, reduce power consumption, etc.

[0300] FIG. 29 shows an example of a PUCCH resource determination mechanism when multiple PDCCH monitoring frequency locations on multiple SBs of a BWP are supported. In one embodiment, a base station may transmit one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters for a cell (e.g., a PCell or SCell) to a wireless device. A cell may include multiple BWPs. A cell may include a single BWP. In one embodiment, a BWP may include multiple (e.g., four) SBs, with each SB occupying multiple RBs (or RB groups) of the BWP. As shown in FIG. 29, the SBs of the BWP include SB0, SB1, etc. The configuration parameters may indicate multiple CORESETs configured on the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that the frequency resources of the CORESET are limited to the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that multiple SSs are configured on the CORESET. For each SS of the multiple SSs, the configuration parameters may include a monitor frequency location parameter (e.g., a bitmap or a monitor location indicator shown in FIG. 29) indicating which SB the monitor frequency location of the SS is configured on. As shown in FIG. 29, SS (e.g., SS i ) includes a bit string "110...", indicating a monitoring frequency location that includes SB0, SB1, and each bit of the bit string indicates whether the corresponding SB should be monitored by the wireless device of the SS. In response to the monitoring frequency location including SB0, SB1, the wireless device i SS on other SBs of BWP may monitor i does not need to be monitored.

[0301] In one embodiment, the wireless device may index each CCE of an SB based on at least one of the SB index and the total number of CCEs in the CORESET. In one embodiment, the CORESET on SB0 may include the same total number of CCEs on SB1. In the example of FIG. 29, the total number of CCEs in the CORESET is N. The wireless device may index the CCEs of the CORESET on SB0 from CCEO (or CCE1) to CCEN-1 (or CCEN). The wireless device may index the ith CCE of the CCEs of the CORESET on SBj as follows: N*(j-1) + i, where i starts from zero. The wireless device may index the ith CCE of the CCEs of the CORESET on SBj as follows: N*(j-1) + i-1, where i starts from 1. In one embodiment, the ith CCE of the CCEs on SB0 and the ith CCE of the CCEs on SBj may have different CCE indexes. Having different CCE indices in different SBs may allow wireless devices to reduce collisions of PUCCH resources.

[0302] In one embodiment, a base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to a wireless device including configuration parameters for a BWP including multiple SBs. The configuration parameters indicate a CCE index offset (e.g., SB-specific) for a CCE of each SB of the multiple SBs. In one embodiment, the configuration parameters may indicate a first CCE_index_offset for a first SB, a second CCE_index_offset for a second SB, etc. Based on the configuration parameters, the wireless device may index the i-th CCE on the first SB as the first CCE_index_offset+i, the i-th CCE on the second SB as the second CCE_index_offset+i, and so on. The CCE index offset for each SB may be a cell-specific parameter or a UE-specific parameter. In response to the CCE index offset being a cell-specific parameter, the base station may transmit the CCE index offset in the system information. In response to the CCE index offset being a UE-specific parameter, the base station may transmit the CCE index offset in a UE-specific cell configuration message.

[0303] As shown in Figure 29, a wireless device may attempt to detect DCI on CCEs on SB0 and SB1. In one embodiment, the wireless device may attempt to detect a first DCI on CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, ... on SB0, where CC2, CC4, CC6, ... are the DCIs detected by implementing the embodiment of Figure 25B. i Based on monitoring CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, ..., the wireless device may attempt to detect a second DCI on CCE(N+2), CCE(N+4), CCE(N+6), ... on SB1.

[0304] As shown in Figure 29, the wireless device sends the SS i The wireless device may receive a first DCI on a CCE of SS on SB1 of the BWP. iThe first DCI may receive a second DCI on a CCE in SB0. The first starting CCE of the CCEs on SB0 on ​​which the first DCI is received may have a first CCE index (e.g., 2 as shown in FIG. 29). The second starting CCE of the CCEs on SB1 on which the second DCI is received may have a second CCE index (e.g., N+2 as shown in FIG. 29). The first starting CCE and the second starting CCE that are in the same position in the CCE index order on SB0 and SB1 may have different CCE indices. In one embodiment, the first DCI may indicate the same PRI value as the second DCI.

[0305] In response to receiving the first DCI, the wireless device may attempt to detect a first TB based on the first downlink assignment of the first DCI. The wireless device may determine first acknowledgment information for the reception of the first TB based on the detection of the first TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the first TB is successful, the wireless device may determine that the first acknowledgment information includes a positive acknowledgment (ACK) for the reception of the first TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the first TB is not successful, the wireless device may determine that the first acknowledgment information includes a negative acknowledgment (NACK) for the reception of the first TB.

[0306] In response to receiving the second DCI, the wireless device may attempt to detect the second TB (or, in the case of a repetition, the first TB) based on the second downlink allocation of the second DCI. The wireless device may determine second acknowledgment information for reception of the second TB based on the detection of the second TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the second TB is successful, the wireless device may determine that the second acknowledgment information includes an ACK for reception of the second TB. In one embodiment, in response to detecting that the second TB is not successful, the wireless device may determine that the second acknowledgment information includes a NACK for reception of the second TB.

[0307] In one embodiment, the wireless device may determine a first PUCCH resource for transmitting first acknowledgment information based on a first starting CCE and a first PRI of the first DCI, and may determine a second PUCCH resource for transmitting second acknowledgment information based on a second starting CCE and a second PRI of the first DCI.

[0308] In one embodiment, if the wireless device does not have a dedicated PUCCH resource configuration, the wireless device may select a first PUCCH resource, r, based on a first starting CCE, a first PRI of a first DCI. PUCCH ,of

number

[0309] As shown in FIG. 29 , the wireless device allocates a second PUCCH resource, r , based on the second PRI of the second starting CCE and the second DCI. PUCCH of,

number

[0310] In one embodiment, when the wireless device has a dedicated PUCCH resource configuration, the wireless device selects a first PUCCH resource, r , from a set of PUCCH resources (e.g., a first set if configured with multiple sets of PUCCH resources) based on a first starting CCE, a first PRI of a first DCI. PUCCH (For example, 0≦r PUCCH ≦R PUCCH -1)

number

[0311] In one embodiment, the wireless device selects a second PUCCH resource, r, based on a second PRI of a second starting CCE and a second DCI. PUCCH (For example, 0≦r PUCCH ≦R PUCCH -1)

number

[0312] The wireless device may determine different PUCCH resources for ACK / NACK transmission for different TBs, as shown in Figure 29. According to an example embodiment, the wireless device may reduce PUCCH transmission collisions, improve uplink transmission delay, and improve system throughput.

[0313] In one embodiment, a wireless device may independently and separately index CCEs of certain SBs of multiple SBs on a BWP. CCE indices may be reused on different SBs. In one embodiment, a wireless device may index CCEs of a first SB from CCEO to CCEO(N-1) and CCEs of a second SB from CCEO to CCEO(N-1). Reusing CCE indices on different SBs may improve UE implementation complexity and / or backward compatibility.

[0314] In one embodiment, when a wireless device reuses CCE indices in different SBs, the wireless device determines the PUCCH resource, r, based on the starting CCE, the SB index of the SB (e.g., SB0 or ​​SB1), and the PRI of the DCI received in the SB. PUCCH of,

number

[0315] In one embodiment, when a wireless device reuses CCE indices on different SBs, the wireless device selects a PUCCH resource, r, from a set of PUCCH resources (e.g., a first set when configured with multiple PUCCH resource sets) based on the starting CCE, the SB index of the SB (e.g., SB0 or ​​SB1), and / or the PRI of the DCI received on the SB. PUCCH , (e.g., 0≦r PUCCH ≦R PUCCH In one embodiment, the wireless device may determine r PUCCH of

number

[0316] In the formula, N' CCE,p =K*N CCE,p , N CCE,p is the total number of CCEs in CORESETp on the SB, K is the total number of SBs that the wireless device is configured to monitor, and n CCE,p is the CCE index of the starting CCE in CORESETp for receiving DCI on the SB, SB_index is the SB index of the SB from which the wireless device receives DCI, and Δ PRI is the value of the PRI field in the DCI. In one embodiment, if the total number of SBs is greater than 2, SB_index is

number

[0317] FIG. 30 shows a flowchart of an example of a PUCCH resource determination mechanism. In one embodiment, the base station may transmit one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters of a cell to a wireless device (not shown in FIG. 30). The cell may include multiple BWPs. A BWP among the multiple BWPs may include multiple SBs. In one embodiment, the base station may transmit a command (e.g., a DCI) to the wireless device indicating activation of the BWP. In response to receiving the command, the wireless device may activate the BWP. In response to activating the BWP, the wireless device may monitor the SS of the CORESET on the first SB and the second SB, and monitor the first SB and the second SB indicated in the configuration parameters. The base station may perform the LBT procedure sequentially or simultaneously on the first SB and the second SB.

[0318] In one embodiment, a base station may determine that an LBT procedure on a first SB indicates a clear channel on the first SB. In response to the LBT procedure indicating a clear channel on the first SB, the base station may transmit a first DCI to the wireless device via the first SB, where the first DCI may indicate a first downlink radio resource for downlink assignment for transmission of the first TB and a first PUCCH resource for ACK / NACK transmission of the first TB. In one embodiment, a base station may determine that an LBT procedure on a second SB indicates a clear channel on the second SB. In response to the LBT procedure indicating a clear channel on the second SB, the base station may transmit a second DCI to the wireless device via the second SB, where the second DCI indicates a second downlink radio resource for downlink assignment for transmission of the second TB (or the first TB, in the case of repetition) and a second PUCCH resource for ACK / NACK transmission of the second TB.

[0319] In one embodiment, a wireless device may receive a first DCI while monitoring an SS of a CORESET on a first SB and may receive a second DCI while monitoring an SS of a CORESET on a second SB. Based on the reception of the first DCI, the wireless device may detect a first TB via a first downlink radio resource on the first SB and determine first acknowledgment information for detecting the first TB. Based on the reception of the second DCI, the wireless device may detect a second TB via a second downlink radio resource on the second SB and determine second acknowledgment information for detecting the second TB.

[0320] In one embodiment, the wireless device may determine a first PUCCH resource for transmitting the first acknowledgment information based on a first CCE index of a starting CCE of the CCEs of the CORESET for receiving the first DCI, an SB index of the first SB, and / or a PRI value indicated in the first DCI. In one embodiment, the wireless device may determine a second PUCCH resource for transmitting the second acknowledgment information based on a second CCE index of a starting CCE of the CORESET for receiving the second DCI, an SB index of the second SB, and / or a PRI value indicated in the second DCI. The wireless device may determine the first PUCCH resource and / or the second PUCCH resource by implementing the example of FIG. 29. The wireless device may transmit a first acknowledgment for receiving the first TB via the first PUCCH resource. The wireless device may transmit a second acknowledgment for receiving the second TB via the second PUCCH resource.

[0321] FIG. 31 shows an example of a PUCCH configuration when multiple SBs are supported in an NR-U system. In one embodiment, a base station can transmit one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters for a cell (e.g., a PCell or SCell) to a wireless device. A cell may include multiple BWPs. A cell may include a single BWP. In one embodiment, a BWP may include multiple (e.g., four) SBs, with each SB occupying multiple RBs (or RB groups) of the BWP. As shown in FIG. 31, the SBs of the BWP include SB0, SB1, SB2, etc. The configuration parameters may indicate multiple CORESETs configured on the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that the frequency resources of the CORESET are limited to the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP. The configuration parameters may indicate that multiple SSs are configured on the CORESET. For each SS of the multiple SSs, the configuration parameters may include a monitoring frequency location parameter (e.g., a bitmap or monitoring location indicator shown in FIG. 31) indicating which SB the monitoring frequency location of the SS is configured on. As shown in FIG. 31, the SS (e.g., SS i ) includes the bit string "110...", which indicates a monitored frequency location that includes SB0, SB1. In response to the monitored frequency location including SB0, SB1, the wireless device i SS on other SBs of BWP may monitor i does not need to be monitored.

[0322] In one embodiment, a wireless device may independently and separately index CCEs of certain SBs of multiple SBs on a BWP. CCE indices may be reused on different SBs. In one embodiment, a wireless device may index CCEs of a first SB (e.g., SB0) from CCEO to CCE(N-1) and CCEs of a second SB (e.g., SB1) from CCEO to CCE(N-1). Reusing CCE indices on different SBs may improve UE implementation complexity and / or backward compatibility.

[0323] In one embodiment, the base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to the wireless device including configuration parameters for a PUCCH resource configuration on a first BWP on a PCell or a PUCCH SCell. In one embodiment, the configuration parameters for the PUCCH resource configuration may indicate multiple PUCCH resource sets. Each PUCCH resource set of the multiple PUCCH resource sets may include multiple PUCCH resources. In one embodiment, the configuration parameters may indicate that a first subset of the number of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set corresponds to a first SB of the multiple SBs in the BWP of a cell (e.g., a PCell or an SCell), a second subset of the number of PUCCH resources corresponds to a second SB of the multiple SBs in the BWP of the cell, etc. As shown in Figure 31, the PUCCH resources in a PUCCH resource set may include PUCCH resources having PUCCH resource indices 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., K-1, K+1, ..., and M, where K may be the total number of PUCCH resources for the first SB. M may be the total number of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. K and / or M may be indicated in one or more RRC messages. In an embodiment, a configuration parameter may indicate that PUCCH resources having PUCCH resource indices 0, 1, ..., K-1 correspond to (or are associated with) a first SB. A configuration parameter may indicate that PUCCH resources having PUCCH resource indices K, K+1, ..., 2K-1 correspond to (or are associated with) a second SB. In one embodiment, the total number of PUCCH resources for the first SB (e.g., K) may be different from the total number of PUCCH resources for the second SB (e.g., J), where K and J are indicated in one or more RRC messages or set to predetermined values ​​(e.g., 8, 16, 32, and any number greater than zero).

[0324] In one embodiment, the base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to the wireless device including configuration parameters for a PUCCH resource configuration on a first BWP on a PCell or a PUCCH SCell. In one embodiment, the configuration parameters for the PUCCH resource configuration may indicate multiple PUCCH resource sets. Each PUCCH resource set of the multiple PUCCH resource sets may include multiple PUCCH resources. In one embodiment, the configuration parameters may indicate that a first PUCCH resource index offset corresponds to a first SB of multiple SBs of a BWP of a cell (e.g., a PCell or an SCell), a second PUCCH resource index offset corresponds to a second SB of the multiple SBs of a BWP of the cell, etc. In one embodiment, based on receiving the one or more RRC messages, the wireless device may determine a first PUCCH resource for first acknowledgment information for receiving the first TB over the first SB based on at least one of the first PUCCH resource index offset, a CCE index of a starting CCE for receiving the first DCI, and a PRI value indicated in the first DCI. In one embodiment, based on reception of one or more RRC messages, the wireless device may determine a second PUCCH resource for second acknowledgement information for reception of the second TB via the second SB based on at least one of a second PUCCH resource index offset, a CCE index of a starting CCE of the CCE for receiving the second DCI, and a PRI value indicated in the second DCI.

[0325] As shown in Figure 31, a wireless device may attempt to detect DCI on CCEs on SB0 and SB1. In one embodiment, the wireless device may attempt to detect a first DCI on CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, ... on SB0, where CC2, CC4, CC6, ... are the DCIs detected by implementing the embodiment of Figure 25B. i Based on monitoring CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, . . . , the wireless device may attempt to detect a second DCI at CCE2, CCE4, CCE6, .

[0326] As shown in Figure 31, the wireless device sends the SS i The wireless device may receive a first DCI on a CCE of SS on SB1 of the BWP. i The first DCI may receive a second DCI on a CCE on SB0. The first starting CCE of the CCEs on SB0 on ​​which the first DCI is received may have the same CCE index (e.g., 2 as shown in FIG. 31) as the second starting CCE of the CCEs on SB1 on which the second DCI is received. The first starting CCE of the CCEs on SB0 on ​​which the first DCI is received may have a different CCE index than the second starting CCE of the CCEs on SB1 on which the second DCI is received. In one embodiment, the first DCI may indicate the same PRI value as the second DCI.

[0327] In one embodiment, the wireless device may detect a first TB via a first downlink radio resource on a first SB based on receiving the first DCI and determine first acknowledgement information for detecting the first TB. The wireless device may detect a second TB via a second downlink radio resource on a second SB based on receiving the second DCI and determine second acknowledgement information for detecting the second TB.

[0328] In one example, a wireless device may determine a first PUCCH resource from a first subset of PUCCH resources (e.g., PUCCH resources having PUCCH resource indexes 0, 1, 2, ..., K-1 as shown in FIG. 31 ) corresponding to a first SB of a PUCCH resource set for transmitting first acknowledgment information based on a first starting CCE, a first PRI of a first DCI. The wireless device may determine a second PUCCH resource from a second subset of PUCCH resources (e.g., PUCCH resources having PUCCH resource indexes K, K+1, K+2, ..., 2*K-1 as shown in FIG. 31 ) corresponding to a second SB of a PUCCH resource set for transmitting second acknowledgment information based on a second starting CCE, a second PRI of a first DCI. The wireless device may determine the first PUCCH resource from the first subset of PUCCH resources by implementing the example embodiment of FIG. 25B . The wireless device may determine a second PUCCH resource from the second subset of PUCCH resources by implementing the example embodiment of FIG. 25B.

[0329] As shown in Figure 31, the wireless device may determine different PUCCH resources from different PUCCH resource subsets corresponding to different SBs for ACK / NACK transmission for different TBs. According to an example embodiment, the wireless device may reduce PUCCH transmission collisions and improve uplink transmission delay and system throughput.

[0330] The exemplary embodiments of Figures 28, 29, and / or 31 may be implemented based on a configuration. In one example, when a wireless device and a base station support at most one DCI for data scheduling on multiple RB sets of a BWP, the base station and the wireless device may implement a PUCCH resource determination method based on the example of Figure 28. When a wireless device and a base station support multiple DCIs for data scheduling on multiple RB sets of a BWP and an uplink channel and the uplink channel is heavily loaded, the base station and the wireless device may implement a PUCCH resource determination method based on the example of Figure 29. When a wireless device and a base station support multiple DCIs for data scheduling on multiple RB sets of a BWP and an uplink channel and the uplink channel is not heavily loaded, the base station and the wireless device may implement a PUCCH resource determination method based on the example of Figure 31.

[0331] In one embodiment, a first DL SB of the multiple DL SBs may be linked to a first UL SB of the multiple UL SBs. The multiple DL SBs may be included in a DL BWP of the cell. The multiple UL SBs may be included in a UL BWP of the cell. In one embodiment, a wireless device may receive DCI via a first DL SB of the multiple DL SBs. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource on the first UL SB for ACK / NACK transmission based on the linkage between the first DL SB and the first UL SB.

[0332] In one embodiment, the first wireless device may select a first UL SB from multiple UL SBs of the BWP for PUCCH transmission of ACK / NACK based on a selection priority. The selection priority may be indicated by an RRC message. The selection priority may be predefined. The selection priority may indicate an order of UL SB selection from the multiple UL SBs. In one embodiment, different UEs may be configured with different selection priorities. Setting different selection priorities may improve PUCCH collisions.

[0333] In one embodiment, a wireless device may monitor a PDCCH on a CCE of one of the plurality of SBs in a BWP of a cell. The wireless device may receive a DCI including a radio resource indication and a PUCCH resource index via the PDCCH on one or more CCEs of the CCE. The wireless device may receive a TB via the radio resource indicated by the radio resource indication. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on at least one of the PUCCH resource index, the SB index of the SB, and / or the CCE index of a starting CCE of the one or more CCEs. The wireless device may transmit acknowledgement information for receiving the TB via the PUCCH resource. The wireless device may further receive one or more RRC messages including configuration parameters of a cell including a plurality of BWPs, each of the plurality of BWPs including a plurality of SBs. Each of the plurality of SBs may be identified by a respective SB index. The cell configuration parameters may further include first configuration parameters of a BWP of the plurality of BWPs, the first configuration parameters including one or more radio resource configuration parameters of a CORESET. The one or more radio resource configuration parameters of the CORESET may indicate that the frequency resources of the CORESET are limited to the bandwidth of the SBs of the BWP. The one or more radio resource configuration parameters may indicate that a search space associated with the CORESET is configured with one or more monitored frequency location indicators. Each frequency location indicator corresponding to a respective SB of one or more SBs among the plurality of SBs may indicate whether the wireless device monitors a PDCCH for the search space on the SB. The frequency resources of the CORESET on an SB may include a plurality of CCEs, each of the plurality of CCEs being identified by a CCE index. The CCE index of a first CCE of the plurality of CCEs may start from a first predetermined value (e.g., 0 or 1).

[0334] In one embodiment, the wireless device may monitor the PDCCH on a search space on SBs of a plurality of SBs in response to a monitored frequency location indication corresponding to the SB indicating PDCCH monitoring on the SB for the search space.

[0335] In one embodiment, the one or more RRC messages may further indicate a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, each of which includes a plurality of PUCCH resources. Each of the plurality of PUCCH resources may be identified by a respective PUCCH resource index. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource from the plurality of PUCCH resources of one of the plurality of PUCCH resource sets.

[0336] In one embodiment, the acknowledgement information may include a positive acknowledgement (ACK) in response to successful reception of the TB. The acknowledgement information may include a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in response to unsuccessful reception of the TB.

[0337] In one embodiment, the wireless device may monitor a second PDCCH on a CCE of a second SB of the plurality of SBs. The wireless device may receive a second DCI including a second radio resource indication and a second PUCCH resource index via the second PDCCH on one or more CCEs of the CCE. The wireless device may receive a second TB via the second radio resource indicated by the second radio resource indication. The wireless device may determine the second PUCCH resource based on at least one of the second PUCCH resource index, the second SB index of the second SB, and / or the second CCE index of a second starting CCE of the one or more CCEs. The wireless device may transmit second acknowledgment information for reception of the second TB via the second PUCCH resource.

[0338] In one embodiment, the second PUCCH resource may be different from the PUCCH resource, and the second SB index may be different from the SB index.

[0339] In one embodiment, a wireless device may monitor a PDCCH on a CCE of an SB of a plurality of SBs. The wireless device may receive a DCI including a radio resource indication and a PUCCH resource index via the PDCCH on one or more CCEs of the CCE. The wireless device may receive a TB via the radio resource indicated by the radio resource indication. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on at least one of the PUCCH resource index, a PUCCH resource index offset associated with the SB, and / or a CCE index of a starting CCE of one or more CCEs. The wireless device may transmit acknowledgement information for receiving the TB via the PUCCH resource.

[0340] In one embodiment, a wireless device may receive configuration parameters indicating respective CCE index offsets for corresponding SBs of a plurality of SBs. The wireless device may monitor a PDCCH on CCEs of the plurality of SBs. The wireless device may receive a DCI including a radio resource indication and a PUCCH resource index via the PDCCH on one or more CCEs of the CCE. The wireless device may receive a TB via the radio resource indicated by the radio resource indication. The wireless device may determine a PUCCH resource based on at least one of the PUCCH resource index, the respective CCE index offsets corresponding to the SBs, and the CCE index of a starting CCE of the one or more CCEs. The wireless device may transmit acknowledgement information for receiving the TB via the PUCCH resource.

[0341] FIG. 32 shows a flow diagram according to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. At 3210, a wireless device may receive configuration parameters of a BWP including an RB set, where CCEs of a CORESET of the BWP span the RB set, and a subset of CCEs within each RB set of the RB set are indexed from the same initial value. At 3220, the wireless device may receive DCI via one or more CCEs of the subset of CCEs within an RB set of the RB set. At 3230, the wireless device may determine a CCE index of a starting CCE of one or more CCEs based on indexing the subset of CCEs from the initial value within the RB set. At 3240, the wireless device may transmit an uplink signal via uplink resources determined based on the CCE index.

[0342] 33 shows a flow diagram according to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. At 3310, a wireless device may receive configuration parameters of a BWP including RB sets, where CCEs span the RB sets and a subset of CCEs within each RB set of the RB sets is indexed from the same initial value. At 3320, the wireless device may receive control information via one or more CCEs of the subset of CCEs within an RB set of the RB set. At 3330, the wireless device may transmit an uplink signal via uplink resources based on an index of a CCE of the one or more CCEs.

[0343] According to an example embodiment, the wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages including second configuration parameters of a cell, the cell including a plurality of bandwidth portions including the bandwidth portion.

[0344] According to an example embodiment, the initial value may be 0. The control information may be DCI via PDCCH on one or more CCEs.

[0345] According to an example embodiment, each CCE of the CCEs may include multiple resource element groups, where a resource element group includes RBs in a symbol.

[0346] According to an example embodiment, each RB set of the RB sets may include one or more RBs of the bandwidth portion, each RB of the one or more RBs may include multiple resource elements of the bandwidth portion, and a first RB set may include one or more RBs that do not overlap with a second RB set of the RB sets.

[0347] According to an example embodiment, the configuration parameters may indicate that a control resource set of the bandwidth portion includes CCEs. The configuration parameters may indicate that a frequency-domain resource allocation pattern of the control resource set is replicated for each RB set of the RB sets of the bandwidth portion, and physical radio resources of the CCEs of the control resource set are mapped to each RB set. The wireless device may further determine uplink resources based on a total number of the first subset of CCEs in the first RB set associated with the control resource set.

[0348] According to an example embodiment, the configuration parameters may indicate one or more RB sets, including a first RB set from the RB sets of the bandwidth portion, for a search space associated with the control resource set. The search space may include one or more CCEs of a first subset of CCEs associated with the control resource set in the first RB set. The search space associated with the control resource set may include one or more monitor frequency location indicators, each frequency location indicator corresponding to a respective RB set of the RB sets of the bandwidth portion. The wireless device may monitor the downlink control channel on the search space on the first RB set in response to the monitor frequency location indicator corresponding to the first RB set indicating downlink control channel monitoring on the first RB set. The wireless device may receive control information while monitoring the downlink control channel of the search space.

[0349] According to an example embodiment, the uplink resource may be a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0350] According to an example embodiment, the configuration parameter may indicate a plurality of PUCCH resources. Each of the plurality of PUCCH resources may be identified by a respective PUCCH resource index. Each of the plurality of PUCCH resources may be associated with an RB set index of an RB set of the RB sets. The wireless device may transmit a signal via an uplink resource associated with the first RB set. The control information may include a PUCCH resource indication field indicating the PUCCH resource index. The wireless device may further determine the uplink resource based on the PUCCH resource index indicated by the control information.

[0351] According to an example embodiment, the wireless device may determine the uplink resource based on the PUCCH resource index indicated by the control information and a PUCCH resource index offset determined based on the index of the CCE.

[0352] According to an example embodiment, the control information may include a downlink assignment of downlink radio resources for transmitting the transport block, and the wireless device may receive the transport block via the downlink radio resources based on the control information.

[0353] According to an example embodiment, the signal may include acknowledgement information corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the control information. The acknowledgement information may include a positive acknowledgement (ACK) in response to successful reception of the transport block. The acknowledgement information may include a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in response to unsuccessful reception of the transport block.

[0354] According to an example embodiment, the CCE may be a starting CCE (e.g., having the lowest CCE index) of one or more CCEs based on indexing a first subset of CCEs from an initial value in the first RB set. The wireless device may determine the uplink resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in the downlink control information and a PUCCH resource offset determined based on the index of the starting CCE.

[0355] 34 shows a flow diagram according to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. At 3410, a wireless device may monitor a downlink control channel on control channel elements (CCEs) of a resource block (RB) set of an RB set of a bandwidth portion. At 3420, the wireless device may receive downlink control information including a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource index on one or more CCEs of the CCE. At 3430, the wireless device may transmit an uplink signal via a PUCCH resource determined based on the PUCCH resource index, an RB set index of the RB set, and a CCE index of a starting CCE of the one or more CCEs.

Claims

1. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising: receiving configuration parameters for a set of control resources in a bandwidth portion (BWP); the control resource set comprises control channel elements (CCEs) spanning a first set of resource blocks (RBs) of the BWP and a second set of RBs of the BWP; the first RB set has a first subset of the CCEs, and a first index value of the first subset starts from a first initial value; the second RB set has a second subset of the CCEs, and second index values ​​of the second subset start from a second initial value that is the same as the first initial value; The wireless device further comprises: receiving control information via one or more CCEs of the first subset; transmitting a signal over an uplink resource based on an index of a CCE among the one or more CCEs of the first subset; The index is determined based on the first index values ​​of the first subset starting from the first initial value which is the same as the second initial value.

2. 2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first initial value and the second initial value are 0, and the first index value of the first subset and the second index value of the second subset are in ascending order.

3. 2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the configuration parameters indicate that a frequency domain resource allocation pattern of the control resource set is replicated for each of the first RB set and the second RB set, and physical radio resources of the CCEs of the control resource set are mapped to the first RB set and the second RB set.

4. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein the configuration parameters indicate one or more RB sets that include the first RB set for a search space associated with the control resource set.

5. The wireless device of claim 4 , wherein the search space includes the one or more CCEs of the first subset of CCEs associated with the control resource set in the RB set.

6. 5. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the search space associated with the control resource set is comprised of one or more monitored frequency location indicators, each frequency location indicator corresponding to a respective RB set of the BWP, the RB sets including the first RB set and the second RB set.

7. The uplink resource is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource index indicated by the control information; and a PUCCH resource index offset determined based on the index of the CCE; The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein the determination is based on:

8. 2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the CCE is a starting CCE after the one or more CCEs.

9. the wireless device further comprising: receiving second control information via one or more second CCEs of the second subset of CCEs in the second RB set; transmitting a second signal over a second uplink resource based on a second index of a CCE among the one or more second CCEs of the second subset; the second index is determined based on the second index values ​​of the second subset starting from the second initial value which is the same as the first initial value. The wireless device of claim 1 .

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING DOWNLINK DATA CHANNEL AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

    JP2020516101A

  • User equipment, base station, and wireless communication method

    JP2021514552A

  • User equipment, base station and wireless communication method

    WO2019157696A1

  • Method for transmitting and receiving downlink data channel and apparatus therefor

    WO2019194643A1