Communication devices, communication methods, and integrated circuits

Abstract

This communication device comprises: a control circuit that controls frequency hopping in which transmission is performed at the same frequency position in a plurality of intervals, on the basis of a transmission interval that is set for repeated transmissions of a signal; and a transmission circuit that transmits the signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In recent years, driven by the expansion and diversification of wireless services, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to develop dramatically. The use of mobile communication is expanding beyond information terminals such as smartphones to encompass all fields, including automobiles, homes, home appliances, and industrial equipment. To support this service diversification, significant improvements in the performance and functionality of mobile communication systems are required, in addition to increased system capacity, to meet various requirements such as an increase in the number of connected devices and low latency. Fifth-generation mobile communication systems (5G) have the characteristics of high capacity and ultra-high speed (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), massive machine type communication (mMTC: massive machine type communication), and ultra-high reliability and low latency (URLLC: Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication). By utilizing these characteristics, wireless communication can be flexibly provided to meet a wide variety of needs.

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an international standardization organization, is working on the specification of New Radio (NR) as one of the 5G wireless interfaces. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS38.104 V15.15.0, "NR Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception (Release 15)," September 2021. [Non-licensed document 2] 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #90e, RP-202928, “New WID on NR coverage enhancements,” China Telecom, December 2020. [Non-licensed document 3] 3GPP TS38.211 V16.7.0, “NR Physical channels and modulation (Release 16),” September 2021.

Non-licensed Document 4

Non-licensed Document 5

Non-licensed Document 6

Non-licensed Document 7

[0005] However, there is room for consideration regarding methods to improve communication efficiency on the uplink.

[0006] Non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure contribute to the provision of communication devices and communication methods that can improve communication efficiency in uplinks.

[0007] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a control circuit that controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple sections based on transmission sections set for repeated transmission of a signal, and a transmission circuit that transmits a signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

[0008] These comprehensive or specific embodiments may be implemented as systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, or recording media, or as any combination of systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, and recording media.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, communication efficiency in the uplink can be improved.

[0010] Further advantages and effects of one embodiment of this disclosure will be made apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or effects are provided by several embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them are necessarily provided in order to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] Figure showing an example of the configuration of the configured Time Domain Window (TDW) [Figure 2] Figure showing an example of the configuration of the configured TDW [Figure 3] Figure showing an example of inter-slot frequency hopping [Figure 4] Figure showing an example of inter-slot frequency hopping [Figure 5] Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 6] Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 7] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of part of a base station [Figure 8] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of part of a terminal [Figure 9] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a base station [Figure 10] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal [Figure 11] Flowchart showing an example of an operation related to the setting of frequency hopping [Figure 12] Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 13] Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 14] Flowchart showing an example of an operation related to the setting of frequency hopping [Figure 15] Figure showing an example of a slot format [Figure 16] Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 17] [[ID=5l]]Figure showing an example of repetition transmission [Figure 18] Figure of an exemplary architecture of the 3GPP NR system [Figure 19] Schematic diagram showing the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC [Figure 20] Sequence diagram of the procedure for setting up / resetting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection [Figure 21] This schematic diagram illustrates usage scenarios for high-capacity, high-speed communication (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), massive machine type communications (mMTC: massive machine type communications), and highly reliable, ultra-low-latency communications (URLLC: Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications). [Figure 22] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0013] In NR, for example, in addition to frequency bands below 6GHz, mainly the 700MHz to 3.5GHz band used for cellular communications (for example, also called Frequency Range 1 (FR1)), millimeter-wave bands such as 28GHz or 39GHz (for example, also called FR2) that can secure a wide bandwidth may be utilized (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Furthermore, in FR1, for example, higher frequency bands may be used compared to the frequency bands used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 3G (3rd Generation mobile communication systems), such as the 3.5GHz band. The higher the frequency band, the greater the radio wave propagation loss tends to be, and the more the radio wave reception quality tends to deteriorate. For this reason, in NR, for example, when higher frequency bands are used compared to LTE or 3G, it is expected that a communication area (or coverage) of the same level as that of Radio Access Technology (RAT) such as LTE or 3G will be secured, in other words, appropriate communication quality will be secured. For example, in Release 17 (referred to as "Rel.17"), methods for improving coverage in NR are considered (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0014] [Examples of NR technology] In NR, for example, a terminal (also called User Equipment (UE)) sends and receives data according to resource allocations indicated by at least one of the downlink control signals (e.g., DCI: Downlink Control Information) of the physical layer (Layer 1) transmitted on the downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel) from a base station (also called gNB), and the Radio Resource Control (RRC) corresponding to Layer 3 (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3-7).

[0015] On the uplink (UL), for example, a terminal transmits an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel) according to resource allocation from the base station (e.g., Grant or UL grant). Resource allocation information included in at least one of the DCI and RRC may include, for example, information about the time-domain resource on which to transmit PUSCH. For example, information about the time-domain resource may include information about the timing from when the terminal receives PDCCH until it transmits PUSCH (e.g., K2), the starting symbol position of PUSCH in the slot, or the number of symbols on which to transmit PUSCH.

[0016] For example, a terminal may feed back a response signal (ACK / NACK: Acknowledgement / Negative Acknowledgement, or Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)-ACK) indicating the success or failure of decoding for a downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel) to the base station using an uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 5).

[0017] Furthermore, the terminal may, for example, use PUCCH to transmit to the base station, in addition to ACK / NACK, an uplink radio resource allocation request (e.g., SR: Scheduling Request) and downlink channel state information (e.g., CSI: Channel State Information). Information transmitted using PUCCH, such as ACK / NACK, CSI, and SR, is also called, for example, uplink control information (e.g., UCI: Uplink Control Information).

[0018] Furthermore, for example, when sending an ACK / NACK for a PDSCH assigned by DCI, the terminal may send a PUCCH according to the resource allocation indicated by the DCI from the base station. The control information included in the DCI may include, for example, information about the PUCCH resource. For example, the information about the PUCCH resource may include timing information, such as how many slots after the slot in which the terminal received the PDSCH the PUCCH will be sent. This timing information may be referred to as K1 or PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indication.

[0019] [Repetition] For NR uplink transmissions, a method of transmitting PUSCH or PUCCH using multiple slots (also called Repetition or repeated transmission) is supported. When Repetition is applied, information about the time-domain resource transmitting PUSCH or information about the PUCCH resource may include information about the number of repetitions.

[0020] For example, NR Release 15 or NR Release 16 (referred to as "Rel.15 / 16," for example) specifies two methods for PUSCH repetition (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 6).

[0021] The first PUSCH repetition method is slot-based repetition, where the same time resource allocation is applied across multiple consecutive slots. Below, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting".

[0022] The second PUSCH repetition method is a repetition that allows one or more PUSCHs to be transmitted repeatedly within a single slot. Hereafter, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type B". In PUSCH repetition Type B, the base station may, for example, notify the terminal of the time-domain resources and the number of repetitions for the first PUSCH transmission. For time-domain resource allocation for the second and subsequent PUSCH transmissions, for example, time-domain resources corresponding to symbols that are consecutive to and have the same number of symbols as the previous PUSCH transmission may be allocated to the PUSCH.

[0023] In PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, the number of repeating slots can be a value counted based on consecutive slots, for example. NR Release 17 (represented as "Rel.17," for example) explores a method to set the number of repeating slots to a value counted based on the available uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission as an extension of PUSCH repetition Type A (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). Hereafter, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting." Also, for example, PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting may each simply be referred to as PUSCH repetition Type A.

[0024] Furthermore, regarding PUCCH repetition, a method is specified for setting the number of repeating slots to a value counted based on the uplink slots (or sub-slots) available for PUCCH transmission (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 5).

[0025] Furthermore, in NR, for example, a reference signal (e.g., DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal) used for channel estimation for demodulation is placed within the PUSCH or PUCCH resource. The DMRS may be placed, for example, before the slot. Alternatively, the DMRS may be placed, for example, on multiple symbols within the slot (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3 or 6). In Rel. 15 / 16, for example, when a PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition is applied, the DMRS settings in each slot (or sub-slot) or each repetition may be the same. For example, the DMRS settings may include information such as the number of DMRS symbols, DMRS position, or DMRS type within the slot (or sub-slot) or each PUSCH transmission (PUSCH occasion).

[0026] [Joint channel estimation] For example, in communication environments where coverage expansion may be performed, such as those with lower signal-to-noise power ratios (SNR) or signal-to-interference plus noise power ratios (SINR), channel estimation accuracy tends to degrade.

[0027] To improve coverage, for example, the introduction of repetition is expected. NR Rel. 15 / 16 stipulates (or restricts) that channel estimation results demodulated (or estimated) by DMRS can only be used in slots containing DMRS (for example, they cannot be used in slots other than those containing DMRS).

[0028] On the other hand, NR Rel.17 explores techniques to improve channel estimation accuracy, such as a method for synthesizing DMRS from multiple slots or repetitions (e.g., a channel estimation method spanning multiple intervals) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). The method for synthesizing DMRS from multiple slots or repetitions is also called inter-slot channel estimation, joint channel estimation, or DMRS bundling. By introducing the method for synthesizing DMRS from multiple slots or repetitions, the received SNR of the DMRS used for channel estimation can be improved, for example, by eliminating the restrictions on using channel estimation results demodulated by the aforementioned DMRS.

[0029] Joint channel estimation assumes, for example, the synthesis of in-phase signals across multiple slots, and that in repeat transmission, the transmitted power of the transmitted signal within a certain interval is consistent and no phase discontinuities occur. NR Rel. 17 considers the introduction of configured TDW (or nominal TDW) and actual TDW as time domain windows (e.g., TDW) to support joint channel estimation (DMRS bundling) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 8). Below, configured TDW may be referred to as "cTDW" and actual TDW as "aTDW".

[0030] For example, when DMRS bundling is applied to a PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition, one or more consecutive or discontinuous configured TDWs may be applied to the PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition.

[0031] A configured TDW may have, for example, the following features (1) to (5) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 8).

[0032] (1) Each configured TDW consists of one or more consecutive physical slots.

[0033] (2) The length of the configured TDW (hereinafter referred to as "interval length (L)") may be explicitly set to a single value. For example, the interval length L of the configured TDW may be set by a higher layer signal. The maximum value of the configured TDW interval length L that a terminal can support may be reported from the terminal to the base station as, for example, the terminal's capability. Also, for example, if the configured TDW interval length L is not explicitly set by a higher layer signal, the terminal may set the configured TDW interval length L to a default value. Here, the default value of the configured TDW interval length L may be, for example, the minimum of the maximum value of the configured TDW interval length L that a terminal can support and the interval length for transmitting a PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition.

[0034] (3) The starting position of the first configured TDW is the slot corresponding to the first PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission of the PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition.

[0035] (4) The starting position of other (second and subsequent) configured TDWs may be implicitly determined before the first PUSCH or PUCCH transmission of a PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition.

[0036] For example, in PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, configured TDWs are configured consecutively, and the starting position of other (second and subsequent) configured TDWs is the physical slot following the last slot included in the previous configured TDW.

[0037] Furthermore, for example, in PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting or PUCCH repetition, the configured TDW is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH or PUCCH transmission. For example, the starting position of other (second and subsequent) configured TDWs is the available slot following the last available slot included in the previous configured TDW.

[0038] (5) The end position of the last configured TDW is the slot corresponding to the last PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission of the PUSCH repetition or PUCCH repetition.

[0039] The above describes some examples of the features of configured TDW.

[0040] Figures 1 and 2 show examples of configured TDW settings for repetition transmission. In Figures 1 and 2, as an example, the number of PUSCH repetitions or PUCCH repetitions is set to 8, and the configured TDW interval length L = 4 slots. Furthermore, Figure 1 shows an example of configured TDW settings for PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, and Figure 2 shows an example of configured TDW settings for PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting or PUCCH repetition.

[0041] For example, in Figure 1, configured TDWs (e.g., cTDW#0 and cTDW#1) are set in each of the four slots with slot index #0 to #3 (for example, also referred to as slots #0 to #3; the same applies hereafter) and the four slots with slot index #4 to #7. For example, in Figure 1, a terminal may perform push repetition in slots #0 to #7. Also, in Figure 1, the base station may perform channel estimation by DMRS bundling in units of cTDW#0 set in slots #0 to #3 during push repetition, and in units of cTDW#1 set in slots #4 to #7.

[0042] Furthermore, in Figure 2, for example, configured TDWs (e.g., cTDW0, cTDW#1, and cTDW#2) are set in each of the following consecutive slots corresponding to the uplink slot (UL): three slots numbered #2 to #4, three slots numbered #7 to #9, and two slots numbered #12 and #13. For example, in Figure 2, a terminal may perform PUSCH repetition in slots #2 to #4, #7 to #9, #12, and #13. Also, in Figure 2, the base station may perform channel estimation by DMRS bundling in units of cTDW#0 set in slots #2 to #4, channel estimation by DMRS bundling in units of cTDW#1 set in slots #7 to #9, and channel estimation by DMRS bundling in units of cTDW#2 set in slots #12 and #13 during PUSCH repetition.

[0043] Furthermore, for example, one or more actual TDWs may be implicitly set within a single configured TDW interval.

[0044] The actual TDW may have the following characteristics, for example (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 8).

[0045] (1) The starting position of the first actual TDW is the slot corresponding to the first PUSCH transmission or PUCCH transmission within the configured TDW interval.

[0046] (2) After the start of actual TDW, the terminal is required to maintain consistency in the transmit power and phase continuity of the transmitted signal until at least one of the following conditions (2-1) and (2-2) is met. When the following conditions are met, actual TDW ends. Condition (2-1): The actual TDW reaches the last PUSCH or PUCCH transmission within the configured TDW interval. Condition (2-2): An event occurs that breaks the consistency or phase continuity of the transmitted signal with respect to the transmitted power.

[0047] (3) If the consistency or phase continuity of the transmitted signal with respect to the transmitted power is broken by an event, whether or not to generate (or set) a new actual TDW depends on the terminal's capability to restart DMRS bundling.

[0048] The above explains some examples of the features of actual TDW.

[0049] Events that disrupt the consistency and phase continuity of the transmitted signal's transmit power include, for example, push transmission or dropping or cancellation of push signals, downlink slotting or reception of downlink signals, and frequency hopping. However, events that disrupt the consistency and phase continuity of the transmitted signal's transmit power are not limited to these, and other events may also occur.

[0050] Based on the above, it is assumed that in practice, the transmit power of the transmitted signal will be consistent within the actual TDW interval, and that no phase discontinuities will occur. For this reason, DMRS bundling (or inter-slot channel estimation, joint channel estimation) is applicable to the actual TDW interval. For example, if no events occur within the configured TDW interval that break the consistency and phase continuity of the transmit power of the transmitted signal, then the actual TDW and the configured TDW will coincide.

[0051] [Frequency hopping] To improve coverage, the application of frequency hopping is also required. NR Rel.15 / 16 applies a method to inter-slot frequency hopping in repetition transmissions by setting two resource block (RB) positions and switching the RB position to which the PUSCH or PUCCH signal is transmitted for each slot (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 5 or 6).

[0052] For example, in inter-slot frequency hopping during PUSCH repetition transmission, the terminal may determine the frequency position RBstart(ns) for transmitting PUSCH based on the physical slot number ns as shown in equation (1).

number

[0053] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from frequency resource allocation information included in at least one of the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) and upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC), RBoffset indicates the offset amount between two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping (e.g., two hops (or frequency hops)), and NBWP size This indicates the size of the bandwidth part (BWP) configured on the device.

[0054] Figure 3 shows an example of inter-slot frequency hopping in PUSCH repetition transmission. In the example shown in Figure 3, PUSCH repetition is set across eight slots with slot numbers (ns) #1 to #8. For example, according to equation (1), PUSCH is transmitted at RB position RBstart in slots with odd slot numbers ns=#1, #3, #5, #6 (Repetition #0, #2, #4, #6), and PUSCH is transmitted at RB position (RBstart + RBoffset) in slots with even slot numbers ns=#2, #4, #6, #8 (Repetition #1, #3, #5, #7).

[0055] Furthermore, for example, in inter-slot frequency hopping during PUCCH repetition transmission, the terminal may determine the frequency position RB(n') for transmitting PUCCH based on the slot number n' within the PUCCH repetition transmission interval (for example, the slot number relative to the PUCCH transmission interval) as shown in equation (2).

number

[0056] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 is the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 are the first and second RB positions, respectively, set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set).

[0057] Figure 4 shows an example of inter-slot frequency hopping in PUCCH repetition transmission. In the example shown in Figure 4, a PUCCH repetition is set up across eight slots with slot numbers (ns) #1 to #8. In this case, the relative slot numbers n' are set from n'=0 to n'=7, with the physical slot number #1, which corresponds to the first PUCCH transmission in the PUCCH repetition, being n'=0. Also, in the example shown in Figure 4, according to equation (2), PUCCH is transmitted at the first RB position RB0 in slots with even slot numbers n'=#0, #2, #4, #6 (Repetition #0, #2, #4, #6), and PUCCH is transmitted at the second RB position RB1 in slots with odd slot numbers #1, #3, #5, #7 (Repetition #1, #3, #5, #7).

[0058] This concludes the explanation of frequency hopping.

[0059] In the inter-slot frequency hopping described above, for example, as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4, the RB position hops from slot to slot, resulting in events occurring in each slot that break the consistency or phase continuity of the transmitted signal's transmit power, making it difficult to apply DMRS bundling. For example, in repetition transmission, in order to obtain the effect of improving channel estimation accuracy by applying DMRS bundling and to obtain the frequency diversity effect by applying frequency hopping (for example, to maintain consistency and phase continuity of the transmitted signal's transmit power), it is expected that frequency hopping (or frequency hopping patterns) will be introduced in which transmissions are performed continuously at the same frequency position (e.g., RB position) over a certain interval (e.g., between multiple slots).

[0060] For example, there is room for consideration regarding the setting of frequency hopping patterns that transmit at the same RB position within a certain interval (e.g., between multiple slots).

[0061] Hereinafter, a certain interval in which transmissions are made at the same RB position will be referred to as a "hopping interval" or "hopping section".

[0062] For example, when both frequency hopping and DMRS bundling are applied to a terminal, it is being considered that the terminal sequentially determines the hopping interval and the configured TDW. The terminal may set parameters related to the hopping interval and parameters related to the interval length of the configured TDW, respectively.

[0063] For example, if a terminal is notified (or configured) of parameters related to the hopping interval, it may configure the hopping interval based on the value (configured value) of the notified parameters. On the other hand, if the terminal is not notified (or configured) of parameters related to the hopping interval, it is being considered to configure the interval length of the configured TDW as the hopping interval.

[0064] If the hopping interval is set to a value similar to the interval length of the configured TDW, for example, if the frequency hopping pattern is determined based on the physical slot number, similar to the push repetition in NR Rel.15 / 16, there may be cases where the hopping interval and the configured TDW interval in the DMRS bundling do not match.

[0065] For example, in inter-slot frequency hopping during PUSCH repeat transmission, the terminal may determine the frequency position RBstart(ns) for transmitting PUSCH based on the physical slot number ns, as shown in equation (3).

number

[0066] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information contained in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP size indicates the BWP size set on the terminal. NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping.

[0067] Figures 5 and 6 show examples of push repetitions applying frequency hopping and DMRS bundling. In Figures 5 and 6, as an example, the number of push repetitions is set to 8, and the hopping interval length and configured TDW interval length L are set to 4 slots. Figure 5 shows an example of push repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, and Figure 6 shows an example of push repetition Type A with available slot counting.

[0068] In Figures 5 and 6, for example, a hopping interval with a length of 4 slots may be set sequentially starting from the slot with physical slot number #0. Also, in Figures 5 and 6, a configured TDW based on L=4 may be set within an 8-slot PUSCH repetition interval. In Figures 5 and 6, the hopping interval and the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling do not coincide.

[0069] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, if the hopping interval and the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling do not match, frequency hopping (e.g., switching of RB position) occurs within the configured TDW interval. Therefore, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, multiple actual TDWs may be generated within the configured TDW interval. In this case, DMRS bundling is performed on an actual TDW interval basis. Consequently, since DMRS bundling with fewer slots is applied compared to the number of slots set in the configured TDW, the effect of improving channel estimation accuracy may be reduced.

[0070] In one non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure, a method for improving channel estimation accuracy when applying frequency hopping and DMRS bundling in repeat transmission is described.

[0071] For example, in one non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure, frequency hopping and DMRS bundling are applied to a repetition transmission, and the hopping interval is set to the interval length of the configured TDW. In this case, frequency hopping may be controlled so that the hopping interval and the configured TDW interval in the DMRS bundling are aligned. For example, the frequency hopping pattern (e.g., the pattern of RB positions used for transmission) may be determined based on the slot number relative to the configured TDW. This allows for improved channel estimation accuracy through the application of DMRS bundling and frequency diversity through the application of frequency hopping.

[0072] (Embodiment 1) [Overview of the communication system] Each embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a base station 100 and a terminal 200.

[0073] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a base station 100 (e.g., corresponding to a communication device) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the base station 100 shown in Figure 7, the control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple time intervals based on time intervals set for channel estimation (e.g., DMRS bundling). The receiving unit (e.g., corresponding to a receiving circuit) receives signals according to the frequency hopping control.

[0074] Figure 8 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal 200 (e.g., corresponding to a communication device) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the terminal 200 shown in Figure 8, the control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple time intervals based on time intervals set for channel estimation (e.g., DMRS bundling). The transmitting unit (e.g., corresponding to a transmitting circuit) transmits a signal in accordance with the frequency hopping control.

[0075] [Base station configuration] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a base station 100 according to Embodiment 1. In Figure 9, the base station 100 includes a control unit 101, a higher-level control signal generation unit 102, a downlink control information generation unit 103, an encoding unit 104, a modulation unit 105, a signal allocation unit 106, a transmission unit 107, a reception unit 108, an extraction unit 109, a demodulation unit 110, and a decoding unit 111.

[0076] For example, at least one of the control unit 101, higher-level control signal generation unit 102, downlink control information generation unit 103, encoding unit 104, modulation unit 105, signal allocation unit 106, extraction unit 109, demodulation unit 110, and decoding unit 111 shown in Figure 9 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 7. Also, for example, the receiving unit 108 shown in Figure 9 may be included in the receiving unit shown in Figure 7.

[0077] The control unit 101 determines, for example, information regarding the transmission of an uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) to the terminal 200, and outputs the determined information to the higher-level control signal generation unit 102. The control unit 101 also outputs the determined information to, for example, the extraction unit 109, the demodulation unit 110, and the decoding unit 111.

[0078] Information regarding the transmission of the uplink data signal may include, for example, information regarding time-domain resource allocation (e.g., information regarding the Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) table) or information regarding repeat transmission (e.g., the number of repeats). Information regarding the transmission of the uplink data signal may also include information regarding frequency-domain resource allocation (e.g., information regarding Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA)) or information regarding frequency hopping (e.g., hopping mode, hopping offset, hopping interval, or information regarding whether or not to apply hopping). Information regarding the transmission of the uplink data signal may also include, for example, information regarding DMRS bundling (e.g., information regarding whether or not to apply DMRS bundling, or the interval length of the configured TDW).

[0079] Furthermore, the control unit 101 determines, for example, information regarding the transmission of an uplink control signal (e.g., PUCCH) to the terminal 200, and outputs the determined information to at least one of the higher-level control signal generation unit 102 and the downlink control information generation unit 103. The control unit 101 also outputs the determined information to, for example, the extraction unit 109, the demodulation unit 110, and the decoding unit 111.

[0080] Information regarding the transmission of the uplink control signal may include, for example, information regarding the uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) resource, or information regarding repeat transmission (e.g., number of repeats). Information regarding the transmission of the uplink control signal may also include, for example, information regarding frequency hopping (e.g., hopping mode, hopping interval, information regarding whether or not hopping is applied). Furthermore, information regarding the transmission of the uplink control signal may also include, for example, information regarding DMRS bundling (e.g., information regarding whether or not DMRS bundling is applied, or the interval length of the configured TDW).

[0081] Furthermore, the control unit 101 determines, for example, downlink data signals (e.g., PDSCH), higher-level control signals, or information related to downlink signals for transmitting downlink control information (e.g., coding and coding scheme (MCS) and radio resource allocation), and outputs the determined information to the coding unit 104, the modulation unit 105, and the signal allocation unit 106. In addition, the control unit 101 outputs, for example, information related to downlink signals (e.g., data signals or higher-level control signals) to the downlink control information generation unit 103.

[0082] The higher-level control signal generation unit 102 generates a higher-level control signal bit sequence based on information input from the control unit 101, for example, and outputs the higher-level control signal bit sequence to the encoding unit 104.

[0083] The downlink control information generation unit 103 generates a downlink control information (e.g., DCI) bit sequence based on information input from the control unit 101, and outputs the generated DCI bit sequence to the encoding unit 104. Note that the control information may also be transmitted to multiple terminals.

[0084] The encoding unit 104 encodes, for example, downlink data (e.g., DL data signal), a bit sequence input from the higher-level control signal generation unit 102, or a DCI bit sequence input from the downlink control information generation unit 103, based on information input from the control unit 101. The encoding unit 104 outputs the encoded bit sequence to the modulation unit 105.

[0085] The modulation unit 105 modulates the encoded bit sequence input from the encoding unit 104 based on information input from the control unit 101, and outputs the modulated signal (e.g., a symbol sequence) to the signal assignment unit 106.

[0086] The signal assignment unit 106 maps a sequence of symbols (including, for example, downlink data signals or control signals) input from the modulation unit 105 to a radio resource, based on information indicating the radio resource input from the control unit 101, for example. The signal assignment unit 106 outputs the downlink signal to the transmission unit 107.

[0087] The transmitting unit 107 performs, for example, a waveform generation process such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the signal input from the signal assignment unit 106. Furthermore, in the case of OFDM transmission that adds a cyclic prefix (CP), the transmitting unit 107 performs an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) on the signal and adds the CP to the signal after the IFFT. The transmitting unit 107 also performs RF processing on the signal, such as D / A conversion or upconversion, and transmits the wireless signal to the terminal 200 via the antenna.

[0088] The receiving unit 108 performs RF processing, such as downconverting or A / D conversion, on the uplink signal from the terminal 200 received via the antenna. In the case of OFDM transmission, the receiving unit 108 also performs Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing on the received signal and outputs the resulting frequency domain signal to the extraction unit 109.

[0089] The extraction unit 109 extracts the portion of the radio resource from the received signal input from the receiving unit 108 that has an uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) or an uplink control signal (e.g., PUCCH) transmitted, based on information input from the control unit 101, and outputs the extracted radio resource portion to the demodulation unit 110.

[0090] The demodulation unit 110 demodulates, for example, the uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) or uplink control signal (e.g., PUCCH) input from the extraction unit 109 based on information input from the control unit 101. The demodulation unit 110 outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 111.

[0091] The decoding unit 111 performs error-correcting decoding of the uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) or uplink control signal (e.g., PUCCH) based on information input from the control unit 101 and the demodulation result input from the demodulation unit 110, and obtains the decoded received bit sequence (e.g., UL data signal or UCI).

[0092] [Device Configuration] Figure 10 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a terminal 200 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in Figure 10, the terminal 200 includes a receiving unit 201, an extraction unit 202, a demodulation unit 203, a decoding unit 204, a control unit 205, an encoding unit 206, a modulation unit 207, a signal assignment unit 208, and a transmission unit 209.

[0093] For example, at least one of the extraction unit 202, demodulation unit 203, decoding unit 204, control unit 205, encoding unit 206, modulation unit 207, and signal assignment unit 208 shown in Figure 10 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 8. Also, for example, the transmission unit 209 shown in Figure 10 may be included in the transmission unit shown in Figure 8.

[0094] The receiving unit 201 receives, for example, a downlink signal (e.g., downlink data signal or downlink control information) from the base station 100 via an antenna, and performs RF processing such as downconverting or A / D conversion on the wirelessly received signal to obtain a received signal (baseband signal). In addition, when the receiving unit 201 receives an OFDM signal, it performs FFT processing on the received signal to convert the received signal into the frequency domain. The receiving unit 201 outputs the received signal to the extraction unit 202.

[0095] The extraction unit 202 extracts the portion of the radio resource that may contain downlink control information from the received signal input from the receiving unit 201, based on information about the radio resource of the downlink control information input from the control unit 205, and outputs it to the demodulation unit 203. The extraction unit 202 also extracts the portion of the radio resource that contains the downlink data signal, based on information about the radio resource of the data signal input from the control unit 205, and outputs it to the demodulation unit 203.

[0096] The demodulation unit 203 demodulates the signal (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) input from the extraction unit 202 based on information input from the control unit 205, and outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 204.

[0097] The decoding unit 204, for example, uses the demodulation result input from the demodulation unit 203 based on the information input from the control unit 205 to perform error correction decoding of the PDCCH or PDSCH, and obtains, for example, downlink received data, upper layer control signals, or downlink control information. The decoding unit 204 outputs the upper layer control signals and downlink control information to the control unit 205 and outputs the downlink received data. The decoding unit 204 may also generate a response signal (for example, ACK / NACK) based on the decoding result of the downlink received data.

[0098] The control unit 205 determines the radio resources for at least one of PDSCH reception, PUSCH transmission, and PUCCH transmission based on the signal input from the decoding unit 204 (for example, upper-layer control signals or downlink control information). The control unit 205 outputs the determined information to, for example, the extraction unit 202, demodulation unit 203, encoding unit 206, modulation unit 207, and signal allocation unit 208.

[0099] The encoding unit 206 performs error-corrected encoding of an uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) or uplink control information (e.g., UCI) based on information input from the control unit 205. The encoding unit 206 outputs the encoded bit sequence to the modulation unit 207.

[0100] The modulation unit 207 modulates the encoded bit sequence input from the encoding unit 206 based on information input from the control unit 205, and outputs the modulated signal (symbol sequence) to the signal assignment unit 208.

[0101] The signal assignment unit 208 maps the signal input from the modulation unit 207 to a wireless resource, for example, based on information input from the control unit 205. The signal assignment unit 208 outputs the uplink signal to the transmission unit 209, for example, the signal to which the signal has been mapped.

[0102] The transmitting unit 209 generates a transmission signal waveform, such as OFDM, from the signal input from the signal assignment unit 208. Furthermore, in the case of OFDM transmission using CP, for example, the transmitting unit 209 performs IFFT processing on the signal and adds CP to the signal after IFFT. Alternatively, when generating a single-carrier waveform, the transmitting unit 209 may add a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) unit (not shown) after the modulation unit 207 or before the signal assignment unit 208. The transmitting unit 209 also performs RF processing, such as D / A conversion and upconversion, on the transmission signal and transmits the radio signal to the base station 100 via the antenna.

[0103] [Example of operation of base station 100 and terminal 200] An example of operation in a base station 100 and terminal 200 having the above configuration will be described.

[0104] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation related to setting frequency hopping at the base station 100 and the terminal 200.

[0105] In Figure 11, the base station 100 and the terminal 200 determine whether or not inter-slot frequency hopping is applied to the terminal 200 (enabled or disabled) (S101).

[0106] If inter-slot frequency hopping is not applied to terminal 200 (S101: Disabled), terminal 200 will, for example, not perform inter-slot frequency hopping (S102). Furthermore, base station 100 assumes, for example, that terminal 200 will not perform inter-slot frequency hopping.

[0107] On the other hand, if inter-slot frequency hopping is applied to terminal 200 (S101: Enabled), the base station 100 and terminal 200 determine whether a hopping interval has been set (for example, explicitly notified) to terminal 200 (S103).

[0108] If a hopping interval is set for terminal 200 (S103: Yes), the base station 100 and terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern based, for example, on a physical slot number (e.g., ns) (S104).

[0109] If no hopping interval is set for terminal 200 (S103: No), the base station 100 and terminal 200 determine whether or not DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 (S105).

[0110] If DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 (S105: Yes), the base station 100 and terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern based on a slot number (e.g., n') relative to the transmission interval of the repetition transmission (or the interval of the configured TDW in DMRS bundling) (S106).

[0111] Furthermore, if DMRS bundling is not applied to terminal 200 (S105: No), base station 100 and terminal 200 may, for example, set a default hopping pattern (S107). Here, the default hopping pattern may be, for example, a hopping pattern similar to NR Rel. 15 / 16 (for example, equation (1) or equation (2)).

[0112] The above describes an example of the operation related to setting frequency hopping in base station 100 and terminal 200.

[0113] Thus, in this embodiment, when inter-slot frequency hopping and DMRS bundling are applied to terminal 200, for example, if terminal 200 is not explicitly notified of the hopping interval, the base station 100 and terminal 200 determine the frequency hopping pattern based on the slot number relative to the transmission interval set for repetition transmission (or the interval of configured TDW in DMRS bundling).

[0114] The following describes examples of frequency hopping pattern settings for both PUSCH and PUCCH.

[0115] [In the case of PUSCH] Terminal 200 may be configured (or notified) with information regarding frequency hopping, such as the following:

[0116] Terminal 200 may, for example, set a higher-layer parameter (e.g., "frequencyHopping") relating to the frequency hopping mode. Here, frequencyHopping is a parameter that sets one of several frequency hopping modes, such as intra-slot frequency hopping or inter-slot frequency hopping.

[0117] Furthermore, terminal 200 may decide whether or not to apply frequency hopping (e.g., enabled or disabled) based on, for example, the value of the frequency hopping field included in DCI. For example, if the value of the frequency hopping field is set to "1", frequency hopping of the mode set by frequencyHopping is applied (enabled), and if the value of the frequency hopping field is different from "1" (e.g., "0"), frequency hopping does not need to be applied (disabled).

[0118] Furthermore, terminal 200 may decide whether or not to apply frequency hopping depending on whether the parameter "frequencyHoppingOffset" is set, for example, if the DCI does not include a frequency hopping field, or if it transmits data according to resource allocation instructed by RRC (for example, in the case of Configured grant Type 1). For example, if the frequency hopping offset frequencyHoppingOffset is set, frequency hopping of the mode set by frequencyHopping is applied (enabled), and if the frequency hopping offset frequencyHoppingOffset is not set, frequency hopping does not need to be applied (disabled).

[0119] Furthermore, terminal 200 may be configured with parameters related to the hopping interval (e.g., "PUSCH-HoppingInterval").

[0120] Terminal 200 may be configured (or notified) with information regarding DMRS bundling, for example, as follows:

[0121] Terminal 200 may, for example, configure higher-layer parameters related to DMRS bundling (e.g., "PUSCH-DMRS-bundling"). Here, PUSCH-DMRS-bundling is a parameter that sets whether or not to apply DMRS-bundling to PUSCH transmissions (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0122] Furthermore, terminal 200 may determine a configured TDW for applying DMRS bundling, for example, if DMRS bundling is configured. For example, terminal 200 may set parameters (e.g., "PUSCH-TimeDomainWindowLength") related to the interval length of the configured TDW (e.g., the slot length for which channel estimation is performed by DMRS bundling).

[0123] Furthermore, terminal 200 may report to base station 100 the segment length L (for example, the maximum value) of the configured TDW that terminal 200 can support as a capability of terminal 200.

[0124] Furthermore, for example, if the configured TDW interval length L is not explicitly set, terminal 200 may set the configured TDW interval length L to a default value. The default value may be, for example, the minimum of the maximum configured TDW interval length L that terminal 200 can support and the interval length over which PUSCH repetition is sent.

[0125] The parameters related to frequency hopping and DMRS bundling that can be set on terminal 200 have been explained above.

[0126] For example, in a PUSCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is enabled, terminal 200 sets the hopping interval length based on the value explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval when inter-slot frequency hopping is set by frequencyHopping and the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval (for example, S103:Yes in Figure 11) (for example, S104 in Figure 11). Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (for example, frequency hopping pattern) based on the physical slot number ns. For example, the frequency position (for example, starting RB) RBstart(ns) in slot #ns where PUSCH is transmitted may be determined as shown in equation (4) below.

number

[0127] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information contained in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP size This indicates the BWP size set for terminal 200. NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping.

[0128] Furthermore, in a PUSCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), if inter-slot frequency hopping is set by frequencyHopping, and the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is applied (enabled) by PUSCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S105:Yes in Figure 11), terminal 200 sets the hopping interval length to the same value as the interval length L of the configured TDW. Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission interval of the PUSCH repetition. For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUSCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (5) below.

number

[0129] Here, n' represents a relative slot number where n'=0 corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission in the transmission interval of a PUSCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information included in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP size This indicates the size of the BWP set for terminal 200. NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping, where NFH = L.

[0130] Furthermore, in a PUSCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), terminal 200 determines the hopping interval length to be 1 if inter-slot frequency hopping is set by frequencyHopping, the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is not applied (enabled) by PUSCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S105:No in Figure 11). Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (for example, frequency hopping pattern) based on the physical slot number ns. For example, the frequency position RBstart(ns) at which PUSCH is transmitted in slot #ns may be determined as shown in equation (6) below.

number

[0131] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information contained in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP size This indicates the size of the BWP set for terminal 200. Thus, for example, terminal 200 may be configured to have a frequency hopping pattern in which the RB position switches for each slot, similar to NR Rel.15 / 16.

[0132] Furthermore, the base station 100 may, for example, perform PUSCH and DMRS reception processing assuming the operation of the terminal 200 described above (transmission of PUSCH).

[0133] Figures 12 and 13 show examples of PUSCH repetition transmissions in which frequency hopping is applied (enabled), where inter-slot frequency hopping is set by frequencyHopping, the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is applied (enabled) by PUSCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S105:Yes in Figure 11), and where frequency hopping and DMRS bundling are applied.

[0134] In Figures 12 and 13, as an example, the number of PUSCH repetitions is set to 8 (for example, Repetition #0 to #7), and the hopping interval length and configured TDW interval length L are set to 4 slots. Figure 12 shows an example of PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, and Figure 13 shows an example of PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting.

[0135] For example, as shown in Figure 12, in PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, the frequency hopping interval is set from the first slot among the slots where configured TDW in DMRS bundling is set (e.g., physical slot number #2). Alternatively, as shown in Figure 12, the hopping interval is set from the slot corresponding to the first repetition transmission (Repetition #0) among the slots where the transmission interval of PUSCH repetition is set (e.g., physical slot number #2). In Figure 12, the frequency hopping pattern may be set based on relative slot numbers, with physical slot number #2 being slot number #0.

[0136] As shown in Figure 12, the frequency hopping interval is set to match the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling. As a result, frequency hopping occurs in units of configured TDW intervals, as shown in Figure 12. Therefore, as shown in Figure 12, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling across multiple slots within each interval of the configured TDW, for example. In other words, terminal 200 does not need to set multiple actual TDWs within the configured TDW interval. Thus, in Figure 12, DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 using the same number of slots as the number of slots set in the configured TDW, which improves channel estimation accuracy.

[0137] For example, as shown in Figure 13, in PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting, the frequency hopping interval is set from the first slot among the slots where the configured TDW in DMRS bundling is set (e.g., physical slot number #2). Alternatively, as shown in Figure 13, the hopping interval is set from the slot corresponding to the first repetition transmission (Repetition #0) among the slots where the transmission interval of PUSCH repetition is set (e.g., physical slot number #2).

[0138] Furthermore, in Figure 13, the frequency hopping pattern may be set based on a relative slot number, where physical slot number #2, which is the first slot where configured TDW is set (or the first slot where the transmission section of PUSCH repetition is set), is slot number #0.

[0139] As shown in Figure 13, the frequency hopping intervals are more likely to align with the configured TDW intervals in DMRS bundling compared to, for example, Figure 6. This makes frequency hopping more likely to occur on a configured TDW interval basis, as shown in Figure 13. Therefore, terminal 200 does not need to set multiple actual TDWs within a configured TDW interval. For example, in Figure 6, multiple actual TDWs are set within one configured TDW, whereas in Figure 13, only one actual TDW is set within one configured TDW. As a result, as shown in Figure 13, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling across multiple slots (e.g., available slots) within each interval of the configured TDW. Therefore, in Figure 13, DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 using more slots set in the configured TDW, thus improving channel estimation accuracy.

[0140] Thus, according to this embodiment, it becomes easier to align the hopping interval in frequency hopping with the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling. As a result, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling in units of configured TDW intervals, preventing degradation of the improvement effect on channel estimation accuracy.

[0141] Furthermore, if a hopping interval is explicitly set (for example, S103:Yes in Figure 11), a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number is applied. This makes it possible to align the frequency hopping patterns among multiple terminals 200, which has the advantage of facilitating scheduling at the base station 100 that takes multiple terminals into account.

[0142] [In the case of PUCCH] Terminal 200 may, for example, set higher-layer parameters related to interslot frequency hopping (e.g., "interslotFrequencyHopping"). Here, interslotFrequencyHopping is a parameter that indicates whether or not to apply interslot frequency hopping, which involves PUCCH transmission in different slots (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0143] Furthermore, terminal 200 may be configured with parameters related to the hopping interval (e.g., "PUCCH-HoppingInterval").

[0144] Furthermore, terminal 200 may be configured with higher-layer parameters related to DMRS bundling (e.g., "PUCCH-DMRS-bundling"). Here, PUCCH-DMRS-bundling is a parameter that sets whether or not to apply DMRS-bundling to PUCCH transmissions (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0145] Furthermore, terminal 200 may determine a configured TDW for applying DMRS bundling, for example, if DMRS bundling is configured. For example, terminal 200 may set a parameter related to the interval length of the configured TDW (e.g., "PUCCH-TimeDomainWindowLength").

[0146] Furthermore, terminal 200 may report to base station 100 the segment length L (for example, the maximum value) of the configured TDW that terminal 200 can support as a capability of terminal 200.

[0147] Furthermore, for example, if the configured TDW interval length L is not explicitly set, terminal 200 may set the configured TDW interval length L to a default value. The default value may be, for example, the minimum of the maximum configured TDW interval length L that terminal 200 can support and the interval length over which PUCCH repetitions are sent.

[0148] The parameters related to frequency hopping and DMRS bundling that can be set on terminal 200 have been explained above.

[0149] For example, in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is enabled, terminal 200 sets the hopping interval length based on the value explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval when interslotFrequencyHopping is set and the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval (for example, S103 in Figure 11) (for example, S104 in Figure 11). Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (for example, frequency hopping pattern) based on the physical slot number ns. For example, the frequency position RBstart(ns) at which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #ns may be determined as shown in equation (7) below.

number

[0150] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number within the wireless frame, and RB0 and RB1 indicate the first and second RB positions, respectively, as set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set). NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping.

[0151] Furthermore, in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), if interslot frequency hopping is set by interslotFrequencyHopping, and the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is applied (enabled) by PUCCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S105:Yes in Figure 11), terminal 200 sets the hopping interval length to the same value as the interval length L of configured TDW. Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition. For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (8).

number

[0152] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 is the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the transmission interval of PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 represent the first and second RB positions, respectively, set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set). NFH represents the hopping interval length in frequency hopping, where NFH=L.

[0153] Furthermore, in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), terminal 200 determines the hopping interval length to be 1 if interslotFrequencyHopping sets up interslotfrequencyhopping, and the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is not applied (enabled) by PUCCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S105:No in Figure 11). Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition. For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (9).

number

[0154] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 is the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 represent the first and second RB positions, respectively, set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set). In this way, terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern in which the RB position switches for each slot, similar to NR Rel.15 / 16.

[0155] Furthermore, the base station 100 may, for example, perform PUCCH and DMRS reception processing assuming the operation of the terminal 200 described above (transmission of PUCCH).

[0156] Thus, according to this embodiment, in the case of PUCCH as well as PUSCH, it becomes easier to align the hopping interval in frequency hopping with the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling. As a result, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling in units of configured TDW intervals, preventing degradation of the improvement effect on channel estimation accuracy.

[0157] Furthermore, if a hopping interval is explicitly set (for example, S103:Yes in Figure 11), a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number is applied. This makes it possible to align the frequency hopping patterns among multiple terminals 200, which has the advantage of facilitating scheduling that takes multiple terminals into account at the base station 100.

[0158] The above describes examples of the operation of the base station 100 and terminal 200.

[0159] According to this embodiment, the base station 100 and terminal 200 control frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same RB position in multiple segments, based on, for example, the transmission segments set for the repetition of an uplink signal (e.g., PUSCH or PUCCH) (or the segments of the configured TDW in DMRS bundling applied to the repetition). In this embodiment, for example, if the hopping segments in frequency hopping are not set in terminal 200 by control information and DMRS bundling is applied, the base station 100 and terminal 200 control frequency hopping based on the slot number relative to the transmission segments of the repetition.

[0160] This control allows the frequency hopping pattern in repetition transmission to be set (or switched) in units of configured TDW in DMRS bundling. Therefore, according to this embodiment, channel estimation can be performed using more slots set in configured TDW in DMRS bundling, thereby improving channel estimation accuracy.

[0161] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the hopping interval in frequency hopping is set in the terminal 200 by control information, the base station 100 and the terminal 200 control frequency hopping based on the hopping interval set by said control information and the physical slot number. As a result, the frequency hopping patterns between multiple terminals 200 are set similarly, which simplifies the processing (e.g., scheduling) at the base station 100.

[0162] Therefore, according to this embodiment, communication efficiency in the uplink can be improved.

[0163] (Embodiment 2) The configuration of the base station and terminal according to this embodiment may be the same as the configuration of the base station 100 and terminal 200 according to Embodiment 1.

[0164] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation related to setting frequency hopping at the base station 100 and the terminal 200. In Figure 14, the same reference numerals are used for processes that are the same as in Embodiment 1 (Figure 11), and their descriptions are omitted.

[0165] In Figure 14, when inter-slot frequency hopping is applied to terminal 200 (S101: Enabled), base station 100 and terminal 200 determine whether or not DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 (S201).

[0166] If DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200 (S201: Yes), the base station 100 and terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern based on a slot number (e.g., n') relative to the transmission interval of the repetition transmission (or the interval of the configured TDW in DMRS bundling) (S106).

[0167] On the other hand, if DMRS bundling is not applied to terminal 200 (S201: No), base station 100 and terminal 200 determine whether a hopping interval has been set (for example, explicitly notified) for terminal 200 (S202).

[0168] If a hopping interval is set for terminal 200 (S202:Yes), base station 100 and terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern based on, for example, a physical slot number (e.g., ns) (S104). On the other hand, if a hopping interval is not set for terminal 200 (S202:No), base station 100 and terminal 200 may set a default hopping pattern (S107). Here, the default hopping pattern may be, for example, a hopping pattern similar to NR Rel. 15 / 16 (e.g., equation (1) or equation (2)).

[0169] The above describes an example of the operation related to setting frequency hopping in base station 100 and terminal 200.

[0170] Thus, in this embodiment, the base station 100 and terminal 200 determine the frequency hopping pattern based on a slot number relative to the transmission interval (or the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling) set for repetition transmissions, for example, when DMRS bundling is applied to terminal 200. For example, in this embodiment, when DMRS bundling is applied, the base station 100 and terminal 200 may apply frequency hopping based on a relative slot number (e.g., n'), regardless of whether a hopping interval is set or not.

[0171] The following describes examples of frequency hopping pattern settings for both PUSCH and PUCCH.

[0172] [In the case of PUSCH] Terminal 200 may be configured (or notified) with information regarding frequency hopping, such as the following:

[0173] Terminal 200 may, for example, set higher-layer parameters (e.g., frequencyHopping) related to the frequency hopping mode. Here, frequencyHopping is a parameter that sets one of several frequency hopping modes, such as intra-slot frequency hopping or inter-slot frequency hopping.

[0174] Furthermore, terminal 200 may decide whether or not to apply frequency hopping (e.g., enabled or disabled) based on, for example, the value of the frequency hopping field included in DCI. For example, if the value of the frequency hopping field is set to "1", frequency hopping of the mode set by frequencyHopping is applied (enabled), and if the value of the frequency hopping field is different from "1" (e.g., "0"), frequency hopping does not need to be applied (disabled).

[0175] Furthermore, terminal 200 may decide whether or not to apply frequency hopping depending on whether the frequencyHoppingOffset parameter is set, for example, if the DCI does not include a frequency hopping field, or if it transmits data according to resource allocation instructed by RRC (for example, in the case of Configured grant Type 1). For example, if the frequency hopping offset frequencyHoppingOffset is set, frequency hopping of the mode set by frequencyHopping is applied (enabled), and if the frequency hopping offset frequencyHoppingOffset is not set, frequency hopping does not need to be applied (disabled).

[0176] Furthermore, the terminal 200 may be configured with parameters related to the hopping interval length (e.g., PUSCH-HoppingInterval).

[0177] Terminal 200 may be configured (or notified) with information regarding DMRS bundling, for example, as follows:

[0178] Terminal 200 may, for example, configure higher-layer parameters related to DMRS bundling (e.g., PUSCH-DMRS-bundling). Here, PUSCH-DMRS-bundling is a parameter that sets whether or not to apply DMRS-bundling to PUSCH transmissions (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0179] Furthermore, terminal 200 may determine a configured TDW for applying DMRS bundling, for example, if DMRS bundling is configured. For example, terminal 200 may set parameters related to the interval length of the configured TDW (e.g., PUSCH-TimeDomainWindowLength).

[0180] Furthermore, terminal 200 may report to base station 100 the segment length L (for example, the maximum value) of the configured TDW that terminal 200 can support as a capability of terminal 200.

[0181] Furthermore, for example, if the configured TDW interval length L is not explicitly set, terminal 200 may set the configured TDW interval length L to a default value. The default value may be, for example, the minimum of the maximum configured TDW interval length L that terminal 200 can support and the interval length over which PUSCH repetition is sent.

[0182] The parameters related to frequency hopping and DMRS bundling that can be set on terminal 200 have been explained above.

[0183] Terminal 200 may, for example, control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the physical slot number ns when frequency hopping is enabled in a PUSCH repetition transmission, and when DMRS-bundling is not enabled by PUSCH-DMRS-bundling (S201:No in Figure 14). For example, the frequency position RBstart(ns) at which PUSCH is transmitted in slot #ns may be determined as shown in equation (10) below.

number

[0184] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information contained in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP sizeThis indicates the size of the BWP set for terminal 200.

[0185] Furthermore, NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping. For example, if the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval (S202:Yes in Figure 14), the hopping interval length NFH may be set based on the value explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval. On the other hand, if the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval (S202:No in Figure 14), the hopping interval length NFH may be set to 1.

[0186] Furthermore, terminal 200 may, for example, control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission section of PUSCH repetition when frequency hopping is applied (enabled) in a PUSCH repetition transmission, and when inter-slot frequency hopping is set by frequencyHopping and DMRS-bundling is applied (enabled) by PUSCH-DMRS-bundling (S201:Yes in Figure 14). For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUSCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (11).

number

[0187] Here, n' represents a relative slot number where n'=0 corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission in the transmission interval of a PUSCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information included in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP sizeThis indicates the size of the BWP set for terminal 200.

[0188] Furthermore, NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping. For example, if the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval, the hopping interval length NFH may be set based on the value explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval. On the other hand, if the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUSCH-HoppingInterval, for example, the hopping interval length NFH may be set to the same value as the interval length of configured TDW (NFH=L).

[0189] Furthermore, the base station 100 may, for example, perform PUSCH and DMRS reception processing assuming the operation of the terminal 200 described above (transmission of PUSCH).

[0190] Thus, according to this embodiment, when DMRS bundling is applied, it becomes easier to align the hopping interval in frequency hopping with the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling. As a result, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling in units of configured TDW intervals, preventing degradation of the improvement effect on channel estimation accuracy.

[0191] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if DMRS bundling is not applied, a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot is applied. This makes it possible to align the frequency hopping patterns among multiple terminals 200, which has the advantage of facilitating scheduling at the base station 100 that takes multiple terminals into account.

[0192] [In the case of PUCCH] Terminal 200 may, for example, set higher-layer parameters related to interslot frequency hopping (e.g., interslotFrequencyHopping). Here, interslotFrequencyHopping is a parameter that indicates whether or not to apply interslot frequency hopping (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0193] Furthermore, the terminal 200 may be configured with parameters related to the hopping interval length (e.g., PUCCH-HoppingInterval).

[0194] Furthermore, terminal 200 may be configured with higher-layer parameters related to DMRS bundling (e.g., PUCCH-DMRS-bundling). Here, PUCCH-DMRS-bundling is a parameter that sets whether or not to apply DMRS-bundling to PUCCH transmissions (e.g., enabled or disabled).

[0195] Furthermore, terminal 200 may determine a configured TDW for applying DMRS bundling, for example, if DMRS bundling is configured. For example, terminal 200 may set parameters related to the interval length of the configured TDW (e.g., PUCCH-TimeDomainWindowLength).

[0196] Furthermore, terminal 200 may report to base station 100 the segment length L (for example, the maximum value) of the configured TDW that terminal 200 can support as a capability of terminal 200.

[0197] Furthermore, for example, if the configured TDW interval length L is not explicitly set, terminal 200 may set the configured TDW interval length L to a default value. The default value may be, for example, the minimum of the maximum configured TDW interval length L that terminal 200 can support and the interval length over which PUCCH repetitions are sent.

[0198] The parameters related to frequency hopping and DMRS bundling that can be set on terminal 200 have been explained above.

[0199] For example, in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), terminal 200 sets the hopping interval length based on the value explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval (for example, S104 in Figure 14) if interslotFrequencyHopping sets up interslot frequency hopping, the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is not applied (enabled) by PUCCH-DMRS-bundling. Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (for example, frequency hopping pattern) based on the physical slot number ns. For example, the frequency position RBstart(ns) at which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #ns may be determined as shown in equation (12).

number

[0200] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number within the wireless frame, and RB0 and RB1 indicate the first and second RB positions, respectively, as set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set). NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping.

[0201] Furthermore, terminal 200 may, for example, control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission section of the PUCCH repetition when interslot frequency hopping is set by interslotFrequencyHopping and DMRS-bundling is applied (enabled) by PUCCH-DMRS-bundling (e.g., S201:Yes in Figure 14) in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled). For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (13).

number

[0202] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 corresponds to the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the transmission interval of PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 represent the first and second RB positions, respectively, which are set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set).

[0203] Furthermore, NFH indicates the hopping interval length in frequency hopping. For example, if the hopping interval length is explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, the hopping interval length NFH may be set based on the value explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval. On the other hand, if the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, for example, the hopping interval length NFH may be set to the same value as the interval length of configured TDW (NFH=L).

[0204] Furthermore, terminal 200 determines the hopping interval length to 1 if, for example, in a PUCCH repetition transmission where frequency hopping is applied (enabled), interslot frequency hopping is set by interslotFrequencyHopping, the hopping interval length is not explicitly set by PUCCH-HoppingInterval, and DMRS-bundling is not applied (enabled) by PUCCH-DMRS-bundling (for example, S202:No in Figure 14). Also, for example, terminal 200 may control frequency hopping (e.g., frequency hopping pattern) based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition. For example, the frequency position RB(n') in which PUCCH is transmitted in slot #n' may be determined as shown in equation (14).

number

[0205] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 is the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 represent the first and second RB positions, respectively, set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set). In this way, terminal 200 may set a frequency hopping pattern in which the RB position switches for each slot, similar to NR Rel.15 / 16.

[0206] Furthermore, the base station 100 may, for example, perform PUCCH and DMRS reception processing assuming the operation of the terminal 200 described above (transmission of PUCCH).

[0207] Thus, according to this embodiment, in the case of PUCCH, as in the case of PUSCH, when DMRS bundling is applied, it becomes easier to align the hopping interval in frequency hopping with the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling. Therefore, terminal 200 can perform DMRS bundling in units of configured TDW intervals, and the improvement effect of channel estimation accuracy can be prevented from degrading.

[0208] Furthermore, for example, if a hopping interval is explicitly set and DMRS bundling is not applied (e.g., S202:Yes in Figure 14), a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number is applied. This makes it possible to align the frequency hopping patterns among multiple terminals 200, which has the advantage of facilitating scheduling that takes multiple terminals into account at the base station 100.

[0209] The above describes examples of the operation of the base station 100 and terminal 200.

[0210] According to this embodiment, the base station 100 and terminal 200 control frequency hopping to transmit at the same RB position in multiple segments, for example, based on the transmission segments set for the repetition of an uplink signal (e.g., PUSCH or PUCCH) (or the segments of the configured TDW in the DMRS bundling applied to the repetition). In this embodiment, for example, when DMRS bundling is applied, the base station 100 and terminal 200 control frequency hopping based on the slot number relative to the transmission segment of the repetition.

[0211] This control allows, for example, when DMRS bundling is applied, the frequency hopping pattern in repetition transmission to be set (or switched) in units of configured TDW in DMRS bundling. Therefore, according to this embodiment, in DMRS bundling, channel estimation can be performed using more slots set in configured TDW, thereby improving channel estimation accuracy.

[0212] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when DMRS bundling is not applied, and the hopping interval in frequency hopping is set in the terminal 200 by control information, the base station 100 and terminal 200 control frequency hopping based on the hopping interval set by said control information and the physical slot number. As a result, the frequency hopping patterns between multiple terminals 200 are set similarly, which simplifies the processing (e.g., scheduling) at the base station 100.

[0213] Therefore, according to this embodiment, communication efficiency in the uplink can be improved.

[0214] (Embodiment 3) The configuration of the base station and terminal according to this embodiment may be the same as the configuration of the base station 100 and terminal 200 according to Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2.

[0215] In NR Rel.15 / 16, the slot format can be configured using, for example, higher-level layer parameters (e.g., "TDD-UL-DL-pattern"). For example, TDD-UL-DL-pattern may include parameters related to the period for which the slot format is set (e.g., "dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity"), parameters related to the number of downlink slots included in the period (e.g., "nrofDownlinkSlots"), parameters related to the number of uplink slots included in the period (e.g., "nrofUplinkSlots"), parameters related to the number of downlink symbols included in the period (e.g., "nrofDownlinkSymbols"), and parameters related to the number of uplink symbols included in the period (e.g., "nrofUplinkSymbols").

[0216] For example, the period parameter dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity can be set to values ​​of {0.5ms, 0.625ms, 1ms, 1.25ms, 2ms, 2.5ms, 3ms, 4ms, 5ms, 10ms}. Figure 15 shows an example of a slot format set by TDD-UL-DL-pattern. In the example shown in Figure 15, the slot format is set when dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity=5ms, nrofDownlinkSlots=2, and nrofUplinkSlots=3. Also in Figure 15, for example, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 15kHz and the time length of one slot is 1ms. Therefore, as shown in Figure 15, a slot pattern containing two downlink slots and three uplink slots is repeated every 5ms.

[0217] Here, if the hopping interval length and the interval length of the configured TDW are the same as the period set by the TDD-UL-DL-pattern, then the frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number and the frequency hopping pattern determined based on the relative slot number can be identical.

[0218] Figures 16 and 17 show an example of a Push repetition applying frequency hopping and DMRS bundling when dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity=5ms, nrofDownlinkSlots=2, nrofUplinkSlots=3, and the hopping interval length and configured TDW interval length are the same as the period set by the TDD-UL-DL-pattern, which is 5ms.

[0219] Figure 16 shows an example of setting a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, and Figure 17 shows an example of setting a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the slot number relative to the transmission interval in repetition transmission (or configured TDW in DMRS bundling). The frequency hopping patterns (e.g., RB positions (or hops) in each slot) are the same in both Figure 16 and Figure 17. Therefore, the actual TDW setting in DMRS bundling is the same in both Figure 16 and Figure 17.

[0220] In this embodiment, for example, the configurable values ​​for the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length may include configurable values ​​(supported values) for parameters relating to the period for setting the slot format (e.g., dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity). For example, the configurable values ​​for the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length may include at least one of {0.5ms, 0.625ms, 1ms, 1.25ms, 2ms, 2.5ms, 3ms, 4ms, 5ms, 10ms}.

[0221] Furthermore, if the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length are the same, and the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length are the same as the values ​​set by dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity, terminal 200 may set the frequency hopping pattern in frequency hopping to the default pattern (predefined pattern).

[0222] For example, in the case of PUSCH, the default pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number. For example, in the default pattern of PUSCH, the frequency position RBstart(ns) at which PUSCH is transmitted may be determined based on the physical slot number ns as shown in equation (15).

number

[0223] Here, ns indicates the physical slot number in the radio frame, RBstart indicates the starting RB position calculated from the frequency resource allocation information contained in at least one of the DCI and RRC, RBoffset indicates the offset amount between the two RB positions used for transmission in frequency hopping, and NBWP size This indicates the size of the BWP set for terminal 200.

[0224] Furthermore, for example, in the case of PUCCH, the default pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the slot number relative to the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition transmission (or the configured TDW interval in DMRS bundling). For example, in the default pattern for PUCCH, the frequency position RB(n') at which PUCCH is transmitted may be determined based on the slot number n' relative to the transmission interval of the PUCCH repetition, as shown in equation (16).

number

[0225] Here, n' represents a relative slot number, where n'=0 corresponds to the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the transmission interval of PUCCH repetition, and the value increases for subsequent consecutive slots. RB0 and RB1 represent the first and second RB positions, respectively, which are set by the PUCCH resource allocation information (e.g., PUCCH resource set).

[0226] According to this embodiment, if both the hopping interval length in frequency hopping and the interval length of the configured TDW in DMRS bundling are the same as the values ​​set by dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity, the base station 100 and terminal 200 do not need to change (or switch) the frequency hopping pattern from the default pattern. Furthermore, even in the default pattern, the hopping interval in frequency hopping and the interval of the configured TDW in DMRS bundling can be made the same, similar to Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2. For this reason, in this embodiment, the setting process of the hopping pattern in terminal 200 (for example, conditional branching) is simplified, and DMRS bundling can be performed on a configured TDW interval basis, thus preventing deterioration of the improvement effect on channel estimation accuracy.

[0227] Furthermore, the possible values ​​for the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length may include values ​​other than those supported by the dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity parameter, which is related to the period for setting the slot format. Also, the range of possible values ​​for both the hopping interval length and the configured TDW interval length may be the same, or the possible values ​​for one may be a subset of the possible values ​​for the other.

[0228] The above describes some non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure.

[0229] (Other embodiments) (1) In the embodiments described above, the embodiments applied to PUCCH and PUSCH may differ. For example, Embodiment 1 may be applied to PUSCH and Embodiment 2 may be applied to PUCCH. Alternatively, for example, one of the embodiments described above may be applied to either channel of PUSCH or PUCCH, and the other channel of PUSCH or PUCCH may be not to which the embodiments described above are applied, and a default inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be applied. For example, the default inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, or a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the relative slot number.

[0230] (2) The application examples for PUSCH described in each of the above embodiments may also be applied to PUCCH.

[0231] (3) In the embodiments described above, PUSCH repetition Type A and PUSCH repetition, which transmit signals across multiple slots, have been described as examples. However, a non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure may be applied to PUSCH repetition Type B. When applied to PUSCH repetition Type B, "inter-slot channel estimation" and "inter-slot frequency hopping" may be replaced with "inter-repetition channel estimation" and "inter-repetition frequency hopping," respectively.

[0232] Furthermore, non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure may also be applied to "TB processing over Multi-Slot PUSCH (TBoMS)," which determines the Transport Block Size (TBS) by multiplying the TBS calculated from the amount of resources allocated per slot by a scaling factor greater than 1, and transmits using multiple slots.

[0233] Furthermore, non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure may be applied, for example, to sub-slot PUCCH repetition. When applied to sub-slot PUCCH repetition, "inter-slot channel estimation" and "inter-slot frequency hopping" may be replaced with "sub-slot channel estimation" and "sub-slot frequency hopping," respectively.

[0234] Furthermore, the applicable embodiment may differ depending on the respective repetition method of PUSCH and PUCCH. Alternatively, the above-described embodiment may be applied to the repetition method of either one of the PUSCH or PUCCH channels, while a default inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be applied to the channels to which the above-described embodiment is not applied. For example, the default inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, or a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the relative slot number.

[0235] (4) The parameters relating to the hopping interval length in each of the embodiments described above (for example, PUSCH-HoppingInterval or PUCCH-HoppingInterval) may be cell-specific parameters or terminal-specific parameters.

[0236] Furthermore, for example, if the parameter relating to the hopping interval length is a cell-specific parameter, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, and if the parameter relating to the hopping interval length is a terminal-specific parameter, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the relative slot number.

[0237] Also, for example, when the parameter related to the hopping interval length is a cell-specific parameter, the inter-slot frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number. When the parameter related to the hopping interval length is a terminal-specific parameter, any of the above-described embodiments may be applied.

[0238] (5) Whether to apply each of the above-described embodiments may vary depending on the start position of the repetition transmission. For example, when the start slot position of the repetition transmission is the start slot position of the frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, the default hopping pattern is applied. When the start slot position of the repetition transmission is a position different from the start slot position of the frequency hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number, any of the above-described embodiments may be applied, or a frequency hopping pattern based on the relative slot number may be applied.

[0239] (6) In a non-limiting example of the present disclosure, as an example, PUSCH and PUCCH have been described. However, the type of the channel or signal may be a type different from PUSCH and PUCCH. For example, a non-limiting example of the present disclosure may be applied to the repetition of SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) or PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel). Also, a non-limiting example of the present disclosure is not limited to uplink transmission and may be applied to downlink or sidelink transmission.

[0240] (7) In a non-limiting example of the present disclosure, a frame number may be added to the determination of the frequency hopping pattern based on the physical slot number or the relative slot number of the above-described embodiments.

[0241] Also, the names of the control information and upper layer parameters used in the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure are for example only, and other names may be used. Also, the values of parameters such as the number of Repetition, hopping interval, configured TDW interval length, actual TDW interval length, parameters related to slot format (e.g., period, number of slots, or number of symbols), or SCS exemplified in each embodiment are for example only, and other values may be used.

[0242] Also, the method for setting parameters for the terminal 200 in the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described examples. For example, it may be set (or notified) from the base station 100 to the terminal 200 by at least one of downlink control information (e.g., DCI) and upper layer parameters, or may be predefined in the standard and preset in the terminal 200.

[0243] Also, the notation “··· section” in each of the above-described embodiments may be replaced with other notations such as “··· circuitry”, “··· device”, “··· unit”, or “··· module”.

[0244] (Supplement) Information indicating whether the terminal 200 supports the functions, operations, or processes shown in each of the above-described embodiments and each modification example may be transmitted (or notified) from the terminal 200 to the base station 100 as, for example, the capability information or capability parameters of the terminal 200.

[0245] The capability information may include information elements (IEs) that individually indicate whether the terminal 200 supports at least one of the functions, operations, or processes shown in each of the above-described embodiments and each modification example. Alternatively, the capability information may include information elements that indicate whether the terminal 200 supports any combination of two or more of the functions, operations, or processes shown in each of the above-described embodiments and each modification example.

[0246] For example, the base station 100 may determine (or decide or assume) which functions, operations, or processes the source terminal 200 supports (or does not support) based on capability information received from the terminal 200. The base station 100 may perform operations, processes, or controls in accordance with the determination result based on the capability information. For example, the base station 100 may control frequency hopping based on capability information received from the terminal 200.

[0247] Furthermore, the fact that terminal 200 does not support some of the functions, operations, or processes shown in each of the embodiments and modifications described above may be interpreted as the terminal 200 having restrictions on such some functions, operations, or processes. For example, information or requests regarding such restrictions may be notified to base station 100.

[0248] Information regarding the capabilities or limitations of terminal 200 may be defined, for example, in a standard, or it may be implicitly communicated to base station 100 in association with information known at base station 100 or information transmitted to base station 100.

[0249] (Control signal) In this disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted by the PDCCH of the physical layer, or a signal (information) transmitted by the MAC CE (Control Element) or RRC of the upper layer. Furthermore, the downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0250] The uplink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted by PUCCH at the physical layer, or a signal (information) transmitted by MAC CE or RRC at the upper layer. The uplink control signal may also be a predefined signal (information). Furthermore, the uplink control signal may be replaced with UCI (uplink control information), 1st stage SCI (sidelink control information), or 2nd stage SCI.

[0251] (base station) In this disclosure, a base station may be a TRP (Transmission Reception Point), cluster head, access point, RRH (Remote Radio Head), eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), BS (Base Station), BTS (Base Transceiver Station), master unit, gateway, etc. In side-link communication, a terminal may also act as a base station. A base station may also be a relay device that relays communication between a higher-level node and a terminal. Furthermore, a base station may also be a roadside unit.

[0252] (Uphill rink / Downhill rink / Side rink) This disclosure may be applied to uplink, downlink, or sidelink. For example, this disclosure may be applied to uplink PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, downlink PDSCH, PDCCH, PBCH, and sidelink PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0253] Note that PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of downlink control channels, downlink data channels, uplink data channels, and uplink control channels. PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of sidelink control channels and sidelink data channels. PBCH and PSBCH are examples of broadcast channels, and PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0254] (Data channel / Control channel) This disclosure may be applied to either data channels or control channels. For example, the channels in this disclosure may be replaced with PDSCH, PUSCH, PSSCH for data channels and PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, PSBCH for control channels.

[0255] (reference signal) In this disclosure, the reference signal is a signal known to both the base station and the terminal, and may also be called an RS (Reference Signal) or pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of the following: DMRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal), TRS (Tracking Reference Signal), PTRS (Phase Tracking Reference Signal), CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signal), or SRS (Sounding Reference Signal).

[0256] (Time interval) In this disclosure, the unit of time resource is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, but may also be other time resource units such as frames, superframes, subframes, slots, time slots, subslots, minislots, symbols, OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, SC-FDMA (Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbols, etc. Furthermore, the number of symbols contained in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the embodiments described above, but may be other numbers of symbols.

[0257] (Frequency band) This disclosure may apply to either the licensed band or the unlicensed band.

[0258] (communication) The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (Sidelink communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. For example, the channels of the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PBCH.

[0259] In addition, the present disclosure may be applied to any of a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Network) using satellites or high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS). Further, the present disclosure may be applied to a terrestrial network having a large cell size or a transmission delay larger than a symbol length or a slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0260] (Antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) composed of one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, and may refer to an array antenna or the like composed of a plurality of antennas. For example, it is not defined how many physical antennas an antenna port is composed of, and it is defined as the minimum unit capable of transmitting a reference signal by a terminal. In addition, an antenna port may be defined as the minimum unit for multiplying the weighting of a precoding vector.

[0261] <5G NR System Architecture and Protocol Stack> 3GPP continues to work towards the next release of the fifth-generation mobile phone technology (simply referred to as "5G") including the development of a new radio access technology (NR) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, enabling prototyping and commercial deployment of terminals (e.g., smartphones) compliant with the NR standard.

[0262] For example, the system architecture as a whole assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs. The gNBs provide the UE-side termination for the user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols of the NG radio access. The gNBs are connected to each other by Xn interfaces. Furthermore, the gNBs are connected to the NGC (Next Generation Core) by Next Generation (NG) interfaces, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing AMF) by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing UPF) by NG-U interfaces. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 18 (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0, section 4).

[0263] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.1) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol (see section 6.4 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, RLC (Radio Link Control (see section 6.3 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, and MAC (Medium Access Control (see section 6.2 of TS 38.300)) sublayer, which are terminated on the network side in gNB. Additionally, a new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced on top of PDCP (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300, section 6.5). Furthermore, a control plane protocol stack is defined for NR (see, for example, TS 38.300, section 4.4.2). An overview of Layer 2 functionality is described in section 6 of TS 38.300. The functions of the PDCP sublayer, RLC sublayer, and MAC sublayer are listed in sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of TS 38.300, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in section 7 of TS 38.300.

[0264] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including the multiplexing of logical channels and the handling of various neural networks.

[0265] For example, the Physical Layer (PHY) is responsible for coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The Physical Layer also handles the mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The Physical Layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmitting a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels include uplink physical channels such as PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), and downlink physical channels such as PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel).

[0266] The use cases / deployment scenarios of NR may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps in the downlink and 10 Gbps in the uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates that are about three times those provided by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, in the case of URLLC, more stringent requirements are imposed for ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for each of UL and DL in terms of user plane latency) and high reliability (1 - 10-5 within 1 ms). Finally, for mMTC, preferably high connection density (1,000,000 devices / km 2 in urban environments), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long-lived batteries (15 years) for low-cost devices may be required.

[0267] Therefore, an OFDM neurology suitable for one use case (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) may not be effective for other use cases. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and thus a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also known as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with short delay spreads. The subcarrier spacing may be optimized on a case-by-case basis to maintain similar CP overhead. There may be one or more subcarrier spacing values ​​supported by NR. Accordingly, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, etc. are currently being considered. The symbol length Tu and subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related by the equation Δf = 1 / Tu. Similar to LTE systems, the term “resource element” can be used to mean the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0268] In the new 5G-NR wireless system, resource grids for subcarriers and OFDM symbols are defined for each neurology and each carrier, for both the uplink and downlink. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.6.0).

[0269] <Functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 19 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0270] For example, gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio resource management functions such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs on both uplink and downlink; - Compression, encryption, and integrity protection of the IP header of the data; - Selection of the AMF when the UE attaches if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from the information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data toward UPF; - Routing of control plane information to AMF; - Setting up and disconnecting connections; - Scheduling and sending paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system notification information (originating from AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance functions (OAM)); - Setting up measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling; - Transport-level packet marking on the uplink; - Session management; - Support for network slicing; - Management of QoS flows and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in the RRC_INACTIVE state; - NAS message delivery function; - Sharing of wireless access network; Dual connectivity; - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0271] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - A function to terminate Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling; - Security of NAS signaling; - Security control of Access Stratum (AS); - Core Network (CN) node-to-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks; - Reachability of the UE in idle mode (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Management of registration areas; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including roaming permission checks; - Mobility management and control (enrollment and policies); - Support for network slicing; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0272] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT mobility / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session points for interconnection with data networks; - Routing and forwarding of packets; - Packet inspection and enforcement of policy rules in the user plane. - Reporting traffic usage; - Uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flow to data networks; - A Branching Point for supporting a multi-homed PDU session; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping for the QoS flow of SDF); - Downlink packet buffering and trigger function for downlink data notification.

[0273] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - IP address allocation and management for the UE; - Selection and control of the UPF; - Traffic steering setting function in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the appropriate destination; - Enforcement of control part policies and QoS; - Notification of downlink data.

[0274] <Procedures for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 20 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0275] RRC is a higher-layer signaling protocol used for configuring UEs and gNBs. During this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security key, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB along with an Initial Context Setup Request. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, to which the UE responds with a SecurityModeComplete message. Subsequently, the gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, the gNB reconfigures itself to set up the Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, the RRCReconfiguration step is omitted because SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, gNB notifies AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an Initial Context Setup Response.

[0276] Accordingly, this disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) comprising a control circuit that establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB during operation, and a transmission unit that sends an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection during operation so that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and the user equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, including an Information Element (IE), to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then transmits on the uplink or receives on the downlink based on the resource allocation setting.

[0277] <IMT Usage Scenarios from 2020 Onward> Figure 21 shows some use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd generation partnership project for new radio (3GPP NR) is considering three use cases envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. The first phase of specification development for enhanced mobile-broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work will include expanding eMBB support, as well as standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Figure 21 shows some examples of conceptual use scenarios for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, ITU-R M.2083 Figure 2).

[0278] URLLC use cases have stringent performance requirements, such as throughput, latency, and availability. URLLC use cases are envisioned as one of the key technologies to enable future applications such as wireless control of industrial production or manufacturing processes, telemedicine surgery, automation of power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and traffic safety. The ultra-high reliability of URLLC is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by TR 38.913. In NR URLLC in Release 15, a key requirement is that the target user plane latency is 0.5 ms for UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms for DL ​​(downlink). The general URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size when the user plane latency is 1 ms.

[0279] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many ways. Current room for reliability improvement includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, and PDCCH iterations. However, this room for improvement may expand towards achieving ultra-high reliability as NR becomes more stable and developed (in terms of critical requirements for NR URLLC). Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0280] Furthermore, the technical enhancements targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technical enhancements for latency improvement include configurable neurology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level iteration on data channels, and preemption on downlink. Preemption means that a transmission for which a resource has already been allocated is stopped, and that allocated resource is used for other transmissions with lower latency / higher priority requirements that are requested later. Thus, transmissions that were already permitted are replaced by later transmissions. Preemption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) may be replaced by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technical enhancements for reliability improvement include a dedicated CQI / MCS table for the 1E-5 target BLER.

[0281] A key characteristic of mMTC (massive machine type communication) use cases is the extremely large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are less susceptible to latency. These devices require low cost and very long battery life. From a noise reduction (NR) perspective, utilizing a very narrow bandwidth is one solution that saves power from the user interface (UE) and extends battery life.

[0282] As mentioned above, the scope of reliability improvements in NR is expected to broaden. High reliability or very high reliability is a critical requirement in all cases, for example, for URLLC and mMTC. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from both a radio and network perspective. Generally, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity in the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvements regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0283] Regarding NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. These stringent requirements include high reliability (up to 10⁻⁶ levels), high availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, and time synchronization down to a few microseconds (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 microsecond or a few microseconds depending on the frequency range and short latency of approximately 0.5 ms to 1 ms (e.g., 0.5 ms latency in the target user plane)).

[0284] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements may be available from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical enhancements include enhancements to the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) related to compact DCI, repetition of the PDCCH, and increased monitoring of the PDCCH. Also, the enhancement of Uplink Control Information (UCI) is related to the enhancement of enhanced Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) and CSI feedback. Additionally, enhancements to the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) related to mini-slot level hopping, and enhancements to retransmission / repetition may be available. The term "mini-slot" refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot has 14 symbols).

[0285] <QoS Control> The Quality of Service (QoS) model of 5G is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flows, GBR) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) that is carried in an encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0286] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearers (DRB) in accordance with the PDU session, as shown above, for example, in Figure 20. Additional DRBs for the QoS flow of that PDU session can be configured later (when this is done is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to various PDU sessions to various DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, while AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0287] Figure 22 shows the non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see TS 23.501 v16.1.0, section 4.23). An Application Function (AF) (for example, an external application server hosting 5G services, as illustrated in Figure 21) interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide services. This may involve accessing the Network Exposure Function (NEF) to support applications that affect traffic routing, or interacting with the policy framework for policy control (e.g., QoS control) (see Policy Control Function (PCF)). Based on operator deployment, Application Functions considered trusted by the operator can interact directly with the relevant Network Functions. Application Functions not authorized by the operator to directly access the Network Functions interact with the relevant Network Functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0288] Figure 22 further illustrates the functional units of the 5G architecture, namely the Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and operate in a cloud computing environment.

[0289] Accordingly, the Disclosure provides an application server (e.g., AF in a 5G architecture) comprising: a transmitter that, in operation, transmits a request to at least one of the 5GC functions (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) that includes QoS requirements for at least one of the URLLC service, eMMB service, and mMTC service, in order to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between the gNodeB and UE in accordance with QoS requirements; and a control circuit that, in operation, performs the service using the established PDU session.

[0290] This disclosure can be implemented in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be implemented in part or in whole as an integrated circuit (LSI), and each process described in the above embodiments may be controlled in part or in whole by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. An LSI may consist of individual chips, or it may consist of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. An LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the degree of integration, LSIs may be referred to as ICs, system LSIs, super LSIs, or ultra LSIs.

[0291] The method of integration is not limited to LSIs; it may also be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or reconfigurable processors that allow for the reconfiguration of the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may also be used. This disclosure may be implemented as digital or analog processing.

[0292] Furthermore, if advancements in semiconductor technology or other derived technologies lead to the emergence of integrated circuit technologies that replace LSIs, then naturally, it would be possible to use those technologies to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, for example, is a possibility.

[0293] This disclosure is applicable to all types of devices, systems, and equipment having communication capabilities (collectively referred to as communication equipment). Communication equipment may include a radio transceiver and a processing / control circuit. A radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both as functions. A radio transceiver (transmitter, receiver) may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or similar. Non-exclusive examples of communication devices include telephones (mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (digital still / video cameras, etc.), digital players (digital audio / video players, etc.), wearable devices (wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles or mobile transport with communication capabilities (cars, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the above-mentioned devices.

[0294] Communication devices are not limited to portable or movable devices, but also include all kinds of non-portable or fixed devices, devices, and systems, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or measuring instruments, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0295] Communication includes data communication via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, and communication satellite systems, as well as data communication using combinations of these.

[0296] Furthermore, the communication device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors that are connected to or linked to a communication device that performs the communication functions described in this disclosure. For example, this includes controllers and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that performs the communication functions of the communication device.

[0297] Furthermore, communication equipment includes infrastructure facilities such as base stations, access points, and any other devices, devices, and systems that communicate with or control the aforementioned non-limited types of equipment.

[0298] A communication device according to one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a control circuit that controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple sections based on transmission sections set for repeated transmission of a signal, and a transmission circuit that transmits the signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

[0299] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit controls the frequency hopping based on a first slot number relative to the transmission interval, when the hopping interval at which the transmissions occur at the same frequency position is not set by control information and channel estimation using at least one slot within the transmission interval is applied.

[0300] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets the hopping interval to the same value as the slot length for which the channel estimation is performed.

[0301] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit controls the frequency hopping based on a second slot number, which is a physical slot number, when the hopping interval is not set by the control information and the channel estimation is not applied.

[0302] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit controls the frequency hopping based on the first slot number when the hopping interval is not set by the control information and the channel estimation is not applied.

[0303] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets the hopping interval based on the control information when the hopping interval is set by the control information, and controls the frequency hopping based on a second slot number which is a physical slot number.

[0304] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit controls the frequency hopping based on a slot number relative to the transmission interval, when channel estimation using at least one interval within the transmission interval is applied.

[0305] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the configurable values ​​for the hopping interval at which the transmissions occur at the same frequency position, and the interval length at which channel estimation is performed within the transmission interval, include values ​​supported by a parameter relating to the period for setting the slot format.

[0306] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the configurable values ​​for the hopping interval and the interval length include at least one of 0.5 ms, 0.625 ms, 1 ms, 1.25 ms, 2 ms, 2.5 ms, 3 ms, 4 ms, 5 ms, and 10 ms.

[0307] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets the hopping pattern in the frequency hopping to a predetermined pattern if both the hopping interval and the interval length are the same as any of the values ​​that can be set for the parameters.

[0308] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the aforementioned pattern is a hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number.

[0309] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the aforementioned pattern is a hopping pattern determined based on a slot number relative to the transmission interval.

[0310] A communication device according to one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a control circuit that controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple sections based on transmission sections set for repeated transmission of a signal, and a receiving circuit that receives the signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

[0311] In a communication method according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple sections, based on transmission sections set for repeated transmission of a signal, and transmits the signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

[0312] In a communication method according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device controls frequency hopping, which involves transmitting at the same frequency position in multiple sections based on transmission sections set for repeated transmission of a signal, and receives the signal in accordance with the control of the frequency hopping.

[0313] All disclosures in the specification, drawings, and abstract contained in the Japanese application 2021-207149, filed on December 21, 2021, are incorporated herein by reference. [Industrial applicability]

[0314] One embodiment of this disclosure is useful for wireless communication systems. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0315] 100 base stations 101, 205 Control Unit 102 Higher-level control signal generation unit 103 Downlink control information generation unit 104, 206 Encoding section 105, 207 Modulation section 106, 208 Signal assignment section 107, 209 Transmitter 108, 201 Receiver 109, 202 Extraction part 110, 203 Demodulation section 111, 204 Decoding section 200 terminals

Claims

1. When inter-slot frequency hopping and bundling of a demodulation reference signal are set for repeated transmission of a signal, a control circuit is provided to control the frequency position used for transmitting the signal for each hopping interval included in the transmission section of the repeated transmission, A transmitting circuit that transmits the signal according to the control of the frequency position, It is equipped with, The aforementioned control circuit is If a higher-level parameter indicating the hopping interval is set, the hopping interval is determined based on the value indicated by the higher-level parameter. If the upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is not set, the length of the time-domain window for bundling the demodulation reference signal is determined as the hopping interval. Multiple slots included in the hopping interval transmit the signal using the same frequency position, and the frequency position is switched in units of the hopping interval. Communication device.

2. The control circuit generates the demodulation reference signal based on the time-domain window, The transmitting circuit transmits the demodulation reference signal. The communication device according to claim 1.

3. The upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is notified from the base station. The possible values ​​for the hopping interval are a subset of the possible values ​​for the interval of the time domain window. The communication device according to claim 2.

4. The control circuit determines the frequency position for transmitting the signal based on the physical slot number if the signal is PUSCH, and determines the frequency position for transmitting the signal based on the slot number relative to the slot corresponding to the first PUCCH transmission in the PUCCH repetition if the signal is PUCCH. The communication device according to claim 2.

5. Information regarding the interval of the aforementioned time-domain window is notified from the base station via a higher-layer signal. The communication device according to claim 2.

6. Information regarding the interval of the aforementioned time domain window is determined based on the capability of the communication device. The communication device according to claim 2.

7. The values ​​that can be set for the hopping interval and the interval length of the time-domain window used to control the frequency position include values ​​that can be set for the parameter relating to the period for setting the slot format. The communication device according to claim 1.

8. The values ​​that can be set for the hopping interval and the interval length of the time domain window include at least one of 0.5ms, 0.625ms, 1ms, 1.25ms, 2ms, 2.5ms, 3ms, 4ms, 5ms, and 10ms. The communication device according to claim 7.

9. The control circuit sets the hopping pattern in the inter-slot frequency hopping to a predetermined pattern. The communication device according to claim 7.

10. The aforementioned pattern is a hopping pattern determined based on the physical slot number. The communication device according to claim 9.

11. The specified pattern is a hopping pattern determined based on a slot number relative to the slot corresponding to the first transmission of the signal in the transmission section. The communication device according to claim 9.

12. When inter-slot frequency hopping and bundling of a demodulation reference signal are set for repeated transmission of a signal, a control circuit is provided to control the frequency position used for transmitting the signal for each hopping interval included in the transmission section of the repeated transmission, A receiving circuit that receives the signal according to the control of the frequency position, It is equipped with, The aforementioned control circuit is If a higher-level parameter indicating the hopping interval is set, the hopping interval is determined based on the value indicated by the higher-level parameter. If the upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is not set, the length of the time-domain window for bundling the demodulation reference signal is determined as the hopping interval. Multiple slots included in the hopping interval receive the signal using the same frequency position, and switch the frequency position in units of the hopping interval. Communication device.

13. Communication equipment, When inter-slot frequency hopping and bundling of a demodulation reference signal are set for repeated transmission of a signal, the frequency position used for transmitting the signal is controlled for each hopping interval included in the transmission section of the repeated transmission. The signal is transmitted according to the control of the frequency position, If a higher-level parameter indicating the hopping interval is set, the hopping interval is determined based on the value indicated by the higher-level parameter. If the upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is not set, the interval length of the time-domain window for bundling the demodulation reference signal is determined as the hopping interval. In the multiple slots included in the hopping interval, the same frequency position is used to transmit the signal, and the frequency position is switched in units of the hopping interval. Communication method.

14. Communication equipment, When inter-slot frequency hopping and bundling of a demodulation reference signal are set for repeated transmission of a signal, the frequency position used for transmitting the signal is controlled for each hopping interval included in the transmission section of the repeated transmission. In accordance with the control of the frequency position, the signal is received, If a higher-level parameter indicating the hopping interval is set, the hopping interval is determined based on the value indicated by the higher-level parameter. If the upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is not set, the interval length of the time-domain window for bundling the demodulation reference signal is determined as the hopping interval. In the multiple slots included in the hopping interval, the signal is received using the same frequency position, and the frequency position is switched in units of the hopping interval. Communication method.

15. When inter-slot frequency hopping and bundling of a demodulation reference signal are set for repeated transmission of a signal, a control circuit is provided to control the frequency position used for transmitting the signal for each hopping interval included in the transmission section of the repeated transmission, A transmitting circuit that transmits the signal according to the control of the frequency position, Control, If a higher-level parameter indicating the hopping interval is set, the hopping interval is determined based on the value indicated by the higher-level parameter. If the upper layer parameter indicating the hopping interval is not set, the interval length of the time-domain window for bundling the demodulation reference signal is determined as the hopping interval. In the multiple slots included in the hopping interval, the same frequency position is used to transmit the signal, and the frequency position is switched in units of the hopping interval. Integrated circuit.

Images