Method by user equipment, device, and storage medium, and method by base station and base station

Abstract

When the UE deactivates a cell in which first cell DTX / DRX configuration is activated and then receives an activation command for the cell, the UE may activate second cell DTX / DRX configuration for the cell while activating the cell.

Description

Methods, devices and storage media by user devices, and methods and base stations by base stations

[0001] This specification relates to wireless communication systems.

[0002] Various devices and technologies, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and smartphones and tablet PCs (personal computers) that require high data transmission rates, are emerging and becoming widespread. Consequently, the amount of data required to be processed on cellular networks is rapidly increasing. To meet this rapidly increasing data processing demand, technologies such as carrier aggregation and cognitive radio, which enable more efficient use of frequency bands, are being developed, as well as multi-antenna and multi-BS cooperation technologies to increase the data capacity transmitted within a limited frequency range.

[0003] As more and more communication devices demand greater capacity, the need for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) communications is emerging, surpassing legacy radio access technology (RAT). Furthermore, massive machine type communication (mMTC), which connects multiple devices and objects to provide diverse services anytime, anywhere, is a key issue to be considered in next-generation communications.

[0004] Additionally, discussions are underway on communication systems designed to accommodate reliability- and latency-sensitive services and user equipment (UE). The introduction of next-generation wireless access technologies is being discussed, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), mMTC, and ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC).

[0005] As the number of services / UEs that a network must support rapidly increases, the need for energy conservation in the network as well as power conservation in the UE is also gradually increasing.

[0006] One technical task of this specification is to provide methods and procedures for network energy conservation.

[0007] The technical tasks that this specification aims to achieve are not limited to the technical tasks mentioned above, and other technical tasks that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art related to this specification from the detailed description below.

[0008] In one aspect of this specification, a method by a user equipment (UE) is provided.

[0009] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided. The device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for a user equipment (UE).

[0010] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium is provided, wherein the storage medium stores at least one program code comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations for a user equipment (UE).

[0011] The method, or the operations, may include: receiving a first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for a serving cell; activating the first DTX / DRX configuration; deactivating the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX configuration is activated; receiving an activation command for the deactivated serving cell; and based on the activation command, i) activating the serving cell, and ii) activating a second cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell.

[0012] In one aspect of this specification, a method by a base station (BS) is provided.

[0013] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station (BS) is provided. The BS includes at least one processor; and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for a user equipment (UE).

[0014] The method, or the operations, may include: transmitting a first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for a serving cell; activating the first DTX / DRX configuration; deactivating the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX configuration is activated; transmitting an activation command for the deactivated serving cell; and based on the activation command, i) activating the serving cell, and ii) activating a second cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell.

[0015] In each aspect of this specification, information regarding default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell may be provided via radio resource control (RRC) signals.

[0016] In each aspect of this specification, the activation command may include information regarding default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell.

[0017] In each aspect of this specification, information regarding default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell may be provided via downlink control information scheduling the activation command.

[0018] In each aspect of this specification, an RRC configuration including multiple DTX / DRX configurations for the serving cell may be provided.

[0019] In each aspect of this specification, information regarding a default cell DTX / DRX setting among the plurality of DTX / DRX settings may be provided.

[0020] In each aspect of this specification, the second cell DTX / DRX setting may be the default cell DTX / DRX setting.

[0021] In each aspect of the present specification, cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information for the serving cell may be provided. Based on the cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information being a first value, the first cell DTX / DRX configuration may be used as the second cell DTX / DRX configuration.

[0022] The above problem solving methods are only some of the examples of this specification, and various examples reflecting the technical features of this specification can be derived and understood by a person having ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field based on the detailed description below.

[0023] According to some implementations of this specification, methods and procedures for energy saving of a network, BS and / or UE may be provided.

[0024] The effects according to this specification are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art related to this specification from the detailed description below.

[0025] To aid in understanding implementations of this specification, the accompanying drawings, which are included as part of the detailed description, provide examples of implementations of this specification and, together with the detailed description, illustrate implementations of this specification:

[0026] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication system 1 to which implementations of the present specification are applied;

[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating examples of communication devices capable of performing a method according to the present specification;

[0028] FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a wireless device capable of performing implementation(s) of the present specification;

[0029] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a frame structure available in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) based wireless communication system;

[0030] Figure 5 illustrates a resource grid of slots;

[0031] FIG. 6 illustrates physical channels used in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP)-based communication system, which is an example of a wireless communication system, and a signal transmission / reception process using the channels;

[0032] FIG. 7 illustrates a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation that may be applied to implementation(s) of the present specification;

[0033] Figure 8 illustrates a case where a Long DRX cycle and a Short DRX cycle are set;

[0034] FIG. 9 is an example of application of cell DTX / DRX settings for a deactivated and then reactivated SCell according to some implementations of the present specification;

[0035] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating some implementations of this specification regarding the start of cell DTX / DRX patterns during BWP switching;

[0036] Figure 11 illustrates the flow of UE operation according to some implementations of this specification;

[0037] Figure 12 illustrates the flow of BS operation according to some implementations of this specification.

[0038] Hereinafter, implementations according to this specification will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The detailed description provided below, together with the attached drawings, is intended to describe exemplary implementations of this specification and is not intended to represent the only possible implementations of this specification. The detailed description below includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of this specification. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that this specification may be practiced without these specific details.

[0039] In some cases, to avoid ambiguity in the concepts of this specification, known structures and devices may be omitted or illustrated in block diagram form focusing on the core functions of each structure and device. Furthermore, identical components are described using the same drawing reference numerals throughout this specification.

[0040] The techniques, devices, and systems described below can be applied to various wireless multiple access systems. Examples of multiple access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and multi-carrier frequency division multiple access (MC-FDMA) systems. CDMA can be implemented in wireless technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA can be implemented in wireless technologies such as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (i.e., GERAN). OFDMA can be implemented in wireless technologies such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802-20, and E-UTRA (evolved-UTRA). UTRA is part of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), and 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a part of E-UMTS that uses E-UTRA.3GPP LTE adopts OFDMA for the downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA for the uplink (UL). LTE-A (LTE-advanced) is an evolved form of 3GPP LTE.

[0041] For convenience of explanation, the following description assumes that this specification applies to 3GPP-based communication systems, such as LTE and NR. However, the technical features of this specification are not limited to this. For example, although the detailed description below is based on a mobile communication system corresponding to a 3GPP LTE / NR system, it can also be applied to any other mobile communication system, except for features specific to 3GPP LTE / NR.

[0042] For terms and technologies used in this specification that are not specifically explained, reference may be made to 3GPP-based standard documents, such as 3GPP TS 36.211, 3GPP TS 36.212, 3GPP TS 36.213, 3GPP TS 36.321, 3GPP TS 36.300 and 3GPP TS 36.331, 3GPP TS 37.213, 3GPP TS 38.211, 3GPP TS 38.212, 3GPP TS 38.213, 3GPP TS 38.214, 3GPP TS 38.300, 3GPP TS 38.304, 3GPP TS 38.331, etc.

[0043] In the examples of this specification described below, the expression "assumes" that a device "assumes" that the entity transmitting the channel transmits the channel in a manner consistent with the "assume." The entity receiving the channel may mean that, under the assumption that the channel was transmitted in a manner consistent with the "assume," the entity receiving the channel receives or decodes the channel in a manner consistent with the "assume."

[0044] In this specification, UE may be fixed or mobile, and includes various devices that communicate with a BS (base station) to transmit and / or receive user data and / or various control information. UE may be called (Terminal Equipment), MS (Mobile Station), MT (Mobile Terminal), UT (User Terminal), SS (Subscribe Station), wireless device, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), wireless modem, handheld device, etc. In addition, in this specification, BS generally refers to a fixed station that communicates with UE and / or other BS, and exchanges various data and control information with UE and other BS. BS may be called by other terms such as ABS (Advanced Base Station), NB (Node-B), eNB (evolved-NodeB), BTS (Base Transceiver System), Access Point, PS (Processing Server), etc. In particular, the BS in UTRAN is called a Node-B, the BS in E-UTRAN is called an eNB, and the BS in a new radio access technology network is called a gNB. For convenience of explanation, BSs are collectively referred to as BSs below, regardless of the type or version of communication technology.

[0045] In this specification, a node refers to a fixed point that can transmit / receive radio signals by communicating with a UE. Various types of BSs can be used as nodes regardless of their names. For example, BSs, NBs, eNBs, pico-cell eNBs (PeNBs), home eNBs (HeNBs), relays, and repeaters can be nodes. Furthermore, a node may not be a BS. For example, it can be a radio remote head (RRH) or a radio remote unit (RRU). RRHs, RRUs, etc. generally have a lower power level than the BS. Since an RRH or RRU (hereinafter referred to as RRH / RRU) is generally connected to a BS via a dedicated line such as an optical cable, cooperative communication between an RRH / RRU and a BS can be performed more smoothly than cooperative communication between BSs that are generally connected via a wireless line. Each node is equipped with at least one antenna. The antenna may be a physical antenna, an antenna port, a virtual antenna, or an antenna group. A node is also called a point.

[0046] In this specification, a cell refers to a certain geographical area where one or more nodes provide communication services. Therefore, in this specification, communicating with a specific cell may mean communicating with a BS or node that provides communication services to the specific cell. In addition, the downlink / uplink signal of a specific cell refers to a downlink / uplink signal from / to a BS or node that provides communication services to the specific cell. A cell that provides uplink / downlink communication services to a UE is specifically referred to as a serving cell. In addition, the channel state / quality of a specific cell refers to the channel state / quality of a channel or communication link formed between a BS or node that provides communication services to the specific cell and the UE. In a 3GPP-based communication system, a UE can measure a downlink channel state from a specific node using CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signal) resources transmitted by antenna port(s) of the specific node on CRS resources allocated to the specific node and / or CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) resources transmitted.

[0047] Meanwhile, 3GPP-based communication systems use the concept of cells to manage radio resources, and cells associated with radio resources are distinguished from cells in geographical areas.

[0048] A "cell" in a geographical area can be understood as the coverage over which a node can provide a service using a carrier, and a "cell" in a radio resource is associated with a bandwidth (BW), which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. Since downlink coverage, which is the range over which a node can transmit a valid signal, and uplink coverage, which is the range over which a node can receive a valid signal from a UE, depend on the carrier carrying the signal, the coverage of a node is also associated with the coverage of the "cell" of the radio resource used by the node. Therefore, the term "cell" can sometimes be used to mean the coverage of a service provided by a node, sometimes a radio resource, and sometimes the range over which a signal using the radio resource can reach with a valid intensity.

[0049] Meanwhile, the 3GPP communication standard uses the concept of a cell to manage radio resources. A "cell" associated with radio resources is defined as a combination of downlink resources (DL resources) and uplink resources (UL resources), i.e., a combination of a DL component carrier (CC) and an UL CC. A cell can be configured with DL resources alone or a combination of DL resources and UL resources. If carrier aggregation is supported, the linkage between the carrier frequency of the DL resources (or DL ​​CC) and the carrier frequency of the UL resources (or UL CC) can be indicated by system information. For example, the combination of DL resources and UL resources can be indicated by a System Information Block Type 2 (SIB2) linkage. Here, the carrier frequency can be the same as or different from the center frequency of each cell or CC. When carrier aggregation (CA) is established, the UE has only one radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network. One serving cell provides non-access stratum (NAS) mobility information during RRC connection establishment / re-establishment / handover, and one serving cell provides security input during RRC connection re-establishment / handover. Such a cell is called a primary cell (Pcell). A Pcell is a cell operating on the primary frequency where the UE performs initial connection establishment procedures or initiates connection re-establishment procedures.Depending on the UE capability, secondary cells (Scells) can be configured to form a set of serving cells together with Pcells. An Scell ​​can be configured after an RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection establishment has been made, and is a cell that provides additional radio resources in addition to the resources of a special cell (SpCell). The carrier corresponding to a Pcell in downlink is called a downlink primary CC (DL PCC), and the carrier corresponding to a Pcell in uplink is called an UL primary CC (UL PCC). The carrier corresponding to an Scell ​​in downlink is called a DL secondary CC (DL SCC), and the carrier corresponding to the Scell ​​in uplink is called an UL secondary CC (UL SCC).

[0050] For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term special cell (SpCell) refers to a Pcell of a master cell group (MCG) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG). A SpCell supports PUCCH transmission and contention-based random access and is always activated. An MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a master node (e.g., BS) and consists of a SpCell (Pcell) and optionally one or more Scells. For a UE configured for DC, an SCG is a subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node and consists of a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and zero or more Scells. A PSCell is a primary Scell ​​of an SCG. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state that is not configured for CA or DC, there is only one serving cell consisting of Pcells. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state that is configured for CA or DC, the term serving cells refers to the set of cells consisting of SpCell(s) and all Scell(s). In DC, two medium access control (MAC) entities are configured in the UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

[0051] For a UE for which CA is set and DC is not set, a Pcell PUCCH group (also referred to as a primary PUCCH group) consisting of a Pcell and zero or more Scells and a Scell ​​PUCCH group (also referred to as a secondary PUCCH group) consisting of only Scell(s) may be set. In the case of an Scell, an Scell ​​(hereinafter referred to as a PUCCH Scell) on which a PUCCH associated with the cell is transmitted may be set. An Scell ​​for which a PUCCH Scell ​​is indicated belongs to an Scell ​​PUCCH group (i.e., a secondary PUCCH group), and PUCCH transmission of the relevant UCI is performed on the PUCCH Scell, and an Scell ​​for which a PUCCH Scell ​​is not indicated or which is a Pcell and is indicated as a cell for PUCCH transmission belongs to a Pcell PUCCH group (i.e., a primary PUCCH group), and PUCCH transmission of the relevant UCI is performed on the Pcell. Hereinafter, if a UE is configured with an SCG and some implementations of this specification related to PUCCH are applied to the SCG, the primary cell may refer to a PSCell of the SCG. If a UE is configured with a PUCCH Scell ​​and some implementations of this specification related to PUCCH are applied to a secondary PUCCH group, the primary cell may refer to a PUCCH Scell ​​of the secondary PUCCH group.

[0052] In addition to the Pcell and PUCCH Scell, the UE can be configured with a PUCCH-sSCell, which is an Scell ​​for PUCCH cell switching. For example, the UE can be provided with a PUCCH-sSCell by the RRC parameter pucch-sSCell. The UE can be provided with a periodic cell switching pattern for PUCCH transmissions by the RRC parameter pucch-sSCellPattern. Each bit of pucch-sSCellPattern corresponds to a slot according to a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration, and can designate a primary cell (PCell) or PUCCH-sSCell as a cell for PUCCH transmissions during the slot of the reference SCS configuration. The UE does not transmit a PUCCH on a cell among the PCell and the PUCCH-sSCell that is not designated as a cell for PUCCH transmission by the periodic cell switching pattern. When a UE is configured for PUCCH cell switching based on a dynamic indication by a DCI format, the corresponding DCI format associated with the generation of HARQ-ACK information by the UE may include a PUCCH cell indicator field indicating whether the PUCCH transmission with the HARQ-ACK information by the UE is on the PCell or the PUCCH-sSCell.

[0053] In this specification, the term "PUCCH cell" is used to refer to a cell in which PUCCH resources are configured. A PUCCH cell may be a PCell, a PUCCH Scell, or a PUCCH-sSCell.

[0054] In a wireless communication system, a UE receives information from a base station (BS) via the downlink (DL), and the UE transmits information to the base station via the uplink (UL). The information transmitted and / or received by the BS and UE includes data and various control information, and various physical channels exist depending on the type and purpose of the information they transmit and / or receive.

[0055] 3GPP-based communication standards define downlink physical channels corresponding to resource elements that carry information originating from higher layers, and downlink physical signals corresponding to resource elements that are used by the physical layer but do not carry information originating from higher layers. For example, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) are defined as downlink physical channels, and reference signals and synchronization signals are defined as downlink physical signals. A reference signal (RS), also referred to as a pilot, refers to a signal with a predefined, special waveform that is known to the BS and the UE. For example, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS), the channel state information RS (CSI-RS), and the positioning reference signal (PRS) are defined as downlink reference signals. 3GPP-based communication standards define uplink physical channels corresponding to resource elements that carry information originating from higher layers, and uplink physical signals corresponding to resource elements that are used by the physical layer but do not carry information originating from higher layers.For example, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical random access channel (PRACH) are defined as uplink physical channels, and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for uplink control / data signals and a sounding reference signal (SRS) used for uplink channel measurement are defined.

[0056] In this specification, PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control CHannel) refers to a set of time-frequency resources (e.g., resource elements (REs)) that carry DCI (Downlink Control Information), and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared CHannel) refers to a set of time-frequency resources that carry downlink data. In addition, PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control CHannel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared CHannel), and PRACH (Physical Random Access CHannel) refer to sets of time-frequency resources that carry UCI (Uplink Control Information), uplink data, and random access signals, respectively (respectively). Hereinafter, the expression that a user equipment transmits / receives a PUCCH / PUSCH / PRACH is used with the same meaning as that uplink control information / uplink data / random access signals are transmitted / received on or through the PUCCH / PUSCH / PRACH, respectively. Additionally, the expression that BS transmits / receives PBCH / PDCCH / PDSCH is used with the same meaning as transmitting broadcast information / downlink control information / downlink data on or through PBCH / PDCCH / PDSCH, respectively.

[0057] In this specification, radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) scheduled or configured by the BS to the UE for transmission or reception of PUCCH / PUSCH / PDSCH are also referred to as PUCCH / PUSCH / PDSCH resources.

[0058] Since the communication device receives a synchronization signal (SS), DMRS, CSI-RS, PRS, PBCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and / or PUCCH in the form of radio signals on a cell, it cannot selectively receive through an RF receiver only radio signals including only a specific physical channel or only a specific physical signal, or selectively receive through an RF receiver only radio signals excluding only a specific physical channel or only a physical signal. In actual operation, the communication device first receives radio signals on a cell through an RF receiver, converts the radio signals, which are RF band signals, into baseband signals, and decodes a physical signal and / or a physical channel within the baseband signals using one or more processors. Thus, in some implementations of the present specification, not receiving a physical signal and / or a physical channel may not actually mean that the communication device does not receive wireless signals containing the physical signal and / or physical channel at all, but rather that it does not attempt to recover the physical signal and / or physical channel from the wireless signals, e.g., does not attempt to decode the physical signal and / or the physical channel.

[0059] As more and more communication devices demand greater communication capacity, the need for improved mobile broadband communication over existing radio access technology (RAT) is emerging. Furthermore, massive MTC, which connects numerous devices and objects to provide diverse services anytime, anywhere, is also a key issue to be considered in next-generation communications. Furthermore, communication system design that considers reliability and latency-sensitive services / UEs is being discussed. The introduction of next-generation RATs that take advanced mobile broadband communication, massive MTC, and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication) into account is currently under discussion. 3GPP is currently conducting studies on next-generation mobile communication systems beyond EPC. For convenience, this technology is referred to as new RAT (NR) or 5G RAT, and a system that uses or supports NR is referred to as an NR system.

[0060] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a communication system 1 to which implementations of the present specification are applied. Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system (1) applied to the present specification includes a wireless device, a BS, and a network. Here, the wireless device refers to a device that performs communication using a wireless access technology (e.g., 5G NR (New RAT), LTE (e.g., E-UTRA)) and may be referred to as a communication / wireless / 5G device. Although not limited thereto, the wireless device may include a robot (100a), a vehicle (100b-1, 100b-2), an XR (eXtended Reality) device (100c), a hand-held device (100d), a home appliance (100e), an IoT (Internet of Things) device (100f), and an AI device / server (400). For example, the vehicle may include a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication function, an autonomous vehicle, a vehicle capable of performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication, etc. Here, the vehicle may include an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). XR devices include AR (Augmented Reality) / VR (Virtual Reality) / MR (Mixed Reality) devices, and may be implemented in the form of a Head-Mounted Device (HMD), a Head-Up Display (HUD) installed in a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance, digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. Mobile devices may include a smartphone, a smart pad, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses), a computer (e.g., a laptop, etc.), etc. Home appliances may include a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, etc. IoT devices may include sensors, smart meters, etc. For example, a BS or network may also be implemented as a wireless device, and a specific wireless device may act as a BS / network node to other wireless devices.

[0061] Wireless devices (100a to 100f) can be connected to a network (300) via a BS (200). Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology can be applied to the wireless devices (100a to 100f), and the wireless devices (100a to 100f) can be connected to an AI server (400) via a network (300). The network (300) can be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g., NR) network, etc. The wireless devices (100a to 100f) can communicate with each other via the BS (200) / network (300), but can also communicate directly (e.g., sidelink communication) without going through the BS / network. For example, vehicles (100b-1, 100b-2) can communicate directly (e.g., V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) / V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication). In addition, IoT devices (e.g., sensors) can communicate directly with other IoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices (100a to 100f).

[0062] Wireless communication / connection (150a, 150b) can be performed between wireless devices (100a~100f) / BS (200) - BS (200) / wireless devices (100a~100f). Here, the wireless communication / connection can be performed through various wireless access technologies (e.g., 5G NR) for uplink / downlink communication (150a) and sidelink communication (150b) (or D2D communication). Through the wireless communication / connection (150a, 150b), the wireless device and the BS / wireless device can transmit / receive wireless signals to / from each other. To this end, at least some of various configuration information setting processes for transmitting / receiving wireless signals, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, resource mapping / demapping, etc.), and resource allocation processes can be performed based on various proposals of this specification.

[0063] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating examples of communication devices capable of performing a method according to the present specification. Referring to FIG. 2, a first wireless device (100) and a second wireless device (200) can transmit and / or receive wireless signals via various wireless access technologies (e.g., LTE, NR). Here, {the first wireless device (100), the second wireless device (200)} can correspond to {the wireless device (100x), the BS (200)} and / or {the wireless device (100x), the wireless device (100x)} of FIG. 1.

[0064] A first wireless device (100) includes one or more processors (102) and one or more memories (104), and may further include one or more transceivers (106) and / or one or more antennas (108). The processor (102) controls the memories (104) and / or the transceivers (106), and may be configured to implement functions, procedures, and / or methods described / suggested below. For example, the processor (102) may process information in the memory (104) to generate first information / signals, and then transmit a wireless signal including the first information / signals via the transceivers (106). In addition, the processor (102) may receive a wireless signal including second information / signals via the transceivers (106), and then store information obtained from signal processing of the second information / signals in the memory (104). The memory (104) may be connected to the processor (102) and may store various information related to the operation of the processor (102). For example, the memory (104) may perform some or all of the processes controlled by the processor (102), or may store software code including commands for performing the procedures and / or methods described / proposed below. Here, the processor (102) and the memory (104) may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement wireless communication technology (e.g., LTE, NR). The transceiver (106) may be connected to the processor (102) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas (108). The transceiver (106) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver (106) may be used interchangeably with an RF (Radio Frequency) unit. In this specification, a wireless device may also mean a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0065] The second wireless device (200) includes one or more processors (202), one or more memories (204), and may further include one or more transceivers (206) and / or one or more antennas (208). The processor (202) controls the memories (204) and / or the transceivers (206), and may be configured to implement the functions, procedures, and / or methods described / suggested below. For example, the processor (202) may process information in the memory (204) to generate third information / signals, and then transmit a wireless signal including the third information / signals via the transceivers (206). In addition, the processor (202) may receive a wireless signal including fourth information / signals via the transceivers (206), and then store information obtained from signal processing of the fourth information / signals in the memory (204). The memory (204) may be connected to the processor (202) and may store various information related to the operation of the processor (202). For example, the memory (204) may perform some or all of the processes controlled by the processor (202), or may store software code including commands for performing the procedures and / or methods described / proposed below. Here, the processor (202) and the memory (204) may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement wireless communication technology (e.g., LTE, NR). The transceiver (206) may be connected to the processor (202) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas (208). The transceiver (206) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver (206) may be used interchangeably with an RF unit. In this specification, a wireless device may also mean a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0066] The wireless communication technology implemented in the wireless device (100, 200) of the present specification may include not only LTE, NR, and 6G, but also Narrowband Internet of Things for low-power communication. For example, NB-IoT technology may be an example of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology, and may be implemented with standards such as LTE Cat NB1 and / or LTE Cat NB2, and is not limited to the above-described names. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication technology implemented in the wireless device (XXX, YYY) of the present specification may perform communication based on LTE-M technology. For example, LTE-M technology may be an example of LPWAN technology, and may be called by various names such as eMTC (enhanced Machine Type Communication). For example, LTE-M technology can be implemented by at least one of various standards such as 1) LTE CAT 0, 2) LTE Cat M1, 3) LTE Cat M2, 4) LTE non-BL (non-Bandwidth Limited), 5) LTE-MTC, 6) LTE Machine Type Communication, and / or 7) LTE M, and is not limited to the above-described names. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication technology implemented in the wireless device (XXX, YYY) of the present specification can include at least one of ZigBee, Bluetooth, and Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) considering low-power communication, and is not limited to the above-described names. For example, ZigBee technology can create personal area networks (PAN) related to small / low-power digital communication based on various standards such as IEEE 802.15.4, and can be called by various names.

[0067] Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless device (100, 200) will be described in more detail. Although not limited thereto, one or more protocol layers may be implemented by one or more processors (102, 202). For example, one or more processors (102, 202) may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as a physical (PHY) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer). One or more processors (102, 202) may generate one or more protocol data units (PDUs) and / or one or more service data units (SDUs) according to the functions, procedures, proposals, and / or methods disclosed in this specification. One or more processors (102, 202) may generate messages, control information, data or information according to the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods disclosed in this specification. One or more processors (102, 202) may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data or information according to the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods disclosed in this specification, and provide the signals to one or more transceivers (106, 206). One or more processors (102, 202) may receive signals (e.g., baseband signals) from one or more transceivers (106, 206) and obtain PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data or information according to the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods disclosed in this specification.

[0068] One or more processors (102, 202) may be referred to as a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or a microcomputer. One or more processors (102, 202) may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), one or more Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be included in one or more processors (102, 202). The functions, procedures, proposals, and / or methods disclosed in this specification may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be implemented to include modules, procedures, functions, etc. Firmware or software configured to perform the functions, procedures, suggestions and / or methods disclosed in this specification may be included in one or more processors (102, 202) or stored in one or more memories (104, 204) and executed by one or more processors (102, 202). The functions, procedures, suggestions and / or methods disclosed in this specification may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of codes, instructions and / or sets of instructions.

[0069] One or more memories (104, 204) may be coupled to one or more processors (102, 202) and may store various forms of data, signals, messages, information, programs, codes, instructions, and / or commands. The one or more memories (104, 204) may be configured as ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash memory, hard drives, registers, cache memory, computer-readable storage media, and / or combinations thereof. The one or more memories (104, 204) may be located internally and / or externally to the one or more processors (102, 202). Additionally, the one or more memories (104, 204) may be coupled to the one or more processors (102, 202) via various technologies, such as wired or wireless connections.

[0070] One or more transceivers (106, 206) may transmit user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc., as described in the methods and / or flowcharts of this specification, to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers (106, 206) may receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc., as described in the functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or flowcharts of this specification, from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers (106, 206) may be coupled to one or more processors (102, 202) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals. For example, one or more processors (102, 202) may control one or more transceivers (106, 206) to transmit user data, control information, or wireless signals to one or more other devices. Additionally, one or more processors (102, 202) may control one or more transceivers (106, 206) to receive user data, control information, or wireless signals from one or more other devices. Additionally, one or more transceivers (106, 206) may be coupled to one or more antennas (108, 208), and one or more transceivers (106, 206) may be configured to transmit and / or receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, or the like, as referred to in the functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this specification, via one or more antennas (108, 208). In this specification, one or more antennas may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). One or more transceivers (106, 206) may convert received user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. from RF band signals to baseband signals for processing using one or more processors (102, 202).One or more transceivers (106, 206) may convert user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. processed by one or more processors (102, 202) from baseband signals to RF band signals. For this purpose, one or more transceivers (106, 206) may include an (analog) oscillator and / or filter.

[0071] FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a wireless device capable of performing implementation(s) of the present specification. Referring to FIG. 3, the wireless device (100, 200) corresponds to the wireless device (100, 200) of FIG. 2 and may be composed of various elements, components, units / units, and / or modules. For example, the wireless device (100, 200) may include a communication unit (110), a control unit (120), a memory unit (130), and additional elements (140). The communication unit may include a communication circuit (112) and a transceiver(s) (114). For example, the communication circuit (112) may include one or more processors (102, 202) and / or one or more memories (104, 204) of FIG. 2. For example, the transceiver(s) (114) may include one or more transceivers (106, 206) and / or one or more antennas (108, 208) of FIG. 2. The control unit (120) is electrically connected to the communication unit (110), the memory unit (130), and the additional elements (140) and controls the overall operation of the wireless device. For example, the control unit (120) may control the electrical / mechanical operation of the wireless device based on the program / code / command / information stored in the memory unit (130). In addition, the control unit (120) may transmit information stored in the memory unit (130) to an external device (e.g., another communication device) via a wireless / wired interface through the communication unit (110), or store information received from an external device (e.g., another communication device) via a wireless / wired interface in the memory unit (130).

[0072] The additional element (140) may be configured in various ways depending on the type of the wireless device. For example, the additional element (140) may include at least one of a power unit / battery, an input / output (I / O) unit, a driving unit, and a computing unit. Although not limited thereto, the wireless device may be implemented in the form of a robot (Fig. 1, 100a), a vehicle (Fig. 1, 100b-1, 100b-2), an XR device (Fig. 1, 100c), a portable device (Fig. 1, 100d), a home appliance (Fig. 1, 100e), an IoT device (Fig. 1, 100f), a UE for digital broadcasting, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTC device, a medical device, a fintech device (or a financial device), a security device, a climate / environmental device, an AI server / device (Fig. 1, 400), a BS (Fig. 1, 200), a network node, etc. Wireless devices may be mobile or stationary depending on the use / service.

[0073] In FIG. 3, various elements, components, units / parts, and / or modules within the wireless device (100, 200) may be entirely interconnected via a wired interface, or at least some may be wirelessly connected via a communication unit (110). For example, within the wireless device (100, 200), the control unit (120) and the communication unit (110) may be wired, and the control unit (120) and a first unit (e.g., 130, 140) may be wirelessly connected via the communication unit (110). In addition, each element, component, unit / part, and / or module within the wireless device (100, 200) may further include one or more elements. For example, the control unit (120) may be composed of one or more processor sets. For example, the control unit (120) may be composed of a set of a communication control processor, an application processor, an electronic control unit (ECU), a graphics processing processor, a memory control processor, etc. As another example, the memory unit (130) may be composed of RAM (Random Access Memory), DRAM (Dynamic RAM), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, transitory memory, non-transitory memory, and / or a combination thereof.

[0074] In this specification, at least one memory (e.g., 104 or 204) can store instructions or programs that, when executed, cause at least one processor operably connected to the at least one memory to perform operations according to some embodiments or implementations of the present specification.

[0075] In this specification, a computer-readable (non-volatile or non-transitory) storage medium can store at least one instruction or computer program, which when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to perform operations according to some embodiments or implementations of this specification.

[0076] In this specification, a processing device or apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one computer memory operatively connected to the at least one processor. The at least one computer memory may store instructions or programs, which, when executed, cause at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one memory to perform operations according to some embodiments or implementations of the present specification.

[0077] In this specification, a computer program may be stored in at least one computer-readable (non-volatile) storage medium and may include program code that, when executed, performs operations according to some implementations of the present specification or causes at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present specification. The computer program may be provided in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product may include at least one computer-readable (non-volatile) storage medium.

[0078] A communications device of the present specification comprises at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connected to said at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause said at least one processor to perform operations according to the example(s) of the present specification described below.

[0079] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a frame structure available in a 3GPP-based wireless communication system.

[0080] The structure of the frame in Fig. 4 is merely an example, and the number of subframes, the number of slots, and the number of symbols in the frame can be varied. In an NR system, OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS)) may be set differently between multiple cells aggregated to a single UE. Accordingly, the (absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot, or a transmission time interval (TTI)) consisting of the same number of symbols may be set differently between the aggregated cells. Here, the symbol may include an OFDM symbol (or a cyclic prefix - orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) symbol), an SC-FDMA symbol (or a discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol). In this specification, the terms symbol, OFDM-based symbol, OFDM symbol, CP-OFDM symbol, and DFT-s-OFDM symbols are interchangeable.

[0081] Referring to Figure 4, in the NR system, uplink and downlink transmissions are organized into frames. Each frame is T f= (△f max *N f / 100)*T c = 10 ms duration, divided into two half-frames of 5 ms each. Here, T is the basic time unit for NR. c = 1 / (△f max *N f ) and △f max = 480*10 3 Hz, and N f =4096. For reference, T is the basic time unit for LTE. s = 1 / (△f ref *N f,ref ) and △f ref = 15*10 3 Hz, and N f,ref =2048. T s Wow T c is a constant κ = T s / T c = 64 relationship. Each half-frame consists of 5 subframes, and the duration of a single subframe is T. sf is 1ms. Subframes are further divided into slots, and the number of slots in a subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing. Each slot consists of 14 or 12 OFDM symbols based on the cyclic prefix. For a normal cyclic prefix (CP), each slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols, and for an extended CP, each slot consists of 12 OFDM symbols. The numerology is exponentially scalable with a subcarrier spacing △f = 2. u *Depends on 15 kHz. The following table shows the subcarrier spacing for regular CP △f = 2. u *Number of OFDM symbols per slot at 15 kHz (N) slot symb ), number of slots per frame (N frame,uslot ) and the number of slots per subframe (N subframe,u slot ) is shown.

[0082]

[0083] The following table shows the subcarrier spacing for extended CP △f = 2. u *Indicates the number of OFDM symbols per slot, the number of slots per frame, and the number of slots per subframe at 15 kHz.

[0084]

[0085] For a subcarrier spacing setting u, slots are n in increasing order within a subframe. u s ∈ {0, ..., nsubframe,u slot - 1} and n in increasing order within the frame u s,f ∈ {0, ..., n frame,u slot - Numbered as 1}.

[0086] Figure 5 illustrates the resource grid of a slot. A slot contains multiple symbols (e.g., 14 or 12) in the time domain. For each numeral (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, a common resource block (CRB) N is indicated by higher layer signaling (e.g., radio resource control (RRC) signaling). start,u grid Starting from,N size,u grid,x *N RB sc Dog subcarriers and N subframe,u symb A resource grid of OFDM symbols is defined, where N size,u grid,xis the number of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid, and the subscript x is DL for downlink and UL for uplink. N RB sc is the number of subcarriers per RB, and in 3GPP-based wireless communication systems, N RB sc is typically 12. For a given antenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration u, and transmission direction (DL or UL), there is one resource grid. The carrier bandwidth N for subcarrier spacing configuration u size,u grid is given to the UE by higher layer parameters (e.g., RRC parameters) from the network. Each element in the resource grid for antenna port p and subcarrier spacing configuration u is called a resource element (RE), and one complex symbol can be mapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identified by an index k in the frequency domain and an index l indicating the symbol position relative to a reference point in the time domain. In an NR system, an RB is defined by 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In an NR system, RBs can be classified into common resource blocks (CRBs) and physical resource blocks (PRBs). CRBs are numbered upwards from 0 in the frequency domain for the subcarrier spacing configuration u. The center of subcarrier 0 of CRB 0 for the subcarrier spacing configuration u coincides with 'Point A', which is a common reference point for the resource block grids. PRBs for subcarrier spacing u are defined within the bandwidth part (BWP) and range from 0 to N. size,u BWP,i -1, where i is the number of the bandwidth part. Common resource block n u CRBand bandwidth part i within physical resource block n PRB The relationship between the two is as follows: n u PRB = n u CRB +N start,u BWP,i , here N start,u BWP,i is a common resource block (BRB) whose bandwidth part starts relative to CRB 0. A BWP comprises multiple consecutive RBs in the frequency domain. For example, a BWP may be a given numeral u within a BWP i on a given carrier. i A subset of contiguous CRBs defined for a carrier. A carrier may include up to N (e.g., 5) BWPs. A UE may be configured to have one or more BWPs on a given component carrier. Data communication is performed through the activated BWPs, and only a predetermined number (e.g., 1) of BWPs configured for the UE may be activated on the carrier.

[0087] For each serving cell in a set of DL BWPs or UL BWPs, the network configures at least an initial DL BWP and one (if the serving configuration is configured with uplink) or two (if supplementary uplink is used) initial UL BWPs. The network may also configure additional UL and DL BWPs for the serving cell. For each DL BWP or UL BWP, the UE is provided with the following parameters for the serving cell: i) subcarrier spacing, ii) cyclic prefix, and iii) N start BWP = Offset RB with the assumption of 275 set and length L RB CRBN provided by the RRC parameter locationAndBandwidth, which indicates the resource indicator value (RIV). start BWP=O carrier +RB start and the number of contiguous RBs N size BWP =L RB , and the subcarrier spacing is provided by the RRC parameter offsetToCarrierO carrier ; an index within the set of DL BWPs or UL BWPs; a set of BWP-common parameters and a set of BWP-specific parameters.

[0088] BWP switching for a serving cell can be used to activate an inactive BWP and deactivate an active BWP at the same time. BWP switching can be controlled by a PDCCH indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling, or by the MAC entity itself upon initiation of a random access procedure or upon detection of consistent LBT failures on the SpCell. Here, the bwp-InactivityTimer is started or restarted upon transmission / reception of a PDCCH or transmission / reception of data on the BWP, and the UE falls back to the default BWP upon expiration of the bwp-InactivityTimer.

[0089] Virtual resource blocks (VRBs) are defined within the bandwidth part and are numbered from 0 to N. size,u BWP,iNumbered from -1, where i is the number of the bandwidth part. VRBs are mapped to physical resource blocks (PRBs) according to interleaved or non-interleaved mapping. In some implementations, for non-interleaved VRB-to-PRB mapping, VRB n may be mapped to PRB n.

[0090] NR frequency bands are defined by two types of frequency ranges, FR1 and FR2, with FR2 also referred to as millimeter wave (mmW). The following table lists the frequency ranges in which NR can operate.

[0091]

[0092] Figure 6 illustrates physical channels used in a 3GPP-based communication system, which is an example of a wireless communication system, and a signal transmission / reception process using the channels.

[0093] When a UE is powered on again after being powered off or has been disconnected from a wireless communication system, it first searches for a suitable cell to camp on (search cell) and performs an initial cell search process, such as synchronizing with the cell or the BS of the cell (S11). During the initial cell search process, the UE receives a synchronization signal block (SSB) (also called an SSB / PBCH block) from the BS. The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The UE synchronizes with the BS based on the PSS / SSS and obtains information such as a cell identity (ID). In addition, the UE can obtain broadcast information within the cell based on the PBCH. Meanwhile, the UE can check the downlink channel status by receiving a downlink reference signal (DL RS) during the initial cell search process.

[0094] A UE that has completed initial cell search can camp on the cell. After camping on the cell, the UE monitors the PDCCH on the cell and receives the PDSCH based on the downlink control information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH to obtain more specific system information (S12).

[0095] Thereafter, the UE may perform a random access procedure to complete access to the BS (S13 to S16). For example, in the random access procedure, the UE may transmit a preamble through a physical random access channel (PRACH) (S13) and receive a random access response (RAR) to the preamble through a PDCCH and a corresponding PDSCH (S14). If reception of the RAR for the UE fails, the UE may retry transmitting the preamble. In the case of contention-based random access, a contention resolution procedure (S16) may be performed, including transmission of a PUSCH based on UL resource allocation included in the RAR (S15) and reception of a PDCCH and a corresponding PDSCH.

[0096] The UE, which has performed the procedure described above, can then perform reception of PDCCH / PDSCH (S17) and transmission of PUSCH / PUCCH (S18) as a general uplink / downlink signal transmission process. The control information that the UE transmits to the BS is collectively referred to as uplink control information (UCI). UCI includes HARQ ACK / NACK (Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest Acknowledgement / Negative-ACK) (also referred to as HARQ-ACK), scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI), etc. CSI may include a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), and / or a rank indicator. UCI is generally transmitted through PUCCH, but may be transmitted through PUSCH when control information and traffic data must be transmitted simultaneously. Additionally, based on a request / instruction from the network, the UE can transmit UCI aperiodically via PUSCH.

[0097] Below, the physical channels that can be used in 3GPP-based wireless communication systems are described in more detail.

[0098] The PDCCH carries DCI. For example, the PDCCH (i.e., DCI) carries the transmission format and resource allocation of the downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), resource allocation information for the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information for the paging channel (PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, resource allocation information for control messages of a layer (hereinafter, upper layer) located above the physical layer in the protocol stacks of the UE / BS, such as a random access response (RAR) transmitted on the PDSCH, transmission power control commands, activation / release of configured scheduling (CS), etc. The DCI that includes resource allocation information for the DL-SCH is also called PDSCH scheduling DCI, and the DCI that includes resource allocation information for the UL-SCH is also called PUSCH scheduling DCI. The DCI includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and the CRC is masked / scrambled with various identifiers (e.g., radio network temporary identifier (RNTI)) depending on the owner or intended use of the PDCCH. For example, if the PDCCH is for a specific UE, the CRC is masked with the UE identifier (e.g., cell RNTI (C-RNTI)). If the PDCCH is for paging, the CRC is masked with the paging RNTI (P-RNTI). If the PDCCH is for system information (e.g., system information block (SIB)), the CRC is masked with the system information RNTI (SI-RNTI). If the PDCCH is for a random access response, the CRC is masked with the random access RNTI (RA-RATI).

[0099] When a PDCCH on one serving cell schedules a PDSCH or PUSCH on another serving cell, this is called cross-carrier scheduling. Cross-carrier scheduling using the carrier indicator field (CIF) can allow the PDCCH of a serving cell to schedule resources on another serving cell. On the other hand, when a PDSCH on a serving cell schedules a PDSCH or PUSCH on the serving cell, this is called self-carrier scheduling. When cross-carrier scheduling is used in a cell, the BS can provide the UE with information about the cell that schedules the cell. For example, the BS can provide the UE with information about whether the serving cell is scheduled by a PDCCH on another (scheduling) cell or by the serving cell, and if the serving cell is scheduled by another (scheduling) cell, which cell signals downlink assignments and uplink grants for the serving cell. In this specification, a cell that carries a PDCCH is called a scheduling cell, and a cell in which transmission of a PUSCH or PDSCH is scheduled by DCI included in the PDCCH, i.e., a cell that carries a PUSCH or PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH, is called a scheduled cell.

[0100] The PDSCH is a physical layer DL channel for DL ​​data transport. PDSCH carries downlink data (e.g., DL-SCH transport blocks) and employs modulation methods such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), 64 QAM, and 256 QAM. Transport blocks (TBs) are encoded to generate codewords. A PDSCH can carry up to two codewords. Scrambling and modulation mapping are performed for each codeword, and the modulation symbols generated from each codeword can be mapped to one or more layers. Each layer is mapped to radio resources along with the DMRS, generating an OFDM symbol signal and transmitting it through the corresponding antenna port.

[0101] A UE must have uplink resources available to it for UL-SCH data transmission, and downlink resources available to it for DL-SCH data reception. Uplink and downlink resources are assigned to the UE through resource allocation by the BS. Resource allocation may include time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA). In this specification, uplink resource allocation is also referred to as uplink grant, and downlink resource allocation is also referred to as downlink assignment. An uplink grant is dynamically received by the UE on the PDCCH or within the RAR, or is semi-persistently configured to the UE by RRC signaling from the BS. A downlink assignment is dynamically received by the UE on the PDCCH, or is semi-persistently configured to the UE by RRC signaling from the BS.

[0102] In UL, the BS can dynamically allocate uplink resources to the UE via PDCCH(s) addressed to a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). The UE monitors the PDCCH(s) to find possible uplink grant(s) for UL transmission. In addition, the BS can allocate uplink resources to the UE using a configured grant (CG). Two types of configured grants can be used: Type 1 and Type 2. In Type 1, the BS directly provides the configured uplink grant (including the periodicity) via RRC signaling. For Type 2, the BS can set the period of the RRC-configured uplink grant through RRC signaling, and can signal and activate or deactivate the configured uplink grant through a PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI (PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI) addressed to the configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI). For example, for Type 2, a PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI indicates that the corresponding uplink grant can be implicitly reused according to the period set by RRC signaling until it is deactivated.

[0103] In DL, the BS can dynamically allocate downlink resources to the UE via PDCCH(s) addressed with the C-RNTI. The UE monitors the PDCCH(s) to discover possible downlink assignments. Additionally, the BS can allocate downlink resources to the UE using semi-static scheduling (SPS). The BS can set the period of the configured downlink assignments via RRC signaling, and signal and activate or deactivate the configured downlink assignments via the PDCCH addressed with the CS-RNTI. For example, a PDCCH addressed with the CS-RNTI implicitly indicates that the corresponding downlink assignment can be reused according to the period set by the RRC signaling until it is deactivated.

[0104] A control resource set (CORESET), which is a set of time-frequency resources for which a UE can monitor PDCCH, may be defined and / or configured. A CORESET consists of a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) with a duration of one to three OFDM symbols. The PRBs constituting the CORESET and the CORESET duration may be provided to the UE via higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling. Within the configured CORESET(s), a set of PDCCH candidates is monitored according to the corresponding search space sets. In this specification, monitoring implies decoding (aka blind decoding) each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI formats.

[0105] The set of PDCCH candidates monitored by the UE is defined in terms of PDCCH search space sets. The search space set may be a common search space (CSS) set or a UE-specific search space (USS) set. Each CORESET configuration is associated with one or more search space sets, and each search space set is associated with one CORESET configuration.

[0106] A set of PDCCH candidates may be monitored in one or more CORESETs on an active DL BWP on each activated serving cell for which PDCCH monitoring is configured, where monitoring implies receiving each PDCCH candidate and decoding it according to the monitored DCI formats.

[0107] Based on the CORESET / search space set configuration, the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates in one or more SS sets within a slot. The occasions (e.g., time / frequency resources) during which PDCCH candidates are monitored are defined as PDCCH (monitoring) occasions. One or more PDCCH (monitoring) occasions can be configured within a slot.

[0108] UE discontinuous reception (DRX)

[0109] UE uses DRX to reduce power consumption. UE operating based on DRX repeats ON / OFF for reception operation. The features of DRX utilized for the purpose of reducing unnecessary power consumption of UE are as follows. DRX defines a structure for UE in RRC_IDLE state where RRC connection between UE and BS is not established (hereinafter referred to as I-DRX) and a structure for UE in RRC_CONNECTED state where RRC connection between UE and BS is established (hereinafter referred to as C-DRX). Both DRX structures are designed to reduce unnecessary power consumption in other periods by defining a period (e.g., active time period or on-duration period) in which UE can expect reception of DL signals to occur periodically. For reference, in the case of C-DRX, the start position of On-duration occurs periodically in the Rel-16 standard, and the size of the cycle that can be configured at this time (i.e., DRX cycle) can be determined / set through upper layer signaling, such as RRC signaling, provided by the BS to the UE.

[0110] Figure 7 illustrates discontinuous reception (DRX) operation. In particular, Figure 7 illustrates a DRX cycle for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0111] Referring to FIG. 7, a DRX cycle consists of an ON period and an Opportunity for DRX. A DRX cycle defines a time interval during which an ON period is periodically repeated, followed by a possible period of inactivity. The ON period represents a time interval during which the UE performs PDCCH monitoring to receive a PDCCH. When DRX is configured, the UE performs PDCCH monitoring during the ON period. If a PDCCH is successfully detected during PDCCH monitoring, the UE starts an inactivity timer and remains awake. On the other hand, if no PDCCH is successfully detected during PDCCH monitoring, the UE enters a sleep state after the ON period ends. Therefore, when DRX is configured, the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring / reception discontinuously in the time domain when performing a process and / or method according to the implementation(s) of this specification. For example, when DRX is configured, the PDCCH reception occasion (e.g., slot having PDCCH search space) in this specification may be configured discontinuously according to the DRX configuration. On the other hand, when DRX is not configured, the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring / reception continuously in the time domain. For example, when DRX is not configured, the PDCCH reception occasion (e.g., slot having PDCCH search space) may be configured continuously. On the other hand, regardless of whether DRX is configured, PDCCH monitoring may be restricted in the time period configured as the measurement gap. DRX configuration information is received via upper layer (e.g., RRC) signaling, and whether DRX is turned on / off is controlled by the DRX command of the MAC layer. When DRX is configured, the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring discontinuously, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0112] The following table illustrates the UE processes related to DRX. Referring to the following table, DRX configuration information is received via upper layer (e.g., RRC) signaling, and DRX ON / OFF is controlled by the DRX command of the MAC layer. When DRX is configured, the UE can perform PDCCH monitoring discontinuously, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0113]

[0114] Here, MAC-CellGroupConfig contains configuration information required to set MAC parameters for a cell group. MAC-CellGroupConfig may also contain configuration information related to DRX. For example, MAC-CellGroupConfig may contain DRX-related information as follows.

[0115] - Value of drx-onDurationTimer: Sets the duration at the start of the DRX cycle.

[0116] - Value of drx-SlotOffset: Sets the delay before starting drx-onDurationTimer.

[0117] - Value of drx-InactivityTimer: Sets the period after which a PDCCH epoch indicates a new UL or DL ​​transmission to the MAC entity.

[0118] - Value of drxRetransmissionTimerDL (per DL HARQ process except for the broadcast process): Sets the maximum duration until a DL retransmission is received.

[0119] - Value of drxRetransmissionTimerUL (per UL HARQ process): Sets the maximum duration until a grant for UL retransmission is received.

[0120] - Value of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL (per DL HARQ process except for the broadcast process): Sets the maximum period of time after a DL initial transmission is received until a DL assignment for HARQ retransmission is received.

[0121] - Value of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL (per UL HARQ process): Sets the maximum period from when a grant for UL initial transmission is received until a grant for UL retransmission is received.

[0122] - drx-LongCycleStartOffset: Sets the Long DRX cycle and drx-StartOffset, which defines the subframe where the Long and Short DRX cycles start.

[0123] - drx-ShortCycle (optional): Sets the short DRX cycle.

[0124] - drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional): Sets the duration for which the UE should follow the Short DRX cycle. For example, a value in multiples of the Short DRX cycle can be set by drx-CylceTimer. For example, the value of n can correspond to n*drx-ShortCycle.

[0125] A UE may perform PDCCH monitoring on serving cells within a DRX group when the DRX group is within its active time. Here, a DRX group is a group of serving cells configured by RRC and having the same DRX active time. Here, the active time is a total duration for which the UE monitors the PDCCH, and may include an ON period of a DRX cycle, a time for which the UE performs continuous reception while an inactivity timer has not expired, and a time for which the UE performs continuous reception while waiting for a retransmission opportunity. For example, when DRX is configured, the active time for serving cells within a DRX group is i) while drx-onDurationTimer or drx-InactivityTimer configured for the DRX group is running; or ii) while drx-RetransmissionTimerDL or drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is running on any serving cell within the DRX group; or ra-ContentionResoultionTimer or msgB-RsponseWindow is running; or a PDCCH indicating a new transmission addressed to a C-RNTI addressed to the MAC entity of the UE is not received after successful reception of a random access response to a random access preamble that is not selected by the MAC entity among the contention-based random access preambles.

[0126] A UE can be configured with one or more DRX groups via RRC signaling from a BS. For example, if two DRX groups are configured, each serving cell is uniquely assigned to one of the two DRX groups. The DRX parameters drx-onDurationTimer and drx-InactivityTimer are configured separately for each DRX group, and the DRX parameters drx-SlotOffset, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle (optional), drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional), drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL are common to the DRX groups. Since each serving cell belongs to only one of the DRX groups, and the DRX parameters drx-onDurationTimer and drx-InactivityTimer are set for each DRX group, and the remaining DRX parameters are common to the DRX groups, it can be said that a serving cell is associated with only one set of DRX parameters.

[0127] Fig. 8 illustrates a case where a Long DRX cycle and a Short DRX cycle are set. In particular, Fig. 8 illustrates a case where drx-ShortCycleTimer is set to 2.

[0128] A BS can configure a Long DRX cycle and an additional Short DRX cycle that is shorter than the Long DRX cycle. If a Short DRX cycle is not configured, the UE follows the Long DRX cycle. When configuring a Short DRX cycle, the BS sets the duration of the Long DRX cycle to be a positive integer multiple of the Short DRX cycle. The same onDurationTimer value is configured for the Long DRX cycle and the Short DRX cycle. If there is no data activity during the ON period of the Long DRX cycle (e.g., no PDCCH reception), the UE follows the Long DRX cycle as if the Short DRX cycle is not configured. If there is data activity during the ON period of the Long DRX cycle, for example, while drx-onDurationTimer is running, the UE switches to the Short DRX cycle and follows the Short DRX cycle for a certain period of time (e.g., while drx-ShortCycleTimer is running). At this time, the start of the ON period in the Short DRX cycle is determined by drx-StartOffset and drx-SlotOffset, just like the Long DRX cycle. Referring to FIG. 8, if there is no data activity during the time following the Short DRX cycle, for example, if there is no data activity during the period defined by drx-ShortCycleTimer*drx-ShortCycle, the UE switches to the Long DRX cycle after drx-ShortCycleTimer Short DRX cycles.

[0129] Network energy saving and cell DRX / DTX

[0130] Energy conservation of base stations (BSs) is a key consideration in wireless communication systems, including 3GPP, as it can contribute to building eco-friendly networks by reducing carbon emissions and reducing the operational expenditure (OPEX) of telecommunications operators. In particular, the introduction of 5G communications will require higher transmission rates, necessitating BSs to be equipped with more antennas and provide services over wider bandwidths and frequency bands. Consequently, recent studies have shown that BS energy costs have reached up to 20% of total OPEX. This heightened interest in BS energy conservation led to the approval of a new study item, "Study on Network Energy Savings," in 3GPP NR Release 18. For example, to improve the energy saving capability of BS from the perspective of transmission and reception, the study investigates how to achieve dynamic and / or semi-static and finer granularity adaptation of transmission and / or reception to more efficient operation with one or more network energy saving techniques in time, frequency, space and power domains using potential assistance / feedback of UE and potential UE assistance information.

[0131] Hereinafter, when a BS operates in a network energy saving (NES) mode for energy saving (ES), it can mean, for example, that the BS sets multiple OFF intervals (i.e., discontinuous transmixxion (DTX) intervals of the BS) in advance to turn off transmission of a specific DL signal during a specific time interval, and dynamically indicates one of the OFF intervals to indicate that the corresponding DL signal will not be transmitted during the predefined time interval, thereby achieving power consumption savings of the BS and UE. Hereinafter, the NES mode can also mean an operation mode in which power consumption savings of the BS and UE are achieved not only in the domain but also in the frequency domain, such as BWP switching, dynamic resource block (RB) adaptation, etc., and in the spatial domain, for example, when a specific receive antenna port of the BS is turned off semi-statically or dynamically, by the BS not performing transmission and / or reception through the corresponding antenna port.

[0132] As explained above, after the UE initially accesses the BS and enters connected mode, it must continuously perform PDCCH monitoring to check if there is a transmission scheduled for it in each configured search space. However, if this scheduling is not always present, the UE may quickly drain its battery due to unnecessary PDCCH monitoring every time. Therefore, the BS can set the UE to an ON duration during which it must perform PDCCH monitoring and an OFF duration during which it does not need to perform PDCCH monitoring. In other words, the BS can set the UE to connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX) to save power. From the BS's perspective, the UE's C-DRX can also help save energy for the BS. For example, during the C-DRX OFF period of a specific UE, the BS does not need to transmit the PDCCH of the specific UE, so the BS can use its resources (e.g., radio resources during the C-DRX OFF period of the specific UE) for other purposes or obtain energy saving (ES) benefits through DTX / DRX. However, since the UE can transmit without restriction as needed on pre-configured resources (e.g., SR, PUCCH, CG PUSCH, etc.) even during the OFF period, the BS must wait for UL reception of the UE, which may be transmitted at any time. In addition, since the C-DRX is configured UE-specifically, the DRX cycles or ON / OFF periods between UEs within a cell (or BS) are not aligned.Therefore, if the ON periods of UEs are set in a time division multiplexing (TDM) format, it may be difficult to expect ES gain because the BS cannot sleep for PDCCH transmission for each ON period of each UE within the cell (or BS).

[0133] Therefore, in some implementations of this specification, the BS can save energy by turning OFF transmission / reception of specific signals / channels during inactive periods through cell-specific DTX / DRX configuration with alternating active and inactive periods similar to UE C-DRX. Hereinafter, some implementations of this specification are described regarding cell-specific DTX / DRX operation of a BS that saves energy by turning OFF transmission / reception on the cell during specific time periods or through restricted DTX / DRX that allows transmission / reception of specific signals / channel(s). Also described are some implementations of this specification regarding UE operation for each time period when cell DTX / DRX is combined with DRX operation of UEs within the cell. For convenience, the method(s) by which cell DTX / DRX is combined with the C-DRX operation of the UE and the corresponding operating method(s) are mainly described, but some implementations of this specification can be applied and extended to other DRX operations of the UE (e.g., idle mode DRX) as well as C-DRX.

[0134] The UE monitors the PDCCH during periodic ON periods to check if there is UL / DL to transmit / receive, and when a PDCCH is received, performs DL reception or UL transmission according to the instructions of the PDCCH. In the case of UL, the UE can wake up from sleep mode and transmit a scheduling request (SR) if there is data to be sent in the UL buffer, regardless of C-DRX. A UE in idle mode periodically performs paging monitoring, and if the UE is not the target UE of the paging, it can operate in idle mode (idle mode DRX (i.e., I-DRX)) which returns to sleep mode. Here, the UE operating in sleep mode can mean performing SR transmission “regardless of the active time determined by C-DRX” or “even in a period other than the active time determined by C-DRX.” In C-DRX operation, a time period consisting of an ON period and an OFF period is repeated, which is called a DRX cycle. The length of a DRX cycle can be defined as from the start of an ON period to before the next ON period, and a DRX cycle can be divided into a Long DRX cycle and a Short DRX cycle. If the length of the DRX cycle becomes longer, if the BS has a PDSCH to send immediately after the end of a specific ON period of the UE, it must wait until the next ON period of the UE, which may increase latency. From the BS's perspective, Since the UE does not transmit periodic CSI (P-CSI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) during the OFF period, the resource (i.e., the resource for P-CSI or SRS transmission) can be allocated to another UE to increase resource utilization.Additionally, the BS may also operate in energy saving mode to save power during the UE's OFF period.

[0135] In relation to C-DRX, the BS may instruct the UE to enter DRX sleep mode directly without operating in active mode until the end of the ON period via the DRX command MAC control element (CE). For example, the BS may instruct the UE to terminate the current active time and directly enter a DRX cycle. If only a Long DRX cycle is configured for the UE, the UE may operate in the Long DRX cycle (based on the DRX command MAC CE). If both a Long DRX cycle and a Short DRX cycle are configured, the UE will immediately enter the Short DRX cycle after receiving the DRX command MAC CE. In addition, if the BS provides a Long DRX command MAC CE, the UE may operate in the Long DRX cycle even if a Short DRX cycle is configured. Additionally, BS can control / change the starting point of the Long DRX cycle via the RRC parameter drx-LongCycleStartOffset, which is used to set the Long DRX cycle and the drx-StartOffset, which defines the subframe in which the Long and Short DRX cycles start. Here, the value of the RRC parameter drx-LongCycleStartOffset is defined in ms units so that the Long DRX cycle can start at the slot boundary. Additionally, the starting point of the ON period can be set at slot level granularity via another RRC parameter drx-SlotOffset. In this case, the relative position of the ON period is defined by applying the slot offset indicated (by drx-SlotOffset) with respect to the reference point indicated by drx-LongCycleStartOffset.BS can utilize ES by aligning ON and OFF periods of multiple UEs within a cell by adjusting the start point of the DRC cycle and the start point of the ON period through the above parameters, but for ES through the dynamic transmission / reception OFF time pattern of BS, a more dynamic offset value indication may be required.

[0136] By waking up the UE only during the ON period and monitoring the presence of PDCCH transmitted to itself through C-DRX configuration, energy can be saved compared to continuously (e.g., at every slot) monitoring the PDCCH. In addition, if the BS has no data to transmit in the upcoming ON period of the UE, the BS can further save the battery of the UE by transmitting a wake-up signal (WUS) before the start of the ON period of the UE to inform the UE that there is no need to wake up in the ON period (i.e., there is no need to start the onDuration timer). Here, for the UE among the UEs configured with C-DRX and that there is no data to transmit / receive in the upcoming ON period, the BS can transmit a WUS that can be transmitted via DCI format 2_6, which is used to notify power saving information outside the DRX active time for one or more UEs, at a WUS occasion configured before the ON period, to indicate to the UE that there is no need to wake up in the current ON period. A UE that receives the above WUS (e.g., wake-up indication via DCI format 2_6) can save more energy because it can continue to sleep without switching to active mode.

[0137] In the following description, UE DRX or C-DRX, I-DRX may mean discontinuous reception from the UE's perspective, cell DRX may mean discontinuous reception from the BS's perspective, and cell DTX may mean discontinuous transmission from the BS's perspective. Cell DRX may mean UL transmission OFF from the UE's perspective, and cell DTX may mean DL reception OFF from the UE's perspective.

[0138] According to the cell DTX / DRX operation, as in the structure similar to the C-DRX of the UE, an active period can be set in which all signals and channels can be transmitted / received without restriction, and a non-active period, which is a time period outside the active period in which transmission / reception of all signals and channels is turned OFF or transmission / reception of only specific signals and channels is performed in a restricted manner (e.g., only transmission / reception of channels / signals such as PDCCH transmission or RACH / SR PUCCH reception is allowed). The cell DTX / DRX configuration can be set and activated only by RRC (i.e., only through RRC signaling), or some parameters for the cell DTX / DRX can be set by RRC and the remaining parameters can be set / indicated and activated through L1 and / or L2 signaling (e.g., (group-common) DCI and / or MAC CE). Information about the location and length (in the time domain) of the active and inactive periods of the cell DTX / DRX can be preset via specific RRC parameters. For example, the start point of the active period can be set via an offset from a specific subframe boundary or a specific system frame number (SFN) value, and the duration can be set via a length-related parameter or timer, etc. In some implementations, the BS can preset multiple parameter or timer candidates and indicate one of the candidates upon activation via L1 and / or L2 signaling. During the cell DTX / DRX active period, transmission / reception of all signals and channels can be possible without any special transmission / reception restrictions, as in the normal operation of the BS.The time interval outside the active interval is basically considered as a non-active interval, and transmission / reception may be restricted except for the preset signal(s) and channel(s), and since the BS can obtain ES gain through the operation of performing only this minimum transmission / reception, the operation when the NES state / mode is ON may be considered in the time interval outside the active interval.

[0139] For example, to reduce the BS downlink transmission / uplink reception active time, the UE can be configured with a periodic cell DTX / DRX pattern (i.e., active and non-active periods). The pattern configuration for cell DTX / DRX can be common to the UEs in the cell. Each serving cell can be configured with a periodic cell DTX pattern by RRC. The BS can configure only cell DTX, only cell DRX, or both for a cell. Cell DTX and cell DRX patterns can be configured and activated separately. Up to N cell DTX / DRX patterns per MAC entity can be configured for different serving cells, where N can be a predefined value. Cell DTX / DRX can be activated / deactivated by RRC signaling or L1 group common signaling (e.g., signaling via group-common PDCCH). The BS can control the cell DTX and cell DRX operation by providing the cell DTX / DRX configuration via RRC signaling. For example, the BS can provide RRC parameters in the cell DTX / DRX configuration regarding a timer for an active period at the beginning of a cell DTX / DRX cycle (e.g., a cell DTX / DRX ON duration timer), a subframe in which the cell DTX / DRX cycle starts, a delay before the active period starts, a cell DTX / DRX cycle period (i.e., a cell DTX / DRX cycle), etc. The active duration of the cell DTX / DRX can be a period of time for which the UE waits to receive PDCCHs or SPS occasions and to transmit an SR or CG. A cycle of the cell DTX / DRX specifies a periodic repetition of an active period followed by an inactive period. The active duration and cycle parameters can be common between the cell DTX and the cell DRX.The BS may configure the C-DRX and the cell DTX / DRX such that there is at least a partial overlap between the C-DRX ON period of the UE and the cell DTX / DRX active period. For example, the BS may configure the C-DRX periodicity of the UE to be an integer multiple of the cell DTX / DRX periodicity, or the cell DTX / DRX periodicity to be an integer multiple of the C-DRX periodicity of the UE.

[0140] In some implementations, cell DTX operation may affect the UE's monitoring activity for PDCCH and configured downlink assignments in RRC_CONNECTED. For a serving cell for which cell DTX is configured and active, a UE (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE) monitors PDCCH on the serving cell if the serving cell is within the cell DTX active period. The cell DTX active period of a serving cell may include the time that a cell DTX / DRX ON duration timer runs for the serving cell. For example, for a serving cell for which cell DTX is configured and active, a UE (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE) may not monitor PDCCH on the serving cell if the serving cell is not within the cell DTX active period or is within the UE C-DRX active period, and may not receive transport blocks on the serving cell according to the configured downlink assignment for SPS (i.e., perform SPS PDSCH reception). That is, when cell DTX is set and activated for a serving cell, the UE may not perform PDCCH monitoring on the serving cell or monitor SPS periods on the serving cell during the cell DTX inactivity period.

[0141] In some implementations, cell DRX operation may control SR and configured uplink grant transmission activity in RRC_CONNECTED. In some scenarios, when cell DRX is configured and activated for a serving cell, the UE (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE) may, in principle, perform CG PUSCH transmissions and (if the serving cell is a PUCCH cell) PUCCH transmissions on the serving cell only within the cell DRX active period. The cell DTX active period of a serving cell may include the time that the cell DTX / DRX ON duration timer runs for the serving cell. For example, if a serving cell for which cell DRX is configured and activated is within a cell DRX inactive period, the UE (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE) does not transmit SR on PUCCH resources for SR (even if the serving cell is a PUCCH cell), does not report periodic CSI on PUCCH (even if the serving cell is a PUCCH cell), and does not report semi-persistent CSI configured on PUSCH of the serving cell. In other words, if cell DRX is configured and activated for a serving cell, the UE may not transmit on CG resources of the serving cell or may not transmit SR on the serving cell during the DRX inactive period.

[0142] A DCI format (e.g., DCI format 2_9) may be used to activate or deactivate cell DTX and / or DRX configuration of one or more serving cells for one or more UEs. For example, the following information may be transmitted by DCI format 2_9 with CRC scrambled by cellDTRX-RNTI: block number 1, block number 2, ..., block number N, where the starting position of a block associated with a serving cell is determined by the parameter positionInDCI-cellDTRX provided to the UE by higher layer signaling. If the UE is configured to monitor DCI format 2_9 with CRC scrambled by cellDTRX-RNTI, one or more blocks with cell DTX / DRX indication fields defined for each block may be configured to the UE by higher layer signaling. A UE configured for one or both of cell DTX operation and cell DRX operation by an RRC configuration cellDTXDRX-Config for said serving cell for operation on said serving cell may be provided with a configuration regarding a (common) search space for monitoring PDCCH for detection of DCI format 2_9 during the active time and a configuration regarding the position of a cell DTX / DRX indication field for said serving cell within the DCI format 2_9. If a UE is configured for both cell DTX operation and cell DRX operation for a serving cell and an RRC parameter cellDTXDRX-L1activaiton is provided indicating whether said serving cell has enabled L1 signaling based on DCI format 2_9 for dynamic activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX configuration, the cell DTX / DRX indication field may include two bits, where the first bit indicates cell DTX operation and the second bit indicates cell DRX operation.When the UE is configured with only one of cell DTX operation and cell DRX operation for the serving cell and the RRC parameter cellDTXDRX-L1activaiton is provided, the cell DTX / DRX indication field may include one bit indicating one of cell DTX operation and cell DRX operation for the serving cell. A value of '0' for the bit of the cell DTX / DRX indication field indicates deactivation of cell DTX or cell DRX, and a value of '0' for the bit of the cell DTX / DRX indication field indicates activation of cell DTX or cell DRX. When a UE receives a PDCCH providing a DCI format 2_9 indicating a change in activation or deactivation of a current cell DTX operation or cell DRX operation for a second serving cell in slot m on an active DL BWP of a first serving cell, the UE operates on the second serving cell according to the indicated cell DTX operation or cell DRX operation starting from a slot on the active DL BWP or on the active UL BWP of the second serving cell, respectively, not before the beginning of slot m+d on the active DL BWP of the first serving cell, where d is the number of slots for an SCS of the active DL BWP of the first serving cell in the following table.

[0143]

[0144] Meanwhile, when CA is configured, an activation / deactivation mechanism of cell(s) may be supported to reduce unnecessary energy consumption in the BS and / or UE. For example, when a UE is configured with one or more SCells, the BS may activate or deactivate the configured SCell(s). When configuring an SCell, it is considered to be deactivated unless the RRC parameter sCellState regarding the cell state in the configuration regarding the SCell is set to activated. An SCell configured for a UE may be activated and deactivated by a SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC control element (CE) provided to the UE from the BS, by a SCell deactivation timer configured for the SCell, by the RRC parameter sCellState for the SCell, or by the state of the SCG. The UE activates each configured SCell if the SCell is configured with the parameter sCellState set to activated during SCell configuration, or if it receives a SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE that activates the SCell. If the SCell is active, the UE can perform normal SCell operations, including: transmitting SRS on the SCell, reporting CSI for the SCell, monitoring PDCCH on the SCell (if the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH from the SCell), and transmitting PUCCH on the SCell (if the SCell is a cell with configured PUCCH).When a SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE is received to deactivate the SCell, or when a SCell deactivation timer associated with the activated SCell expires, or when a SCG associated with the activated SCell is deactivated, the UE deactivates the SCell, stops the SCell deactivation timer associated with the SCell, clears any configured downlink assignments and any configured uplink grant type 2 associated with the SCell, deactivates any PUSCH resources for semi-persistent CSI reporting associated with the SCell, suspends any configured uplink grant type 1 associated with the SCell, and flushes all HARQ buffers associated with the SCell. When a PDCCH on an activated SCell indicates an uplink grant or downlink assignment, or when a PDCCH on a serving cell scheduling the activated SCell indicates an uplink grant or downlink assignment for the activated SCell, or when a MAC PDU is transmitted in an established grant, or when a MAC PDU is received in an established downlink assignment, the UE restarts a SCell deactivation timer associated with the SCell. When the SCell is deactivated, the UE does not transmit SRS on the SCell; does not report CSI for the SCell; does not transmit on UL-SCH on the SCell (e.g., does not perform PUSCH transmission on the SCell), does not transmit on RACH on the SCell (e.g., does not perform PRACH transmission on the SCell), does not perform PDCCH monitoring on the SCell, and does not perform PUCCH transmission on the SCell.

[0145] As mentioned earlier, cell DTX / DRX configuration can be configured via UE-specific RRC configuration and activated / deactivated via RRC signaling, but can also be activated / deactivated more quickly and dynamically via group-common DCI (e.g., DCI format 2_9). When cell DTX / DRX is configured for a serving cell and the serving cell is activated or deactivated, what happens to the cell DTX / DRX behavior for the serving cell? If the cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell is also deactivated when the serving cell is deactivated, the handling of the cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell when the serving cell is activated again also becomes an issue.

[0146] Below are described some implementations of this specification regarding cell DTX / DRX configuration and operation according to cell activation / deactivation when a BS and / or UE wishes to perform cell DTX / DRX operation in a periodically repeating ON / OFF period pattern for energy conservation.

[0147] <Method #1> A method for causing the UE to perform monitoring (and acquire / apply cell DTX information) for the cell DTX / DRX activation / deactivation instruction DCI related to the SCell even when the MAC of the specific SCell is deactivated (or a method for setting / instructing in advance whether the UE monitors (and acquires / applies cell DTX information) for the cell DTX / DRX activation / deactivation instruction DCI related to the SCell for the deactivated SCell)

[0148] A BS can configure a SCell for a UE with carrier aggregation capability and activate it via a MAC activation command, thereby enabling the SCell to be used for capacity boosting purposes, such as achieving higher data rates. Once the SCell is activated, the UE can utilize the activated SCell for PDCCH monitoring, PDSCH reception, SRS transmission, CQI reporting, PUSCH transmission, etc. However, if there is no data activity on the SCell for a certain period of time, the SCell can be deactivated via a MAC command or RRC signaling to save unnecessary energy.

[0149] Meanwhile, cell DTX / DRX configuration can be configured and operated per cell or per cell group, and only cell DTX, only cell DRX, or both cell DTX and DRX can be configured and operated independently for each serving cell configured for the UE. These cell DTX / DRX configurations can be configured through UE-specific RRC and activated / deactivated only through RRC, but can also be activated / deactivated more quickly and dynamically through group-common DCI (e.g., DCI format 2_9). In addition to the cell DTX / DRX configuration, the UE can be configured with a common search space (CSS) for monitoring DCI format 2_9, and can be configured with a starting bit position for an information block corresponding to its serving cell among a plurality of information blocks included in DCI format 2_9. In the case of a cell in which only cell DTX is set or only cell DRX is set, deactivation is indicated through 1 bit, and in the case of a cell in which both cell DTX and cell DRX are set, activation (deactivation) of each of cell DTX and cell DRX can be indicated through 2 bits.

[0150] If a specific SCell configured for a UE is configured as cell DTX or cell DRX or both and is configured to monitor DCI format 2_9, the UE can check whether the start bit position of the information block corresponding to the SCell among the bits in the DCI indicates activation (release). However, if the SCell is deactivated via a MAC command, the UE may also stop monitoring DCI format 2_9 for cell DTX / DRX activation (release) indication.

[0151] However, in some implementations of this specification, the deactivated SCell may be exceptionally configured / instructed to continue monitoring cell DTX / DRX activation (deactivation) indication DCI through MAC CE (or sCellDeactivationTimer). In this case, if the BS instructs the currently deactivated SCell to activate or deactivate cell DTX / DRX, the UE can immediately apply the cell DTX / DRX configuration when the SCell is activated again, thereby enabling alignment of UE and BS transmission / reception operations without ambiguity. If it is preset and / or agreed (in a standard, etc.) that transmission / reception of a specific DL or UL signal / channel will not be performed during a cell DTX / DRX non-active period by the cell DTX or cell DRX configuration, for example, if the BS has SRS transmission / reception turned OFF by the non-active period of the activated cell DRX configuration immediately after the SCell is activated, the UE may recognize that the cell DRX non-active period is immediately after the SCell is activated through the cell DTX / DRX activation (release) DCI received while the SCell is deactivated, and may not perform SRS transmission, thereby aligning the cell DRX operations between the BS and the UE and preventing unnecessary energy consumption.

[0152] <Method #2> A method to stop monitoring for cell DTX / DRX activation (deactivation) instruction DCI without exception when SCell is deactivated, but define / set the default cell DTX / DRX operation (e.g. activation or deactivation) to be applied when SCell is reactivated.

[0153] Figure 9 illustrates examples of application of cell DTX / DRX configurations for a deactivated and then reactivated SCell according to some implementations of the present specification. In Figure 9, the dotted lines in the cell DTX / DRX pattern indicate deactivated cell DTX / DRX configurations, and the solid lines indicate activated DTX / DTX configurations.

[0154] After the UE receives the cell DTX / DRX activation (release) indication DCI (e.g., DCI format 2_9), it may take some time to actually apply it, just like other DCI formats (e.g., DCI format 2_6). For example, when the UE receives DCI format 2_9 in slot n, rather than applying a preset cell DTX / DRX activation (active) / non-active pattern in slot n or the immediately following slot (slot n+1), a delay as exemplified in Table 5 is required for applying the cell DTX / DRX configuration, including processing time, depending on the SCS of the PDCCH on which DCI format 2_9 is transmitted.

[0155] The UE can apply the actual cell DTX or DRX activation / deactivation change (i.e., from activation to deactivation, or vice versa) from the start of slot X, where slot X is the first slot not earlier than (i.e., equal to or immediately after) n+D plus the delay values ​​illustrated in Table 5 based on slot n that received DCI format 2_9.

[0156] In this way, when an SCell is deactivated and reactivated via MAC CE (or based on sCellDeactivationTimer), and cell DTX / DRX activation / deactivation is indicated via DCI format 2_9, it may take a long time until the actual cell DTX / DRX configuration is applied. Therefore, when an SCell is deactivated, the UE may stop monitoring cell DTX / DRX activation (deactivation) indication DCI without exception, but it may be considered that a default cell DTX / DRX operation (e.g., activation or deactivation) to be applied when the SCell is reactivated is defined / configured. In other words, the cell DTX / DRX operation to be applied by default when an SCell is activated can be configured / defined in advance without a separate cell DTX / DRX activation (deactivation) indication DCI.

[0157] In some implementations, if multiple cell DTX / DRX configurations are configurable (e.g., N cell DTX / DRX configurations are provided), the UE may be configured / instructed to configure / indicate one of the following (e.g., one of (N+1) states) as the cell DTX / DRX configuration to be activated together with the SCell when it is activated.

[0158] - Cell DTX / DRX deactivation

[0159] - Enable Cell DTX / DRX Setting 1

[0160] - Enable Cell DTX / DRX Setting 2

[0161] - ...

[0162] - Enable Cell DTX / DRX Setting N

[0163] As above, UE can be configured / instructed to one of (N+1) states via DCI format 2_9 or SCell activation MAC CE or RRC. Alternatively, if one of (N+1) states is configured / defined as default cell DTX / DRX configuration (state), UE (and / or BS) can operate by immediately applying said default cell DTX / DRX configuration (state) the moment SCell is activated via MAC command (e.g., reception of MAC CE including activation instruction for said SCell) or RRC signaling, if there is no separate BS configuration / instruction, and can follow said configuration / instruction if there is a separate configuration / instruction. If cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 activation is configured / instructed by being default cell DTX / DRX configuration (state), then as soon as the deactivated SCell is activated via MAC CE, cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 can be activated and applied to the SCell, as illustrated in FIG. 9(a). Alternatively, in some implementations, when the BS transmits an activation instruction for an SCell even if there is a default cell DTX / DRX configuration, it may also indicate the cell DTX / DRX configuration to be activated for the SCell. For example, if the BS configures / instructs activation of cell DTX / DRX configuration 2 while instructing activation of the SCell, cell DTX / DRX configuration 2 may be activated according to what the BS configures / instructs instead of the default configuration of cell DTX / DRX configuration 1.

[0164] Alternatively, in some implementations, when there are multiple cell DTX / DRX configurations, and one of them is configured / defined as a default cell DTX / DRX configuration, the deactivation or activation of the default cell DTX / DRX configuration may be configured / indicated via MAC CE or RRC signaling indicating activation of an SCell, and when the SCell is activated, the default cell DTX / DRX configuration may be activated and applied on the SCell. In some implementations, in addition to the activation / deactivation of the cell DTX / DRX configuration via MAC CE, the activation / deactivation of the cell DTX / DRX configuration may also be indicated via DCI scheduling the MAC CE. In this case, a separate identifier, such as an RNTI, may be required for the cell DTX / DRX configuration activation / deactivation indication for the DCI.

[0165] Alternatively, in some implementations, it may be set / defined whether the cell DTX / DRX enabled or disabled state previously indicated in DCI format 2_9 when the SCell is deactivated will be maintained or initialized when the SCell is reactivated. For example, if the cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 for the SCell is activated through DCI format 2_9 and then the SCell is deactivated (due to a cause other than DCI format 2_9, for example, expiration of the MAC CE or SCell deactivation timer notifying deactivation of the SCell, deactivation of the corresponding SCG, etc.), when the SCell is reactivated through MAC CE or RRC signaling, the activation state of the cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 indicated by DCI format 2_9 in the previous activation state of the SCell may be maintained as illustrated in FIG. 9(b), or the activation or deactivation instructions related to the cell DTX / DRX configuration received in the previous activation state of the SCell may all be initialized the moment the SCell is deactivated, and the SCell is activated again, and the default state for the cell DTX / DRX configuration is maintained, and if there is an activation or deactivation instruction for the cell DTX / DRX configuration for the SCell through DCI format 2_9, the cell may be configured accordingly. DTX / DRX configuration may be applied. For example, referring to FIG. 9(c), if the initial state (i.e., default state) of cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 is set by BS to be deactivated and the cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 is activated by an activation instruction via DCI format while the SCell is activated, when the SCell is deactivated, the activation instruction is initialized and the initial state of the cell DTX / DRX configuration 1, which is the deactivated state, may be maintained until the SCell is activated again and a new activation instruction for the cell DTX / DRX configuration 1 is received.The default state for the cell DTX / DRX cell DTX / DRX configuration may be predefined or configured, and may mean activation or deactivation of the cell DTX / DRX configuration. In some implementations, when an SCell is deactivated and then reactivated, whether the activation or deactivation indication for the cell DTX / DRX configuration received in the previous activation state of the SCell will be maintained or initialized may be configured / indicated via the SCell deactivation MAC CE or RRC.

[0166] According to Method #2, the cell DTX / DRX configuration can be activated when the SCell is activated even if the DCI format 2_9 regarding activation of the cell DTX / DRX configuration for the SCell is not provided to the UE. Accordingly, the BS and the UE can immediately apply the active / inactive interval of the cell DTX / DRX configuration for the SCell even when the SCell is activated, thereby saving energy in the network.

[0167] <Method #3> A method for setting / instructing whether a UE operating with C-DRX set up monitors cell DTX / DRX activation (de)activation instruction DCI during a time period other than the active time.

[0168] A connected mode UE can save energy by monitoring the PDCCH only during the ON duration through the C-DRX configuration. Therefore, DCI format 2_9, which indicates activation (release) of cell DTX / DRX reconfiguration, can also be monitored only during the ON duration (or active time) of the UE C-DRX. Therefore, if the time point at which the BS wants to indicate activation or release of cell DTX / DRX is not during the ON duration (or active time) of the UE C-DRX, the BS can wait until the ON duration (or active time) of the next UE DRX cycle and then perform the DCI indication.

[0169] The BS may configure / instruct whether to perform monitoring for cell DTX / DRX activation (release) indication DCI even in a time period other than the C-DRX active time in order to instruct the UE with UE C-DRX configured to activate (release) cell DTX / DRX more immediately (immediately when needed). In order to save energy of the UE, the BS may configure the UE to perform monitoring for cell DTX / DRX activation (release) indication DCI only in the C-DRX active time as before, or may configure the UE to perform monitoring for cell DTX / DRX activation (release) indication DCI even outside the active time period, thereby enabling or disabling the cell DTX / DRX configuration at any time.

[0170] <Method #4> When a UE receives a cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation instruction of a specific cell through DCI format 2_9 in a specific serving cell, a method for determining a slot boundary at which an actual cell DTX / DRX pattern will start when BWP switching (due to DCI or timer) occurs during an application delay and SCS is changed.

[0171] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating some implementations of this specification regarding the start of cell DTX / DRX patterns during BWP switching.

[0172] In some implementations, a UE may receive DCI format 2_9 on only a specific serving cell even when there are multiple configured serving cells. In this case, the UE applies the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern (i.e., active / inactive period) at the first slot boundary that is equal to or later than slot n+D, considering the D value per SCS as exemplified in Table 5 as an application delay based on the PDCCH SCS of slot n in which DCI format 2_9 is received. However, if BWP switching occurs (due to expiration of a timer such as DCI or bwp-InactivityTimer) between the time of receiving DCI format 2_9 indicating cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation of specific cell(s) and the time of applying the application delay n+D, it needs to be defined based on which SCS of which BWP the slot boundary (to which the cell DTX / DRX pattern will be applied) will be determined.

[0173] For example, referring to FIG. 10, if the UE receives DCI format 2_9 in slot 1 of cell 1, the first slot boundary equal to or after slot n+D is slot 7 considering the application delay according to Table 5, and the slot boundary considering the SCS for each BWP of cell 2 is slot 4 and slot 14 for BWP#1 and BWP#2, respectively. However, if the BWP of cell 2 is switched from BWP#1 to BWP#2 (due to expiration of a timer such as DCI or bwp-InactivityTimer) after the UE receives DCI in slot 1 of cell 1, the SCS changes from 15 kHz to 60 kHz, so when the UE receives the DCI, the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern is applied starting from slot 4 based on 15 kHz SCS, but after BWP switching, the slot where the cell DTX / DRX pattern is applied starts at slot 14 based on 60 kHz SCS, so the slot boundary where the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern is to start may vary depending on which BWP's SCS is used as a reference. Therefore, in this case, the following methods can be considered for a cell that has been instructed to activate / deactivate cell DTX / DRX through DCI format 2_9.

[0174] (1) A method for determining the starting slot boundary of an actual cell DTX / DRX pattern by calculating the applied delay n+D (i.e., slot n+D considering the applied delay D) based on the BWP SCS at the time of receiving the DCI instructing activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX.

[0175] (2) A method for determining the starting slot boundary of an actual cell DTX / DRX pattern based on the BWP SCS at time n+D calculated by applying an application delay after receiving a DCI instructing activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX.

[0176] (3) When the BWP SCS at the time of receiving the DCI instructing activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX is different from the BWP SCS at the time n+D calculated by applying the application delay D, a method for determining the slot boundary to which the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern is to be applied based on the smaller SCS of the two BWP SCSs.

[0177] (4) (When the BWP SCS at the time of receiving the DCI instructing activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX is different from the BWP SCS at the time of n+D calculated by applying the application delay) A method for determining the slot boundary to which the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern is to be applied based on the smallest SCS among all BWPs of the cell(s) instructed to activate / deactivate cell DTX / DRX.

[0178] (5) (When the BWP SCS at the time of receiving the DCI instructing the activation / deactivation of cell DTX / DRX is different from the BWP SCS at the time of n+D calculated by applying the application delay) A method for determining the slot boundary to which the actual cell DTX / DRX pattern is to be applied based on the SCS of a specific (reference) BWP (preliminarily set by BS or defined in a standard, etc.) among the BWPs of the cell instructed to activate / deactivate cell DTX / DRX.

[0179] Although the above methods (1) to (5) are described from the perspective of a cell instructed to activate / deactivate cell DTX / DRX, they are all applicable to a cell instructing to activate / deactivate cell DTX / DRX (i.e., a receiving cell of DCI format 2_9).

[0180] In expressions such as enable / disable in this specification, ' / ' can mean 'and / or'. For example, enable / disable means enable and / or disable.

[0181] In Method #4, if cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation is indicated through DCI format 2_9, and the cell that received DCI format 2_9 (i.e., scheduling cell) is different from the cell that indicated cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation (i.e., scheduled cell), and if BWP switching occurs within the scheduled cell immediately (or immediately before) the UE receives DCI format 2_9, so that BWP#1 when cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation is indicated is different from BWP#2 after the applied delay period defined in Table 5, and if the SCS of BWP#1 is different from the SCS of BWP#2, then ambiguity may arise when calculating the actual applied delay in the scheduled cell as to whether to use the SCS of BWP#1 or the SCS of BWP#2 as a reference. In this case, in some implementations of the present specification, the UE may expect the following behavior.

[0182] (1) The UE does not expect a BWP switching instruction via DCI during the time period in which it applies the application delay by receiving a cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation instruction via DCI format 2_9. Alternatively, the UE holds bwp-InactivityTimer to prevent BWP switching by the timer from being triggered.

[0183] (2) The UE does not expect the SCS before and after BWP switching to be different during the time period in which it applies the application delay by receiving the cell DTX / DRX activation or deactivation instruction through DCI format 2_9, if it receives the BWP switching instruction through DCI (or if BWP switching is triggered by a timer such as bwp-InactivityTimer).

[0184] The aforementioned methods #1, #2, #3, and #4 may be applied alone or in combination. For example, method #1 or method #2 may be applied in conjunction with method #3. In another example, method #1 or method #2 may be applied in conjunction with method #4. In another example, method #1 or method #2 may be applied in conjunction with methods #3 and #4.

[0185] Figure 11 illustrates a UE operation flow according to some implementations of this specification.

[0186] A UE may perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The UE may include at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A processing device for the UE may include at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A computer-readable (non-volatile or non-transitory) storage medium may store at least one computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A computer program or computer program product may be recorded on at least one computer-readable (non-volatile or non-transitory) storage medium and may contain instructions that, when executed, cause (at least one processor) to perform operations according to some implementations of the present specification.

[0187] A method performed by the UE, or in the UE, the processing device, the computer-readable (non-volatile) storage medium, and / or the computer program product, the operations may include: receiving a first cell DTX / DRX configuration for a serving cell (S1101); activating the first DTX / DRX configuration (S1103); deactivating the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX configuration is activated (S1105); receiving an activation command for the deactivated serving cell (S1107); and, based on the activation command, i) activating the serving cell, and ii) activating a second cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell (S1109).

[0188] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: receiving information regarding a default cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell via an RRC signal.

[0189] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: the activation command may include information regarding default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell.

[0190] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: receiving information regarding a default cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell via downlink control information scheduling the activation command.

[0191] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: receiving an RRC configuration including a plurality of DTX / DRX configurations for the serving cell; and obtaining information about a default cell DTX / DRX configuration among the plurality of DTX / DRX configurations.

[0192] In some implementations, the second cell DTX / DRX setting may be the default cell DTX / DRX setting.

[0193] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: receiving cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information for the serving cell. Based on the cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information being a first value, the first cell DTX / DRX configuration may be used as the second cell DTX / DRX configuration.

[0194] Figure 12 illustrates a BS operation flow according to some implementations of this specification.

[0195] A BS may perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The BS may include at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A processing device for the BS may include at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A computer-readable (non-volatile or non-transitory) storage medium may store at least one computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to some implementations of the present disclosure. A computer program or computer program product may be recorded on at least one computer-readable (non-volatile or non-transitory) storage medium and may contain instructions that, when executed, cause (at least one processor) to perform operations according to some implementations of the present specification.

[0196] A method performed by the BS, or in the BS, the processing device, the computer-readable (non-volatile) storage medium, and / or the computer program product, the operations may include: transmitting a first cell DTX / DRX configuration for a serving cell (S1201); activating the first DTX / DRX configuration (S1203); deactivating the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX configuration is activated (S1205); transmitting an activation command for the deactivated serving cell (S1207); and, based on the activation command, i) activating the serving cell, and ii) activating a second cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell (S1209).

[0197] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include transmitting information regarding a default cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell via RRC signaling.

[0198] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: the activation command may include information regarding default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell.

[0199] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include transmitting information regarding a default cell DTX / DRX configuration for the serving cell via downlink control information scheduling the activation command.

[0200] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: transmitting an RRC configuration including a plurality of DTX / DRX configurations for the serving cell; and transmitting information about a default cell DTX / DRX configuration among the plurality of DTX / DRX configurations.

[0201] In some implementations, the second cell DTX / DRX setting may be the default cell DTX / DRX setting.

[0202] In some implementations, the method or the operations may further include: transmitting cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information for the serving cell. Based on the cell DTX / DRX activation indication maintenance related information being a first value, the first cell DTX / DRX configuration may be used as the second cell DTX / DRX configuration.

[0203] As described above, the examples disclosed herein are provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement and practice the present disclosure. While the examples have been described above with reference to the examples of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations may be made to the examples of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0204] Implementations of this specification can be used in wireless communication systems, BSs, UEs, and other equipment.

Claims

1. In a method using a user equipment (UE), Receive the first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) setting for the serving cell; Activate the above 1st DTX / DRX setting; Deactivate the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX setting is activated; Receiving an activation command for the deactivated serving cell; and Based on the above activation command, i) Activate the serving cell, and ii) activating the second cell DTX / DRX setting for the serving cell, method.

2. In paragraph 1, Further comprising receiving information about default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell via a radio resource control (RRC) signal, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

3. In the first, The above activation command includes information about the default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

4. In the first, Further comprising receiving information about default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell through downlink control information scheduling the activation command, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

5. In paragraph 1, Receiving a radio resource control (RRC) configuration including multiple DTX / DRX configurations for the serving cell; and Further comprising obtaining information about a default cell DTX / DRX setting among the above plurality of DTX / DRX settings, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

6. In paragraph 1, Further comprising receiving information related to maintaining cell DTX / DRX activation indication for the serving cell, Based on the above cell DTX / DRX activation instruction maintenance related information being the first value, the first cell DTX / DRX setting is used as the second cell DTX / DRX setting, method.

7. At least one processor; and At least one memory operably connectable to said at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause said at least one processor to perform operations for a user equipment (UE), said operations comprising: Receive the first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) setting for the serving cell; Activate the above 1st DTX / DRX setting; Deactivate the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX setting is activated; Receiving an activation command for the deactivated serving cell; and Based on the above activation command, i) Activate the serving cell, and ii) activating the second cell DTX / DRX setting for the serving cell, device.

8. In a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium, The storage medium stores at least one program code comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations for a user equipment (UE), the operations comprising: Receive the first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) setting for the serving cell; Activate the above 1st DTX / DRX setting; Deactivate the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX setting is activated; Receiving an activation command for the deactivated serving cell; and Based on the above activation command, i) Activate the serving cell, and ii) activating the second cell DTX / DRX setting for the serving cell, Storage media.

9. In the method using a base station (BS), Transmit the first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) settings for the serving cell; Activate the above 1st DTX / DRX setting; Deactivate the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX setting is activated; Transmitting an activation command to the deactivated serving cell; and Based on the above activation command, i) Activate the serving cell, and ii) activating the second cell DTX / DRX setting for the serving cell, method.

10. In paragraph 9, Further comprising transmitting information about default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell via a radio resource control (RRC) signal, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

11. In Article 9, The above activation command includes information about the default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

12. In Article 9, Further comprising transmitting information about default cell DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell through downlink control information scheduling the activation command, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

13. In paragraph 9, Transmitting radio resource control (RRC) settings including multiple DTX / DRX settings for the serving cell; and Further comprising transmitting information about a default cell DTX / DRX setting among the above plurality of DTX / DRX settings, The above second cell DTX / DRX setting is the default cell DTX / DRX setting. method.

14. In paragraph 9, Further comprising transmitting information related to maintaining cell DTX / DRX activation indication for the serving cell, Based on the above cell DTX / DRX activation instruction maintenance related information being the first value, the first cell DTX / DRX setting is used as the second cell DTX / DRX setting, method.

15. At least one processor; and At least one memory operably connectable to said at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause said at least one processor to perform operations for a base station (BS), said operations comprising: Transmit the first cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) settings for the serving cell; Activate the above 1st DTX / DRX setting; Deactivate the serving cell for which the first DTX / DRX setting is activated; Transmitting an activation command to the deactivated serving cell; and Based on the above activation command, i) Activate the serving cell, and ii) activating the second cell DTX / DRX setting for the serving cell, BS.

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