Terminals and communication methods

Abstract

A terminal according to the present invention comprises a reception unit that receives a downlink control signal related to power saving of a base station, and a control unit that, when the downlink control signal indicating an instruction to switch a secondary cell to a primary cell is received, deactivates secondary cells other than the secondary cell for which the switching instruction was received.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure relates to terminals and communication methods. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has standardized the 5th generation mobile communication system (also known as 5G, New Radio (NR), or Next Generation (NG)), and is also working on standardizing the next generation, known as Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0003] For 5G, technologies are being considered that meet requirements such as large-capacity systems, high-speed data transmission rates, low latency, simultaneous connection of numerous terminals, low cost, and low power consumption (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

[0004] Furthermore, 3GPP Release 18 includes considerations for reducing the power consumption of base stations (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). Further details remain a subject for future investigation. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.300 V17.0.0 (2022-03) [Non-Patent Document 2] “New SI: Study on network energy savings for NR”, RP-213554, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #94e, 3GPP, December 2021 [Overview of the project]

[0006] As mentioned above, reducing the power consumption of base stations is a matter under consideration, and sufficient consideration has not been given to how to specifically implement the control and other measures related to this power saving.

[0007] One aspect of this disclosure is to provide a terminal and a communication method that can reduce the power consumption of a base station. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A terminal according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a receiving unit that receives a downlink control signal relating to power saving of a base station, and a control unit that, upon receiving the downlink control signal instructing a secondary cell to switch to a primary cell, deactivates secondary cells other than the secondary cell that has been instructed to switch.

[0009] A terminal according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a receiving unit that receives a downlink control signal relating to power saving of a base station, and a control unit that, upon receiving the downlink control signal instructing the deactivation of a secondary cell, determines which secondary cell to switch to as a primary cell from among the secondary cells other than the secondary cell to be deactivated.

[0010] A communication method according to one aspect of the present disclosure, in which a terminal receives a downlink control signal relating to power saving of a base station and, upon receiving the downlink control signal instructing a secondary cell to switch to a primary cell, deactivates secondary cells other than the secondary cell that was instructed to switch.

[0011] A communication method according to one aspect of the present disclosure, in which a terminal receives a downlink control signal relating to power saving of a base station and a downlink control signal instructing the deactivation of a secondary cell, determines which secondary cell to switch to as a primary cell from among the secondary cells other than the secondary cell to be deactivated. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2A] This is a diagram for explaining an example of activation and deactivation by MAC CE. [Figure 2B] This is a diagram for explaining an example of activation and deactivation by MAC CE. [Figure 3A] This is a diagram for explaining an example of activation and deactivation by RRC. [Figure 3B] This is a diagram for explaining an example of activation and deactivation by RRC. [Figure 4A] This is a diagram for explaining the parameter SCellIndex. [Figure 4B] This is a diagram for explaining the parameter ServCellIndex. [Figure 5A] This is a diagram for explaining SCell suspension indication. [Figure 5B] This is a diagram for explaining SCell suspension indication. [Figure 6] This is a diagram for explaining an example of cell deactivation of a base station. [Figure 7] This is a diagram for explaining an operation example of Proposal 1. [Figure 8] This is a diagram for explaining an example of upper layer parameters. [Figure 9A] This is a diagram showing an example of RRC parameters. [Figure 9B] This is a diagram showing an example of RRC parameters. [Figure 10] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a base station according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 12] This is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a base station and a terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 13] This is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment relating to one aspect of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is merely an example, and the embodiments to which this disclosure applies are not limited to the embodiments described below.

[0014] In the operation of the wireless communication systems of the embodiments of this disclosure, existing technologies may be used as appropriate. Such existing technologies include, for example, existing NR or LTE, but are not limited to existing NR or LTE. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "LTE" has a broad meaning that includes LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced and later technologies (e.g., NR), unless otherwise specified.

[0015] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this disclosure, the duplex method may be a TDD (Time Division Duplex) method, a FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) method, or any other method (for example, a Flexible Duplex).

[0016] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this disclosure, "configuring" wireless parameters means that predetermined values ​​are pre-configured, or that wireless parameters notified from a base station or terminal are configured.

[0017] <System Configuration> Figure 1 shows an example of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment. In the example in Figure 1, base station 10-1 may be a Master Node (MN). Base station 10-2 may be a Secondary Node (SN). As shown in the example in Figure 1, in dual connectivity (DC), carriers between different base stations may be bundled.

[0018] In the example shown in Figure 1, base station 10-1 communicates with terminal 20 via primary cell (PCell) and secondary cell (SCell). In the example shown in Figure 1, terminal 20 has established an RRC connection with base station 10-1.

[0019] In the case of DC, since there may be a communication delay between base station 10-1 and base station 10-2, it is difficult to notify the uplink control information (e.g., UCI) received at the PCell of base station 10-1 to base station 10-2 via a backhaul link (e.g., a wired or wireless link connecting base station 10-1 and base station 10-2) and reflect it in the scheduling of the SCell under base station 10-2. Therefore, in DC, in addition to the PCell of base station 10-1, one carrier under base station 10-2 may be set as the Primary SCell (PSCell), and PUCCH transmission may be supported at the PSCell. In this case, the terminal 20 transmits UCI to base station 10-2 via the PSCell.

[0020] In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal 20 sets an SCell for base station 10-1 in addition to the PCell. Also, the terminal 20 sets an SCell for base station 10-2 in addition to the PSCell. The terminal 20 transmits the UCI of each carrier under base station 10-1 on the PUCCH of the PCell. Also, the terminal 20 transmits the UCI of each carrier under base station 10-2 on the PUCCH of the PSCell. In the example of FIG. 1, the cell group (CG) under base station 10-1 may be referred to as the Master Cell-Group (MCG). The cell group under base station 10-2 may be referred to as the Secondary Cell-Group (SCG).

[0021] When DC is being performed, the terminal 20 may perform PUCCH transmission via the PCell, PSCell, and / or PUCCH-SCell. Generally, it is not assumed that the terminal 20 performs PUCCH transmission via an SCell other than the PCell, PSCell, and PUCCH-SCell.

[0022] <SCell activation / deactivation> 3GPP specifies the activation and deactivation of SCell. For example, SCell is activated and deactivated by MAC CE and / or RRC. MAC CE stands for Medium Access Control - Control Element. RRC stands for Radio Resource Control.

[0023] The following describes the activation and deactivation by MAC CE using Figures 2A and 2B. The following describes the activation and deactivation by RRC using Figures 3A and 3B.

[0024] • Activation and deactivation by MAC CE Figures 2A and 2B illustrate examples of activation and deactivation by MAC CE. Figures 2A and 2B show the fields of MAC CE (see, for example, section 6.1.3.10 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.0.0). Each C shown in Figures 2A and 2B i (where i is a positive integer) corresponds to the SCell index that identifies the SCell. As will be explained below, the SCell index is set by the SCellIndex parameter of higher-layer signaling such as RRC.

[0025] For example, as shown in Figure 2A, up to 7 SCells are activated and deactivated by MAC CE. For example, a base station C i Set to "1", C i Activate the SCell of the corresponding SCell index. For example, a base station is C i Set to "0", C i The SCell for the corresponding SCell index is deactivated. The terminal activates and deactivates SCells based on instructions from the base station (MAC CE).

[0026] For example, as shown in Figure 2B, up to 31 SCells are activated and deactivated by MAC CE. For example, a base station is C i Set to "1", Ci Activate the SCell corresponding to the SCell index. For example, the base station sets "0" in C i and deactivate the SCell corresponding to the SCell index in C i The terminal activates and deactivates the SCell based on the instruction from the base station.

[0027] ·Activation and deactivation by RRC Figures 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an example of activation and deactivation by RRC. The activation and deactivation of the SCell are set by upper layer parameters such as RRC (see, for example, Section 6.3 of 3GPP TS 38.331 V17.0.0).

[0028] For example, as shown in Figure 3A, the state of the SCell is set by the parameter sCellState. For example, when the parameter sCellState is set to "activated", the SCell is activated.

[0029] For example, as shown in Figure 3B, a timer for deactivating the SCell is set for each SCell by the parameter sCellDeactivationTimer. For example, the SCell is deactivated when the timer set by the parameter sCellDeactivationTimer expires.

[0030] <Cell index> Describe the Cell index. The terminal is set with a Cell index for identifying a cell by upper layer parameters such as RRC. Parameters for setting the Cell index include, for example, the parameter SCellIndex and the parameter ServCellIndex (see, for example, Section 6.3 of 3GPP TS 38.331 V17.0.0).

[0031] FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining the parameter SCellIndex. When multiple SCell are configured, the parameter SCellIndex is used to manage (identify) the SCell. For example, when the base station configures multiple SCell for the terminal, in order for the terminal to identify the multiple SCell, the parameter SCellIndex of 1... 31 is set.

[0032] FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining the parameter ServCellIndex. In addition to the SCell, the serving cell includes a PCell and a PSCell. The parameter ServCellIndex is used to uniquely identify the serving cell including the PCell, the PSCell, or the SCell. For example, when the base station configures the parameter ServCellIndex of 0... n (n is the serving cell - 1) for the terminal to identify the serving cell.

[0033] Note that the parameter ServCellIndex "0" is applied to the PCell. In other words, the cell with the parameter ServCellIndex "0" is the PCell.

[0034] Also, the parameter ServCellIndex "1... n" is applied to the SCell. The parameter ServCellIndex of 1 or more corresponds to the parameter SCellIndex described in FIG. 4A. For example, the SCell with the parameter ServCellIndex "1" and the SCell with the parameter SCellIndex "1" indicate the same SCell.

[0035] <SCell dormancy indication> In 3GPP, the SCell dormancy indication is defined. For example, the base station uses parameters of lower layer signaling such as DCI to instruct the terminal to put the SCell into dormancy and release it from non - dormancy. DCI is the abbreviation of Downlink Control Information.

[0036] For SCell suspend indication, the DCI format 0_1 / 1_1 / or 2_6 is used, for example, as shown in Figures 5A and 5B. The DCI contains a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5-bit field to specify the SCell to be suspended.

[0037] Furthermore, if the terminal is instructed to shut down SCell, it will not perform tasks such as PDCCH monitoring, but will still perform tasks such as CSI measurement, AGC of received power, and beam management.

[0038] Furthermore, if SCell is deactivated, the terminal will not perform, for example, PDCCH monitoring and CSI measurement. Also, if SCell is deactivated, the terminal will perform, for example, relaxed RRM measurement.

[0039] PDCCH stands for Physical Downlink Control Channel. CSI stands for Channel State Information. AGC stands for Auto Gain Control. RRM stands for Radio Resource Management.

[0040] <Power saving for base stations> Saving power consumption in base stations (networks) is becoming increasingly important in order to achieve carbon neutrality and the SDGs. However, technologies for saving power consumption in base stations have not yet been standardized by 3GPP. SDGs stands for Sustainable Development Goals.

[0041] <Consideration> As mentioned above in the section on "Power Saving at Base Stations," the importance of Energy Saving (ES) at base stations is increasing. One way to achieve ES at a base station is to reduce (deactivate) the number of base station cells. By deactivating cells, for example, a base station can reduce the amount of communication with terminals and thus achieve ES.

[0042] Figure 6 illustrates an example of cell deactivation at a base station. CC1 and CC2 in Figure 6 represent component carriers. CC1 and CC2 can be considered as cells formed by the base station. Alternatively, CC1 and CC2 can be considered as cell identification information from the base station's perspective. In Figure 6, terminals are denoted as UE, which stands for User Equipment.

[0043] The “0” and “1” in parentheses in Figure 6 indicate the Cell index set on the terminal by RRC. The Cell index is, for example, as shown above.<Cellインデックス> This is the ServCellIndex parameter explained above. As mentioned above, the ServCellIndex parameter "0" is used to identify a PCell, and values ​​other than "0" are used to identify an SCell.

[0044] The Cell index is set for each terminal. For example, in Figure 6, the base station sets Cell index "0" for UE#1 in CC1. The base station also sets Cell index "1" for UE#2 in CC1. In other words, the base station sets PCell for UE#1 and SCell for UE#2 in CC1.

[0045] Furthermore, for example, in Figure 6, the base station sets the Cell index "1" for UE#1 in CC2. The base station also sets the Cell index "0" for UE#2 in CC2. In other words, the base station sets SCell for UE#1 and PCell for UE#2 in CC2.

[0046] Here, in order to implement ES in the base station, for example, it is conceivable to deactivate one of CC1 and CC2 shown in FIG. 6.

[0047] However, since the Cell index is set for each terminal, as shown in FIG. 6, the PCell may be set to different CCs. Therefore, as described in the above <SCell activation / deactivation>, even if the SCell is deactivated in one CC, if the PCell is set in that CC, the entire CC cannot be deactivated.

[0048] For example, in FIG. 6, in order to deactivate CC2, even if the SCell of UE#1 is deactivated, since the PCell of UE#2 is set, CC2 (entire) cannot be deactivated. Therefore, the base station may not be able to achieve sufficient ES.

[0049] Therefore, the following techniques are proposed as techniques for implementing ES in the base station.

[0050] <Proposal 1> PCells set in different CCs can be switched (aggregated) to one CC. For example, the base station aggregates the PCells set in different CCs into one CC.

[0051] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of Proposal 1. As shown by arrow A7a in FIG. 7, for example, the base station sets the Cell index "0" for UE#1 in CC1. The base station sets the Cell index "1" for UE#2 in CC1, for example. That is, the base station sets the PCell for UE#1 and the SCell for UE#2 in CC1.

[0052] Furthermore, as shown by arrow A7a in Figure 7, for example, the base station sets the Cell index "1" for UE#1 in CC2. The base station also sets the Cell index "0" for UE#2 in CC2. In other words, the base station sets SCell for UE#1 and PCell for UE#2 in CC2.

[0053] Here, the base station performs PCell switching in response to triggers such as an ES request from the core network or the amount of communication with a terminal, as shown by arrow A7b in Figure 7. For example, the base station performs PCell switching by RRC reconfiguration or by dynamic PCell switching as described in Proposal 2 below.

[0054] More specifically, the base station sets the cell index "1" of UE#2 in CC1 to cell index "0" by RRC reconfiguration or dynamic PCell switching. The base station also sets the cell index "0" of UE#2 in CC2 to cell index "1" by RRC reconfiguration or dynamic PCell switching. As a result of this operation, PCells configured in different CC1 and CC2 are consolidated into a single CC1, for example, as shown by arrow A7c in Figure 7.

[0055] The base station aggregates the terminal's PCells into a single CC, and then deactivates all or part of the CCs that do not contain aggregated PCells. In other words, the base station deactivates all or part of the CCs that contain only SCells.

[0056] For example, the base station deactivates all or part of the CCs where the PCell is not aggregated by the RRC and / or MAC CE described in <SCell activation / deactivation> above, or by the dynamic cell deactivation of <Proposal 3> described below. More specifically, as shown by the arrows A7d and A7e in FIG. 7, the base station deactivates CC2 that includes only SCell.

[0057] <Summary of Proposal 1> As described above, the base station aggregates the PCells set in different CCs into one CC. By this operation, the base station can deactivate the CCs including SCell where the PCell is not aggregated, reduce the number of CCs, and achieve ES.

[0058] Also, since the PCell remains and all or part of the SCell is deactivated in the terminal, ES can be achieved while maintaining communication with the base station.

[0059] <Proposal 2> The PCell switching described in <Proposal 1> above may be executed by RRC reconfiguration as described in <Proposal 1>.

[0060] However, when performing PCell switching for multiple terminals by RRC reconfiguration, signaling overhead based on RRC reconfiguration occurs. Also, the processing time for PCell switching is long, and it takes time until the PCell switching is completed.

[0061] Therefore, in Proposal 2, dynamic PCell switching is proposed for PCell switching.

[0062] The PCell is switched by lower layer signaling such as DCI. For example, the base station uses DCI to switch the PCell of the terminal. The terminal switches the PCell based on the DCI from the base station.

[0063] In Proposal 2, the following options 1 and 2 are proposed.

[0064] <Proposal 2 - Option 1> PCell is switched using a terminal-specific DCI (UE-specific DCI). In other words, the base station uses the terminal-specific DCI to switch the terminal's PCell for each terminal.

[0065] RNTI may be an RNTI for a terminal-specific DCI format, such as C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI. Alternatively, a new terminal-specific RNTI, such as ES-RNTI, may be introduced (specified). Note that RNTI stands for Radio Network Temporary Identifier. C-RNTI stands for Cell-RNTI. MCS-C-RNTI stands for Modulation Coding Scheme-C-RNTI.

[0066] The DCI format may be, for example, DCI format 0_1 / 0_2 / 1_1 / 1_2. Alternatively, the DCI format may be, for example, a new format introduced.

[0067] For the DCI used for PCell switching, a new field may be introduced (Proposal 2-Option 1a), or an existing field may be used (Proposal 2-Option 1b).

[0068] <Proposal 2 - Option 1a> If a new field is introduced to the DCI for PCell switching, the following Alt.1 and Alt.2 are proposed.

[0069] <Proposal 2 - Option 1a - alt.1> A target cell ID indicator field is introduced in the DCI for PCell switching. The target cell ID indicator field notifies the cell ID of the SCell to be changed to a PCell. The cell ID of the SCell to be changed to a PCell is the ID associated with the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex, and the parameters ServCellIndex or SCellIndex may be used. Hereafter, the cell ID of the SCell to be changed to a PCell may be referred to as the target cell ID.

[0070] The base station notifies the terminal of the target cell ID using the target cell ID indicator field. The terminal switches from SCell to PCell based on the value of the target cell ID indicator field, i.e., the target cell ID.

[0071] For example, the base station notifies UE#2 of CC1 (where CC1 is SCell in UE#2) of the target cell ID "1" using the target cell ID indicator field, as shown by arrow A7a in Figure 7. Upon receiving notification of target cell ID "1", UE#2 changes the RRC parameter ServCellIndex "1" corresponding to target cell ID "1" to the parameter ServCellIndex "0", and switches CC1's SCell to PCell. Alternatively, for example, the terminal changes the parameter ServCellIndex "0", which was set to PCell, to the parameter ServCellIndex "1" based on the target cell ID "1", and switches CC2's PCell to SCell.

[0072] The bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits.

[0073] For example, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0 if no higher-layer parameter is set. The higher-layer parameter is a parameter that indicates the presence or absence of the target cell ID indicator field, and may be called PcellDynamicSwitch.

[0074] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits, based on the number of SCells set in the terminal. For example, if 12 SCells are set in the terminal, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 4 bits.

[0075] <Proposal 2 - Option 1a - alt.2> The DCI for PCell switching will include an NW ES indicator field. NW stands for Network. The NW ES indicator field instructs a switch from SCell to PCell. A terminal instructed to switch from SCell to PCell by the NW ES indicator field will switch the SCell indicated by the "Parameter EsPCellIndex" explained in Figure 8 to PCell.

[0076] When the NW ES indicator field is introduced to the DCI for PCell switching, the cell ID of the SCell to be changed to a PCell (target cell ID) is notified via higher-layer signaling such as RRC.

[0077] Figure 8 illustrates an example of upper-layer parameters. The target cell ID is notified from the base station to the terminal by the parameter EsPCellIndex, as shown in Figure 8. For example, the parameter EsPCellIndex is assigned the cell ID of the SCell to be changed to PCell ("ServCellIndex" shown in Figure 8).

[0078] As described above, when the NW ES indicator field signals the terminal to switch from SCell to PCell, it switches the SCell specified by the parameter EsPCellIndex to PCell.

[0079] For example, suppose the parameter EsPCellIndex shown in Figure 8 is set to "1" (ServCellIndex=1). Here, the base station instructs UE#2 of CC1, shown by arrow A7a in Figure 7, to switch from SCell to PCell using the NW ES indicator field. UE#2, having been instructed to switch, changes the RRC parameter ServCellIndex"1", which corresponds to the parameter EsPCellIndex"1", to the parameter ServCellIndex"0", and switches the SCell of CC1 to PCell.

[0080] The bit width of the NW ES indicator field may be 0 or 1 bit.

[0081] For example, the bit width of the NW ES indicator field may be 0 if no upper-layer parameters are set. The upper-layer parameter may be the parameter EsPCellIndex.

[0082] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the NW ES indicator field may be 1 bit.

[0083] For example, if the 1-bit NW ES indicator field is set to "1", the terminal switches the SCell indicated by the parameter EsPCellIndex shown in Figure 8 to PCell. For example, if the 1-bit NW ES indicator field is set to "0", the terminal does not switch PCell.

[0084] <Proposal 2 - Option 1b> The target cell ID is notified using an existing field of DCI. For example, the target cell ID is notified using a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-bit field for specifying a suspended SCell as described in the <SCell suspension indication> above.

[0085] When the target cell ID is notified using an existing field of DCI, whether the existing field is used for notifying the target cell ID or for notifying the cell ID of the suspended SCell is distinguished by the RNTI.

[0086] For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by the C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI, the field is used for notifying the cell ID of the suspended SCell. For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by the ES-RNTI, the field is used for notifying the target cell ID.

[0087] <Proposal 2 - Option 2> The PCell is switched by the group common DCI. In other words, the base station uses the group common DCI to switch the terminal's PCell in units of groups.

[0088] The RNTI may be the RNTI for an existing group common DCI format, or an RNTI for a new group common DCI format may be introduced. For example, the RNTI may be the existing PS-RNTI, or the newly introduced ES-RNTI. PS-RNTI is an abbreviation for Power Saving-RNTI.

[0089] The DCI format may be, for example, DCI format 2_6. Or, a new format may be introduced for the DCI format, for example.

[0090] For the group-wide DCI used for PCell switching, a new field may be introduced (Proposal 2 - Option 2a), or an existing field may be used (Proposal 2 - Option 2b).

[0091] <Proposal 2 - Option 2a> If a new field is introduced to the group-wide DCI for PCell switching, the following Alt.1 and Alt.2 are proposed.

[0092] <Proposal 2 - Option 2a - alt.1> A target cell ID indicator field is introduced in the group-wide DCI for PCell switching. The target cell ID indicator field notifies the target cell ID. The target cell ID is an ID associated with the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex, and the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex may be used.

[0093] The base station uses the target cell ID indicator field to switch SCells to PCells for multiple terminals (group terminals). The multiple terminals switch SCells to PCells based on the value of the target cell ID indicator field, i.e., the target cell ID.

[0094] The bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits.

[0095] For example, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0 if no higher-layer parameter is set. The higher-layer parameter is a parameter that indicates the presence or absence of the target cell ID indicator field, and may be called PcellDynamicSwitch.

[0096] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits, based on the number of SCells set in multiple terminals. For example, if 12 SCells are set in a terminal, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 4 bits.

[0097] <Proposal 2 - Option 2a - alt.2> A NW ES indicator field is introduced to the group-wide DCI for PCell switching. The NW ES indicator field instructs a switch from SCell to PCell. Multiple terminals instructed to switch from SCell to PCell by the NW ES indicator field will switch the SCells indicated by the "Parameter EsPCellIndex" as explained in Figure 8 to PCell.

[0098] The bit width of the NW ES indicator field may be 0 or 1 bit.

[0099] For example, the bit width of the NW ES field may be 0 if no higher-layer parameters are set. The higher-layer parameter may be the parameter EsPCellIndex.

[0100] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the NW ES indicator field may be 1 bit.

[0101] Multiple terminals, for example, will switch the SCell indicated by the parameter EsPCellIndex to PCell if the 1-bit NW ES indicator field is set to "1". Multiple terminals will not switch PCell if the 1-bit NW ES indicator field is set to "0".

[0102] <Proposal 2 - Option 2b> The target cell ID is notified using an existing field of DCI. For example, the target cell ID is notified using a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-bit field for specifying a suspended SCell as described in the <SCell suspension indication> above.

[0103] When the target cell ID is notified using an existing field of DCI, whether the existing field is used for notifying the target cell ID or for notifying the cell ID of the suspended SCell is distinguished by the RNTI.

[0104] For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by a C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI, the field is used for notifying the cell ID of the suspended SCell. For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by an ES-RNTI, the field is used for notifying the target cell ID.

[0105] <Terminal operation in Proposal 2> Hereinafter, an example of terminal operation in <Proposal 2> will be described. A terminal to which dynamic PCell switching is instructed assumes the instructed cell as the PCell.

[0106] For example, the terminal assumes the cell with the target cell ID notified by the target cell ID indicator field described in <Proposal 2 - Option 1a - alt.1> and <Proposal 2 - Option 2a - alt.1> above as the PCell.

[0107] For example, when the terminal is notified of PCell switching by the value of the NW ES indicator field described in <Proposal 2 - Option 1a - alt.2> and <Proposal 2 - Option 2a - alt.2> above, the terminal assumes the cell with the target cell ID set by the parameter EsPCellIndex shown in FIG. 8 as the PCell.

[0108] For example, the terminal assumes that the cell with the target cell ID notified by the existing fields described in <Proposal 2-Option 1b> and <Proposal 2-Option 2b> above is the PCell.

[0109] When dynamic PCell switching is instructed, the terminal assumes that the parameter associated with parameter ServCellIndex "0" is associated with parameter ServCellIndex "x". x is, for example, the target cell ID instructed by the base station. x can take values ​​from, for example, 1 to 31.

[0110] For example, the terminal changes (overwrites) the parameter ServCellIndex, which was "x", to "0". In other words, the terminal changes the parameter that was set to an SCell value (1-31) to a PCell value (0). For example, the terminal overwrites parameters related to the ServCellIndex parameter, such as the servCellIndex parameter in SpCellConfig shown in Figure 9A and the schedulingCellId parameter in CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig shown in Figure 9B, to 0 (setting ServCellIndex=0). This action causes the terminal to switch from SCell to PCell.

[0111] Furthermore, the terminal changes (overwrites) the parameter ServCellIndex, which was previously "0", to "x". In other words, the terminal changes a parameter that was set to a PCell value (0) to an SCell value (1-31). This action causes the terminal to switch from PCell to Scell. The terminal also shares the same parameters as the base station.

[0112] <Summary of Proposal 2> As explained above, base stations control PCell switching using lower-layer parameters such as DCI.

[0113] This operation reduces the signaling overhead based on RRC resetting in PCell switching control, thereby suppressing switching delays. Furthermore, it reduces the processing load on the base station, enabling ES (Enhanced System) functionality.

[0114] Furthermore, using existing DCI fields for PCell switching control can minimize design changes at base stations and terminals.

[0115] <Proposal 3> The deactivation of the Scell ​​described in Proposal 1 above may also be performed by the RRC and / or MAC CE, as described in Proposal 1.

[0116] However, when deactivating SCells using RRC and / or MAC CE, signaling overhead based on RRC and / or MAC CE is incurred. Furthermore, the SCell deactivation process is lengthy, requiring considerable time to complete.

[0117] Therefore, in Proposal 3, dynamic cell deactivation is proposed for the deactivation of SCell. Furthermore, the operation of Proposal 3 can also be applied to the deactivation of PCell.

[0118] SCell and / or PCell (hereinafter referred to as SCell / PCell) are deactivated by lower-layer parameters such as DCI. For example, a base station uses DCI to deactivate the SCell / PCell of a terminal. The terminal deactivates the SCell / PCell based on the DCI from the base station.

[0119] In Proposal 3, the following options 1 and 2 are proposed.

[0120] <Proposal 3 - Option 1> SCell / PCell are deactivated by a terminal-specific DCI (UE-specific DCI). In other words, the base station uses a terminal-specific DCI to deactivate the SCell / PCell for each terminal.

[0121] RNTI may be an RNTI for terminal-specific DCI formats, such as C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI. Alternatively, a new terminal-specific RNTI, such as ES-RNTI, may be introduced.

[0122] The DCI format may be, for example, DCI format 0_1 / 0_2 / 1_1 / 1_2. Alternatively, the DCI format may be, for example, a new format introduced.

[0123] For DCI to deactivate SCell / PCell, a new field may be introduced (Proposal 3-Option 1a), or an existing field may be used (Proposal 3-Option 1b).

[0124] <Proposal 3 - Option 1a> If a new field is introduced to the DCI for deactivating SCell / PCell, the following Alt.1 and Alt.2 are proposed.

[0125] <Proposal 3 - Option 1a - alt.1> A target cell ID indicator field is introduced in the DCI for deactivating SCell / PCell. The target cell ID indicator field notifies the cell ID of the SCell / PCell to be deactivated. The cell ID of the SCell / PCell to be deactivated is the ID associated with the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex, and may also be the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex. Hereafter, the cell ID of the SCell / PCell to be deactivated may be referred to as the target cell ID.

[0126] The base station notifies the terminal of the target cell ID using the target cell ID indicator field. The terminal deactivates SCell / PCell based on the value of the target cell ID indicator field, i.e., the target cell ID.

[0127] For example, the base station notifies UE#1 and UE#2 of CC2 (where CC2 is SCell) of the target cell ID "1" using the target cell ID indicator field, as shown by arrow A7c in Figure 7. Upon receiving notification of target cell ID "1", UE#1 and UE#2 deactivate the SCell of the RRC parameter ServCellIndex "1" corresponding to target cell ID "1". In this way, the base station deactivates SCell / PCell using DCI.

[0128] The bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits.

[0129] For example, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0 if no higher-layer parameter is set. The higher-layer parameter is a parameter that indicates the presence or absence of the target cell ID indicator field, and may be called ScellDynamicDeactivation.

[0130] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits, based on the number of SCells set in the terminal. For example, if 12 SCells are set in the terminal, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 4 bits.

[0131] <Proposal 3 - Option 1a - alt.2> A SCell deactivation indicator field is introduced into the DCI for SCell deactivation. In the SCell deactivation indicator field, the deactivation of all SCell is indicated. A terminal for which the deactivation of all SCell is indicated by the SCell deactivation indicator field deactivates all SCell in the terminal.

[0132] The bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 0 or 1 bit.

[0133] For example, the bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 0 if the upper layer parameter is not set. The upper layer parameter is a parameter indicating the presence or absence of the SCell deactivation indicator field and may be referred to as ScellDynamicDeactivation.

[0134] If the upper layer parameter is set, the bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 1 bit.

[0135] The terminal deactivates all SCell set in the terminal, for example, when "1" is set in the 1-bit SCell deactivation indicator field. The terminal activates the SCell, for example, when "0" is set in the 1-bit SCell deactivation indicator field.

[0136] <Proposal 3 - Option 1b> The target cell ID is notified using an existing field of the DCI. For example, the target cell ID to be deactivated is notified using a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-bit field for specifying the SCell to be suspended, as described in the above <SCell suspension indication>.

[0137] When the target cell ID is notified using an existing field in DCI, RNTI distinguishes whether the existing field is used to notify the target cell ID or to notify the cell ID of the SCell to be suspended.

[0138] For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI, the field is used to notify the cell ID of the suspended SCell. Also, when the DCI format is scrambled by ES-RNTI, the field is used to notify the target cell ID.

[0139] <Proposal 3 - Option 2> SCell / PCell are deactivated by the group-wide DCI. In other words, the base station uses the group-wide DCI to deactivate the SCell / PCell of terminals on a group-by-group basis.

[0140] RNTI may be an RNTI for an existing group-wide DCI format, or an RNTI for a new group-wide DCI format may be introduced. For example, RNTI may be an existing PS-RNTI, or a newly introduced ES-RNTI.

[0141] The DCI format may be, for example, DCI format 2_6. Alternatively, the DCI format may be, for example, a new format introduced.

[0142] For the group-wide DCI used to deactivate SCell / PCell, a new field may be introduced (Proposal 3-Option 2a), or an existing field may be used (Proposal 3-Option 2b).

[0143] <Proposal 3 - Option 2a> If a new field is introduced to the group-wide DCI for deactivating SCell / PCell, the following Alt.1 and Alt.2 are proposed.

[0144] <Proposal 3 - Option 2a - alt.1> A target cell ID indicator field is introduced in the group-wide DCI for deactivating SCell / PCell. The target cell ID indicator field notifies the target cell ID. The target cell ID is the ID associated with the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex, and the parameter ServCellIndex or the parameter SCellIndex may be used.

[0145] The base station uses the target cell ID indicator field to deactivate SCell / PCell for multiple terminals (group terminals). The multiple terminals deactivate SCell / PCell based on the value of the target cell ID indicator field, i.e., the target cell ID.

[0146] The bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits.

[0147] For example, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 0 if no higher-layer parameter is set. The higher-layer parameter is a parameter that indicates the presence or absence of the target cell ID indicator field, and may be called ScellDynamicDeactivation.

[0148] If higher-level parameters are set, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bits, based on the number of SCells set in multiple terminals. For example, if 12 SCells are set in a terminal, the bit width of the target cell ID indicator field may be 4 bits.

[0149] <Proposal 3 - Option 2a - alt.2> A SCell deactivation indicator field is introduced into the group common DCI for SCell deactivation. In the SCell deactivation indicator field, the deactivation of all SCell is indicated. Multiple terminals for which the deactivation of all SCell is indicated by the SCell deactivation indicator field deactivate all SCell.

[0150] The bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 0 or 1 bit.

[0151] For example, the bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 0 if the upper layer parameter is not set. The upper layer parameter is a parameter indicating the presence or absence of the SCell deactivation indicator field, and may be referred to as ScellDynamicDeactivation.

[0152] If the upper layer parameter is set, the bit width of the SCell deactivation indicator field may be 1 bit.

[0153] Multiple terminals deactivate all SCell, for example, when “1” is set in the 1-bit SCell deactivation indicator field. Multiple terminals activate the SCell, for example, when “0” is set in the 1-bit SCell deactivation indicator field.

[0154] <Proposal 3 - Option 2b>[ The target cell ID is notified using an existing field of the DCI. For example, the target cell ID to be deactivated is notified using a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-bit field for specifying the SCell to be suspended, as described in the above <SCell suspension indication>.

[0155] When the target cell ID is notified using an existing field in DCI, RNTI distinguishes whether the existing field is used to notify the target cell ID or to notify the cell ID of the SCell to be suspended.

[0156] For example, when the DCI format is scrambled by C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI, the field is used to notify the cell ID of the suspended SCell. Also, when the DCI format is scrambled by ES-RNTI, the field is used to notify the target cell ID.

[0157] <Terminal operation in Proposal 3> The following describes an example of terminal operation in Proposal 3. The terminal deactivates and activates SCell / PCell based on the values ​​instructed by the base station.

[0158] For example, the terminal deactivates and deactivates the SCell / PCell of the target cell ID notified by the target cell ID indicator field described in <Proposal 3-Option 1a-alt.1> and <Proposal 3-Option 2a-alt.1> above.

[0159] For example, the terminal deactivates all SCells based on the value of the SCell deactivation indicator field described in <Proposal 3-Option 1a-alt.2> and <Proposal 3-Option 2a-alt.2> above.

[0160] For example, the terminal deactivates and deactivates the SCell / PCell of the target cell ID notified by the existing fields described in <Proposal 3-Option 1b> and <Proposal 3-Option 2b> above.

[0161] <Summary of Proposal 3> As explained above, base stations control the deactivation of SCell / PCell using lower-layer parameters such as DCI.

[0162] This operation reduces the signaling overhead based on RRC resetting in SCell / PCell deactivation control, thereby suppressing switching delays. Furthermore, it reduces the processing load on the base station, enabling ES (Enhanced System) operation.

[0163] Furthermore, using existing DCI fields for SCell / PCell deactivation control can suppress design changes at base stations and terminals.

[0164] <Proposal 4> Proposal 4 describes the joint operation of the dynamic PCell switching described in Proposal 2 and the dynamic Cell deactivation described in Proposal 3.

[0165] The base station performs an operation that combines the dynamic PCell switching of Proposal 2 and the dynamic Cell deactivation of Proposal 3. The base station may have an operation based on the dynamic PCell switching instruction of Proposal 2 (Proposal 4-Option 1) or an operation based on the dynamic Cell deactivation instruction of Proposal 3 (Proposal 4-Option 2).

[0166] <Proposal 4 - Option 1> In the joint operation of dynamic PCell switching and dynamic cell deactivation, the target cell ID to be deactivated is implicitly indicated by the dynamic PCell switching instruction. For example, when a terminal receives a dynamic PCell switching instruction, it deactivates and / or releases (activates) cells other than the target cell ID indicated by the dynamic PCell switching instruction.

[0167] <Proposal 4 - Option 1 - Example 1> For example, if the terminal receives notification of a target cell ID "x" (where x is a positive integer) in the target cell ID indicator field, it will deactivate cells with cell IDs other than "x".

[0168] After deactivation, the terminal assumes (overwrites) that the parameter associated with parameter ServCellIndex "0" is associated with parameter ServCellIndex "x".

[0169] Furthermore, for example, if the terminal receives a PCell switching instruction in the NW ES indicator field, it deactivates cells with cell IDs other than the parameter EsPCellIndex"x".

[0170] After deactivation, the terminal assumes (overwrites) that the parameter associated with parameter ServCellIndex"0" is associated with parameter EsPCellIndex"x".

[0171] <Proposal 4 - Option 1 - Example 2> For example, if the terminal receives a target cell ID "x" in the target cell ID indicator field, it will assume (overwrite) the parameter associated with parameter ServCellIndex "0" as being associated with parameter ServCellIndex "x".

[0172] The terminal overwrites (rewrites) the parameter and then deactivates the cell with parameter ServCellIndex "x".

[0173] Furthermore, for example, if a terminal receives a PCell switching instruction in the NW ES indicator field, it assumes (overwrites) the parameter associated with parameter ServCellIndex"0" as being associated with parameter EsPCellIndex"x".

[0174] The terminal overwrites (rewrites) the parameter and then deactivates the cell with parameter EsPCellIndex"x".

[0175] <Proposal 4 - Option 2> In the joint operation of dynamic PCell switching and dynamic cell deactivation, the target cell ID that becomes the PCell is implicitly indicated by the dynamic cell deactivation instruction. For example, when a terminal receives a dynamic cell deactivation instruction, it assumes that one of the remaining activated cells is the PCell. For example, the terminal assumes that one of the cells that was not deactivated by the dynamic cell deactivation instruction is the PCell.

[0176] For example, suppose a terminal has a PCell with cell ID "0" and SCells with cell IDs "1", "2", and "3" configured. In a dynamic cell deactivation instruction, if, for example, target cell IDs "0", "1", and "2" are specified, the terminal will assume that the remaining cell ID "3" is the PCell.

[0177] The terminal may, for example, designate the activation cell with the smallest cell ID (parameter ServCellIndex) among the remaining activation cells as the PCell. Alternatively, the terminal may, for example, designate the activation cell with the largest cell ID among the remaining activation cells as the PCell.

[0178] <Summary of Proposal 4> As explained above, in the joint operation of dynamic PCell switching and dynamic cell deactivation, the target cell ID to be deactivated is implicitly indicated by the dynamic PCell switching instruction.

[0179] This operation reduces signaling overhead in PCell switching control and SCell / PCell deactivation control, thereby suppressing delays related to PCell switching control and SCell / PCell deactivation control. Furthermore, it reduces the processing load on the base station, enabling ES (Enhanced System) operation.

[0180] Furthermore, in the joint operation of dynamic PCell switching and dynamic cell deactivation, the target cell ID that becomes the PCell is implicitly indicated by the dynamic cell deactivation instruction.

[0181] This operation reduces signaling overhead in PCell switching control and SCell / PCell deactivation control, thereby suppressing communication delays. Furthermore, it reduces the processing load on the base station, enabling ES (Enhanced System) operation.

[0182] <Variations> Variation 1 A PCell deactivation indicator field may be introduced into the DCI for deactivating PCell.

[0183] For example, the terminal will deactivate PCell if the PCell deactivation indicator field is set to "1". For example, the terminal will not deactivate PCell if the PCell deactivation indicator field is set to "0".

[0184] Additionally, a PCell deactivation indicator field may be introduced into the group-wide DCI for deactivating PCell.

[0185] For example, multiple terminals will deactivate PCell if the PCell deactivation indicator field is set to "1". For example, a terminal will not deactivate PCell if the PCell deactivation indicator field is set to "0".

[0186] When a terminal deactivates a PCell, it assumes any active cell is the PCell. For example, the active cell with the smallest cell ID (parameter ServCellIndex) among the remaining active cells may be designated as the PCell. Alternatively, the terminal may designate the active cell with the largest cell ID among the remaining active cells as the PCell.

[0187] Variation 2 The dynamic PCell switching described above may also be applied to PSCell switching. Dynamic Cell deactivation may also be applied to PSCell deactivation.

[0188] Variation 3 Proposals 2, 3, and 4 are not limited to base station ES operations. For example, proposals 2, 3, and 4 can be applied to operations other than those described in proposal 1. For instance, proposals 2, 3, and 4 may be used for switching and / or deactivating cells based on degraded communication quality.

[0189] Variation 4 Which of the above options and Alts are supported may depend on settings by RRC, instructions from MAC CE or DCI, or terminal capabilities. There may be one or more supported options and Alts.

[0190] <Terminal Capabilities> The terminal may report the following terminal capabilities to the base station as UE Capability. • Whether or not it supports dynamic PCIel switching. • Whether or not to support dynamic cell deactivation

[0191] <Base station configuration> Figure 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a base station 10 according to an embodiment. The base station 10 includes, for example, a transmitting unit 101, a receiving unit 102, and a control unit 103. The base station 10 communicates with a terminal 20 (see Figure 11) wirelessly.

[0192] The transmitter 101 transmits a downlink (DL) signal to the terminal 20. For example, the transmitter 101 transmits the DL signal under the control of the control unit 103.

[0193] The DL signal may include, for example, data signals for the downlink and control information (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI)). The DL signal may also include information indicating the scheduling of signal transmission by terminal 20 (e.g., UL grant). Furthermore, the DL signal may include control information from higher layers (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) control information). Finally, the DL signal may include a reference signal.

[0194] The channels used to transmit DL signals include, for example, a data channel and a control channel. For example, the data channel may include a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), and the control channel may include a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel). For example, base station 10 transmits control information to terminal 20 using the PDCCH and transmits downlink data signals using the PDSCH.

[0195] The reference signals included in the DL signal may include, for example, at least one of the following: Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and Positioning Reference Signal (PRS). For example, reference signals such as DMRS and PTRS are used for demodulating the data signal of the downlink and are transmitted using PDSCH.

[0196] The receiving unit 102 receives the uplink (UL) signal transmitted from the terminal 20. For example, the receiving unit 102 receives the UL signal under the control of the control unit 103.

[0197] The control unit 103 controls the communication operations of the base station 10, including the transmission process of the transmission unit 101 and the reception process of the reception unit 102.

[0198] For example, the control unit 103 acquires information such as data and control information from the upper layer and outputs it to the transmission unit 101. The control unit 103 also outputs the data and control information received from the reception unit 102 to the upper layer.

[0199] For example, the control unit 103 allocates resources (or channels) used for transmitting and receiving DL signals and / or resources used for transmitting and receiving UL signals based on signals received from terminal 20 (e.g., data and control information, etc.) and / or data and control information, etc. acquired from higher layers. Information regarding the allocated resources may be included in the control information transmitted to terminal 20.

[0200] The control unit 103 sets the PUCCH resource as an example of resource allocation for sending and receiving UL signals. Information regarding PUCCH settings, such as the PUCCH cell timing pattern (PUCCH setting information), may be notified to the terminal 20 by RRC.

[0201] The control unit 103 determines the second cell to switch to from the first cell. The transmission unit 101 transmits information about the second cell using the (related) downlink control signal for the base station's ES. Here, the downlink control signal is, for example, DCI. The first cell is, for example, a cell that ensures connectivity between the base station 10 and the terminal 20 in carrier aggregation (CA). Alternatively, the first cell is, for example, a CC that ensures connectivity among multiple carriers used in CA. The first cell is, for example, a PCell. The second cell is, for example, a cell that provides radio resources in addition to a PCell in CA. Alternatively, the second cell is a CC that is neither a PCell nor a PSCell among multiple carriers used in CA. The second cell is, for example, an SCell. This operation allows the base station 10 to dynamically switch from the second cell to the first cell without going through higher layers, thus suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the base station 10 is suppressed.

[0202] The control unit 103 includes the cell index of the second cell to which the ES will switch to the first cell in the downlink control signal. This operation allows the base station 10 to dynamically switch the second cell to the first cell without going through higher layers, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the base station 10 is reduced.

[0203] Furthermore, the control unit 103 determines which second cell to deactivate. The transmission unit 101 transmits information about the second cell determined by the control unit 103 using the downlink control signal for the ES of the base station 10. This operation allows the base station 10 to dynamically deactivate the second cell without going through higher layers, thus suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the base station 10 is reduced.

[0204] The control unit 103 includes the cell index of the second cell to be deactivated in the downlink control signal. This operation allows the base station 10 to dynamically deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the base station 10 is reduced.

[0205] <Device Configuration> Figure 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal 20 according to an embodiment. The terminal 20 includes, for example, a receiving unit 201, a transmitting unit 202, and a control unit 203. The terminal 20 communicates with, for example, a base station 10 wirelessly.

[0206] The receiving unit 201 receives DL signals transmitted from the base station 10. For example, the receiving unit 201 receives DL signals under the control of the control unit 203.

[0207] The transmitting unit 202 transmits the UL signal to the base station 10. For example, the transmitting unit 202 transmits the UL signal under the control of the control unit 203.

[0208] The UL signal may include, for example, data signals for the uplink and control information (e.g., UCI). It may also include, for example, information regarding the processing capability of terminal 20 (e.g., UE capability). Furthermore, the UL signal may include reference signals.

[0209] The channels used to transmit UL signals include, for example, a data channel and a control channel. For example, the data channel includes PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and the control channel includes PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel). For example, terminal 20 receives control information from base station 10 using PUCCH and transmits uplink data signals using PUSCH.

[0210] The reference signals included in the UL signal may include, for example, at least one of DMRS, PTRS, CSI-RS, SRS, and PRS. For example, reference signals such as DMRS and PTRS are used for demodulating the uplink data signal and are transmitted using an uplink channel (e.g., PUSCH).

[0211] The control unit 203 controls the communication operation of the terminal 20, including the receiving process in the receiving unit 201 and the transmission process in the transmitting unit 202.

[0212] For example, the control unit 203 acquires information such as data and control information from the upper layer and outputs it to the transmission unit 202. The control unit 203 also outputs data and control information received from the receiving unit 201 to the upper layer.

[0213] For example, the control unit 203 controls the transmission of information to be fed back to the base station 10. The information to be fed back to the base station 10 may include, for example, a HARQ-ACK, Channel State Information (CSI), or a Scheduling Request (SR). The information to be fed back to the base station 10 may be included in the UCI. The UCI is transmitted using the PUCCH resource.

[0214] The control unit 203 configures the PUCCH resource based on the configuration information received from the base station 10 (for example, configuration information such as the PUCCH cell timing pattern notified by the RRC and / or DCI). The control unit 203 determines the PUCCH resource to be used to transmit the information to be fed back to the base station 10. The transmission unit 202, under the control of the control unit 203, transmits the information to be fed back to the base station 10 using the PUCCH resource determined by the control unit 203.

[0215] The channels used for transmitting DL signals and UL signals are not limited to the examples described above. For example, the channels used for transmitting DL signals and UL signals may include RACH (Random Access Channel) and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel). RACH may be used, for example, to transmit Downlink Control Information (DCI) including a Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI).

[0216] The receiving unit 201 receives downlink control signals for the ES from the base station 10. Based on the downlink control signals for the ES received by the receiving unit 201, the control unit 203 switches the second cell back to the first cell. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch from the second cell back to the first cell without going through higher layers, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is reduced.

[0217] The control unit 203 switches the second cell to the first cell based on the cell index of the second cell to be switched to the first cell, which is included in the downlink control signal. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch the second cell to the first cell without going through the upper layer, thus suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is reduced.

[0218] Furthermore, the receiving unit 201 receives the downlink control signal for the ES of the base station 10. Based on the downlink control signal for the ES of the base station 10 received by the receiving unit 201, the control unit 203 deactivates the second cell. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thus suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is suppressed.

[0219] The control unit 203 deactivates the second cell based on the cell index of the second cell included in the downlink control signal. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thus suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is reduced.

[0220] Furthermore, the receiving unit 201 receives downlink control signals related to the ES from the base station 10. When the receiving unit 201 receives a downlink control signal instructing the receiving unit 201 to switch a second cell to a first cell, the control unit 203 deactivates the second cells other than the second cell that was instructed to be switched. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch a second cell to a first cell and deactivate the second cells without going through the upper layer, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is suppressed.

[0221] The control unit 203 deactivates the second cell with a cell index other than the cell index notified by the downlink control signal. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch the second cell back to the first cell and deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is reduced.

[0222] Furthermore, the receiving unit 201 receives downlink control signals related to the ES from the base station 10. When the receiving unit 201 receives a downlink control signal instructing the deactivation of the second cell, the control unit 203 determines which second cell to switch to the first cell from among the secondary cells other than the second cell to be deactivated. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch the second cell to the first cell and deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is suppressed.

[0223] The control unit 203 switches the second cell with the smallest or largest cell index among the second cells other than the second cell to be deactivated to the primary cell. This operation allows the terminal 20 to dynamically switch the second cell to the first cell and deactivate the second cell without going through the upper layer, thereby suppressing communication delay. In addition, the processing load on the terminal 20 is reduced.

[0224] This concludes the explanation of this disclosure. The division of items in the above explanation is not essential to this disclosure, and matters described in two or more items may be combined as needed, and matters described in one item may be applied to matters described in another item (as long as they do not contradict each other).

[0225] <Hardware configuration, etc.> The block diagram used in the description of the above embodiment shows functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or it may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wired or wireless connections). A functional block may also be realized by combining the above one device or the above multiple devices with software.

[0226] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, judgment, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigation, exploration, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, assumption, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), and assigning. For example, a functional block (configuration part) that enables transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, the method of implementation is not particularly limited.

[0227] For example, a base station, terminal, etc. in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that processes the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a base station 10 and terminal 20 according to this embodiment. The base station 10 and terminal 20 described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, memory 1002, storage 1003, communication device 1004, input device 1005, output device 1006, bus 1007, etc.

[0228] In the following explanation, the term "device" can be replaced with "circuit," "device," "unit," etc. The hardware configuration of the base station 10 and terminal 20 may include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or it may be configured to omit some of the devices.

[0229] Each function in the base station 10 and terminal 20 is realized by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, which allows the processor 1001 to perform calculations and control communication by the communication device 1004, or control at least one of reading and writing data to the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0230] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer, for example, by running an operating system. The processor 1001 may be composed of a central processing unit (CPU) that includes interfaces with peripheral devices, control devices, arithmetic units, registers, etc. For example, the control unit 103 and control unit 203 described above may be implemented by the processor 1001.

[0231] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc., from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executes various processes accordingly. The program used is one that causes the computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. For example, the control unit 203 of the terminal 20 may be implemented by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and running on the processor 1001, and other functional blocks may be implemented similarly. The above-described various processes have been explained as being executed by one processor 1001, but they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may also be transmitted from the network via a telecommunications line.

[0232] Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory, etc. Memory 1002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc., for carrying out a wireless communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0233] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: an optical disc such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disc, a digital multipurpose disc, a Blu-ray® disc), a smart card, flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy® disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0234] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting / receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, duplexer, filter, frequency synthesizer, etc., in order to implement at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, the above-mentioned transmitting unit 101, receiving unit 102, receiving unit 201, and transmitting unit 202 may be implemented by the communication device 1004.

[0235] The input device 1005 is an input device that accepts input from an external source (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.). The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to an external source (e.g., a display, speaker, LED lamp, etc.). The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be configured as an integrated unit (e.g., a touch panel).

[0236] Furthermore, each device, such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or different buses may be configured for each device.

[0237] Furthermore, the base station 10 and terminal 20 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and some or all of each functional block may be realized by such hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0238] <Information notification, signaling> The notification of information is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be carried out by other means. For example, the notification of information may be carried out by physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling, broadcast information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (System Information Block))), other signals, or a combination thereof. RRC signaling may also be called RRC messages, and may be, for example, RRC Connection Setup messages, RRC Connection Reconfiguration messages, etc.

[0239] <Applicable Systems> The embodiments described herein may apply to systems utilizing LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (xG (where x is, for example, an integer or decimal)), FRA (Future Radio Access), NR (new Radio), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), W-CDMA®, GSM®, CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi®), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX®), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth®, and other appropriate systems, as well as to at least one of the next-generation systems that are extended, modified, created, or defined based thereon. Furthermore, multiple systems may be applied in combination (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

[0240] <Processing Procedures, etc.> The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be reordered, provided they are consistent with each other. For example, the methods described herein present various step elements in an exemplary order and are not limited to that specific order.

[0241] <Base station operation> The specific operations described in this disclosure as being performed by a base station may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal can be performed by the base station and at least one other network node (for example, an MME or S-GW, but not limited to these). Although the above example illustrates a case where there is one other network node besides the base station, it may also be a combination of multiple other network nodes (for example, an MME and an S-GW).

[0242] <Input / Output Direction> Information, etc. (see the section on <Information, Signals>) can be output from a higher layer (or lower layer) to a lower layer (or higher layer). Input and output may occur via multiple network nodes.

[0243] <Handling of input / output information, etc.> Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or appended to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be transmitted to other devices.

[0244] <Judgment method> The determination may be made by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), by a boolean value (true or false), or by a numerical comparison (for example, a comparison with a predetermined value).

[0245] <Variations in form, etc.> Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be used individually, in combination, or switched between as needed during implementation. Furthermore, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is") is not limited to explicit notification, but may also be implicit (e.g., by not providing such notification).

[0246] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the intent and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the descriptions in the present disclosure are illustrative and not intended to be restrictive in any way.

[0247] <Software> Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on, whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or by any other name.

[0248] Furthermore, software, instructions, information, etc., may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) and wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included in the definition of a transmission medium.

[0249] <Information, Signals> The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of the various different techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0250] In addition, terms used in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, cell, frequency carrier, etc.

[0251] <Systems, Networks> The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure are interchangeable.

[0252] <Parameters, channel name> Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a given value, or other corresponding information. For example, wireless resources may be indicated by an index.

[0253] The names used for the parameters described above are not restrictive in any way. Furthermore, the formulas and other expressions using these parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed in this disclosure. Various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable name, and therefore, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not restrictive in any way.

[0254] <Base station> In the present disclosure, terms such as "Base Station (BS)", "radio base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission / reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", "component carrier", etc. may be used interchangeably. The base station may also be referred to by terms such as macro cell, small cell, femto cell, pico cell, etc.

[0255] A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells. When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each of the smaller areas can also provide communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (RRH: Remote Radio Head)). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a part or the whole of the coverage area of at least one of the base station and the base station subsystem that provides communication services in this coverage.

[0256] <Mobile Station> In the present disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)", "user terminal", "User Equipment (UE)", "terminal", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0257] The mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as 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, client, or some other suitable terms.

[0258] <Base station / mobile station> At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be referred to as a transmission device, a reception device, a communication device, etc. Note that at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving body, the moving body itself, etc. The moving body refers to a movable object, and the moving speed is arbitrary. Also, the case where the moving body is stopped is naturally included. The moving body includes, for example, vehicles, transport vehicles, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, connected cars, shovel cars, bulldozers, wheel loaders, dump trucks, forklifts, trains, buses, rear cars, rickshaws, ships (ship and other watercraft), airplanes, rockets, artificial satellites, drones (registered trademark), multicopters, quadcopters, balloons, and things mounted on these, and is not limited thereto. Further, the moving body may be a moving body that autonomously travels based on an operation command. It may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), a moving body that moves unmanned (e.g., a drone, an autonomous driving vehicle, etc.), or a robot (humanoid or unmanned). Note that at least one of the base station and the mobile station also includes a device that does not necessarily move during communication operation. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

[0259] Also, the base station in the present disclosure may be read as a terminal. For example, for a configuration in which communication between the base station and the terminal is replaced with communication between a plurality of terminals (which may be referred to as, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), etc.), the embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied. In this case, the functions of the above-described base station 10 may be configured as functions of the terminal 20. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to inter-terminal communication (e.g., "side"). For example, an uplink channel, a downlink channel, etc. may be read as a side channel.

[0260] Similarly, the term "terminal" in this disclosure may be replaced with "base station." In this case, the base station 10 may be configured to have the same functions as the terminal 20 described above.

[0261] Figure 13 shows an example of the configuration of vehicle 2001. As shown in Figure 13, vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021-2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013. Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be applied to a communication device mounted on vehicle 2001, for example, to the communication module 2013.

[0262] The drive unit 2002 consists of, for example, an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle) and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel, which is operated by the user.

[0263] The electronic control unit 2010 consists of a microprocessor 2031, memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and communication ports (IO ports) 2033. Signals from various sensors 2021 to 2029 installed in the vehicle 2001 are input to the electronic control unit 2010. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0264] Signals from various sensors 2021-2029 include current signals from current sensor 2021 which senses motor current, front and rear wheel rotation speed signals obtained by rotation speed sensor 2022, front and rear wheel air pressure signals obtained by air pressure sensor 2023, vehicle speed signals obtained by vehicle speed sensor 2024, acceleration signals obtained by acceleration sensor 2025, accelerator pedal depression signals obtained by accelerator pedal sensor 2029, brake pedal depression signals obtained by brake pedal sensor 2026, shift lever operation signals obtained by shift lever sensor 2027, and detection signals obtained by object detection sensor 2028 for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc.

[0265] The Information Services Unit 2012 consists of various devices for providing (outputting) various types of information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, including a car navigation system, audio system, speakers, television, and radio, and one or more ECUs that control these devices. The Information Services Unit 2012 uses information acquired from external devices via a communication module 2013, etc., to provide various multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 2001.

[0266] The information service unit 12 may include input devices that accept input from the outside (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, touch panel, etc.) or output devices that perform output to the outside (e.g., display, speaker, LED lamp, touch panel, etc.).

[0267] The driver assistance system unit 2030 consists of various devices that provide functions to prevent accidents or reduce the driver's workload, such as millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), cameras, positioning locators (e.g., GNSS), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) maps, autonomous vehicle (AV) maps, etc.), gyro systems (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chips, and AI processors, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driver assistance system unit 2030 also sends and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driver assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

[0268] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 2001 via its communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 sends and receives data via its communication port 2033 to the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, the microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021-29 provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0269] The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with external devices. For example, it can send and receive various types of information to and from external devices via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station or a mobile station.

[0270] The communication module 2013 may transmit at least one of the following to an external device via wireless communication: signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2029 input to the electronic control unit 2010, information obtained based on said signals, and information based on input from an external source (user) obtained via the information service unit 2012. The electronic control unit 2010, the various sensors 2021 to 2029, the information service unit 2012, etc., may also be called input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communication module 2013 may include information based on the above input.

[0271] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, vehicle-to-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from an external device and displays it on the information service unit 2012 installed in the vehicle 2001. The information service unit 2012 may also be called an output unit, which outputs information (for example, it outputs information to devices such as displays and speakers based on the PDSCH (or data / information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 2013).

[0272] Furthermore, the communication module 2013 stores various information received from external devices in memory 2032, which is available to the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axles 2009, sensors 2021-2029, etc., which are provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0273] <Meaning and interpretation of terms> As used in this disclosure, the terms “determining” and “determining” may encompass a wide variety of actions. “Determining” may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), and ascertaining. “Determining” may also include, for example, receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, and accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory). Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after some action. Also, "judgment (decision)" can be reinterpreted as "assuming," "expecting," or "considering."

[0274] The terms "connected" and "coupled," or any variations thereof, mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and can include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "accessed." As used in this disclosure, two elements can be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, microwave region, and optical (both visible and invisible) region, among some non-limiting and non-inclusive examples.

[0275] <Reference Signal> The reference signal can also be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal) and may be called a Pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0276] <Meaning of "based on"> As used in this disclosure, the description "based on" does not mean "based only on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the description "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0277] <( <"First," "Second"> Any reference to an element using designations such as "first," "second," etc. used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations can be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in any form.

[0278] <Means> In the configurations of each of the above-described apparatuses, the "means" may be replaced with a "section", "circuit", "device", or the like.

[0279] <Open format> In the present disclosure, when terms such as "include", "including", and their variants are used, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising". Further, the term "or" used in the present disclosure is intended not to be an exclusive disjunction.

[0280] <Time units such as TTI, frequency units such as RB, radio frame configuration> A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be referred to as a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (for example, 1 ms) that does not depend on numerology.

[0281] Numerology may be a communication parameter applied to at least one of transmission and reception of a certain signal or channel. Numerology may indicate, for example, at least one of subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame configuration, specific filtering processing performed by a transceiver in the frequency domain, specific windowing processing performed by a transceiver in the time domain, and the like.

[0282] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbols, etc.). A slot may also be a time unit based on neurology.

[0283] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain. Minislots may also be called subslots. Minislots may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0284] Wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols all represent units of time when transmitting a signal. Different names may be used for each of these terms.

[0285] For example, one subframe may be called a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one mini-slot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of a subframe and a TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, mini-slot, etc., instead of a subframe.

[0286] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest unit of time for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, the base station schedules each user terminal to allocate wireless resources (such as the frequency bandwidth and transmission power available to each user terminal) in TTI units. However, the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0287] TTI may be a transmission time unit for channel-encoded data packets (transport blocks), code blocks, code words, etc., or it may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. Given a TTI, the actual time interval (e.g., number of symbols) to which the transport blocks, code blocks, code words, etc. are mapped may be shorter than the given TTI.

[0288] Furthermore, if one slot or one mini-slot is referred to as TTI, then one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (number of mini-slots) that constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

[0289] A TTI with a time length of 1ms may also be called a normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may also be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, mini slot, sub slot, slot, etc.

[0290] Furthermore, long TTIs (e.g., normal TTIs, subframes, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a time length exceeding 1 ms, and short TTIs (e.g., shortened TTIs, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a TTI length less than that of a long TTI but 1 ms or more.

[0291] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and in the frequency domain, it may contain one or more consecutive subcarriers. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be the same regardless of the neurology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be determined based on the neurology.

[0292] Furthermore, the time domain of RB may contain one or more symbols and may be the length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. One TTI, one subframe, etc., may each consist of one or more resource blocks.

[0293] One or more RBs may also be called a Physical RB (PRB), Sub-Carrier Group (SCG), Resource Element Group (REG), PRB pair, RB pair, etc.

[0294] Furthermore, a resource block may consist of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area comprising one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0295] A Bandwidth Part (BWP), also known as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of consecutive common resource blocks (RBs) for a given neurology in a given carrier. Here, the common RBs may be identified by an index of the RBs relative to the carrier's common reference point. A PRB may be defined and numbered within a BWP.

[0296] A BWP may include BWPs for UL (UL BWP) and BWPs for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured within a single carrier for a UE.

[0297] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE does not need to assume that it will send or receive a given signal / channel outside of the active BWP. In this disclosure, terms such as "cell" and "carrier" may be read as "BWP".

[0298] The structures described above, such as wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols, are merely illustrative. For example, the number of subframes included in a wireless frame, the number of slots per subframe or wireless frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, and the number of symbols, symbol length, and cyclic prefix (CP) length within a TTI can be varied in various ways.

[0299] <Maximum transmission power> The term "maximum transmit power" as used in this disclosure may mean the maximum transmit power, the nominal UE maximum transmit power, or the rated UE maximum transmit power.

[0300] <article> In this disclosure, if articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the fact that the noun following these articles is plural.

[0301] <"Different"> In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combine" may be interpreted similarly to "different." [Industrial applicability]

[0302] One aspect of this disclosure is useful for wireless communication systems. [Explanation of symbols]

[0303] 10 base station 20 devices 101,202 Transmitter 102, 201 Receiver 103,203 Control Unit

Claims

1. A receiving unit that receives downlink control signals related to power saving at a base station, When the downlink control signal that instructs a secondary cell to switch to a primary cell is received, the control unit deactivates secondary cells other than the secondary cell that was instructed to switch, It has, The control unit deactivates a secondary cell having an identifier different from the identifier of the secondary cell to be switched to the primary cell, as instructed in the downlink control signal. Terminal.

2. The device, Upon receiving a downlink control signal related to the base station's power saving, When the downlink control signal instructing a secondary cell to switch to a primary cell is received, the secondary cells other than the secondary cell instructed to switch are deactivated. The downstream control signal instructs to deactivate a secondary cell having an identifier different from the identifier of the secondary cell that is switched to the primary cell. Communication method.

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