Power saving for devices with reduced capacity

Abstract

Some aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for power conservation for reduced capability devices. A method that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a shared bandwidth portion (BWP) configuration and a group common BWP configuration. The group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs including UEs having one or more common capabilities or a common UE type. The method includes communicating using a group common BWP based on the group common BWP configuration.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 186,568, filed on May 10, 2021, and claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Non - Provisional Application No. 17 / 655,333, filed on Mar. 17, 2022, which were assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth herein and for all applicable purposes.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to techniques for devices with reduced capabilities.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunications services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcast, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple - access techniques that are capable of supporting communication with their users by sharing available system resources (such as bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources) among multiple users. Multiple - access techniques may rely on, for example, code division, time division, frequency division, orthogonal frequency division, single - carrier frequency division, or time - division synchronous code division. These and other multiple - access techniques have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global scales.

[0004] While wireless communication systems have made significant technological advancements over the years, challenges remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or interrupt signals between wireless transmitters and receivers, impairing the various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms used to manage and optimize the use of finite wireless channel resources. Therefore, there is a need for further improvements in wireless communication systems to overcome these various challenges. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] Several embodiments may be implemented in methods for wireless communications performed by user equipment (UEs). The method generally includes receiving a group common BWP configuration from a network entity, which indicates a group common bandwidth part (BWP) shared by a group of UEs, including the UEs. The method generally includes receiving signaling indicating a BWP switch to the group common BWP. The method generally includes switching to the group common BWP based on the signaling.

[0006] Several embodiments may be implemented in alternative methods for wireless communications performed by a UE. The method generally involves receiving from a network entity a configuration under test and a group common RS configuration indicating one or more group common reference signals (RS) shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. The method generally involves monitoring one or more group common RSs based on the configuration under test and the group common RS configuration.

[0007] Several embodiments may be implemented in yet another way for wireless communication performed by a UE. The method generally involves receiving a shared BWP configuration and a group common BWP configuration. A group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types. A shared BWP configuration indicates a shared BWP that is different from a group common BWP. The method generally involves communicating using a group common BWP based on a group common BWP configuration.

[0008] Several embodiments may be implemented in yet another method for wireless communication performed by a UE. The method generally includes receiving a group common RS configuration. The group common RS configuration represents one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. The method generally includes monitoring one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration.

[0009] Several embodiments may be implemented in methods for wireless communication performed by a base station (BS). The method generally includes sending a group common BWP configuration to a UE indicating a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including a UE. The method generally includes sending signaling to a UE indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP. The method generally includes communicating with a UE within a group common BWP.

[0010] Several embodiments may be implemented in alternative methods for wireless communication performed by a BS. The method generally includes sending a group common RS configuration to the UE, which indicates the configuration under measurement and one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. The method generally includes transmitting one or more group common RSs to the UE.

[0011] Several embodiments may be implemented in methods for wireless communication performed by network entities. The methods generally involve outputting shared BWP configurations and group common BWP configurations. A group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types. A shared BWP configuration indicates a shared BWP distinct from a group common BWP. The methods generally involve communicating using a group common BWP based on a group common BWP configuration.

[0012] Several embodiments may be implemented in yet another method for wireless communication performed by network entities. The method generally involves outputting a group common RS configuration. A group common RS configuration represents one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs. The method generally involves outputting one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration.

[0013] Other embodiments provide an apparatus that is operable, configured, or otherwise adapted to perform the methods described above and elsewhere herein; a non-temporary computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the methods described above and elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the methods described above and elsewhere herein; and an apparatus comprising means for performing the methods described above and elsewhere herein. For example, the apparatus may comprise a processing system, a device having a processing system, or processing systems cooperating over one or more networks.

[0014] The following description and attached drawings illustrate some features for illustrative purposes.

[0015] The accompanying drawings illustrate some features of the various embodiments described herein and should not be considered as limitations of the scope of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0016] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary wireless communication network. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating exemplary configurations of a base station and user equipment. [Figure 3A] This figure shows various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks. [Figure 3B] This figure shows various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks. [Figure 3C] This figure shows various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks. [Figure 3D] This figure shows various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks. [Figure 4] This flowchart illustrates an example of wireless communication operation by user equipment. [Figure 5] This flowchart illustrates an example of wireless communication operation by user equipment. [Figure 6] This flowchart illustrates an exemplary operation for wireless communication by a base station. [Figure 7] This flowchart illustrates an exemplary operation for wireless communication by a base station. [Figure 8] This call flow diagram illustrates exemplary operation between a base station and user equipment for communication using a group-wide BWP. [Figure 9] This figure shows an exemplary group common reference signal for a group of user devices with various connection modes and intermittent receiving cycles. [Figure 10] This flowchart illustrates an example of wireless communication operation by user equipment. [Figure 11]A flowchart showing exemplary operations for wireless communication by a user device. [Figure 12] A flowchart showing exemplary operations for wireless communication by a base station. [Figure 13] A flowchart showing exemplary operations for wireless communication by a base station. [Figure 14] A diagram showing an exemplary aspect of a communication device. [Figure 15] A diagram showing an exemplary aspect of a communication device.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for power saving for devices with reduced capabilities (RedCap) in a wireless communication network.

[0018] User devices may have different capabilities. In some cases, a user device may be associated with a device type or device category. Some user devices may be considered devices with reduced capabilities. In some examples, a UE with reduced capabilities in a New Radio (e.g., 5G NR) wireless communication network may have reduced capabilities compared to legacy UEs. In some examples, a UE with reduced capabilities may be deployed in a 5G NR Release 17 (or later) system and may have reduced capabilities compared to UEs operating according to earlier releases, such as 5G NR Release 15 UEs or 5G NR Release 16 UEs (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) UEs).

[0019] Most BS (Broadcasting System) can utilize the wide bandwidth available in 5G NR systems. However, UE (Umpire Engineer) capabilities vary, and some UEs may find it difficult to utilize the wide bandwidth available. BWP (Broadband Wavepack) provides flexibility, allowing multiple signals, including different signal types, to be transmitted within a given bandwidth for better utilization and adaptation of spectrum and UE capabilities.

[0020] A BWP may be a subset of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs). Using BWPs, carriers can be subdivided and used for various purposes. Each BWP has its own numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS)), meaning that each BWP can be configured differently.

[0021] A UE may be configured with multiple BWPs in the uplink and / or downlink. BWP configuration parameters may include numerology, frequency location, bandwidth size, and / or a control resource set (core set). A UE may be configured with an initial BWP portion. For example, the initial BWP may be configured in system information, such as in a System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1), and as a result, the initial BWP may be used during initial access.

[0022] Reduced-capacity UEs may coexist with other UEs in the initial BWP, but these reduced-capacity UEs may cause congestion for other UEs in the initial BWP. To reduce congestion, reduced-capacity UEs may be offloaded to another BWP. Reduced-capacity UEs may be offloaded before, during, or after the establishment of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. However, offloading reduced-capacity UEs incurs signaling overhead.

[0023] Aspects of this disclosure provide techniques for reducing signaling overhead for BWP offloading, resulting in power savings for UEs. As used herein, BWP offloading refers to, for example, offloading one or more UEs from one BWP to another to reduce congestion in the initial BWP. For example, such a technique may involve configuring one or more group-common uplink BWPs and / or one or more group-common downlink BWPs. A group-common BWP may be shared by UEs having the same (or similar) capabilities and / or the same device type. For example, one or more group-common BWPs may be configured for UEs with reduced capabilities. Aspects of this disclosure also provide group-common reference signals. In some examples, group-common reference signals may be used within a group-common BWP.

[0024] Introduction to Wireless Communication Networks Figure 1 shows an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which embodiments described herein may be implemented.

[0025] Generally, the wireless communication network 100 includes base stations (BS) 102, user equipment (UE) 104, and one or more core networks such as an advanced packet core (EPC) 160 and a 5G core (5GC) network 190 that interoperate to provide wireless communication services.

[0026] Base station 102 may provide user equipment 104 with an access point to EPC 160 and / or 5GC 190, and may perform one or more of the following functions, among others: transfer of user data, encryption and decryption of radio channels, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, delivery for non-access layer (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. In various contexts, base stations may include and / or be referred to as gNBs, node Bs, eNBs, ng-eNBs (e.g., eNBs extended to provide connectivity to both EPC 160 and 5GC 190), access points, transceiver base stations, radio base stations, radio transceivers or transceiver functions, or transmit / receive points.

[0027] Base station 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage to its respective geographical coverage area 110, which may overlap in some cases. For example, a small cell 102' (e.g., a low-power base station) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocells (e.g., high-power base stations).

[0028] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also called reverse link) transmissions from the user equipment 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the user equipment 104. In various embodiments, the communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0029] Examples of UE104 include cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, health management devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or other similar devices. Some of the UE104 may be Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, cardiac monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. More generally, a UE104 may also be called a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, or client.

[0030] The wireless communication network 100 includes a group common (GC) BWP / RS component 199, which may configure a GC BWP configuration and / or a GC RS configuration in one or more UEs 104 and communicate using the GC BWP configuration and / or GC RS configuration. The wireless communication network 100 further includes a GC BWP / RS component 198, which may receive a GC BWP configuration and / or a GC RS configuration and communicate with BS 102 using the GC BWP configuration and / or GC RS configuration.

[0031] Figure 2 shows exemplary configurations of a base station 102 and an exemplary user device 104.

[0032] Generally, the base station 102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a-t (collectively, 234), transceivers 232a-t (collectively, 232), the transceivers 232a-t include modulators and demodulators, and other embodiments that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, the base station 102 may send and receive data between itself and user equipment 104.

[0033] The base station 102 includes a controller / processor 240 which can be configured to perform various functions related to wireless communication. In the illustrated example, the controller / processor 240 includes a GC BWP / RS component 241 which may represent the GC BWP / RS component 199 in Figure 1. In particular, although illustrated as one embodiment of the controller / processor 240, the GC BWP / RS component 241 may be implemented in various other embodiments of the base station 102 in other implementation forms, either as an addition or replacement.

[0034] Generally, the user equipment 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), antennas 252a-r (collectively referred to as 252), transceivers 254a-r (collectively referred to as 254), the transceivers 254a-r including modulators and demodulators, and other embodiments enabling wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

[0035] The user device 104 includes a controller / processor 280 which can be configured to perform various functions related to wireless communication. In the illustrated example, the controller / processor 280 includes a GC BWP / RS component 281. In particular, although illustrated as one embodiment of the controller / processor 280, the GC BWP / RS component 281 may be implemented in various other embodiments of the user device 104 in other implementation forms, either as an addition or substitution.

[0036] Figures 3A to 3D illustrate aspects of data structures for wireless communication networks, such as the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1. More specifically, Figure 3A is an example of a first subframe in a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 3B is an example of a DL channel in a 5G subframe, Figure 3C is an example of a second subframe in a 5G frame structure, and Figure 3D is an example of a UL channel in a 5G subframe.

[0037] Further explanations regarding Figures 1, 2, and 3A–3D are provided later in this disclosure.

[0038] Introduction to mmWave Wireless Communication In wireless communications, the electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, or other features. This subdivision is often based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency may also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, frequency channel, tone, or subband.

[0039] In 5G, two initial operating bands are identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes arises with respect to FR2, but FR2 is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) which is identified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the “millimeter wave” ("mmW" or “mmWave") band because the wavelengths at these frequencies are between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves within that band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Quasi-mmWave frequencies can extend down to 3 GHz, where the wavelength is 100 millimeters. The ultra-high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also known as centimeter waves.

[0040] With the above aspects in mind, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6GHz" used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6GHz, within FR1, or include intermediate band frequencies. Furthermore, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include intermediate band frequencies, within FR2, or within the EHF band.

[0041] Communications using the mmWave / quasi-mmWave radio frequency band (e.g., 3 GHz to 300 GHz) may have greater path loss and shorter distances compared to communications at lower frequencies. Therefore, in Figure 1, the mmWave base station 180 (e.g., gNB) may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to improve path loss and distance. To do so, the mmWave base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0042] In some cases, the mmWave base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. The UE 104 may receive a beamformed signal from the mmWave base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182''. The UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions 182''. The base station 180 may receive a beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182'. The base station 180 and the UE 104 may then perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the mmWave base station 180 and the UE 104, respectively. In particular, the transmit and receive directions for the mmWave base station 180 may be the same or different. Similarly, the transmit and receive directions for the UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0043] An Introduction to Devices with Reduced Capabilities Wireless communication standards focus on a variety of technologies. For example, 3GPP® technical standards Release 15 and / or Release 16 may focus on premium smartphones, supporting technologies such as eMBB, ultra-high reliability low latency communication (URLLC), and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Some wireless communication standards (e.g., 3GPP® 5G NR Release 17 and later) focus on efficient and cost-effective scalability and deployment. A new UE type with reduced capability (RedCap) has been introduced. Specifically, a RedCap UE may support relaxed peak throughput (e.g., around 20 MHz), latency, and / or reliability requirements. A RedCap UE may have a compact form factor. A RedCap UE may support all NR frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) bands.

[0044] The design goals of an NR RedCap UE may include scalable resource allocation, coverage expansion for DL ​​and / or UL, power savings in all RRC states, and coexistence with other UEs. For example, a RedCap UE may coexist with non-RedCap UEs such as an NR Premium UE. As used herein, Premium UE may refer to a non-RedCap UE. NR Premium UE may refer to a legacy non-RedCap NR UE.

[0045] NR-RedCap UE may be a smart wearable device, a sensor / camera (e.g., a smart city device), or any device configured for relaxed Internet of Things (IoT) communication.

[0046] Wearables may include devices such as smartwatches, augmented reality (AR) glasses, virtual reality (VR) glasses, eHealth monitoring devices, and medical monitoring devices. Wearables may use data rates of around 5-50 Mbps on the downlink and 2-5 Mbps on the uplink. Wearables may have peak rates of around 150 Mbps on the downlink and 50 Mbps on the uplink. Wearables may have latency and reliability targets similar to those of eMBB devices. Wearables may have a battery life of up to 1-2 weeks.

[0047] IoT devices may include connected industrial devices such as pressure sensors, humidity sensors, motion sensors, thermal sensors, accelerometers, and actuators. Connected industrial devices may use a data rate of approximately 2 Mbps on the uplink. Connected industrial devices may have latency targets of generally less than 100 ms, and approximately 5–10 ms for safety-related sensors. Connected industrial devices may have high reliability targets, such as approximately 99.99%. Connected industrial devices may have a battery life of at least several years.

[0048] Smart city devices may include devices such as video surveillance equipment. Smart city devices may use data rates of approximately 2–4 Mbps for economy devices and approximately 7.5–25 Mbps for high-end devices. Smart city devices may generally have latency targets of less than 500 ms. Smart city devices may have high reliability targets of approximately 99%–99.99%.

[0049] The functionality and / or capabilities of RedCap UE may overlap with the functionality and / or capabilities of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and / or fifth-generation (5G) devices (e.g., premium 5G devices). For example, both RedCap IoT devices and premium 5G devices may support URLLC. Furthermore, both RedCap smart wearables and LTE UE may support Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). Both RedCap sensors / cameras and premium 5G devices may support eMBB.

[0050] Embodiments relating to power saving for devices with reduced capacity In some wireless communication systems, such as the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1, a user device (e.g., UE104) uses one or more shared BWPs, such as a shared DL BWP and a shared UL BWP.

[0051] The initial UL and / or DL ​​BWP may be configured within the system information. For example, a network entity (e.g., BS102) may broadcast the initial DL BWP configuration and / or initial UL BWP configuration within SIB1.

[0052] The user device may use an initial BWP for initial access. Initial access includes executing a random access procedure. The random access procedure may be a four-step random access procedure or a two-step random access procedure. The random access procedure may be used to establish an RRC connection with the BS.

[0053] As explained above, UEs can be of various types and capacities. In some cases, reduced-capacity UEs may coexist with non-RedCap UEs in the initial BWP (e.g., sharing the initial BWP), which can lead to congestion in the initial BWP. To reduce congestion, RedCap UEs can be offloaded to another BWP after RRC connectivity is established. However, offloading RedCap UEs individually to multiple BWPs incurs significant signaling overhead.

[0054] Aspects of this disclosure provide techniques for reducing overhead and saving power. In some examples, one or more group-common BWPs may be used for traffic offloading of a group of UEs, as described in more detail below.

[0055] A group-common BWP configuration may be provided to one or more UEs. The group-common BWP configuration may include a DL BWP, an UL BWP, or both. The group-common BWP configuration may include a representation of a group of UEs that use the group-common BWP configuration. For example, the group-common BWP configuration may be for a UE of a specified UE type, a UE supporting a specified set of UE capabilities, a UE of a specified UE category, and / or for another representation of the group of UEs. The group-common BWP may be configured for UEs having the same capabilities. For example, the group-common BWP may be configured for RedCap UEs. The group-common BWP configuration may indicate BWP configuration parameters such as numerology, frequency location, bandwidth size, and / or core set for the group-common BWP.

[0056] The UE may also be provided with BWP switching information. This BWP switching information may instruct or indicate to the UE when and / or how to switch to the group common BWP.

[0057] As will be described in more detail below, group-common BWP configuration and BWP switching information can be provided via various types of signaling. The group-common BWP configuration may be provided before initial access, during initial access, and / or after RRC connection establishment. The group-common BWP configuration may be requested by the UE. The group-common BWP configuration can be based on signaled UE capabilities, system BW, and / or system capacity. The UE may also be configured using a group-common RS configuration. The group-common RS configuration may constitute one or more RSs within the group-common BWP.

[0058] Exemplary UE Method for Group Common Bandwidth Portion Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 400 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 400 may be performed by a UE (for example, UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 400 may be complementary to operation 600 performed by a network entity. Operation 400 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 400 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 including the GC BWP / RS component 281).

[0059] Operation 400 begins in block 410 by receiving a group common BWP configuration from a network entity that indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. The group common BWP configuration may be shared by the group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs. The group common BWP may be a group common downlink BWP, a group common uplink BWP, or both.

[0060] Receiving the group common BWP configuration in block 410 may include receiving system information indicating the group common BWP configuration. In some examples, the UE receives broadcast SIB1 or other system information (OSI) indicating the group common BWP configuration. SIB1 and OSI may be broadcast periodically.

[0061] Operation 400 may include sending a message requesting an on-demand SIB. Receiving a group common BWP configuration in block 410 may include receiving a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common BWP configuration in response to the request. The message requesting an on-demand SIB may be an initial access message. The message requesting an on-demand SIB may be an uplink signal. For example, the message requesting an on-demand SIB may be a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or a sounding reference signal (SRS). The on-demand SIB may be received during or after the initial access.

[0062] Operation 400 may include sending an initial access message or uplink signal indicating one or more capabilities of the UE, or the UE type. Receiving a group common BWP in block 410 may be based on one or more indicated capabilities of the UE.

[0063] Receiving a group-common BWP configuration in block 410 may include receiving a group-common BWP configuration within a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message.

[0064] Optionally, in block 420, the UE receives a signaling indicating a BWP switch to the group common BWP.

[0065] Receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in block 420 may include receiving a BWP signaling during the initial access procedure. Receiving a BWP switching indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in 420 may include receiving a BWP switching signaling within the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that schedules PDSCH random access messages. The indication of a BWP switch may be in the downlink control information (DCI) reserved bits, one or more unused fields in the DCI, one or more new fields in the DCI, the PDCCH DMRS pattern, the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of the PDCCH payload, the PDCCH scramble identifier, the PDCCH dedicated core set, or one or more search space sets of the PDCCH. Receiving a BWP switching indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in block 420 may include receiving a BWP switching signaling within a PDSCH random access message.

[0066] Receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in block 420 may include receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch in a message after the RRC connection setup is complete. Receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in block 420 may include receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch in a PDCCH within a user-specific search space (USS) or a common search space (CSS). Receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch to a group-common BWP in block 420 may include receiving a signaling indication of a BWP switch in a multicast PDSCH or a unicast PDSCH.

[0067] In block 430, the UE switches to the group common BWP based on the signaling received in block 420. In this example, the UE switches to the group common BWP based on the received PDCCH, MAC CE, timer, or RRC message.

[0068] Operation 400 may include performing an initial access to the BS using the initial BWP in order to establish an RRC connection with the BS. Switching to the group common BWP in block 430 may include switching from the initial BWP to the group common BWP after the RRC connection with the BS has been established.

[0069] Operation 400 may include receiving a group common RS configuration for one or more RS types transmitted within a group common BWP. Operation 400 may include receiving the object under measurement. Operation 400 may include monitoring one or more RSs within a group common BWP based on the group common RS configuration. Operation 600 may include receiving filtering parameters and synthesis procedures configured for one or more RS types used for time, phase, automatic gain control (AGC), and frequency tracking loop, radio resource management (RRM) measurements, radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, or a combination thereof, of the UE's transmitter and receiver. Operation 400 may include measuring, filtering, and synthesizing one or more RS types based on the signaled parameters and synthesis procedures. Operation 600 may include applying the filtered one or more RSs to the time, phase, AGC, and frequency tracking loop. Operation 400 may include generating an RRM measurement report or an RLM measurement report. An RRM or RLM measurement report may be based on one or more group-common RS measurements within a group-common BWP. Operation 400 may include sending the RRM or RLM measurement report to a network entity.

[0070] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 500 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 500 may be performed by a UE (for example, UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 500 may be complementary to operation 700 performed by a network entity. Operation 500 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 500 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 including the GC BWP / RS component 281).

[0071] Operation 500 begins in block 510 with receiving a shared BWP configuration and a group common BWP configuration. The shared BWP configuration may be an initial UL BWP, an initial DL BWP, or both an initial UL BWP and an initial DL BWP. The group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs that have one or more common capabilities or common UE types. For example, the group common BWP configuration may be for RedCap UEs. The shared BWP and the group common BWP are different BWPs.

[0072] The shared BWP configuration and the group common BWP configuration may be received within system information, such as in SIB1. The system information may be received within the PDSCH. The system information may be received within a first BWP, distinct from the shared BWP and the group common BWP. The random access PDSCH may be scheduled by the PDCCH. The PDCCH may be received within core set 0.

[0073] In some cases, operation 500 includes switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP in block 520. In some, but not all, cases, the UE switches from the first BWP to the group common BWP in block 520 before communicating using the group common BWP based on the group common BWP configuration.

[0074] Operation 500 includes communicating in block 530 using a group-common BWP based on a group-common BWP configuration.

[0075] Exemplary Network Method for Group Common Bandwidth Portion Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation 600 for wireless communication. Operation 600 may be performed by a network entity (for example, BS102 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 600 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 600 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 234 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the network entity may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 including the GC BWP / RS component 241).

[0076] Operation 600 begins in block 610 by outputting a group BWP configuration that shows a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including the UE.

[0077] Optionally, in block 620, the network entity outputs a signaling signal indicating a BWP switch to the group common BWP.

[0078] In block 630, the network entity communicates with the UE within the group-common BWP.

[0079] The network entity may perform the corresponding action in response to action 400 by the UE.

[0080] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation 700 for wireless communication. Operation 700 may be performed by a network entity (for example, BS102 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 700 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 700 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 234 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the network entity may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 including the GC BWP / RS component 241).

[0081] Operation 700 begins in block 710 by outputting a shared BWP configuration and a group common BWP configuration. The shared BWP configuration may be the initial UL BWP, the initial DL BWP, or both the initial UL BWP and the initial DL BWP. The group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types. For example, the group common BWP configuration may be for RedCap UEs. The shared BWP and the group common BWP are different BWPs.

[0082] The shared BWP configuration and the group common BWP configuration may be output for transmission within system information, such as within SIB1. The system information may be output for transmission within the PDSCH. The system information may be output for transmission within a first BWP, distinct from the shared BWP and the group common BWP. The random access PDSCH may be scheduled by the PDCCH. The PDCCH may be received within core set 0.

[0083] Operation 700 may include switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP in block 720. In some, but not all, cases, network entities switch from the first BWP to the group common BWP in block 720 before communicating using the group common BWP based on the group common BWP configuration.

[0084] Operation 700 includes communicating in block 730 using a group-common BWP based on a group-common BWP configuration.

[0085] An exemplary call flow demonstrating operation for the group's common bandwidth portion. Figure 8 is a call flow diagram illustrating an exemplary operation 800 between network entity 804 and UE802. In some cases, network entity 804 may be an example of BS102 in the wireless communication network 100 shown in Figure 1. Similarly, UE802 may be an example of UE104 shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, as shown, a Uu interface may be established to facilitate communication between network entity 804 and UE802, but in other embodiments, different types of interfaces may be used.

[0086] As shown in the figure, operation 800 in Figure 8 begins with receiving SIB1 at 810. SIB1 is broadcast from network entity 804 to UE802. In some examples, a group common BWP configuration is provided in SIB1. SIB1 may also provide a group common RS configuration to the UE, either as an addition or alternative. SIB1 may also provide an initial BWP configuration to the UE.

[0087] After receiving SIB1, UE802 and network entity 804 perform initial access. For initial access, a four-step random access procedure or a two-step random access procedure may be executed.

[0088] In the 4-step random access procedure, a first message (MSG1) may be sent from UE802 to network entity 804 on PRACH. MSG1 may contain only the RACH preamble. Network entity 804 may respond with a Random Access Response (RAR) message (MSG2), which may contain the identifier (ID), timing advance (TA), uplink permission, cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and backoff indicator of the RACH preamble. MSG2 may contain PDCCH communication containing control information for subsequent communication on PDSCH, as illustrated. In response to MSG2, MSG3 is sent from UE802 to network entity 804 on PUSCH. MSG3 may contain one or more of the following: RRC connection request, tracking area update request, system information request, positioning fix or positioning signal request, or scheduling request. Network entity 804 then responds with MSG4, which may contain a conflict resolution message.

[0089] In a two-step RACH procedure, the four messages of a four-step RACH procedure are effectively folded into two messages. The first message (msgA) may be sent from UE802 to network entity 804. msgA contains some or all of the information from MSG1 and MSG3 from the four-step RACH procedure and effectively combines MSG1 and MSG3. For example, msgA may contain MSG1 and MSG3 multiplexed together, for example, using either time-division multiplexing or frequency-division multiplexing. msgA includes a RACH preamble for random access and a payload. The msgA payload may include, for example, a UE-ID and other signaling information (e.g., a buffer status report (BSR)) or a scheduling request (SR). Network entity 804 may respond with a RAR message (msgB), which can effectively combine MSG2 and MSG4 as described above. For example, msgB may include the ID, TA, backoff indicator, conflict resolution message, UL / DL permission, and transmit power control (TPC) command from the RACH preamble.

[0090] UE802 can provide a display of its capabilities during initial access. In 820, UE802 can provide its UE capabilities to network entity 804 in a msg1, msg3, or msgA transmission. In some examples, network entity 804 sends a group common BWP configuration based on the displayed UE capabilities. In 820, UE802 can provide a request for an on-demand SIB. UE802 can provide a request for a group common BWP configuration and / or a group common RS configuration.

[0091] At 830, UE802 may receive further SIBs, which may be on-demand SIBs. Further SIBs may be sent by network entity 804, depending on UE capability and / or in response to a request from the UE. Further SIBs may include a group common BWP configuration at 830. Further SIBs may include a group common RS configuration at 830, as an addition or alternative.

[0092] In 840, UE802 may receive a PDCCH from network entity 804 that schedules msg4 (for example, in a 4-step random access procedure) or MsgB (for example, in a 2-step random access procedure success RAR). In 840, the PDCCH may contain BWP switching information. The BWP switching information may be carried in reserved DCI bits (for example, in DCI format 1_0), unused DCI fields, or new DCI fields. Signaling for BWP switching may be in a DCI mapped to the PDCCH, in a MAC CE mapped to the PDSCH, in a timer configuration mapped to the PDSCH, or in an RRC message mapped to the PDSCH.

[0093] At 850, UE802 may receive a scheduled msg4 (for example, in a 4-step random access procedure) or a scheduled MsgB (for example, in a success RAR in a 2-step random access procedure). At 840, msg4 or MsgB may include a group common BWP configuration. At 840, msg4 or MsgB may also include BWP switching information, either additionally or alternatively. The group common BWP configuration and / or BWP switching information may be carried in a MAC CE or MAC subheader mapped to the PDSCH carrying the msg4 or msgB success RAR.

[0094] At 860, UE802 performs RRC connection setup to establish an RRC connection with network entity 804 and complete initial access. After establishing the RRC connection, at 870, UE802 may receive further PDCCH and / or PDSCH from network entity 804. PDCCH and / or PDSCH received after the initial access procedure may contain BWP switching information. PDCCH and / or PDSCH may contain RRC reconfiguration information. PDCCH may be transmitted within USS or CSS. PDSCH may be unicast or multicast. PDSCH may carry MAC-CE, timers, and / or RRC reconfiguration information for BWP switching.

[0095] The group-common BWP configuration, group-common RS configuration, and / or BWP switching information may be provided via any of the signaling described above or any combination of the signaling described above.

[0096] UE802 may offload to the group-common BWP based on the group-common BWP configuration and BWP switching information. UE802 may monitor and measure the group-common RS based on the group-common RS configuration.

[0097] Additional considerations for power saving for devices with reduced capacity The group common BWP may be an unlimited BWP. An unlimited BWP may not have any synchronous signal block (SSB) transmissions and / or may not have a configured core set 0 within it. A group common reference signal (RS) may be configured for RRM and / or RLM measurements, and for time tracking, phase tracking, AGC tracking, and / or frequency loop tracking, to reduce or avoid measurement gaps. The group common RS may be added to one or more measures to perform RRM and / or RLM within a serving cell.

[0098] While some examples described herein relate to group-common RS transmitted and received within group-common BWPs, group-common RS may also be transmitted and received within other types of BWPs.

[0099] The group-common RS may be one or more of the following: group-common channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), group-common tracking reference signal (TRS), group-common positioning reference signal (PRS), group-common secondary synchronization signal (SSS), group-common resynchronization signal, and / or group-common sequence-based wake-up signal (WUS).

[0100] The group-wide RS configuration may include configurations for transmission schedules and resource set allocations for the group-wide RS.

[0101] A group-common RS configuration may be configured as part of a group-common BWP configuration, or it may be configured separately from the group-common BWP configuration. UEs may also be configured using a measurement target configuration. A measurement target configuration may include one or more RS types to be measured. A measurement target configuration may be shared by a group of UEs operating within a group-common BWP. For example, an RRM measurement target in a serving cell may include TRS, CSI-RS, PRS, and SSB. A UE configured using a measurement target configuration may measure one or more RSs included in the measurement target configuration, filter the RS measurements, and / or synthesize the RS measurements to generate reports for RRM and / or RLM.

[0102] Group common RS may be multicast and / or broadcast. Group common RS may be sent periodically, aperiodically, or both. Aperiodic transmission of group common RS may be triggered by DCI or MAC CE.

[0103] Group common RS, or some types of group common RS, can be transmitted using power boosting and added to the measurement target.

[0104] Filtering coefficients, weighting coefficients, and / or other parameters may be configured as part of a group-common RS configuration. A synthesis procedure may also be configured as part of a group-common RS configuration. The UE can apply the configured filtering coefficients, weighting coefficients, parameters, and / or synthesis procedures to one or more group-common RSs. Filtering coefficients, weighting coefficients, synthesis procedures, parameters, and / or RS types can be specified by one or more lookup tables (LUTs), signaled by a network, or left to the UE implementation.

[0105] The group-wide RS resource set may be configured together with the UE's Intermittent Receiving (CDRX) mode cycle. CDRX is an energy-saving mode. CDRX can be configured as a short DRX configuration and a long DRX configuration, resulting in ON and OFF durations, where the UE monitors for transmission during the ON duration and enters low-power mode during the OFF duration.

[0106] Different UEs, or groups of UEs, may be configured with different CDRX cycles. Therefore, a group common RS may be configured such that it can be used as a WUS to wake up one or more UEs or groups of UEs, and / or used by one or more other UEs or groups of UEs for measurement. The group common RS may be configured so that all UEs can receive it for wake-up, tracking, RRM measurement, RLM measurement, and / or other purposes.

[0107] As shown in Figure 9, the UEs of the first group (Group A UEs) may be configured using a first CDRX cycle configuration that defines the CDRX cycle. As shown in the figure, for the UEs in Group A, the first CDRX cycle 902 for Group A defines ON duration 906 and OFF duration 908, and the second CDRX cycle 904 for Group A defines ON duration 910 and OFF duration 912. As shown in the figure, for the UEs in Group B, the first CDRX cycle 914 for Group B defines ON duration 918 and OFF duration 920, and the second CDRX cycle 916 for Group B defines ON duration 922 and OFF duration 924.

[0108] A group-common RS can be configured for multiple uses. For example, GC RS1 and GC RS2 can be used as WUS for and for time loop tracking, frequency loop tracking, AGC tracking, and / or phase tracking for group A UEs. GC RS1 and GC RS2 can be transmitted before the CDRX ON durations 906 and 910 of group A UEs. GC RS3 and GC RS4 can be used as WUS for and for group B UEs for time tracking, AGC tracking, phase tracking, and / or frequency loop tracking. GC RS3 and GC RS4 can also be used by group A UEs and / or group B UEs for RRM and / or RLM measurements. Thus, a group-common RS may be configured to coordinate with the CDRX cycle of UEs to provide different uses for RS to different UEs and groups of UEs.

[0109] Exemplary UE Method for Group Common Reference Signal Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation 1000 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 1000 may be performed by a UE (for example, UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 1000 may be complementary to operation 1200 performed by a network entity. Operation 1000 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 1000 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be performed via a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 including the GC BWP / RS component 281) acquiring and / or outputting signals.

[0110] Operation 1000 begins in block 1010 with receiving a group common RS configuration from a network entity, which indicates the configuration under measurement and one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. The group common RS configuration may be shared by a group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs. One or more group common RSs may include a group common CSI-RS, a group common TRS, a group common PRS, a group common SSS, a group common resynchronization signal, and / or a group common sequence-based WUS.

[0111] One or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs may be configured together using a CDRX configuration for the UE. One or more of the one or more group-common RSs may be configured with power boosting. One or more of the one or more group-common RSs may be configured with filter coefficients, weighting coefficients, or both.

[0112] Receiving the group common RS configuration in block 1010 may include receiving system information indicating the group common RS configuration. Receiving the group common RS configuration in block 1010 may also include receiving a broadcast SIB1 indicating the group common RS configuration.

[0113] Operation 1000 may include sending a message requesting an on-demand SIB. Receiving the group common RS configuration in block 1010 may include receiving a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common RS configuration in response to the request. The message requesting the on-demand SIB may be an initial access message. The on-demand SIB is received during the initial access.

[0114] Operation 1000 may include sending an initial access message indicating one or more capabilities of the UE. Receiving a group common RS in block 1010 may be based on one or more indicated capabilities of the UE.

[0115] In block 1020, the UE monitors one or more group common RSs based on the configuration under measurement and the group common RS configuration. Operation 1000 may include waking up during the DRX OFF period based on receiving one of the one or more group common RSs. Monitoring one or more group common RSs may depend on whether the UE has the capability to monitor one or more group common RSs and the frequency locations of one or more group common RSs. Monitoring one or more group common RSs may depend on whether the RSs are configured for in-frequency measurements or for inter-frequency measurements.

[0116] One or more group common RSs may be broadcast or multicast. One or more group common RSs may be received periodically. One or more group common RSs may be received aperiodically.

[0117] Operation 1000 may include performing RRM measurement, RLM measurement, or both RRM and RLM measurement on one or more group common RSs.

[0118] Operation 1000 may include receiving a group common BWP configuration that indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including the UE. Monitoring one or more group common RSs in block 1020 may include monitoring one or more group common RSs within a group common BWP. A group common RS configuration may be configured when a group common BWP has a group common downlink BWP that does not include SSB transmissions or core set 0 transmissions.

[0119] A transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, a configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, may be signaled together with the group-common BWP configuration. A transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, a configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, may be signaled separately from the group-common BWP configuration.

[0120] Operation 1000 may include performing time tracking, phase tracking, AGC tracking, frequency tracking, or a combination thereof based on one or more group common RSs.

[0121] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation 1100 for wireless communication according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. Operation 1100 may be performed by a UE (for example, UE 104 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 1100 may be complementary to operation 1300 performed by a network entity. Operation 1100 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operation 1100 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 252 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be performed via a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 280 including the GC BWP / RS component 281) acquiring and / or outputting signals.

[0122] Operation 1100 begins in block 1110 with receiving a group common RS configuration. The group common RS configuration represents one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, including the UE.

[0123] In block 1120, the UE monitors one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration. The UE may monitor one or more group common RSs within the group common BWP. One or more group common RSs may be one or more group common TRSs, one or more group common PRSs, one or more group common synchronization signals, one or more group common CSI-RRs, one or more group common RSSs, one or more group common sequence-based WUSs, or a combination thereof.

[0124] Exemplary Network Method for Group Common Reference Signals Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation 1200 for wireless communication. Operation 1200 may be performed by a network entity (for example, BS102 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 1200 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 1200 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 234 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the network entity may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 including the GC BWP / RS component 241).

[0125] Operation 1200 begins in 1210 by outputting a group common RS configuration that shows the configuration under measurement and one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, including the UE.

[0126] In block 1220, the network entity outputs one or more group-common RSs.

[0127] BS can perform an action complementary to action 1000 performed by UE.

[0128] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation 1300 for wireless communication. Operation 1300 may be performed by a network entity (for example, BS102 in the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1). Operation 1300 may be implemented as a software component that runs and is operated on one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 in Figure 2). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in operation 1300 may be enabled by one or more antennas (for example, the antenna 234 in Figure 2). In some embodiments, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the network entity may be performed via the acquisition and / or output of signals by a bus interface of one or more processors (for example, the controller / processor 240 including the GC BWP / RS component 241).

[0129] Operation 1300 begins in 1310 by outputting the group common RS configuration. The group common RS configuration indicates one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs.

[0130] In block 1320, a network entity outputs one or more group common RSs based on a group common RS configuration. The network entity may output one or more group common RSs for transmission within a group common BWP. One or more group common RSs may be one or more group common TRSs, one or more group common PRSs, one or more group common synchronization signals, one or more group common CSI-RRs, one or more group common RSSs, one or more group common sequence-based WUSs, or a combination thereof.

[0131] Exemplary wireless communication device Figure 14 shows an exemplary communication device 1400, which includes various components that are operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as operations illustrated and described with respect to Figures 4, 5, 10, and 11. In some examples, the communication device 1400 may be, for example, a user device 104, as described with respect to Figures 1 and 2.

[0132] The communication device 1400 includes a processing system 1402 coupled to a transceiver 1408 (e.g., a transmitter and / or receiver). The transceiver 1408 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1400 via an antenna 1412, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 1402 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1400, including processing signals that are received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1400.

[0133] The processing system 1402 includes one or more processors 1420 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1430 via a bus 1406. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 1430 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1420, cause one or more processors 1420 to perform operations such as those shown in Figures 4, 5, 10, and 11 for communicating using a group common BWP and / or a group common RS, or other operations for performing various techniques described herein.

[0134] In the illustrated example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1430 stores the codes 1431 for receiving, 1432 for switching, 1433 for transmitting, 1434 for monitoring, and / or 1435 for communicating.

[0135] In the illustrated example, one or more processors 1420 include circuit configurations configured to execute code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1430, including a circuit configuration 1421 for receiving, a circuit configuration 1422 for switching, a circuit configuration 1423 for transmitting, a circuit configuration 1424 for monitoring, and / or a circuit configuration 1425 for communicating.

[0136] Various components of the communication device 1400 may provide means for carrying out the methods described herein, including those relating to Figures 4, 5, 10, and 11.

[0137] In some examples, means for communicating, transmitting, or sending (or means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1408 and antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400 in Figure 14.

[0138] In some examples, means for communicating, receiving (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1408 and antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400 in Figure 14.

[0139] In some examples, the means for switching (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 254, antenna 252, and / or controller / processor 280 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1408, antenna 1410, and / or processor 1420 of the communication device 1400 in Figure 14.

[0140] In some examples, the means for monitoring (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 254, antenna 252, and / or controller / processor 280 of the user device 104 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1408, antenna 1410, and / or processor 1420 of the communication device 1400 in Figure 14.

[0141] In particular, Figure 14 is just one example, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1400 are possible.

[0142] Figure 15 shows an exemplary communication device 1500, which includes various components that are operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as operations illustrated and described with respect to Figures 6, 7, 12, and 13. In some examples, the communication device 1500 may be, for example, a base station 102 as described with respect to Figures 1 and 2.

[0143] The communication device 1500 includes a processing system 1502 coupled to a transceiver 1508 (for example, a transmitter and / or receiver). The transceiver 1508 is configured to transmit (or send) and receive signals for the communication device 1500 via an antenna 1510, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 1502 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1500, including processing signals that are received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1500.

[0144] The processing system 1502 includes one or more processors 1520 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1530 via a bus 1506. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium / memory 1530 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1520, cause one or more processors 1520 to perform operations such as those shown in Figures 6, 7, 12, and 13 for power saving for a device of reduced capability, or other operations for performing various techniques described herein.

[0145] In the illustrated example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1530 stores a code 1531 for output, a code 1532 for transmission, a code 1533 for communication, and a code 1534 for reception.

[0146] In the illustrated example, one or more processors 1520 include circuit configurations configured to execute code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1530, including a circuit configuration 1521 for output, a circuit configuration 1522 for transmission, a circuit configuration 1523 for communication, and a circuit configuration 1524 for reception.

[0147] Various components of the communication device 1500 may provide means for carrying out the methods described herein, including those relating to Figures 6, 7, 12, and 13.

[0148] In some examples, the means for transmitting or sending (or for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station 102 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1508 and antenna 1510 of the communication device 1500 in Figure 15.

[0149] In some examples, the means for communication may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station 102 shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1508 and antenna 1510 of the communication device 1500 in Figure 15.

[0150] In some examples, the means for receiving (or acquiring) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station shown in Figure 2, and / or the transceiver 1508 and antenna 1510 of the communication device 1500 in Figure 15.

[0151] In particular, Figure 15 is just one example, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1500 are possible.

[0152] Exemplary clause Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0153] Clause 1. A method for wireless communication by a user device (UE), comprising: receiving a group common BWP configuration from a network entity indicating a group common bandwidth portion (BWP) shared by a group of UEs including the UE; receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to the group common BWP; and switching to the group common BWP based on the signaling.

[0154] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein the group common BWP configuration is shared by a group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs.

[0155] Clause 3. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 2 comprises receiving system information indicating the group common BWP configuration.

[0156] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3, wherein receiving a group common BWP configuration comprises receiving at least broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) or other system information (OSI) indicating configuration and switching procedures for one or more group common BWPs.

[0157] Clause 5. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods in Clauses 3-4, further comprising sending a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), comprises receiving a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common BWP configuration in response to the request.

[0158] Clause 6. The method of Clause 5, wherein a message requesting an on-demand SIB is mapped to an uplink signal, including a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), and the on-demand SIB is received during or after the initial access.

[0159] Clause 7. Receiving a group common BWP, in any manner from Clauses 1 to 6, further comprising transmitting an initial access message or uplink signal indicating one or more capabilities or UE types of the UE, is based on the indicated capabilities or UE type indication of the UE.

[0160] Clause 8. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 7 comprises receiving the group common BWP configuration in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying Random Access Response (RAR) messages.

[0161] Clause 9. Receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP by any of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 8 comprises receiving a downlink control information (DCI), media access control element (MAC CE), timer configuration, or radio resource control (RRC) message for a BWP switch during or after the initial access procedure.

[0162] Clause 10. The method of Clause 9, which involves receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP, comprises receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch in a DCI mapped to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access messages.

[0163] Clause 11. The indication of BWP switching is in any of the methods of Clauses 9-10, and is located in the reserved bits of the Downlink Control Information (DCI), one or more unused fields in the DCI, one or more new fields in the DCI, the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) pattern of the PDCCH, the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) bits of the PDCCH payload, the Scramble Identifier of the PDCCH, the Dedicated Core Set of the PDCCH, or one or more Search Space Sets of the PDCCH.

[0164] Clause 12. Receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP by any of the methods described in Clauses 9-10 comprises receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message, a MAC CE mapped to a PDSCH, a timer configuration mapped to a PDSCH, or an RRC message mapped to a PDSCH.

[0165] Clause 13. Receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP by any of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 12 comprises receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch in a message following completion of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection setup.

[0166] Clause 14. The method of Clause 13, which involves receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP, comprises receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch within a UE-specific search space (USS) or a common search space (CSS) physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0167] Clause 15. Receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP by any of the methods described in Clauses 13-14 comprises receiving a signaling indicating a BWP switch within a multicast or unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0168] Clause 16. A method of any of Clauses 1 to 15, comprising receiving a group common RS configuration and a measured configuration for one or more RS types transmitted within a group common BWP, wherein one or more measured objects in the measured configuration include one or more multiple RS types, the measured configuration is shared by a group of UEs, and monitoring one or more RSs within the group common BWP based on the group common RS configuration and the measured configuration.

[0169] Clause 17. The method of Clause 16, further comprising at least receiving filtering parameters and synthesis procedures configured for one or more RS types used for time, phase, automatic gain control (AGC), and frequency tracking loop, radio resource management (RRM) measurements, radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, or a combination thereof, of a UE's transmitter and receiver; measuring, filtering, and synthesizing one or more RS types based on the signaled parameters and synthesis procedures; applying the filtered one or more RSs to the time, phase, AGC, and frequency tracking loop; generating an RRM measurement report or an RLM measurement report; and transmitting the RRM measurement report or RLM measurement report to a network entity.

[0170] Clause 18. Monitoring one or more group common RSs by any of the methods in Clauses 16-17 depends on whether the UE has the capability to monitor one or more group common RSs and the frequency locations of one or more group common RSs.

[0171] Clause 19. Monitoring one or more group common RSs by any method of Clauses 16-18 is based on whether the RS is configured for in-frequency measurements or for inter-frequency measurements.

[0172] Clause 20. Any method of Clauses 1 to 19, further comprising performing initial access with a base station (BS) using an initial BWP to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the BS, and switching to a group common BWP, comprising switching from the initial BWP to the group common BWP after establishing an RRC connection with the BS.

[0173] Clause 21. In any of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 20, the group common BWP comprises a group common downlink BWP, a group common uplink BWP, or both.

[0174] Clause 22. A method for wireless communication by a user device (UE), comprising receiving from a network entity a group common RS configuration indicating a configuration under test and one or more group common reference signals (RS) shared by a group of UEs including the UE, and monitoring one or more group common RS based on the configuration under test and the group common RS configuration.

[0175] Clause 23. The method of Clause 22, wherein the group common RS configuration, the configuration under measurement, or both, is shared by the group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs.

[0176] Clause 24. Receiving a group common RS configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 22-23 comprises receiving system information, downlink control information (DCI), media access control element (MAC CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a group common RS configuration, and the group common RS transmission may be periodic or aperiodic.

[0177] Clause 25. In any of the methods described in Clauses 22 to 24, one or more group common RSs include a group common channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), a group common tracking reference signal (TRS), a group common positioning reference signal (PRS), a group common secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a group common resynchronization signal (RSS), a group common sequence-based wake-up signal (WUS), or a combination thereof.

[0178] Clause 26. A method of any of Clauses 22-25, further comprising performing time tracking, phase tracking, frequency tracking, automatic gain control (AGC) tracking, or a combination thereof, based on one or more group common RSs.

[0179] Clause 27. Further comprising waking up during the DRX-ON duration of the DRX based on any of the methods of Clauses 22-26, which involves receiving one or more group common RSs that are configured together with the intermittent receive cycle (DRX).

[0180] Clause 28. Any method of Clauses 22-27 further comprises performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements, radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, or both, on one or more group common RSs during the DRX-ON duration of one or more intermittent receive (DRX) cycles.

[0181] Clause 29. One or more group common RSs are broadcast or multicast by any method of Clauses 22-28.

[0182] Clause 30. One or more group common RSs are received periodically by any of the methods described in Clauses 22-29.

[0183] Clause 31. One or more group common RSs are received aperiodically by any of the methods described in Clauses 22-30.

[0184] Clause 32. One or more resource sets for one or more group common RSs are configured together using a connected intermittent receive (CDRX) configuration to the UE, in any of the methods described in Clauses 22 to 31.

[0185] Clause 33. One or more of the group common RS components, in any of the methods described in Clauses 22 to 32, are configured together with power boosting.

[0186] Clause 34. One or more of the group common RSs, in any of the methods of Clauses 22 to 33, are configured with a filter coefficient, a weighting coefficient, or both.

[0187] Clause 35. Receiving a group common RS configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 22 to 34 comprises receiving a broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) indicating a group common RS configuration.

[0188] Clause 36. Receiving a group common RS configuration by any method of Clauses 22-35, further comprising sending a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), comprises receiving a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common RS configuration in response to the request.

[0189] Clause 37. The method of Clause 36, wherein a message requesting an on-demand SIB is mapped to an uplink signal, including a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), and the on-demand SIB is received during or after the initial access.

[0190] Clause 38. Receiving a group common RS by any method of Clauses 22-37, further comprising transmitting an initial access message or uplink signal indicating one or more capabilities of the UE or UE type, is based on one or more capabilities indicated of the UE.

[0191] Clause 39. Any method of Clauses 22 to 38, further comprising receiving a group common BWP configuration indicating a group common bandwidth portion (BWP) shared by a group of UEs including a UE, and monitoring one or more group common RSs, comprises monitoring one or more group common RSs within a group common BWP.

[0192] Clause 40. The method of Clause 39, wherein the group common RS configuration is configured when the group common BWP includes a group common downlink BWP that does not include synchronous signal block (SSB) transmission or control resource set 0 (core set 0) transmission.

[0193] Clause 41. Any method of Clauses 39-40, such as a transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, shall be signaled together with the group-common BWP configuration.

[0194] Clause 42. Any method described in Clauses 39-41, which signals a transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, the configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, separately from the group-common BWP configuration.

[0195] Clause 43. A method for wireless communication by a base station (BS), comprising sending a group common BWP configuration to a UE indicating a group common bandwidth portion (BWP) shared by a group of UEs including user equipment (UEs); sending a signaling to a UE indicating a BWP switch to the group common BWP; and communicating with a UE within the group common BWP.

[0196] Clause 44. The method of Clause 43, wherein the group common BWP configuration is shared by a group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs.

[0197] Clause 45. Sending a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods specified in Clauses 43 to 44 comprises sending system information indicating the group common BWP configuration.

[0198] Clause 46. The method of Clause 45, which involves sending a group common BWP configuration, comprises sending at least broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) or other system information (OSI) that indicates configuration and switching procedures for one or more group common BWPs.

[0199] Clause 47. Sending a group common BWP configuration by any method of Clauses 45-46, further comprising receiving a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), comprises sending a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common BWP configuration in response to the request.

[0200] Clause 48. The method of Clause 47, in which a message requesting an on-demand SIB is mapped to an uplink signal, including a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), and the on-demand SIB is sent during or after the initial access.

[0201] Clause 49. Sending a group common BWP by any method of Clauses 43-48, further comprising receiving an initial access message or uplink signal indicating one or more capabilities of the UE or UE type, is based on one or more capabilities indicated of the UE.

[0202] Clause 50. Sending a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 43-49 comprises sending a group common BWP configuration in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message.

[0203] Clause 51. Sending a signal indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP using any of the methods described in Clauses 43 to 50 comprises sending a signal indicating a BWP during the initial access procedure.

[0204] Clause 52. The method of Clause 51, which involves sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP, comprises sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch within a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access messages.

[0205] Clause 53. The indication of BWP switching by any of the methods in Clauses 51-52 is located in the reserved bits of the Downlink Control Information (DCI), one or more unused fields in the DCI, one or more new fields in the DCI, the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) pattern of the PDCCH, the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) bits of the PDCCH payload, the Scramble Identifier of the PDCCH, the Dedicated Control Resource Set (Core Set) of the PDCCH, or one or more Search Space Sets of the PDCCH.

[0206] Clause 54. Sending a signaling indication of BWP switching to a group common BWP using any of the methods in Clauses 43 to 53 comprises sending a signaling indication of BWP switching in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message.

[0207] Clause 55. Sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP using any of the methods in Clauses 43 to 54 comprises sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch in a message following completion of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection setup.

[0208] Clause 56. The method of Clause 55, which involves sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch to a group common BWP, comprises sending a signaling indicating a BWP switch within a user-specific search space (USS) or a common search space (CSS) physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0209] Clause 57. Sending a signaling indication of a BWP switch to a group common BWP using any of the methods described in Clauses 55-56 comprises sending a signaling indication of a BWP switch within a multicast or unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0210] Clause 58. A method of any of Clauses 43 to 57, further comprising sending a group-common RS configuration for one or more RS types transmitted within a group-common BWP, and sending one or more RSs within a group-common BWP based on the group-common RS configuration.

[0211] Clause 59. The method of Clause 58, further comprising sending filtered parameters and synthesis procedures configured for one or more RS types used for time, phase, automatic gain control (AGC), and frequency tracking loop, radio resource management (RRM) measurements, radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, or combinations thereof, to the UE's transmitter and receiver, and receiving an RRM measurement report or an RLM measurement report from the UE.

[0212] Clause 60. Any method of Clauses 43-59, further comprising performing initial access to a user equipment (UE) using an initial BWP to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the UE, and communicating with the UE using a group common BWP, further comprising communicating with the UE using a group common BWP after an RRC connection with the UE has been established.

[0213] Clause 61. In any of the methods described in Clauses 43 to 60, the group common BWP comprises a group common downlink BWP, a group common uplink BWP, or both.

[0214] Clause 62. A method for wireless communication by a base station (BS) comprising sending a group common RS configuration to a UE, which indicates a configuration under test and one or more group common reference signals (RS) shared by a group of UEs, including a user device (UE); and transmitting one or more group common RSs to a UE.

[0215] Clause 63. The method of Clause 62, wherein the measured configuration, the group common RS configuration, or both are shared by a group of UEs based on one or more common capabilities or types of UEs.

[0216] Clause 64. Sending a group common RS configuration by any of the methods specified in Clauses 62 to 63 comprises sending system information indicating the group common RS configuration.

[0217] Clause 65. Any method of Clauses 62 to 64, wherein one or more group common RSs include a group common channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), a group common tracking reference signal (TRS), a group common positioning reference signal (PRS), a group common secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a group common resynchronization signal, a group common sequence-based wake-up signal (WUS), or a combination thereof.

[0218] Clause 66. One or more group common RSs are broadcast or multicast by any of the methods described in Clauses 62 to 65.

[0219] Clause 67. One or more group common RSs are sent periodically by any of the methods described in Clauses 62 to 66.

[0220] Clause 68. One or more group common RSs are sent aperiodically by any method of Clauses 62 to 67.

[0221] Clause 69. One or more resource sets for one or more group common RSs are configured together using a connected intermittent receive (CDRX) configuration to the UE, in any of the methods described in Clauses 62 to 68.

[0222] Clause 70. The method of Clause 62, wherein one or more of the group common RSs are configured together with power boosting.

[0223] Clause 71. Any method of Clauses 62-70, wherein one or more of the group common RSs are configured with a filter coefficient, a weighting coefficient, or both.

[0224] Clause 72. Sending a group common RS configuration by any of the methods specified in Clauses 62 to 71 comprises sending a broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) indicating the group common RS configuration.

[0225] Clause 73. Sending a group common RS configuration by any of the methods in Clauses 62 to 72, further comprising receiving a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), comprises sending a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common RS configuration in response to the request.

[0226] Clause 74. The method of Clause 73, in which a message requesting an on-demand SIB is mapped to an uplink signal, including a physical random access channel (PRACH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), and the on-demand SIB is sent during or after the initial access.

[0227] Clause 75. Sending a group common RS by any method of Clauses 62-74, further comprising receiving an initial access message or uplink signal indicating one or more capabilities of the UE or UE type, is based on one or more capabilities indicated of the UE.

[0228] Clause 76. Any method of Clauses 62 to 75 further comprises sending a group common BWP configuration indicating a group common bandwidth portion (BWP) shared by a group of UEs including a UE, and sending one or more group common RSs, which comprises sending one or more group common RSs within a group common BWP.

[0229] Clause 77. The method of Clause 76, wherein the group common RS configuration is configured such that the group common BWP includes a group common downlink BWP that does not transmit synchronous signal block (SSB) signals or control resource set 0 (core set 0) signals.

[0230] Clause 78. Any method of Clauses 76-77, such as a transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, shall be signaled together with the group-common BWP configuration.

[0231] Clause 79. Any method of Clauses 76-78, which signals a transmission schedule for one or more group-common RSs, the configuration of one or more resource sets for one or more group-common RSs, or both, separately from the group-common BWP configuration.

[0232] Clause 80. A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), comprising receiving a shared bandwidth portion (BWP) configuration and a group common BWP configuration, wherein the group common BWP configuration indicates a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs including UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types, and the shared BWP configuration indicates a shared BWP different from the group common BWP, and communicating using the group common BWP based on the group common BWP configuration.

[0233] Clause 81. The method of Clause 80, wherein the shared BWP configuration and the group common BWP configuration are received within the first BWP, the group common BWP is different from the first BWP, and the shared BWP is different from the first BWP.

[0234] Clause 82. The method of communication under Clause 81, which uses a group common BWP, comprises switching from a first BWP to a group common BWP.

[0235] Clause 83. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 80 to 82 comprises receiving system information indicating the group common BWP configuration.

[0236] Clause 84. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 80 to 83 comprises receiving broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) or other system information (OSI) that indicates a group common BWP configuration.

[0237] Clause 85. Receiving a group common BWP configuration by any method of Clauses 80-84, further comprising sending a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), further comprising receiving a broadcast on-demand SIB indicating the group common BWP configuration after sending the message.

[0238] Clause 86. The method of Clause 85, which includes a message requesting a broadcast-on-demand SIB, comprises a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), and the broadcast-on-demand SIB is received during or after the initial access.

[0239] Clause 87. Further comprising sending an initial access message indicating one or more capabilities of the UE or UE type, using any method described in Clauses 80-86.

[0240] Clause 88. Further comprising any method of Clauses 80-87, which includes receiving a signaling indicating a switch to a group common BWP, and switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP based on the signaling indicating a switch to a group common BWP.

[0241] Clause 89. The method of Clause 88, which signals a switch to a group common BWP, comprises one or more reserved bits in the downlink control information (DCI) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), one or more fields in the DCI, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern of the PDCCH, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of the payload of the PDCCH carrying the DCI, a scramble identifier of the PDCCH carrying the DCI, a dedicated control resource set (core set) associated with the PDCCH carrying the DCI, or one or more search space sets of the PDCCH carrying the DCI.

[0242] Clause 90. The method of Clause 89, wherein the PDCCH is received within the UE-Specific Search Space (USS) or the Common Search Space (CSS).

[0243] Clause 91. The method of Clause 88, which includes signaling indicating a switch to a group common BWP, comprises a media access control element (MAC CE), a timer configuration, or a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0244] Clause 92. The method of Clause 91, which includes signaling indicating a switch to a group common BWP, comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message carrying a MAC CE, timer configuration, or RRC message.

[0245] Clause 93. In the manner of Clause 92, PDSCH random access messages are multicast or unicast.

[0246] Clause 94. In any of the methods described in Clauses 80 to 93, the group common BWP comprises either a group common downlink BWP or a group common uplink BWP.

[0247] Clause 95. Any method of Clauses 80-94, further comprising: performing initial access to a base station (BS) using a first BWP to establish an RRC connection with the BS; and switching from the first BWP to a group common BWP after establishing an RRC connection with the BS.

[0248] Clause 96. In any of the methods of Clauses 80 to 95, the group common BWP comprises a group common downlink BWP that does not include synchronous signal block (SSB) transmission or control resource set 0 (core set 0).

[0249] Clause 97. A group of UEs comprises UEs with reduced capacity (RedCap) by any method of Clauses 80-96.

[0250] Clause 98. A method of any of Clauses 80 to 97, further comprising receiving a group common reference signal (RS) configuration, wherein the group common RS configuration indicates one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs, and monitoring one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration.

[0251] Clause 99. The method of Clause 98, which involves monitoring one or more group-common RSs, comprises monitoring one or more group-common RSs in a group-common BWP.

[0252] Clause 100. The method of Clause 98, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common trace reference signals (TRS).

[0253] Clause 100. Any method of Clauses 98 to 99, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common positioning reference signals (PRSs).

[0254] Clause 101. Any method of Clauses 98 to 100, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS).

[0255] Clause 102. One or more group common RSs are provided with one or more group common synchronization signals, in any of the methods described in Clauses 98 to 101.

[0256] Clause 103. In any of the methods described in Clauses 98 to 102, one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common resynchronization signals (RSSs), one or more group common sequence-based wake-up signals (WUSs), or a combination thereof.

[0257] Clause 104. Receiving the group common RS configuration by any of the methods in Clauses 98 to 103 comprises receiving the group common RS configuration in the system information.

[0258] Clause 105. Any method of Clauses 98-103, further comprising waking up during the ON duration of an intermittent receive cycle (DRX) based on receiving one of one or more group common RSs, and performing a measurement on one or more of the group common RSs during the ON duration, wherein the measurement includes a radio resource management (RRM) measurement, a radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement, or both an RRM and an RLM measurement.

[0259] Clause 106. Any method of Clauses 80 to 105, wherein at least one of one or more group common RSs is configured with power boosting.

[0260] Clause 107. A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), comprising receiving a group common reference signal (RS) configuration, wherein the group common RS configuration indicates one or more group common RSs shared by a group of UEs including the UE, and monitoring one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration.

[0261] Clause 108. The method of Clause 107, which involves monitoring one or more group common RSs, comprises monitoring one or more group common RSs within a group common bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0262] Clause 109. Any method of Clauses 107 to 108, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common trace reference signals (TRS).

[0263] Clause 110. Any method of Clauses 107 to 109, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common positioning reference signals (PRSs).

[0264] Clause 111. Any method of Clauses 107 to 110, wherein one or more group common RSs include one or more group common synchronization signals.

[0265] Clause 112. Any method of Clauses 107 to 111, wherein one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common channel status information reference signals (CSI-RSs).

[0266] Clause 113. In any of the methods described in Clauses 107 to 112, one or more group common RSs comprises one or more group common resynchronization signals (RSSs), one or more group common sequence-based wake-up signals (WUSs), or a combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 114. Any method of Clauses 107-113 further comprises determining whether one or more group common RSs should be monitored based on the UE's ability to monitor one or more group common RSs, and monitoring further depends on that determination.

[0268] Clause 115. A method of any of Clauses 107-114, further comprising performing in-frequency measurements of one or more group common RSs.

[0269] Clause 116. A method of any of Clauses 107 to 115, further comprising performing interfrequency measurements of one or more group common RSs.

[0270] Clause 117. Receiving the group common RS configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 107 to 116 comprises receiving the group common RS configuration in the system information.

[0271] Clause 118. Receiving a group common RS configuration by any of the methods described in Clauses 107 to 117 comprises receiving a group common RS configuration in downlink control information (DCI), media access control (MAC) control element (CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0272] Clause 119. Any method of Clauses 107 to 118, further comprising waking up during the ON duration of an intermittent receive cycle (DRX) based on receiving one or more group common RSs, and performing a measurement on one or more group common RSs during the ON duration, wherein the measurement includes radio resource management (RRM) measurements, radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, or both RRM and RLM measurements.

[0273] Clause 120. One or more group common RSs are broadcast or multicast by any method of Clauses 107-119.

[0274] Clause 121. Any method of Clauses 107 to 120, wherein at least one of one or more group common RSs is configured with power boosting.

[0275] Clause 122. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising outputting a group common reference signal (RS) configuration, wherein the group common RS configuration indicates one or more group common RSs shared by one or more groups of user equipment (UEs), and outputting one or more group common RSs based on the group common RS configuration.

[0276] Clause 123. The method of Clause 122, wherein one or more group common RSs are output for transmission within the group common bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0277] Clause 124. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 123, wherein one or more group common RSs comprise one or more group common tracking reference signals (TRS).

[0278] Clause 125. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 124, wherein one or more group common RSs comprise one or more group common positioning reference signals (PRS).

[0279] Clause 126. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 125, wherein one or more group common RSs comprise one or more group common synchronization signals.

[0280] Clause 127. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 126, wherein one or more group common RSs comprise one or more group common channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS).

[0281] Clause 128. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 127, wherein one or more group common RSs comprise one or more group common resynchronization signals (RSS), one or more group common sequence-based wake-up signals (WUS), or a combination thereof.

[0282] Clause 129. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 128, wherein the group common RS configuration is output for transmission in system information.

[0283] Clause 130. A method according to any one of Clauses 122 to 129, wherein the group common RS configuration is output in downlink control information (DCI), media access control (MAC) control element (CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0284] Clause 131. A method of any of Clauses 122 to 130 further comprising aligning one or more group common RSs with the ON duration of intermittent receive cycles (DRXs) of one or more UEs in a group of UEs.

[0285] Clause 132. One or more group common RSs are broadcast or multicast by any method of Clauses 122 to 131.

[0286] Clause 133. Any method of Clauses 122 to 132, wherein at least one of one or more group common RSs is configured with power boosting.

[0287] Clause 134: A device comprising memory having executable instructions and one or more processors configured to execute executable instructions and cause the device to perform any one of the methods in Clauses 1 to 133.

[0288] Clause 135: An apparatus comprising means for carrying out a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 133.

[0289] Clause 136: A non-temporary computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the device, cause the device to perform any one of the methods described in Clauses 1 to 133.

[0290] Clause 137: A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising code for performing any one of the methods described in Clauses 1 through 135.

[0291] Additional wireless communication network considerations The techniques and methods described herein may be used for various wireless communication networks (or wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) and radio access technologies (RATs). While aspects described herein may use terminology generally associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., 5G nu-radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure may be equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not expressly stated herein.

[0292] 5G wireless communication networks may support a variety of advanced wireless communication services, including mission-critical services targeting eMBB, mmWave, MTC, and / or URLLC. These services and others may include latency and reliability requirements.

[0293] Returning to Figure 1, various aspects of this disclosure may be implemented within an exemplary wireless communication network 100.

[0294] In 3GPP®, the term “cell” can refer to the coverage area of ​​Node B and / or the narrowband subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms “cell” and BS, next-generation Node B (gNB or gNode B), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit / receive point may be used interchangeably. A BS may provide communication coverage to macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells.

[0295] Macrocells generally cover relatively large geographical areas (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can enable unlimited access by UEs (User Entities) subscribed to the service. Picocells may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., a sports stadium) and can enable unlimited access by UEs subscribed to the service. Femtocells may cover relatively small geographical areas (e.g., a home) and can enable limited access by UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs in a limited subscriber group (CSG) and UEs for users in a home). A BS (Base Station) for a macrocell is sometimes called a macroBS. A BS for a picocell is sometimes called a picoBS. A BS for a femtocell is sometimes called a femtoBS, homeBS, or home node B.

[0296] A base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Advanced Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with an EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). A base station 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with a 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via an EPC 160 or 5GC 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may generally be wired or wireless.

[0297] Small cell 102' may operate in licensed frequency spectrum and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell 102' may employ NR and may use the same 5GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by Wi-Fi AP150. Small cell 102' employing NR in unlicensed frequency spectrum may enhance coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0298] Some base stations, such as mmWave base station 180, can communicate with UE104 in the conventional sub-6GHz spectrum, within the millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency range, and / or within the quasi-mmWave frequency range. When mmWave base station 180 operates within the mmWave frequency range or quasi-mmWave frequency range, it is sometimes referred to as an mmWave base station.

[0299] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and, for example, UE 104, may use one or more carriers. For example, base station 102 and UE 104 may use a spectrum with bandwidth up to Y MHz per carrier (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, and other MHz) allocated in carrier aggregation up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may be adjacent or not adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). Component carriers may include primary component carriers and one or more secondary component carriers. Primary component carriers may be called primary cells (PCells), and secondary component carriers may be called secondary cells (SCells).

[0300] Wireless communication network 100 may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154, for example, within the unlicensed frequency spectrum of 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz. When communicating within the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) before communicating to determine whether the channel is available.

[0301] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use the DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels such as the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems based on, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0302] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management.

[0303] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP service 176, which may include, for example, the internet, intranet, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0304] The BM-SC170 may provide functions for supplying and delivering MBMS user services. The BM-SC170 may act as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts specific services, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0305] 5GC190 may include access and mobility management functions (AMF)192, other AMFs193, session management functions (SMF)194, and user plane functions (UPF)195. AMF192 may communicate with integrated data management (UDM)196.

[0306] The AMF192 is generally a control node that handles signaling between the UE104 and 5GC190. Typically, the AMF192 provides QoS flow and session management.

[0307] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through UPF195, which is connected to IP service 197, providing UE IP address allocation and other functions for 5GC190. IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0308] Returning to Figure 2, various exemplary components of BS102 and UE104 (for example, the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1) are illustrated, which may be used to carry out aspects of this disclosure.

[0309] In BS102, the transmitting processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and other channels. In some examples, the data may be for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0310] A Media Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that can be used to control command exchange between wireless nodes. MAC-CEs may be carried within a shared channel, such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0311] The processor 220 can process data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols for primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), PBCH demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS).

[0312] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may, where applicable, perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols to provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) in transceivers 232a-232t. Each modulator in transceivers 232a-232t may process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process its output sample stream (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from the modulators in transceivers 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0313] In UE104, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from BS102 and each may provide the received signal to a demodulator (DEMOD) in transceivers 254a to 254r. Each demodulator in transceivers 254a to 254r may adjust its respective received signal (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator may further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain a received symbol.

[0314] The MIMO detector 256 may acquire received symbols from all demodulators in the transceivers 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receiving processor 258 may process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode), provide the decoded data for UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0315] On the uplink, in UE104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for a sounding reference signal (SRS)). Symbols from the transmit processor 264 may, where applicable, be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS102.

[0316] In BS102, the uplink signal from UE104 is received by antennas 234a-t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a-232t, detected by MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE104. The receiving processor 238 may provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 240.

[0317] Memories 242 and 282 can store data and program code for BS102 and UE104, respectively.

[0318] Scheduler 244 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0319] 5G can utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with cyclic prefixes (CP) on the uplink and downlink. 5G can also support half-duplex operation using time-division duplexing (TDD). OFDM and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly called tones and bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. The modulation symbol may be transmitted using OFDM in the frequency domain and using SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers may depend on the system bandwidth. A minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), may in some examples be 12 consecutive subcarriers. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover multiple RBs. NR may support a fundamental subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz, and other SCSs (e.g., 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, and others) may be specified in relation to the fundamental SCS.

[0320] As described above, Figures 3A to 3D show various exemplary embodiments of data structures for wireless communication networks, such as the wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1.

[0321] In various embodiments, the 5G frame structure may be frequency-division duplex (FDD) where, for a given set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL. The 5G frame structure may also be time-division duplex (TDD) where, for a given set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In the example provided by Figures 3A and 3C, the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, with subframe 4 configured using slot format 28 (mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexible for use between DL and UL, and subframe 3 configured using slot format 34 (mostly UL). Subframes 3 and 4 are shown using slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, but any particular subframe may be configured using any of the various available slot formats 0 to 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured using the slot format (dynamically via DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling) through the received Slot Format Indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G frame structure, which is TDD.

[0322] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 subframes (1 ms) of equal size. Each subframe may contain one or more time slots. Subframes may also contain mini-slots, which may contain 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each slot may contain 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the slot configuration.

[0323] For example, in slot configuration 0, each slot may contain 14 symbols, and in slot configuration 1, each slot may contain 7 symbols. Symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high-throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also called single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios limited to single-stream transmission).

[0324] The number of slots within a subframe depends on the slot configuration and numerology. For slot configuration 0, different numerologies (μ) 0-5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different numerologies 0-2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Therefore, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2μ slots / subframe. The subcarrier interval and symbol length / duration are functions of the numerology. The subcarrier interval is 2 μ It may be equal to ×15kHz, where μ is numerology 0 to 5. Thus, numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier interval of 15kHz, and numerology μ=5 has a subcarrier interval of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier interval. Figures 3A to 3D provide examples of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and numerology μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25ms, the subcarrier interval is 60kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67μs.

[0325] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot contains a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) spanning 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0326] As shown in Figure 3A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE (e.g., UE104 in Figures 1 and 2). The RS may include demodulated RS (DM-RS) for channel estimation in the UE (shown as Rx for one particular configuration where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam improvement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0327] Figure 3B shows an example of various DL channels within a frame subframe. A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE containing nine RE groups (REGs), and each REG containing four consecutive REs within an OFDM symbol.

[0328] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be located within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., 104 in Figures 1 and 2) to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification information.

[0329] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be located within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification group number and the radio frame timing.

[0330] Based on the physical layer identification information and physical layer cell identification information group number, the UE can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS described above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH such as the system information block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0331] As shown in Figure 3C, some of the REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted within the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted within the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS over one of the combs. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0332] Figure 3D shows an example of various UL channels within a frame subframe. In one configuration, the PUCCH may be located as shown. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUCCH carries data and may additionally carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0333] Additional considerations The preceding description provides an example of power saving for devices with reduced capabilities in communication systems. The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. The examples described herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or embodiments set forth in the claims. Various modifications of these embodiments will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. For example, changes may be made to the function and configuration of the elements described without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various examples may, as appropriate, omit, replace, or add various procedures or components. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described in some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of embodiments described herein. In addition, the scope of this disclosure is intended to encompass apparatus or methods that are practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities in addition to, or other than, the various embodiments of this disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0334] The techniques described herein can be used for a variety of wireless communication technologies, including 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP® Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks can implement wireless technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and others. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variations of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks can implement wireless technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks can implement wireless technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Advanced UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, and others. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP®). cdma2000 and UMB are documented in documents from an organization called the "Third Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP® 2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0335] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices (PLDs), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working with a DSP core, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0336] When implemented in hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may include a processing system within a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus can link various circuits to each other, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used, in particular, to connect a network adapter to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of user equipment (see Figure 1), a user interface (e.g., a keypad, display, mouse, joystick, touchscreen, biosensor, proximity sensor, light-emitting element, and others) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or dedicated processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuit configurations capable of running software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality for a processing system, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0337] When implemented in software, functions may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or code. Software is broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for general operations, including managing the bus and executing software modules stored on machine-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media may be coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage media. Alternatively, the storage media may be integrated with the processor. For example, machine-readable media may include computer-readable storage media with stored instructions separate from transmission lines, data-modulated carriers, and / or wireless nodes, all of which may be accessed by the processor through a bus interface. As an alternative or addition, machine-readable media or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, as in cases where it may be accompanied by a cache and / or general-purpose register file. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, for example, RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied in computer program products.

[0338] A software module may consist of a single instruction or a number of instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may contain several software modules. A software module contains instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include transmit modules and receive modules. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or may be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM when a trigger event occurs. While a software module is executing, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file for execution by the processor. When the functionality of a software module is referred to below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when instructions from that software module are executed.

[0339] As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “to serve as an example, case, or illustration.” No embodiment described herein as “exemplary” should be construed as necessarily preferable or advantageous to any other embodiment.

[0340] The phrase “at least one of” in the enumeration of items used herein refers to any combination of those items that contains a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” shall cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination having multiple identical elements (for example, aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0341] As used herein, the term “decision-making” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “decision-making” may include calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or other data structure), and confirming. It may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and resolving, selecting, choosing, and establishing.

[0342] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the method. The steps and / or actions of the method may be interchangeable with one another without departing from the claims. In other words, unless a particular order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of any particular steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any preferred means capable of performing the corresponding function. Such means may include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding relative means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0343] The following claims are not limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. In the claims, a singular reference to an element means "one or more" and not "one unique" unless otherwise explicitly stated. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "several" means one or more. No element of a claim should be construed under Section 112(f) of the United States Patent Act unless the element is explicitly described using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is described using the phrase "steps for". All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of various embodiments described throughout this disclosure, known to those skilled in the art or to be known thereafter, are expressly incorporated by reference herein and are encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, whether such disclosure is expressly stated in the claims or not. [Explanation of symbols]

[0344] 100 Wireless Communication Networks 102 Base station (BS) 104 User Equipment (UE) 110 coverage area 120 Communication Links 132 First backhaul link 134 Third backhaul link 150 Wi-Fi access points (APs) 152 Wi-Fi stations (STA) 154 Communication Links 158 Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication Links 160 Advanced Packet Core (EPC) 162 Mobility Management Entity (MME) 164 Other MMEs 166 Serving Gateways 168 Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 170 Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 172 Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 174 Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 176 IP Services 180 mmWave base station 182 Beamforming 184 Second backhaul link 190 5G Core (5GC) Network 192 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 193 Other AMF 194 Session Management Function (SMF) 195 User Plane Function (UPF) 196 Unified Data Management (UDM) 197 IP Services 198 Group Common (GC) BWP / RS Components 199 Group Common (GC) BWP / RS Components 212 data sources 220 Transmitting Processors 230 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 232 transceivers 234 Antenna 236 MIMO detector 238 receiving processors 239 Data Sync 240 Controllers / Processors 241 Group Common (GC) BWP / RS Components 242 memory 244 Scheduler 252 Antenna 254 transceivers 256 MIMO detector 258 receiving processors 260 Data Syncs 262 data sources 264 Transmitting Processors 266 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 280 Controllers / Processors 281 Group Common (GC) BWP / RS Components 282 memory 802 User Equipment (UE) 804 Network Entity 902 First CDRX cycle for Group A 904 Second CDRX cycle for Group A 906 ON duration 908 OFF duration 910 ON duration 912 OFF duration 914 First CDRX cycle for Group B 916 Second CDRX cycle for Group B 918 ON duration 920 OFF duration 922 ON duration 924 OFF duration 1400 communication devices 1402 Processing System 1406 Bus 1408 Transceiver 1412 Antenna 1420 processor 1421 Circuit configuration for receiving 1422 Circuit configuration for switching 1423 Circuit configuration for transmission 1424 Circuit configuration for monitoring 1425 Circuit configuration for communication 1430 Computer-readable media / memory 1431 Code to receive 1432 Code for switching 1433 Code to send 1434 Code for monitoring 1435 Code for communication 1500 communication devices 1502 Processing System 1506 Bus 1508 Transceiver 1510 Antenna 1520 Processor 1521 Circuit configuration for output 1522 Circuit configuration for transmission 1523 Circuit configuration for communication 1524 Circuit configuration for receiving 1530 Computer-readable media / memory Code to output 1531 1532 Code to send 1533 Code for communication 1534 Code to receive

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by user equipment (UE), The step of receiving a shared bandwidth portion (BWP) configuration and a group common BWP configuration, The group common BWP configuration refers to a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including the UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types. The steps include: the shared BWP configuration being a shared BWP different from the group common BWP; The steps include: performing initial access to a base station (BS) using a first BWP in order to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the BS; The steps include: switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP after establishing the RRC connection with the BS, The steps include: communicating using the group-common BWP based on the group-common BWP configuration; A method for providing this.

2. The shared BWP configuration and the group common BWP configuration are received within the first BWP. The group common BWP is different from the first BWP, The shared BWP differs from the first BWP, The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating using the group common BWP comprises the step of switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP.

3. The step of receiving the group common BWP configuration is, The step of receiving system information indicating the group common BWP configuration, or The step of receiving broadcast system information block type 1 (SIB1) or other system information (OSI), which represents the group common BWP configuration. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

4. The further step includes sending a message requesting an on-demand system information block (SIB), The step of receiving the group common BWP configuration includes, after sending the message, receiving a broadcast-on-demand SIB indicating the group common BWP configuration. The message requesting the broadcast-on-demand SIB includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a demodulated reference signal (DMRS), or a sound reference signal (SRS), The method according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast-on-demand SIB is received during or after the initial access.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of sending an initial access message indicating one or more capabilities or types of the UE.

6. The steps include receiving a signaling indicating a switch to the group common BWP, Based on the signaling indicating a switch to the group common BWP, the steps include switching from the first BWP to the group common BWP and The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

7. The signaling indicating a switch to the group common BWP is One or more reserved bits in the downlink control information (DCI) in the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), One or more fields in the aforementioned DCI, The demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern of the aforementioned PDCCH, The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bit of the payload of the PDCCH that carries the DCI, The scramble identifier of the PDCCH that carries the DCI, A dedicated control resource set (core set) associated with the PDCCH that transports the DCI, or A one-period search space set of the PDCCH that transports the DCI. Equipped with, The method according to claim 6, wherein the PDCCH is received within a UE-specific search space (USS) or a common search space (CSS).

8. The signaling indicating a switch to the group common BWP includes a media access control element (MAC CE), a timer configuration, or a radio resource control (RRC) message. The signaling indicating a switch to the group common BWP includes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) random access message that carries the MAC CE, the timer configuration, or the RRC message, The method according to claim 6, wherein the PDSCH random access message is multicast or unicast.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the group common BWP comprises a group common downlink BWP that does not include synchronous signal block (SSB) transmission or control resource set 0 (core set 0).

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the group of UEs comprises UEs with reduced capacity (RedCap).

11. A step of receiving a group common reference signal (RS) configuration, wherein the group common RS configuration indicates one or more group common RSs shared by the group of UEs, The steps include monitoring one or more group-common RSs based on the group-common RS configuration, and The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of monitoring one or more group-common RSs comprises the step of monitoring one or more group-common RSs in the group-common BWP.

13. The aforementioned one or more group common RSs One or more group common tracking reference signals (TRS), One or more group common positioning reference signals (PRS), One or more group common channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS), One or more group common synchronization signals, or The method according to claim 11, comprising one or more group common resynchronization signals (RSS), one or more group common sequence-based wake-up signals (WUS), or a combination thereof.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of receiving the group common RS configuration comprises the step of receiving the group common RS configuration in system information.

15. The steps include: waking up during the ON duration of the intermittent reception cycle (DRX) based on receiving one of the one or more group common RSs; The steps include performing a measurement on one or more of the group common RSs during the ON duration, and Furthermore, The method according to claim 11, wherein the measurement includes a wireless resource management (RRM) measurement, a wireless link monitoring (RLM) measurement, or both the RRM measurement and the RLM measurement.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more group common RSs is configured together with power boosting.

17. User equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication, Memory equipped with computer executable instructions, The computer executes the aforementioned computer executable instruction to the UE, Receiving a shared bandwidth portion (BWP) configuration and a group common BWP configuration, The group common BWP configuration refers to a group common BWP shared by a group of UEs, including the UEs having one or more common capabilities or common UE types. The shared BWP configuration indicates a shared BWP that is different from the group common BWP, and it is received. To establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station (BS), an initial access to the BS is performed using a first BWP, After establishing the RRC connection with the BS, the system switches from the first BWP to the group common BWP. To communicate using the group-common BWP based on the group-common BWP configuration and A processor configured to perform the following User equipment (UE) equipped with these features.

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