Communication apparatus and communication method for ambient internet of things (a-IOT) transmission

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to a first communication apparatus comprising: circuitry, which in operation, determines one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and a transceiver, which in operation, performs a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

Description

DESCRIPTIONTITLE OF INVENTION: COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION METHOD FOR AMBIENT INTERNET OF THINGS (A-IOT) TRANSMISSIONTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to communication apparatuses and communication methods, and more particularly, communication apparatuses and communication methods for ambient internet of things (A-loT) transmission.BACKGROUND

[0002] Ambient internet of things (A-loT) has been identified as one of the working areas for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 19 (Rel-19), as described in study item description (SID) RP-234058. In particular, agreements were made in RAN1#117 to study (1) whether or how an A-loT device can count time with sufficient accuracy (considering a certain timing error due to sampling frequency offset (SFO)) for purposes related to timedivision multiplexing (TDM) (and, if needed, time-division multiple access (TDMA)), and if so, for how long after receiving a reader-to-device (R2D) transmission, as well as (2) options for the time interval between an R2D transmission and the corresponding device-to-reader (D2R) transmission following it.

[0003] However, after a device receives an R2D transmission, there is currently no specified behaviour or procedure detailing how and when the device should send a D2R transmission in response to the received R2D transmission. Without proper device behaviours and procedures, several issues may arise. For example, devices may fail to properly prepare and transmit their responses, which could lead to signal collisions and / or interference with other devices.

[0004] Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a novel communication apparatus and communication method for A-loT transmission that can address the above issues.

[0005] Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the disclosure.SUMMARY

[0006] Non-limiting and exemplary embodiments facilitate providing access points and communication methods for transmission opportunity allocation.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a first communication apparatus comprising: circuitry, which in operation, determines one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and a transceiver, which in operation, performs a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a first communication apparatus comprising: determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and performing a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0009] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a second communication apparatus comprising: a transmitter, which in operation, transmits a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and a receiver, which in operation, receives a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a second communication apparatus comprising: transmitting a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and receiving a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

[0011] Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and / or advantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments and features of the specification anddrawings, which need not all be provided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages in accordance with present embodiments.

[0013] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary architecture for a 3GPP new radio (NR) system to which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0014] Figure 2A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a connectivity topology in which an A-loT device communicates with a base station.

[0015] Figure 2B shows a schematic diagram illustrating a connectivity topology in which an A-loT device communicates with an intermediate node between the device and a base station.

[0016] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a communication apparatus according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4 shows a flow chart illustrating a communication method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 shows a flow chart illustrating another communication method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a time period for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram illustrating another time period for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 shows a flow chart illustrating a process implemented by a device for a device- to-reader (D2R) transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a plurality of time periods for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram illustrating another plurality of time periods for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 11 shows a flow chart illustrating another process implemented by a device for a D2R transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 12 shows a flow chart illustrating yet another process implemented by a device for a D2R transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a timing counting calibration implemented by a device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 14A shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary time period for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 14B shows a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary time period for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram illustrating yet another exemplary time period for responding to a prior transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary functional split options in 5G open-radio access network (O-RAN) to which various embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0031] A person skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been depicted to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the illustrations, block diagrams or flowcharts may be exaggerated in respect to other elements to help an accurate understanding of the present embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. Like reference numerals and characters in the drawings refer to like elements or equivalents.

[0033] 3GPP has been working at the next release for the 5th generation cellular technology, simply called 5G, including the development of a new radio access technology (NR) operating in frequencies ranging up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, which allows proceeding to 5G NR standard-compliant trials and commercial deployments of smartphones.

[0034] The second version of the 5G standard was completed in June 2020, which further expand the reach of 5G to new services, spectrum and deployment such as unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), non-public network (NPN), time sensitive networking (TSN) and cellular- V2X.5G NR system architecture and protocol stacks

[0035] 5G NR system architecture assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) that comprises gNBs (next generation Node B, which is the base station in NG- RAN), providing the NG-radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE (user equipment). The gNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected by means of the Next Generation (NG) interface to the NGC (Next Generation Core), more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a particular core entity performing the AMF) by means of the NG-C interface and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e g., a particular core entity performing the UPF) by means of the NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is illustrated in Figure 1 (see e.g., 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0, section

[0036] The user plane protocol stack for NR (see e.g., 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.1) comprises the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol, see section 6.4 of 3GPP TS38.300), RLC (Radio Link Control, see section 6.3 of 3GPP TS 38.300) and MAC (Medium Access Control, see section 6.2 of 3GPP TS 38.300) sublayers, which are terminated in the gNB on the network side. Additionally, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see e g., sub-clause 6.5 of 3GPP TS38.300). A control plane protocol stack is also defined for NR (see for instance 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.2). An overview of the Layer 2 functions is given in sub-clause 6 of 3GPP TS 38.300. The functions of the PDCP, RLC and MAC sublayers are listed respectively in sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of 3GPP TS 38.300. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in sub-clause 7 of 3GPP TS 38.300.

[0037] For instance, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles logical-channel multiplexing, and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling of different numerologies.

[0038] The physical layer (PHY) is for example responsible for coding, PHY hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of the signal to the appropriate physical time-frequency resources. It also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to the set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For instance, the physical channels are PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for uplink, PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for downlink, PRDCH (Physical Reader-to- Device Channel) and PDRCH (Physical Device-to-Reader Channel) for A-loT, and PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel) and Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) for sidelink (SL).

[0039] For XDD operation, the frequency domain (or frequency resource or frequency bandwidth) is divided into a plurality of frequency domains (also referred to as, for example, sub-bands, RB sets, sub-bandwidths, or sub-BWPs (Bandwidth parts)). The terminal performs transmission and reception in a direction (for example, a downlink or uplink direction) in units of sub-bands that are the divided domains. For SBFD symbols, the terminal may perform transmission / reception in one direction of uplink and downlink directions, and may not perform transmission / reception in the other direction. The base station, on the other hand, may becapable of performing both uplink and downlink transmissions / receptions simultaneously. SBFD symbols may have a fewer frequency domain usable for downlink compared to symbols for which only downlink transmission / reception is performed. Further, SBFD symbols may have a fewer frequency domain usable for uplink compared to symbol for which only uplink transmission / reception is performed.

[0040] Further, for SBFD symbols, the terminal may perform uplink and downlink transmissions / receptions simultaneously. At this time, the frequency domain transmitted by the terminal and the frequency domain received by the terminal may not be adjacent and a frequency interval (also referred to as a frequency gap) may be provided therebetween.

[0041] Further, sidelink transmission / reception may also be included as a transmission / reception direction in units of sub-bands which are the divided domains.

[0042] Use cases / deployment scenarios for NR could include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine type communication (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps for downlink and 10Gbps for uplink) and user-experienced data rates in the order of three times what is offered by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, in case of URLLC, the tighter requirements are put on ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for UL and DL each for user plane latency) and high reliability (e.g., 99.999%). Finally, mMTC may preferably require high connection density (e.g., 1,000,000 devices / km2in an urban environment), large coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long-life battery for low-cost devices (e.g., 15 years).

[0043] Therefore, the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, number of symbols per scheduling interval) that is suitable for one use case might not work well for another. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol duration (and thus larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also known as transmission time interval (TTI)) than an mMTC service. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP duration than scenarios with short delay spreads. The subcarrier spacing should be optimized accordingly to retain the similar CP overhead. NR may support more than one value of subcarrier spacing. Correspondingly, subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz ... , etc. are being considered at the moment. The symbol duration Tu and the subcarrier spacing Af are directly related through the formula Af = 1 / TU. In a similar manner as in LTE systems, the term "resourceelement" can be used to denote a minimum resource unit being composed of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0044] In the new radio system 5G-NR for each numerology and carrier a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined respectively for uplink and downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 V16.3.0).

[0045] As mentioned above, A-loT has been identified as one of the working areas for 3GPP Rel-19, as described in SID RP-234058. In particular, the following agreements were made in RAN1#117:(1) Study whether or how an A-loT device can count time with sufficient accuracy (considering a certain timing error due to SFO) for purposes related to TDM (and, if needed, TDMA), and if so, for how long after receiving an R2D transmission.(2) Study the following options for the time interval between an R2D transmission and the corresponding D2R transmission following it: o Option 1 : Define a maximum time 7R2D_max between an R2D transmission and the corresponding D2R transmission following it, so that the device transmits D2R transmission within [TR2D_ min, Tp2D_max]- o Option 2: The corresponding D2R transmission timing TR2D following an R2D transmission is determined based on the control information in the R2D transmission, where Tp2D > Tp2D_min-

[0046] Some points for further study (FFS) include: (i) whether Tp2D_max is common or different for different A-loT devices, and (ii) Tp2D_max for different traffic types / command types (e.g., device-terminated (DT) or device-originated, device terminated triggered (DO-DTT)) and / or different use case (e.g., rUC1 (indoor inventory) or rUC4 (indoor command)) for option 1 ; and (iii) the maximum value(s) for TR2D for option 2.

[0047] In the following paragraphs, certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to A-loT transmission (e.g., R2D transmission and D2R transmission) between a device and a reader.

[0048] Figures 2A and 2B respectively show a schematic diagram of a connectivity topology, Topology 1 indicated by 200 and Topology 2 indicated by 210. As an example, the device maybe an loT device, and the reader may be a base station as shown in Topology 1, or an intermediate node as shown in Topology 2.

[0049] In Topology 1 shown in Figure 2A, an A-loT device directly and bidirectionally communicates with a base station (BS). The communication between the BS and the A-loT device includes A-loT data and / or signalling. This topology includes the possibility that the BS transmitting to the A-loT device is a different from the BS receiving from the A-loT device. In Topology 2 show in Figure 2B, an A-loT device communicates bidirectionally with an intermediate node between the A-loT device and a BS. In this topology, the intermediate node can be a relay, IAB node, UE, repeater, etc., which is capable of A-loT. The intermediate node transfers A-loT data and / or signalling between the BS and the A-loT device.

[0050] However, at present, there is no specified behaviour or procedure detailing how and when the device should send a D2R transmission in response to receiving an R2D transmission. Without proper device behaviours and procedures, devices may fail to properly prepare and transmit their responses, which could lead to signal collisions and / or interference with other devices.

[0051] There is thus a need to address one or more of the above challenges and develop new communication apparatuses and communication methods for A-loT transmission.

[0052] In the present disclosure, the term "A-loT device" may be used interchangeable with the terms "device", "UE", or "user equipment", while the term "reader" may be used interchangeable with the terms "base station", "intermediate node", "gNB", or "gNodeB".

[0053] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a communication apparatus 300 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication apparatus may be implemented as an A-loT device or a reader for the A- loT device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication apparatus 300 may include circuitry 314, at least one radio transmitter 302, at least one radio receiver 304, and at least one antenna 312 (for the sake of simplicity, only one antenna is depicted in Figure 3 for illustration purposes). The circuitry 314 may include at least one controller 306 for use in software and / or hardware aided execution of tasks that the at least one controller 306 is designed to perform, including control of communications with one or more other communication apparatuses in a multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) wireless network. The circuitry 314 may further include at least one transmission signal generator 308 and at least one receive signal processor 310. The at least one controller 306may control the at least one transmission signal generator 308 for generating signals (e.g., an R2D signal, a D2R signal, an uplink signal, a downlink signal, or a sidelink signal) to be sent through the at least one radio transmitter 302 to one or more other communication apparatuses and the at least one receive signal processor 310 for processing signals (e.g., an R2D signal, a D2R signal, an uplink signal, a downlink signal, or a sidelink signal) received through the at least one radio receiver 304 from the one or more other communication apparatuses under the control of the at least one controller 306. The at least one transmission signal generator 308 and the at least one receive signal processor 310 may be stand-alone modules of the communication apparatus 300 that communicate with the at least one controller 306 for the above-mentioned functions, as shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, the at least one transmission signal generator 308 and the at least one receive signal processor 310 may be included in the at least one controller 306. In various embodiments, when in operation, the at least one radio transmitter 302, at least one radio receiver 304, and at least one antenna 312 may be controlled by the at least one controller 306.

[0054] The at least one radio transmitter 302 and the at least one radio receiver 304 may be included in a stand-alone module of the communication apparatus 300 to perform functions of both sending and receiving signals to and from another communication apparatus respectively. Such module may be referred to as a transceiver 302, 304 in various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0055] It is appreciable to those skilled in the art that the arrangement of these functional modules is flexible and may vary depending on the practical needs and / or requirements. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and / or in chipsets.

[0056] The communication apparatus 300, when in operation, provides functions required for A-loT transmission. In one example, the communication apparatus 300 may be an A-loT device (e.g., a first communication apparatus). Figure 4 shows a flow chart illustrating a method 400 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in the exemplified method 400 for A-loT transmission in Figure 4, the communication apparatus 300, when in operation, is configured to perform the following steps:Step 402: the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may determine one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and• Step 404: the transceiver 302, 304 may perform a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0057] Additionally or alternatively, the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may determine a start timing for the transmission to the second communication apparatus that is fixed or variable with respect to the communication from the second communication apparatus. The one or more time durations may be discrete or continuous in the time domain.

[0058] Additionally or alternatively, the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may determine a time period for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus, the time period comprising the one or more time durations. The circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may select the time period from a plurality of time periods for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0059] Additionally or alternatively, each of the plurality of time periods may correspond to a different priority level, and the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may select the time period corresponding to a priority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus. Each of the plurality of time periods may correspond to a different device type, and the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may select the time period corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus. Each of the one or more time durations may correspond to a different priority level, and the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) selects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to a priority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus. Each of the one or more time durations may correspond to a different device type, and the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) selects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus.

[0060] Additionally or alternatively, the plurality of time periods may be separated, contiguous, or overlapping in time domain. The length of the time period may be multiple times of the length of one of the one or more time durations. A transmission performed during each of theone or more time durations may be same or different in length, or may be set to a same frequency or different frequencies. A transmission performed during each of the plurality of time periods may be same or different in length, or may be set to a same frequency or different frequencies.

[0061] Additionally or alternatively, the transceiver 302, 304 may receive a signal from the second communication apparatus or another communication apparatus; and the circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may determine a timing difference between the signal and an internal clock signal of the first communication apparatus, and adjusts the internal clock signal to reduce the timing difference. The circuitry 314 (or the at least one controller 306 of the circuitry 314) may determine at least one of: the one or more time durations and the time period according to technical specifications, a vendor associated with the first communication apparatus, a regulator associated with the first communication apparatus or the second communication apparatus, or the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0062] In another example, the communication apparatus 300 may be a reader for an A-loT device (e.g., a second communication apparatus). Figure 5 shows another exemplary flow chart illustrating a method 500 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in the exemplified method 500 for A-loT transmission in Figure 5, the communication apparatus 300, when in operation, is configured to perform the following steps:• Step 502: the at least one radio transmitter 302 may transmit a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and• Step 504: the at least one radio receiver 304 may receive a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

[0063] According to the present disclosure, for an transmission (e.g., a D2R transmission) performed by a device (e.g., an A-loT device) in response to a prior transmission (e.g., an R2D transmission) from another device (e.g., a reader for the A-loT device), the device may follow a specified procedure to determine the time duration(s) (e.g., transmission occasion(s)) to be used for the transmission. For example, an A-loT device may determine one or more time durations to be used for a D2R transmission, and perform a D2R transmission during the one or more time durations in response to receiving an R2D transmission from a reader for the A-loT device.

[0064] Each device may be configured with one or more time periods (e.g., responding windows) for a transmission responding to a prior transmission from a reader. Each time period for responding to the prior transmission may contain multiple time durations to be used for the transmission. These time durations may be allocated discretely or continuously in the time domain. Furthermore, the transmission during each time duration may have a fixed or variable start timing with respect to the prior transmission. The time period(s), time duration(s), and / or the start timing for the transmission may be determined by the reader, device, device vendors, regulation bodies (e.g., a regulator associated with the device or the reader), technical specifications, etc. Additionally, the device may perform external or internal calibration for timing counting and synchronization.

[0065] Advantageously, the provision of specified behaviours and procedures for devices improves system efficiency. By preparing and transmitting their responses according to these specified behaviours and procedures, devices can reduce the likelihood of signal collisions and interference.

[0066] In various embodiments, a first communication apparatus (e.g., an A-loT device) may determine one or more time durations (e.g., D2R transmission occasions) for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus (e.g, a reader for the A-loT device). Then, the first communication apparatus may perform a transmission (e.g., a D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication (e.g., an R2D transmission) from the second communication apparatus.

[0067] With reference to Figures 6 to 8, various embodiments for A-loT transmission with a single responding window and multiple transmission occasions are described.

[0068] According to the present disclosure, for a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) in response to a prior transmission (e.g., R2D transmission), there may be a single time period (e.g. responding window) for responding to the prior transmission and multiple time durations (e.g., transmissions occasions) during which the transmission may be performed in response to the prior transmission. The start timing for each transmission occasion may be either fixed or variable with respect to the prior transmission.

[0069] The length of the time period may be multiple times of the length of one of the time durations (e.g., the size of the responding window may be multiple times of the duration of a D2R transmission occasion). The allocation of these time durations in time domain may bediscrete (e.g., occurring in different segments of the time period) as shown in Figure 6 or continuous (e.g., occurring at any time within the time period) as shown in Figure 7. The time period may be indicated by start timingswhich are the earliest and latest time durations for performing the transmission, respectively.

[0070] In one implementation 600 shown in Figure 6, a first communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may receive a communication 602 (e.g., an R2D transmission) from a second communication apparatus (e.g., a reader); determine (i) a time period 608 for responding to a communication from the second communication apparatus and then (ii) multiple time durations 612, 614, 616 for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus, the time period 608 comprising the multiple time durations 612, 614, 616; and perform a transmission (e.g., a D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus during at least one of the multiple time durations 612, 614, 616, in response to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0071] In implementation 600, the time durations 612, 614, 616 (e.g., D2R transmission occasions) may be discrete in the time domain (e.g., each time duration 612, 614, 616 may be within a different segment 610 of the time period 608, and separated from each other), with variable start timings for each duration (e.g., the start timing for each time duration 612, 614, 616 within different segments 610 may vary by Tvaf618). The time period 608 may be indicated by time parameters such as start timings604 and 606 (e.g., 0.9 slot and 3 slots, respectively), which are the start timing for the earliest time duration 612 and the start timing for the latest time duration 616 after receiving the communication 602, respectively. For example, 604 may indicate the start of the time period 608, and the end of the latest time duration 616 (e.g., time duration 616 after 606) may indicate the end of the time period 608. Segments 610 may indicate potential D2R transmission occasions with variable start timings for a device to perform D2R transmission in response to an R2D transmission.

[0072] In another implementation 700 shown in Figure 7, a first communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may receive a communication 702 (e.g., an R2D transmission) from a second communication apparatus (e.g., a reader); determine (i) a time period 708 for responding to a communication from the second communication apparatus and then (ii) continuously allocated time durations from an earliest time duration 712 to a latest time duration 714 for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus, the time period 708 comprising the continuously allocated time durations from the earliest time duration 712 to the latest time duration 714; and perform a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus during at least one of the continuouslyallocated time durations in response to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0073] Similar to implementation 600, in implementation 700, the time period 708 may be indicated by start timings Tp2D_starti 704 and Tp2D_start2 706 (e g., 0.9 slot and 3 slots, respectively), which are the start timing for the earliest time duration 712 and the start timing for the latest time duration 714 after receiving the communication 702, respectively. For example, Tp2D_starti 704 may indicate the start of the time period 708, and the end of the latest time duration 714 (e.g., time duration 714 after Tp2D_start2706) may indicate the end of the time period 708. However, in implementation 700, the time durations 712, 714 may instead be continuous in the time domain (e.g., each time duration 712, 714 may occur at any time within the time period 708).

[0074] In various implementations, each time duration (e.g., transmission occasion) may correspond to a different priority level (e.g., a transmission occasion for high priority, a transmission occasion for mid priority, a transmission occasion for low priority), or a different device type (e.g., a transmission occasion for gas meter, a transmission occasion for water meter). The time duration for the transmission may be selected from multiple time durations (e.g., time durations 612, 614, 616, 712, 714), the selected time duration corresponding to (i) a priority level of the transmission or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus, or (ii) a device type of the first communication apparatus. The time period (e.g., responding window) may be (pre-)specified, (pre-)configured to the communication apparatus, or signalled by a communication from another communication apparatus (e.g., R2D transmission control information).

[0075] In both implementations 600, 700, the first communication apparatus may further determine a start timing for the transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus (e.g., a start timing to be used for D2R transmission). The start timing for the transmission may be either fixed or variable with respect to the communication 602, 702 from the second communication apparatus.

[0076] Figure 8 shows a flow chart illustrating a process 800 implemented by a device for a D2R transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In response to receiving an R2D transmission (e.g., communication 602, 702) from a reader in step 802, a device may carry out step 804, determining a D2R transmission occasion (e.g., time duration 612, 614, 616, 712, 714) within a responding window (e.g., time durations 608, 708) to be indicated by time parameters (e.g., 604, 606, 704, 706). Additionally, the device may alsodetermine a start timing (e.g., start timing 604, 606, 704, 706) for performing a D2R transmission in step 804. Subsequently, in step 806, the device may then perform the D2R transmission during the determined D2R transmission occasion.

[0077] According to the present disclosure, different communication apparatuses may have different time periods for responding to communications and / or different time durations for performing transmissions in response to these communication (e g., different devices may have different responding windows and / or transmission occasions).

[0078] Advantageously, by providing multiple time durations (e.g., multiple transmission occasions) during which a communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may perform a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) in response to a prior transmission (e.g., R2D transmission) from another communication apparatus (e.g., a reader), the present disclosure offers flexibility for the communication apparatus in performing the transmission, mitigates inair collisions and interference, and offers additional flexibility when the start timing is also determined by the communication apparatus.

[0079] With reference to Figures 9 to 11 , various embodiments for A-loT transmission with multiple responding windows are described.

[0080] According to the present disclosure for a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) in response to a prior transmission (e.g., R2D transmission), there may be a plurality of time periods (e.g., multiple responding windows) for responding to the prior transmission. The length of each time period may the same as or multiple times of the length of one of the one or more time durations during which the transmission may be performed (e.g., the size of the responding window may be at least one duration of a D2R transmission occasion).

[0081] Each time period (e.g., responding window) may correspond to a different priority level (e.g., a responding window for high priority, a responding window for mid priority, a responding window for low priority) as shown in Figure 9, or a different device type (e.g., a responding window for gas meter, a responding window for water meter) as shown in Figure 10.

[0082] In implementations 900 and 1000 shown in Figures 9 and 10, a first communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may receive a communication 902, 1002 (e.g., an R2D transmission) from a second communication apparatus (e.g., a reader); select a time period from a plurality of time periods 904, 906, 1004, 1006, 1008 for responding to a communication from the second communication apparatus; determine one or more time durations (e.g., D2Rtransmission occasions) for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus (not shown), the selected time period comprising the one or more time durations; and perform a transmission (e.g., a D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0083] In implementation 900, each time period 904, 906 may correspond to a different device type (e.g., a D2R responding window for gas meter 904, a D2R responding window for water meter 906, etc.), and the first communication apparatus may select the time period corresponding to its device type. As an example, if the first communication apparatus is a gas meter, it may select the time period 904 corresponding to a gas meter, for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0084] Alternatively, in implementation 1000, each time period 1004, 1006, 1008 may correspond to a different priority level (e.g., a D2R responding window for high priority 1004, a D2R responding window for mid priority 1006, a D2R responding window for low priority 1008, etc.), and the first communication apparatus may select the time period corresponding to the priority level of its transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) or a priority level of the communication 1002 from the second communication apparatus. As an example, if the priority level of the D2R transmission is low, the first communication apparatus may select time period 1008 corresponding to a low priority level, for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0085] In both implementations 900, 1000, the first communication apparatus may first select a time period from a plurality of time periods for responding to a communication (e.g., R2D transmission) from the second communication apparatus (e.g., determine which responding window to use), then determine the time duration (e.g., transmission occasion) for performing the transmission, and further determine a start timing for the transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus (e.g., a start timing to be used for D2R transmission).

[0086] Figure 11 shows a flow chart illustrating a process 1100 implemented by a device for a D2R transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In response to receiving an R2D transmission (e.g., communication 902, 1002) from a reader in step 1102, a device may carry out step 1104, selecting a D2R responding window from multiple D2R responding windows (e.g., select a time period from a plurality of time periods 904, 906, 1004, 1006, 1008). Next, in step 1006, the device may determine a D2R transmission occasion (e.g.,time duration), and additionally, a start timing for performing a D2R transmission. Finally, in step 1008, the device may then perform the D2R transmission during the determined D2R transmission occasion.

[0087] According to the present disclosure, the plurality of time periods (e g., responding windows) may be separated, contiguous, or fully or partially overlapped in the time domain. The plurality of time periods may also be different segments (e.g., transmission occasions) of a single responding window. Additionally, different communication apparatuses may have different sets of time periods for responding to communications from another communication apparatus (e.g., different sets of multiple responding windows).

[0088] Some benefits of providing a device with a plurality of time periods (e.g., responding window) for responding to a communication (e.g., R2D transmission) from another device (e.g., a reader) include enabling prioritisation or segregation of certain types of transmission, which may help to reduce signal collisions and / or interference with other devices.

[0089] Figure 12 shows a flow chart illustrating a process 1200 (e.g., device procedure) implemented by a device for a D2R transmission according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0090] In response to receiving an R2D transmission (e.g., communication 602, 702, 902, 1002) from a reader in step 1202, a device may first determine in step 1204 whether to apply a single responding window (e.g., time period 608, 708 as shown in Figures 6 and 7). If a single responding window is to be applied, the process proceeds to step 1208. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 1206, where the device may then select a D2R responding window from multiple D2R responding windows (e.g., time periods 904, 906, 1004, 1006, 1008 as shown in Figures 9 and 10), before proceeding to step 1208. In step 1208, the device determines whether to apply a single transmission occasion (e.g., one time duration). If a single transmission occasion is to be applied, the process proceeds to step 1212. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 1210, where the device may then determine a D2R transmission occasion (e.g., time duration 612, 614, 616, 712, 714), before proceeding to step 1212. In step 1212, the device determines whether a fixed start timing for D2R transmission is to be applied. If a fixed start timing is to be applied, the start timing for D2R transmission is set to be fixed with respect to the R2D transmission, and the process proceeds to step 1216. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 1214, where the device may determine a start timing for performing the D2R transmission, before proceeding to step 1216. Finally, in step 1216, the device performs the D2R transmission, and the process ends.

[0091] In various embodiments, a device may be required to count timing accurately, particularly for start timings for a transmission (e g., D2R transmission) in response to a prior transmission (e.g., R2D transmission). For example, calibration for timing counting or synchronisation may be realised through the following procedure.

[0092] In the present disclosure, calibration may be achieved using external in-air signals (e.g., preamble of a R2D transmission for another device, synchronization signal block (SSB) for a normal user equipment (UE), a carrier wave, an energy harvesting signal, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal, signal from other radio access technology (RAT), etc ). If multiple signal sources are available for timing counting or synchronisation calibration, prioritisation of the signal sources may be carried out (e.g., in decreasing order of priority: preamble, followed by carrier wave, then RF energy harvesting signal). Additionally or alternatively, the external in-air signal to be used for calibration may be pre-configured by the device or informed to the device.

[0093] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a timing counting calibration implemented by a communication apparatus according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this implementation, a first communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may receive a signal (e.g., an external in-air signal) from a second communication apparatus or another communication apparatus (e.g., a reader or another device). The reference slot timing 1300 shown in Figure 13 may be based on the received external in-air signal and the device slot timing 1310 may be based on an internal clock signal of the first communication apparatus. The first communication apparatus may then (i) determine a timing difference (e.g., an offset) between the signal and the internal clock signal of the first communication apparatus, and (ii) adjust the internal clock signal to reduce the timing difference (e.g., by adding or subtracting the offset as a "leap slot / chip" after certain number of slots or chips). As exemplified in Figure 13, for a device with statically -20% timing error or inaccuracy, the device may add a slot 4’ 1302 as a placeholder after every 4 slots.

[0094] In various implementations, the time period for a first communication apparatus to respond to a communication from the second communication apparatus may be the same as one or more time durations during which the first communication apparatus communicates with the second communication apparatus. For example, the size of the responding window may be the same as the one or more durations of the D2R transmission occasions where a D2R transmission can be fully scheduled, (pre-)configured, or (pre-)specified with fixed start timing(s). A transmission performed during each time duration may be same or different in length, or may be set to a same frequency (e.g., same bandwidth and same centre frequency)or different frequencies (e.g., different bandwidths and / or different centre frequencies). Similarly, a transmission performed during each time period may be same or different in length, or may be set to a same frequency or different frequencies. For example, a transmission in each time period may be set to the same frequency, with a bandwidth of 200 kHz and a centre frequency of 1800 MHz. Alternatively, a transmission in one time period may be set to a bandwidth of 200 kHz with a centre frequency of 1800 MHz, while another transmission in another time period may be set to a bandwidth of 200 kHz bandwidth with a different centre frequency of 1801 MHz.

[0095] The determination of whether to apply single or multiple responding window(s) (e.g., a single time period or a plurality of time periods) and / or single or multiple transmission occasion(s) (e.g., one or more time durations) may be specified by technical specifications, standardisation bodies, device vendors, regulators, (pre-)specified, (pre-)configured, or signalled by another device (e.g., the reader) or network.

[0096] The second communication apparatus (e.g., the reader) may, by implementation, based on measurement or certain rules, semi-statically or dynamically choose to apply single or multiple responding window(s) and / or single or multiple transmission occasion(s). For example, multiple transmission occasions in single window may be used in a congested radio environment for contention-based access, while a single transmission occasion may be used in a non-congested radio environment for R2D command and response.

[0097] Additionally, parameters associated with the time periods (e.g., e.g., TR2D_starti and TR2D_start2), time durations (e.g., transmission occasions), and start timings may be signalled by communication from the second communication apparatus (e.g., the R2D control or data part).

[0098] In various implementations, when multiple transmission occasions are allowed within a responding window, the transmission occasions of a D2R may span more than one slot and may vary in length as shown in Figure 14A and 14B.

[0099] Figures 14A and 14B show schematic diagrams illustrating exemplary time periods 1404, 1414 for responding to a prior transmission 1402, 1412 (e.g., an R2D transmission) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In implementation 1400 shown in Figure 14A, time period 1404 may comprise multiple time durations 1406 (e.g., multiple transmission occasions are allowed in a responding window), where each time duration 1406 spans one slot. In implementation 1410 shown in Figure 14B, time period 1414 may be anextended time period comprising multiple extended time durations 1416, each spanning more than one slot.

[0100] In various implementations, a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) may start at the beginning or middle of a time duration (e.g., transmission occasion) and may not need to end at the end of the time duration. For example, if TRZDJT andare specified, TR2D,should be within the range ofby default. The requirements of the range [TR2D_may be overridden by R2D control information, if the device has sufficient power and / or processing capability.

[0101] The timing units for the transmissions, time periods, time durations, start timings for transmission, etc. (e.g., timing units for TR2D, TR2D_etc.) may be chips, OFDM symbols, slots, or real time (e.g., 1 ms).

[0102] The time period for responding to a prior transmission (e.g., responding window), may also be indicated by other timing parameters other than TR2D-

[0103] Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary time period for responding to a prior transmission (e.g., an R2D transmission) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In implementation 1500, a first communication apparatus (e.g., a device) may receive a communication 1502 (e.g., an R2D transmission) from a second communication apparatus (e.g., a reader); determine (i) a time period 1508 for responding to a communication from the second communication apparatus and (ii) multiple time durations 1512, 1514 for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus, the time period 1508 comprising the multiple time durations 1512, 1514; and perform a transmission (e.g., D2R transmission) to the second communication apparatus during the multiple time durations 1512, 1514 in response to the communication from the second communication apparatus. In this implementation, the time period 1508 may be indicated by other timing parameters 1516, 1518 marking the start and end of the time period 1508 (e.g.,516 and1518).

[0104] In various implementations, if the device is unable to send the entire D2R transmission within the D2R responding window (e.g., time period), it may send a short D2R to indicate failure and / or to request another D2R responding window.

[0105] In various implementations, the device may use more than one transmission occasions (e.g., multiple time durations) for D2R transmission. For example, an additional indication maybe added at least for the transmission at the earlier occasion to notify the reader that there are remaining transmissions.

[0106] It is appreciated that similar specified behaviours or procedures may also be applied to R2D transmission when a device requests further R2D transmission from its reader. For example, the first communication apparatus may be a reader and the second communication may be a device. Similarly, the first communication apparatus may receive a communication (e.g., an D2R transmission) from a second communication apparatus; determine (i) a time period (e.g., R2D responding window) for responding to a communication from the second communication apparatus and (ii) one or more time durations (e.g., R2D transmission occasions) for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus, the time period comprising the one or more time durations; and perform a transmission (e.g., R2D transmission) to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations in response to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

[0107] In the following paragraphs, certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to terms related to 5G core network and the present disclosure, namely:RRC connection setup and reconfiguration procedures

[0108] Interactions between a UE, gNB, and AMF (an 5G core (5GC) entity) in the context of a transition of the UE from RRCJDLE to RRC_CONNECTED for the NAS part are described (see 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0109] RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used for UE and gNB configuration. In particular, this transition involves that the AMF prepares the UE context data (including e.g. PDU session context, the Security Key, UE Radio Capability and UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST Then, the gNB activates the AS security with the UE, which is performed by the gNB transmitting to the UE a SecurityModeCommand message and by the UE responding to the gNB with the SecurityModeComplete message. Afterwards, the gNB performs the reconfiguration to setup the Signaling Radio Bearer 2, SRB2, and Data Radio Bearer(s), DRB(s) by means of transmitting to the UE the RRCReconfiguration message and, in response, receiving by the gNB the RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE. For a signalling-only connection, the steps relating to the RRCReconfiguration are skipped since SRB2 and DRBs are not setup.Finally, the gNB informs the AMF that the setup procedure is completed with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0110] In the present disclosure, thus, an entity (for example Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), etc.) of a 5th Generation Core (5GC) is provided that comprises control circuitry which, in operation, establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB, and a transmitter which, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message, via the NG connection, to the gNodeB to cause a signaling radio bearer setup between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE). In particular, the gNodeB transmits a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling containing a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs an uplink transmission or a downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.QoS control

[0111] The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS Flows). At NAS level, the QoS flow is thus the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) carried in an encapsulation header over NG-U interface.

[0112] For each UE, 5GC establishes one or more PDU Sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearers (DRB) together with the PDU Session, and additional DRB(s) for QoS flow(s) of that PDU session can be subsequently configured (it is up to NG-RAN when to do so). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS level packet filters in the UE and in the 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS Flows, whereas AS-level mapping rules in the UE and in the NG- RAN associate UL and DL QoS Flows with DRBs.Open- RAN

[0113] The base station described in each exemplary embodiment (for example, a 5G NR base station called gNB) may be formed of three functional modules: Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), and Radio Unit (RU).

[0114] CU may also be referred as, for example, a centralized node, an aggregated node, a centralized station, an aggregated station, or a central unit. DU may also be referred as, for example, O-DU (O-RAN Distributed Unit), a distributed node, a distributed station, or a distributed unit. RU may also be referred as, for example, O-RU (O-RAN Radio Unit), a radio apparatus, a radio node, a radio station, an antenna unit, or a radio unit.

[0115] Several split options are defined for the functional split configuration (or functional split point) between CU, DU, and RU. The term “functional split point” may also be referred to as "split", "option", or "split option".

[0116] Examples of the “split option” include the following split options 1 to 8. The functionality of the base station described in each exemplary embodiment may be split into functions as CU, DU, and RU by one of the following split options 1 to 8. For example, each of CU, DU, and RU may be subjected to functional splitting or functional splitting only between CU and DU or only between DU and RU is possible.(1) Split Option 1 : between RRC (radio resource control) and PDCP(2) Split Option 2: between PDCP and RLC (High-RLC)(3) Split Option 3: between High-RLC and Low-RLC(4) Split Option 4: between RLC (Low-RLC) and MAC (High-MAC)(5) Split Option 5: between High-MAC and Low-MAC(6) Split Option 6: between MAC (Low-MAC) and PHY (High-PHY)(7) Split Option 7: between High-PHY and Low-PHY(8) Split Option 8: between PHY (Low-PHY) and RF

[0117] The functional split point between CU and O-DU may be Split Option 2. The link between CU and O-DU is referred to as midhaul and the F1 interface is defined by the 3GPP. Further, the link between O-DU and O-RU is referred to as fronthaul and its functional split point may be Split Option 7-2x adopted as the O-RAN fronthaul specifications.

[0118] Figure 16 illustrates an example in which the base station functionality of the gNB is subjected to functional splitting into CU, O-DU, O-RU by Split Option 2 and Split Option 7-2x.

[0119] CU may include, for example, an RRC (radio resource control) function, an SDAP (service data adaptation protocol) function, and a PDCP (packet data convergence protocol) function.

[0120] O-DU may include, for example, an RLC (radio link control) function, a MAC function, and a higher physical layer (HIGH-PHY) function. Further, the HIGH-PHY function may include an encoding function, a scrambling function, a modulation function, a layer mapping function, a precoding function, and an RE (resource element) mapping function for downlink (DL) transmission. The HIGH-PHY function may also include a decoding function, a descrambling function, a demodulation function, a layer demapping function, and an RE (resource element) demapping function for uplink (UL) reception.

[0121] O-RU may include, for example, a LOW-PHY function and an RF function. Further, the LOW-PHY function may include a beamforming function, IFFT (Inverse First Fourier Transform) + CP (Cyclic Prefix) addition functions, and a D / A (Digital to Analog) conversion function for downlink transmission. Further, the LOW-PHY function may include an A / D (Analog to Digital) conversion function, CP removal + FFT (First Fourier Transform) functions, and a beamforming function for uplink reception.

[0122] Note that, in a case where O-DU does not include the precoding function, O-RU may include the precoding function.

[0123] O-RU may include an LBT (listen before Talk)-related function.

[0124] eCPRI (Evolved Common Public Radio Interface) is defined as a communication scheme between O-DU and O-RU in Split Option 7-2x.

[0125] In Split Option 7-2x, a sampling sequence of the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of an OFDM signal in the frequency domain as well as information used for beamforming in the antenna, a time synchronization signal, and the like are transmitted and received by eCPRI.

[0126] Information transmitted by signals (PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, MAC CE, RRC, and the like) described in each exemplary embodiment may be transmitted by using the User Plane (U-Plan) or Control Plane (C-Plane) of eCPRI between O-DU and O-RU.

[0127] In a case where a function described in each exemplary embodiment is executed in O-RU by function splitting, O-DU may control O-RU by transmitting information for controlling the function by means of a control signal (for example, eCPRI) between O-DU and O-RU.

[0128] In a case where a function described in each exemplary embodiment is executed by function splitting in O-DU, O-RU may receive a result of the execution of the function in O-DU by means of a control signal (for example, eCPRI) and may control O-RU based on the received result.

[0129] CU, O-DU, and O-RU may be deployed in physically different apparatuses, the respective functions of which are connected by optical fibers or the like, or some or all of the functions may be deployed in a physically identical apparatus.

[0130] CU and O-DU may be logical entities implemented as software operating on a server, such as a cloud, as a virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN). Further, some or all of the functions of CU and O-DU may be provided as services of a Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) function.

[0131] The transceiver may not be a radio transceiver and may be, for example, a network transceiver, an optical transceiver, or the like. The radio resource allocated by O-DU may be a resource for radio communication between O-RU and the UE.SBFD

[0132] Operations on uplink, downlink, and sidelink symbols in one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to symbols (for example, SBFD (Subband nonoverlapping full duplex) symbols, Subband full duplex) on which an SBFD operation or control is performed. For SBFD symbols, the frequency domain (or frequency resource or frequency bandwidth) is divided into a plurality of frequency domains (also referred to as, for example, sub-bands, RB sets, sub-bandwidths, or sub-BWPs (Bandwidth parts)). The terminal performs transmission and reception in a direction (for example, a downlink or uplink direction) in units of sub-bands that are the divided domains. For SBFD symbols, the terminal may perform transmission / reception in one direction of uplink and downlink directions, and may not perform transmission / reception in the other direction. The base station, on the other hand, may be capable of performing both uplink and downlink transmissions / receptions simultaneously. SBFD symbols may have a fewer frequency domain usable for downlink compared to symbols for which only downlink transmission / reception is performed. Further, SBFD symbols may have a fewer frequency domain usable for uplink compared to symbol for which only uplink transmission / reception is performed.

[0133] Further, for SBFD symbols, the terminal may perform uplink and downlink transmissions / receptions simultaneously. At this time, the frequency domain transmitted by the terminal and the frequency domain received by the terminal may not be adjacent and a frequency interval (also referred to as a frequency gap) may be provided therebetween.

[0134] Further, sidelink transmission / reception may also be included as a transmission / reception direction in units of sub-bands which are the divided domains.XDD: Cross Division Duplex

[0135] Operations on uplink, downlink, and sidelink symbols in one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to symbols (for example, Full duplex symbols) on which a Full duplex operation or control is performed. For Full duplex symbols, both the terminal and the base station are capable of performing uplink and downlink transmissions / receptions simultaneously. For Full duplex symbols, the terminal and the base station may operate to perform transmission / reception simultaneously in available frequency domains (or frequency resources or frequency bandwidths) or may operate to perform transmission / reception simultaneously in one or some of frequency domains (that is, may operate to perform transmission or reception in the other frequency domains). At this time, the frequency domain transmitted by the base station or the terminal and the frequency domain received by the base station or the terminal may not be adjacent and a frequency interval (also referred to as a frequency gap) may be provided therebetween. Further, for example, for the purpose of reduction in interference or the like, one of the terminal and the base station may operate to perform transmission / reception simultaneously (that is, the other may operate to perform transmission or reception).

[0136] Further, the Full duplex operation may be applied to an operation in which the terminal is capable of performing sidelink transmission / reception simultaneously. Further, the Full duplex operation may be applied to an operation in which the terminal is capable of performing sidelink transmission / reception and uplink or downlink transmission / reception simultaneously.Control Signals

[0137] In the present disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted through PDCCH of the physical layer or may be a signal (information) transmitted through a MAC Control Element (CE) of the higher layer or the RRC. The downlink control signal may be a pre-defined signal (information).

[0138] The uplink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted through PUCCH of the physical layer or may be a signal (information) transmitted through a MAC CE of the higher layer or the RRC. Further, the uplink control signal may be a pre-defined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be replaced with uplink control information (UCI), the 1st stage sidelink control information (SCI) or the 2nd stage SCI.Base Station

[0139] In the present disclosure, the base station may be a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a clusterhead, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a Base Station (BS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base unit or a gateway, for example. Further, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be adopted instead of a base station. The base station may be a relay apparatus that relays communication between a higher node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit as well.Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink

[0140] The present disclosure may be applied to any of uplink, downlink and sidelink.

[0141] The present disclosure may be applied to, for example, uplink channels, such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels, such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and side link channels, such as Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0142] PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. PBCH and PSBCH are examples of broadcast channels, respectively, and PRACH is an example of a random access channel.Data Channels / Control Channels

[0143] The present disclosure may be applied to any of data channels and control channels. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH and PSSCH and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.Reference Signals

[0144] In the present disclosure, the reference signals are signals known to both a base station and a mobile station and each reference signal may be referred to as a Reference Signal (RS) or sometimes a pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of a DMRS, a Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).Time Intervals

[0145] In the present disclosure, time resource units are not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, and may be time resource units, such as frames, superframes, subframes, slots, time slots, subslots, minislots, or time resource units, such as symbols, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols, or other time resource units. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to any number of symbols exemplified in the embodiment(s) described above, and may be other numbers of symbols.Frequency Bands

[0146] The present disclosure may be applied to any of a licensed band and an unlicensed band.Communication

[0147] The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu-link communication), communication between a terminal and a terminal (Sidelink communication), and Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0148] In addition, the present disclosure may be applied to any of a terrestrial network or a network other than a terrestrial network (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Network) using a satellite or a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS). In addition, the present disclosure may be applied to a network having a large cell size, and a terrestrial network with a large delay compared with a symbol length or a slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.Antenna Ports

[0149] An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed of one or more physical antenna(s). That is, the antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna and sometimes refers to an array antenna formed of multiple antennas or the like. For example, it is not defined how many physical antennas form the antenna port, and instead, the antenna port is defined as the minimum unit through which a terminal is allowed to transmit a reference signal. The antenna port may also be defined as the minimum unit for multiplication of a precoding vector weighting.

[0150] The present disclosure can be realised by software, hardware, or software in cooperation with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment described above can be partly or entirely realised by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment may be controlled partly or entirely by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be individually formed as chips, or one chip may be formed so as to include a part or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may include a data input and output coupled thereto. The LSI here may be referred to as an IC, a system on a chip (SoC), a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on a difference in the degree of integration. However, the technique of implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI and may be realised by using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a special-purpose processor. In addition, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after the manufacture of the LSI or a reconfigurable processor in which the connections and the settings of circuit cells disposed inside the LSI can be reconfigured may be used. The present disclosure can be realised as digital processing or analogue processing. If future integrated circuit technology replaces LSIs as a result of the advancement of semiconductor technology or other derivative technology, the functional blocks could be integrated using the future integrated circuit technology. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0151] The present disclosure can be realised by any kind of apparatus, device or system having a function of communication, which is referred to as a communication apparatus.

[0152] The communication apparatus may comprise a transceiver and processing / control circuitry. The transceiver may comprise and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver, as the transmitter and receiver, may include an RF (radio frequency) module including amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators and the like, and one or more antennas.

[0153] Some non-limiting examples of such a communication apparatus include a phone (e.g., cellular (cell) phone, smart phone), a tablet, a personal computer (PC) (e.g., laptop, desktop, netbook), a camera (e.g., digital still / video camera), a digital player (digital audio / video player), a wearable device (e.g., wearable camera, smart watch, tracking device), a game console, a digital book reader, a telehealth / telemedicine (remote health and medicine) device, and a vehicle providing communication functionality (e.g., automotive, airplane, ship), and various combinations thereof.

[0154] The communication apparatus is not limited to be portable or movable, and may also include any kind of apparatus, device or system being non-portable or stationary, such as a smart home device (e.g., an appliance, lighting, smart meter, control panel), a vending machine, and any other "things" in a network of an "Internet of Things (loT)".

[0155] The communication may include exchanging data through, for example, a cellular system, a wireless LAN system, a satellite system, etc., and various combinations thereof.

[0156] The communication apparatus may comprise a device such as a controller or a sensor which is coupled to a communication device performing a function of communication described in the present disclosure. For example, the communication apparatus may comprise a controller or a sensor that generates control signals or data signals which are used by a communication device performing a communication function of the communication apparatus.

[0157] The communication apparatus also may include an infrastructure facility, such as a base station, an access point, and any other apparatus, device or system that communicates with or controls apparatuses such as those in the above non-limiting examples.

[0158] It will be understood that while some properties of the various embodiments have been described with reference to a device, corresponding properties also apply to the methods of various embodiments, and vice versa.

[0159] In the following paragraphs, certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to terms related to 5G core network and the present disclosure regarding communication apparatuses and communication methods for A-loT transmission, namely:Example 1 . A first communication apparatus comprising: circuitry, which in operation, determines one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; anda transceiver, which in operation, performs a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 2. The first communication apparatus of example 1 , wherein the circuitry determines a start timing for the transmission to the second communication apparatus that is fixed or variable with respect to the communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 3. The first communication apparatus of example 1 or 2, wherein the one or more time durations are discrete or continuous in the time domain.Example 4. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 3, wherein the circuitry determines a time period for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus, the time period comprising the one or more time durations.Example 5. The first communication apparatus of example 4, wherein the circuitry selects the time period from a plurality of time periods for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 6. The first communication apparatus of example 5, wherein each of the plurality of time periods corresponds to a different priority level, and the circuitry selects the time period corresponding to a priority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 7. The first communication apparatus of example 5, wherein each of the plurality of time periods corresponds to a different device type, and the circuitry selects the time period corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus.Example 8. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 7, wherein each of the one or more time durations corresponds to a different priority level, and the circuitry selects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to a priority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 9. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 7, wherein each of the one or more time durations corresponds to a different device type, and the circuitryselects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus.Example 10. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 5 to 9, wherein the plurality of time periods is separated, contiguous, or overlapping in time domain.Example 11 . The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 4 to 7 , wherein the length of the time period is multiple times of the length of one of the one or more time durations.Example 12. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 11 , wherein a transmission performed during each of the one or more time durations is same or different in length, or is set to a same frequency or different frequencies.Example 13. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 5 to 7, wherein a transmission performed during each of the plurality of time periods is same or different in length, or is set to a same frequency or different frequencies.Example 14. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 13, wherein: the transceiver receives a signal from the second communication apparatus or another communication apparatus; and the circuitry determines a timing difference between the signal and an internal clock signal of the first communication apparatus, and adjusts the internal clock signal to reduce the timing difference.Example 15. The first communication apparatus of any one of examples 4 to 7, 11 , and 13, wherein the circuitry determines at least one of: the one or more time durations and the time period according to technical specifications, a vendor associated with the first communication apparatus, a regulator associated with the first communication apparatus or the second communication apparatus, or the communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 16. A communication method implemented by a first communication apparatus comprising: determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and performing a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.Example 17. A second communication apparatus comprising: a transmitter, which in operation, transmits a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and a receiver, which in operation, receives a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.Example 18. A communication method implemented by a second communication apparatus comprising: transmitting a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and receiving a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

[0160] While exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the present embodiments, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should further be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments are examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, operation, or configuration of this disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing exemplary embodiments, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of steps and method of operation described in the exemplary embodiments and modules and structures of devices described in the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the subject matter as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A first communication apparatus comprising: circuitry, which in operation, determines one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and a transceiver, which in operation, performs a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

2. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry determines a start timing for the transmission to the second communication apparatus that is fixed or variable with respect to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

3. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more time durations are discrete or continuous in the time domain.

4. The first communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry determines a time period for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus, the time period comprising the one or more time durations.

5. The first communication apparatus of claim 4, wherein the circuitry selects the time period from a plurality of time periods for responding to the communication from the second communication apparatus.

6. The first communication apparatus of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of time periods corresponds to a different priority level, and the circuitry selects the time period corresponding to a priority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus.

7. The first communication apparatus of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of time periods corresponds to a different device type, and the circuitry selects the time period corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus.

8. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more time durations corresponds to a different priority level, and the circuitry selects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to apriority level of the transmission to the second communication apparatus or a priority level of the communication from the second communication apparatus.

9. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more time durations corresponds to a different device type, and the circuitry selects a time duration for the transmission from the one or more time durations, the time duration corresponding to a device type of the first communication apparatus.

10. The first communication apparatus of claim 5, wherein the plurality of time periods is separated, contiguous, or overlapping in time domain.

11. The first communication apparatus of claim 4, wherein the length of the time period is multiple times of the length of one of the one or more time durations.

12. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transmission performed during each of the one or more time durations is same or different in length, or is set to a same frequency or different frequencies.

13. The first communication apparatus of claim 5, wherein a transmission performed during each of the plurality of time periods is same or different in length, or is set to a same frequency or different frequencies.

14. The first communication apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the transceiver receives a signal from the second communication apparatus or another communication apparatus; and the circuitry determines a timing difference between the signal and an internal clock signal of the first communication apparatus, and adjusts the internal clock signal to reduce the timing difference.

15. The first communication apparatus of claim 4, wherein the circuitry determines at least one of: the one or more time durations and the time period according to technical specifications, a vendor associated with the first communication apparatus, a regulator associated with the first communication apparatus or the second communication apparatus, or the communication from the second communication apparatus.

16. A communication method implemented by a first communication apparatus comprising:determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with a second communication apparatus; and performing a transmission to the second communication apparatus during the one or more time durations, in response to receiving a communication from the second communication apparatus.

17. A second communication apparatus comprising: a transmitter, which in operation, transmits a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and a receiver, which in operation, receives a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

18. A communication method implemented by a second communication apparatus comprising: transmitting a communication to a first communication apparatus for determining one or more time durations for the first communication apparatus to communicate with the second communication apparatus; and receiving a transmission from the first communication apparatus during the one or more time durations.

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