Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving HARQ information in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. An apparatus in a communication system and a method performed by the same are provided. The method includes: receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format that schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on multiple serving cells in a set of serving cells, wherein for each serving cell of the multiple serving cells, the DCI format schedules one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell; generating a third number of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions on each serving cell of the multiple serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the third number is determined based on first maximums for a second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among a first number of serving cells, wherein the first maximum for the serving cell is a maximum number of start and length indicators (SLIVs) among rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the PDSCHs on the serving cell, the first number is a number of serving cells included in the set of serving cells, and the second number is a maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by the DCI format; and transmitting HARQ-ACK information bits.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING HARQ INFORMATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The disclosure relates to communication technology, and more particularly, to an apparatus in a communication system and a method performed by the same.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in “Sub 6GHz” bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in “Above 6GHz” bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz (THz) bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] In order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data communication services since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or pre-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also called “Beyond 4G networks” or “Post-LTE systems”.

[0009] In order to achieve a higher data rate, 5G communication systems are implemented in higher frequency (millimeter, mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands. In order to reduce propagation loss of radio waves and increase a transmission distance, technologies such as beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beamforming and large-scale antenna are discussed in 5G communication systems.

[0010] In addition, in 5G communication systems, developments of system network improvement are underway based on advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (RAN), ultra-dense network, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation, etc.

[0011] In 5G systems, hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as advanced access technologies have been developed.

[0012] According to some aspects of the disclosure, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system is provided. The method includes receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format that schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on multiple serving cells in a set of serving cells, wherein for each serving cell of the multiple serving cells, the DCI format schedules one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell; generating a third number of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions on each serving cell of the multiple serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the third number is determined based on first maximums for a second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among a first number of serving cells, wherein the first maximum for the serving cell is a maximum number of start and length indicators (SLIVs) among rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the PDSCHs on the serving cell, the first number is a number of serving cells included in the set of serving cells, and the second number is a maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by the DCI format; and transmitting HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0013] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the third number is a sum of the first maximums for the second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among the first number of serving cells.

[0014] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the UE is not configured with a first parameter indicating a maximum number of codewords or transport blocks (TBs) or is configured with the first parameter with a value of 1.

[0015] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes transmitting a first UE capability parameter indicating a first maximum number of PDSCH receptions that can be scheduled by a DCI format, wherein the first maximum number is a maximum of a total number of PDSCH receptions on one or more serving cells.

[0016] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes generating a fourth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the fourth number is a value of the first maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter.

[0017] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes generating a fifth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the fifth number is a minimum of the third number and a fourth number, wherein the fourth number is the value of the first maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter.

[0018] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes transmitting a second UE capability parameter indicating a second maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by a DCI format.

[0019] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the second number is based on a value of the second maximum number indicated by the second UE capability parameter.

[0020] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes generating a sixth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the sixth number is a product of the second number and a seventh number, wherein the seventh number is a maximum of the first maximums for the multiple serving cells in the set of serving cells.

[0021] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes transmitting a third UE capability parameter indicating a third maximum number of PDSCH receptions on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format.

[0022] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the seventh number is a value of the second maximum number indicated by the third UE capability parameter.

[0023] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes generating an eighth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the eighth number is a sum of the first maximums for respective serving cells in the first number of serving cells.

[0024] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, a HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception on a serving cell with a smaller index is located before a HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception on a serving cell with a larger index; and / or a HARQ-ACK information bit for an earlier PDSCH reception is located before a HARQ-ACK information bit for a later PDSCH reception on a same serving cell.

[0025] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the UE described above, for example, the method further includes: in case that a ninth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format is smaller than a tenth number that is at least one of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, or the eighth number, generating a number of NACK bits, wherein the number of the NACK bits is equal to the tenth number minus the ninth number, wherein the NACK bits are located after the HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format.

[0026] According to some aspects of the disclosure, a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) format that schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on multiple serving cells in a set of serving cells, wherein for each serving cell of the multiple serving cells, the DCI format schedules one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell; receiving, from the UE, a third number of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions on each serving cell of the multiple serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the third number is based on first maximums for a second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among a first number of serving cells, wherein the first maximum for the serving cell is a maximum number of start and length indicators (SLIVs) among rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the PDSCHs on the serving cell, the first number is a number of serving cells included in the set of serving cells, and the second number is a maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by the DCI format.

[0027] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the third number is a sum of the first maximums for the second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among the first number of serving cells .

[0028] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the UE is not configured with a first parameter indicating a maximum number of codewords or transport blocks (TBs) or is configured with the first parameter with a value of 1.

[0029] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes receiving, from the UE, a first UE capability parameter indicating a first maximum number of PDSCH receptions that can be scheduled by a DCI format, wherein the first maximum number is a maximum of a total number of PDSCH receptions on one or more serving cells.

[0030] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes receiving from the UE a fourth number of HARQ-ACK information bits generated for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the fourth number is a value of the first maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter.

[0031] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes: receiving from the UE a fifth number of HARQ-ACK information bits generated for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the fifth number is a minimum of the third number and a fourth number, wherein the fourth number is the value of the first maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter .

[0032] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes: receiving a second UE capability parameter indicating a second maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by a DCI format.

[0033] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the second number is based on a value of the second maximum number indicated by the second UE capability parameter.

[0034] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes receiving, from the UE, a sixth number of HARQ-ACK information bits generated for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the sixth number is a product of the second number and a seventh number, wherein the seventh number is a maximum of the first maximums for the multiple serving cells in the set of serving cells.

[0035] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes receiving a third UE capability parameter from the UE indicating a third maximum number of PDSCH receptions on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format.

[0036] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the seventh number is a value of the second maximum number indicated by the third UE capability parameter.

[0037] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, the method further includes receiving, from the UE, an eighth number of HARQ-ACK information bits generated for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, wherein the eighth number is a sum of the first maximums for respective serving cells in the first number of serving cells.

[0038] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, a HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception on a serving cell with a smaller index is located before a HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception on a serving cell with a larger index; and / or a HARQ-ACK information bit for an earlier PDSCH reception is located before a HARQ-ACK information bit for a later PDSCH reception on a same serving cell.

[0039] In combination with one or more aspects of the method performed by the base station described above, for example, wherein in case that a ninth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format is smaller than a tenth number that is at least one of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, or the eighth number, a number of NACK bits are generated, wherein the number of the NACK bits is equal to the tenth number minus the ninth number, wherein the NACK bits are located after the HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format.

[0040] According to some aspects of the disclosure, there is also provided a terminal in a wireless communication system. The terminal includes a transceiver, and one or more processors coupled with the transceiver and configured to perform one or more aspects of the above-mentioned methods performed by the UE.

[0041] According to some aspects of the disclosure, there is also provided a base station in a wireless communication system. The base station includes a transceiver, and one or more processors coupled with the transceiver and configured to perform one or more aspects of the methods performed by the base station.

[0042] According to some aspects of the disclosure, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium on which one or more computer programs are stored, wherein one or more aspects of the above-described methods performed by the terminal can be implemented when the one or more computer programs are executed by one or more processors.

[0043] According to some aspects of the disclosure, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium on which one or more computer programs are stored, wherein one or more aspects of the above-described methods performed by the base station can be implemented when the one or more computer programs are executed by one or more processors.

[0044] The method provided in the application improve the performance of HARQ reporting of the communication system.

[0045] Aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient communication methods in a wireless communication system.

[0046] In order to illustrate the technical schemes of the embodiments of the disclosure more clearly, the drawings of the embodiments of the disclosure will be briefly introduced below. Apparently, the drawings described below only refer to some embodiments of the disclosure, and do not limit the disclosure. In the drawings:

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example wireless network according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

[0048] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless transmission and reception paths according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

[0049] FIG. 3A illustrates an example user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

[0050] FIG. 3B illustrates an example gNB according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

[0051] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a first transceiving node according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a second transceiving node according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0053] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a base station according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0054] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a UE according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0055] FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate some examples of uplink transmission timing according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0056] FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate examples of time domain resource allocation tables according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0057] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a UE according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0058] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a base station according to some example embodiments of the disclosure;

[0059] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0060] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0061] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0062] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0063] In describing the embodiments, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art and not associated directly with the disclosure will be omitted. Such an omission of unnecessary descriptions is intended to prevent obscuring of the main idea of the disclosure and more clearly transfer the main idea.

[0064] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0065] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following embodiments are provided only to completely disclose the disclosure and inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is defined only by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, in describing the disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or constitution incorporated herein will be omitted in the case that it is determined that the description may make the subject matter of the disclosure unnecessarily unclear. The terms which will be described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0066] Herein, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0067] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0068] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit.” Moreover, the components and “~units” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit” may include one or more processors.

[0069] It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0070] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

[0071] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0072] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0073] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0074] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0075] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0076] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0077] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0078] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0079] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0080] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0081] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0082] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0083] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0084] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0085] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0086] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0087] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0088] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0089] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0090] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described below, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0091] The drawings or flowcharts described below illustrate exemplary methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0092] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0093] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0094] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) where appropriate.

[0095] Hereinafter, a base station is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a base station (BS), a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0096] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5G base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0097] A terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions.

[0098] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a UE, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a UE transmits a signal to a BS.

[0099] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0100] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0101] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), radio resource control (RRC), or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling.

[0102] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink control information (DCI), user equipment (UE)-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0103] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0104] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0105] In order to make the purpose, technical schemes and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure clearer, the technical schemes of the embodiments of the disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are a part of the embodiments of the disclosure, but not all embodiments. Based on the described embodiments of the disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor belong to the protection scope of the disclosure.

[0106] Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it can be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, connect to, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items can be used, and only one item in the list can be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C. For example, “at least one of: A, B, or C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A, B and C.

[0107] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase “computer-readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer-readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer-readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0108] Terms used herein to describe the embodiments of the disclosure are not intended to limit and / or define the scope of the present invention. For example, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the disclosure shall have the ordinary meaning understood by those with ordinary skills in the art to which the present invention belongs.

[0109] It should be understood that “first”, “second” and similar words used in the disclosure do not express any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similar words such as singular forms “a”, “an” or “the” do not express a limitation of quantity, but express the existence of at least one of the referenced item, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0110] As used herein, any reference to “an example” or “example”, “an implementation” or “implementation”, “an embodiment” or “embodiment” means that particular elements, features, structures or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The phrases “in one embodiment” or “in one example” appearing in different places in the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0111] As used herein, “a portion of” or “a part of” something means “at least some of” the thing, and as such may mean less than all of, or all of, the thing. As such, “a portion of” a thing includes the entire thing as a special case, i.e., the entire thing is an example of a portion of the thing.

[0112] As used herein, the term “set” may mean one or more. Thus, a set of items may be a single item or a set of two or more items.

[0113] In the disclosure, to determine whether a specific condition is satisfied or fulfilled, expressions, such as “greater than / larger than” or “less than / smaller than” are used by way of example and expressions, such as “greater than or equal to” or “less than or equal to” are also applicable and not excluded. For example, a condition defined with “greater than or equal to” may be replaced by “greater than” (or vice-versa), a condition defined with “less than or equal to” may be replaced by “less than” (or vice-versa), etc. As another example, “less than”, “less than or equal to” and “no greater than” may be used interchangeably. “Greater than”, “greater than or equal to”, and “not less than” may be used interchangeably.

[0114] It will be further understood that similar words such as the term “include” or “comprise” mean that elements or objects appearing before the word encompass the listed elements or objects appearing after the word and their equivalents, but other elements or objects are not excluded. Similar words such as “connect” or “connected” are not limited to physical or mechanical connection, but can include electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. “Upper”, “lower”, “left” and “right” are only used to express a relative positional relationship, and when an absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may change accordingly.

[0115] The various embodiments discussed below for describing the principles of the disclosure in the patent document are for illustration only and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the disclosure can be implemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system. For example, although the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure will be directed to LTE and / or 5G communication systems, those skilled in the art will understand that the main points of the disclosure can also be applied to other communication systems with similar technical backgrounds and channel formats with slight modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The technical schemes of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, and for example, the communication systems may include global systems for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) systems, general packet radio service (GPRS) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR) systems, etc. In addition, the technical schemes of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to future-oriented communication technologies.

[0116] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same reference numerals in different drawings will be used to refer to the same elements already described.

[0117] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help readers understand the disclosure. They are not intended and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the content disclosed herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the illustrated embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0118] The following FIGS. 1- 3B describe various embodiments implemented by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technologies in wireless communication systems. The descriptions of FIGS. 1- 3B do not mean physical or architectural implications for the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communication systems.

[0119] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 can be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0120] The wireless network 100 includes a gNodeB (gNB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one Internet Protocol (IP) network 130, such as the Internet, a private IP network, or other data networks.

[0121] Depending on a type of the network, other well-known terms such as “base station (BS)” or “access point” can be used instead of “gNodeB” or “gNB”. For convenience, the terms “gNodeB” and “gNB” are used in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access for remote terminals. And, depending on the type of the network, other well-known terms such as “mobile station”, “user station”, “remote terminal”, “wireless terminal” or “user apparatus” can be used instead of “user equipment” or “UE”. For example, the terms “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used in this patent document to refer to remote wireless devices that wirelessly access the gNB, no matter whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or a smart phone) or a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or a vending machine).

[0122] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of User Equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs include a UE 111, which may be located in a Small Business (SB); a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi Hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R); a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop computer, a wireless PDA, etc. GNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs include a UE 115 and a UE 116. In some implementations, one or more of gNBs 101-103 can communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, WiMAX or other advanced wireless communication technologies.

[0123] The dashed lines show approximate ranges of the coverage areas 120 and 125, and the ranges are shown as approximate circles merely for illustration and explanation purposes. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with the gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on configurations of the gNBs and changes in the radio environment associated with natural obstacles and man-made obstacles.

[0124] As will be described in more detail below, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 include a 2D antenna array as described in embodiments of the disclosure. In some implementations, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays.

[0125] Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the wireless network 100, various changes can be made to FIG. 1. The wireless network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement, for example. Furthermore, gNB 101 can directly communicate with any number of UEs and provide wireless broadband access to the network 130 for those UEs. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can directly communicate with the network 130 and provide direct wireless broadband access to the network 130 for the UEs. In addition, gNB 101, 102 and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0126] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless transmission and reception paths according to some embodiments of the disclosure. In the following description, the transmission path 200 can be described as being implemented in a gNB, such as gNB 102, and the reception path 250 can be described as being implemented in a UE, such as UE 116. However, it should be understood that the reception path 250 can be implemented in a gNB and the transmission path 200 can be implemented in a UE. In some implementations, the reception path 250 is configured to support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the disclosure.

[0127] The transmission path 200 includes a channel coding and modulation block 205, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210, a size N Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 215, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 220, a cyclic prefix addition block 225, and an up-converter (UC) 230. The reception path 250 includes a down-converter (DC) 255, a cyclic prefix removal block 260, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 265, a size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.

[0128] In the transmission path 200, the channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulated symbols. The Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210 converts (such as demultiplexes) serial modulated symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is a size of the IFFT / FFT used in gNB 102 and UE 116. The size N IFFT block 215 performs IFFT operations on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time domain output signal. The Parallel-to-Serial block 220 converts (such as multiplexes) parallel time domain output symbols from the Size N IFFT block 215 to generate a serial time domain signal. The cyclic prefix addition block 225 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time domain signal. The up-converter 230 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of the cyclic prefix addition block 225 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal can also be filtered at a baseband before switching to the RF frequency.

[0129] The RF signal transmitted from gNB 102 arrives at UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and operations in reverse to those at gNB 102 are performed at UE 116. The down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and the cyclic prefix removal block 260 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time domain baseband signal. The Serial-to-Parallel block 265 converts the time domain baseband signal into a parallel time domain signal. The Size N FFT block 270 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. The Parallel-to-Serial block 275 converts the parallel frequency-domain signal into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 280 demodulates and decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0130] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmission path 200 similar to that for transmitting to UEs 111-116 in the downlink, and may implement a reception path 250 similar to that for receiving from UEs 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmission path 200 for transmitting to gNBs 101-103 in the uplink, and may implement a reception path 250 for receiving from gNBs 101-103 in the downlink.

[0131] Each of the components in FIGS. 2A and 2B can be implemented using only hardware, or using a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented in configurable hardware or a combination of software and configurable hardware. For example, the FFT block 270 and IFFT block 215 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, in which the value of the size N may be modified according to the implementation.

[0132] Furthermore, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is only illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the disclosure. Other types of transforms can be used, such as Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions. It should be understood that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer which is a power of 2 (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

[0133] Although FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate examples of wireless transmission and reception paths, various changes may be made to FIGS. 2A and 2B. For example, various components in FIGS. 2A and 2B can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. Furthermore, FIGS. 2A and 2B are intended to illustrate examples of types of transmission and reception paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communication in a wireless network.

[0134] FIG. 3A illustrates an example UE 116 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 3A is for illustration only, and UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a UE has various configurations, and FIG. 3A does not limit the scope of the disclosure to any specific implementation of the UE.

[0135] UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 303, a microphone 304, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 305. UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller / processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface 308, an input device(s) 309, a display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an operating system (OS) 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0136] The RF transceiver 302 receives an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the wireless network 100 from the antenna 301. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 305, where the RX processing circuit 305 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to controller / processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0137] The TX processing circuit 303 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email or interactive video game data) from controller / processor 307. The TX processing circuit 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0138] The controller / processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute an OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, the controller / processor 307 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuit 305 and the TX processing circuit 303 according to well-known principles. In some implementations, the controller / processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0139] The controller / processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs residing in the memory 311, such as operations for channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the disclosure. The controller / processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an execution process. In some implementations, the controller / processor 307 is configured to execute the application 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from the gNB or the operator. The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to an I / O interface 308, where the I / O interface 308 provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptop computers and handheld computers. I / O interface 308 is a communication path between these accessories and the controller / processor 307.

[0140] The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to the input device(s) 309 and the display 310. An operator of UE 116 can input data into UE 116 using the input device(s) 309. The display 310 may be a liquid crystal display or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics (such as from a website). The memory 311 is coupled to the controller / processor 307. A part of the memory 311 can include a random access memory (RAM), while another part of the memory 311 can include a flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0141] Although FIG. 3A illustrates an example of UE 116, various changes can be made to FIG. 3A. For example, various components in FIG. 3A can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. As a specific example, the processor / controller 340 can be divided into a plurality of processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Furthermore, although FIG. 3A illustrates that the UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.

[0142] In some implementations, two or more UEs 116 may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using a base station as a medium for communication with each other). For example, the UE 116 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (which, for example, may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol, etc.), mesh network, etc. In this case, the UE 116 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations performed by the base station as described elsewhere herein. For example, the base station may configure the UE 116 via downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) or via system information (e.g., system information block (SIB)).

[0143] FIG. 3B illustrates an example gNB 102 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. 3B is for illustration only, and other gNBs of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a gNB has various configurations, and FIG. 3B does not limit the scope of the disclosure to any specific implementation of a gNB. It should be noted that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102.

[0144] As shown in FIG. 3B, gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 374, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n include a 2D antenna array. gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.

[0145] RF transceivers 372a-372n receive an incoming RF signal from antennas 370a-370n, such as a signal transmitted by UEs or other gNBs. RF transceivers 372a-372n down-convert the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 376, where the RX processing circuit 376 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. RX processing circuit 376 transmits the processed baseband signal to controller / processor 378 for further processing.

[0146] The TX processing circuit 374 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 378. TX processing circuit 374 encodes, multiplexes and / or digitizes outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceivers 372a-372n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from TX processing circuit 374 and up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via antennas 370a-370n.

[0147] The controller / processor 378 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 378 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceivers 372a-372n, the RX processing circuit 376 and the TX processing circuit 374 according to well-known principles. The controller / processor 378 can also support additional functions, such as higher-level wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 378 can perform a Blind Interference Sensing (BIS) process such as that performed through a BIS algorithm, and decode a received signal from which an interference signal is subtracted. A controller / processor 378 may support any of a variety of other functions in gNB 102. In some implementations, the controller / processor 378 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0148] The controller / processor 378 is also capable of executing programs and other processes residing in the memory 380, such as a basic OS. The controller / processor 378 can also support channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the disclosure. In some implementations, the controller / processor 378 supports communication between entities such as web RTCs. The controller / processor 378 can move data into or out of the memory 380 as required by an execution process.

[0149] The controller / processor 378 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 382. The backhaul or network interface 382 allows gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems through a backhaul connection or through a network. The backhaul or network interface 382 can support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when gNB 102 is implemented as a part of a cellular communication system, such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G or new radio access technology or NR, LTE or LTE-A, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs through wired or wireless backhaul connections. When gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with a larger network, such as the Internet, through a wired or wireless local area network or through a wired or wireless connection. The backhaul or network interface 382 includes any suitable structure that supports communication through a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or an RF transceiver.

[0150] The memory 380 is coupled to the controller / processor 378. A part of the memory 380 can include an RAM, while another part of the memory 380 can include a flash memory or other ROMs. In certain embodiments, a plurality of instructions, such as the BIS algorithm, are stored in the memory. The plurality of instructions are configured to cause the controller / processor 378 to execute the BIS process and decode the received signal after subtracting at least one interference signal determined by the BIS algorithm.

[0151] As will be described in more detail below, the transmission and reception paths of gNB 102 (implemented using RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuit 374 and / or RX processing circuit 376) support aggregated communication with FDD cells and TDD cells.

[0152] Although FIG. 3B illustrates an example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 3B. For example, gNB 102 can include any number of each component shown in FIG. 3A. As a specific example, the access point can include many backhaul or network interfaces 382, and the controller / processor 378 can support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another specific example, although shown as including a single instance of the TX processing circuit 374 and a single instance of the RX processing circuit 376, gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (such as one for each RF transceiver).

[0153] Those skilled in the art will understand that, “terminal” and “terminal device” as used herein include not only devices with wireless signal receiver which have no transmitting capability, but also devices with receiving and transmitting hardware which can carry out bidirectional communication on a bidirectional communication link. Such devices may include cellular or other communication devices with single-line displays or multi-line displays or cellular or other communication devices without multi-line displays; a PCS (personal communications service), which may combine voice, data processing, fax and / or data communication capabilities; a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), which may include a radio frequency receiver, a pager, an internet / intranet access, a web browser, a notepad, a calendar and / or a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver; a conventional laptop and / or palmtop computer or other devices having and / or including a radio frequency receiver. “Terminal” and “terminal device” as used herein may be portable, transportable, installed in vehicles (aviation, sea transportation and / or land), or suitable and / or configured to operate locally, and / or in distributed form, operate on the earth and / or any other position in space. “Terminal” and “terminal device” as used herein may also be a communication terminal, an internet terminal, a music / video playing terminal, such as a PDA, a MID (Mobile Internet Device) and / or a mobile phone with music / video playing functions, a smart TV, a set-top box and other devices.

[0154] With the rapid development of information industry, especially the increasing demand from mobile Internet and internet of things (IoT), it brings unprecedented challenges to the future mobile communication technology. In order to meet the unprecedented challenges, the communication industry and academia have carried out extensive research on the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology to face the 2020s. At present in ITU report ITU-R M.[IMT.VISION], the framework and overall goals of the future 5G has been discussed, in which the demand outlook, application scenarios and important performance indicators of 5G are described in detail. With respect to new requirements in 5G, ITU report ITU-R M.[IMT.FUTURE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS] provides information related to the technology trends of 5G, aiming at solving significant problems such as significantly improved system throughput, consistent user experience, scalability to support IoT, delay, energy efficiency, cost, network flexibility, support of emerging services and flexible spectrum utilization. In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the first stage of 5G is already in progress. To support more flexible scheduling, the 3GPP decides to support variable hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback delay in 5G. In existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, a time from reception of downlink data to uplink transmission of HARQ-ACK is fixed. For example, in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, the delay is 4 subframes. In Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, a HARQ-ACK feedback delay is determined for a corresponding downlink subframe based on an uplink and downlink configuration. In 5G systems, whether FDD or TDD systems, for a determined downlink time unit (for example, a downlink slot or a downlink mini slot; for another example, a PDSCH time unit), the uplink time unit (for example, a PUCCH time unit) that can feedback HARQ-ACK is variable. For example, the delay of HARQ-ACK feedback can be dynamically indicated by physical layer signaling, or different HARQ-ACK delays can be determined based on factors such as different services or user capabilities.

[0155] The 3GPP has defined three directions of 5G application scenarios-eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband), mMTC (massive machine-type communication) and URLLC (ultra-reliable and low-latency communication). The eMBB scenario aims to further improve data transmission rate on the basis of the existing mobile broadband service scenario, so as to enhance user experience and pursue ultimate communication experience between people. mMTC and URLLC are, for example, the application scenarios of the Internet of Things, but their respective emphases are different: mMTC being mainly information interaction between people and things, while URLLC mainly reflecting communication requirements between things.

[0156] In some cases, the UE may receive a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_3) that may be used to schedule multiple PDSCH receptions on multiple serving cells, with at least one PDSCH reception per serving cell. A method of generating HARQ-ACK information is needed.

[0157] In order to at least solve the above technical problems, example embodiments of the disclosure provide a method performed by a terminal, a terminal, a method performed by a base station, a base station and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in a wireless communication system. Hereinafter, various example embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0158] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, for the convenience of description, a first transceiving node and a second transceiving node are defined. For example, the first transceiving node may be a base station, and the second transceiving node may be a UE. For another example, the example embodiments of the disclosure may be applicable to the scenario of sidelink communication, in which case, the first transceiving node may be a UE, and the second transceiving node may be another UE. Therefore, the first transceiving node and the second transceiving node may each be any suitable communication node. In the following description, the base station is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the first transceiving node, and the UE is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the second transceiving node.

[0159] In describing a wireless communication system and in the disclosure described below, transferring methods (or configuration methods) of higher layer signaling or higher layer signals may be signal transferring methods for transferring information from a base station to a terminal over a downlink (DL) data channel of a physical layer or from a terminal to a base station over an uplink (UL) data channel of a physical layer, and examples of the signal transferring methods may include signal transferring methods for transferring information via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) signaling, or a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

[0160] In the following description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, higher layer signaling may be signaling corresponding to at least one or a combination of one or more of the following signaling.

[0161] - MIB (master information block)

[0162] - SIB (system information block) or SIB X (X = 1,2, ...)

[0163] - RRC signaling

[0164] - MAC CE

[0165] Physical layer (Layer 1 (L1)) signaling may be signaling corresponding to at least one or a combination of one or more of the following signaling.

[0166] - PDCCH (physical downlink control channel)

[0167] - DCI (downlink control information)

[0168] - UE-specific DCI

[0169] - group common DCI

[0170] - common DCI (e.g., multicast DCI)

[0171] - scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data)

[0172] - non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI other than DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data)

[0173] - PUCCH (physical uplink control channel)

[0174] - UCI (uplink control information)

[0175] - Paging

[0176] - PRACH (physical random access channel)

[0177] - RAR (random access response)

[0178] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, uplink control signaling may include physical layer signaling and / or higher layer signaling. As described above, the physical layer signaling may include UCI and / or PUCCH and / or PRACH, and the higher layer signaling may include RRC signaling and / or a MAC CE.

[0179] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, downlink control signaling may include physical layer signaling and / or higher layer signaling. As mentioned above, the physical layer signaling may include one or more of PDCCH, DCI, UE-specific DCI, group common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI, paging, and RAR, and the higher layer signaling may include one or more of a MIB, a SIB or SIB X (X = 1, 2, ...), RRC signaling or a MAC CE. Therefore, “configuring or indicating X through downlink control signaling” will be understood as configuring or indicating X through physical layer signaling, or configuring or indicating X through higher layer signaling, or configuring or indicating X through a combination of higher layer signaling and physical layer signaling.

[0180] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a first transceiving node 400 according to some example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0181] Referring to FIG. 4, the first transceiving node 400 may include a transceiver 401 and a controller 402.

[0182] The transceiver 401 may be configured to transmit first data and / or first control signaling to a second transceiving node, and / or receive second data and / or second control signaling from the second transceiving node.

[0183] The controller 402 may be an application specific integrated circuit or at least one processor. The controller 402 may be configured to control the overall operation of the first transceiving node 400, including controlling the transceiver 401 to transmit the first data and / or the first control signaling to the second transceiving node, and / or receive the second data and / or the second control signaling from the second transceiving node.

[0184] In some implementations, the controller 402 may be configured to perform one or more of operations in methods of various example embodiments described below, for example, operations that can be performed by a base station.

[0185] In the following description, the base station is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the first transceiving node, and the UE is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the second transceiving node. Downlink data (but not limited thereto) is used to illustrate the first data. Downlink control signaling (but not limited thereto) is used to illustrate the first control signaling. Uplink control signaling (but not limited thereto) is used to illustrate the second control signaling.

[0186] Herein, depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can refer to any component (or a set of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as a Transmission Point (TP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), an evolved base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a WiFi access point (AP), or other wireless network devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 5G 3GPP new radio (NR) interface / access, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE-A), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc.

[0187] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a second transceiving node according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

[0188] Referring to FIG. 5, the second transceiving node 500 may include a transceiver 501 and a controller 502.

[0189] The transceiver 501 may be configured to receive first data and / or first control signaling from the first transceiving node, and transmit second data and / or second control signaling to the first transceiving node in a determined time unit.

[0190] The controller 502 may be an application specific integrated circuit or at least one processor. The controller 502 may be configured to control the overall operation of the second transceiving node and control the second transceiving node to implement the methods proposed in the example embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the controller 502 may be configured to determine the second data and / or the second control signaling and a time unit for transmitting the second data and / or the second control signaling based on the first data and / or the first control signaling, and control the transceiver 501 to transmit the second data and / or the second control signaling to the first transceiving node in the determined time unit.

[0191] In some implementations, the controller 502 may be configured to perform one or more of operations in methods of various example embodiments described below, for example, operations that can be performed by a terminal (UE).

[0192] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, the first data may be data transmitted by the first transceiving node to the second transceiving node. In the following examples, downlink data carried by a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the first data.

[0193] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, the second data may be data transmitted by the second transceiving node to the first transceiving node. In the following examples, uplink data carried by a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the second data.

[0194] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, the first control signaling may be control signaling transmitted by the first transceiving node to the second transceiving node. In the following examples, downlink control signaling is taken as an example (but not limited thereto) to illustrate the first control signaling. The downlink control signaling may be DCI (downlink control information) carried by a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) and / or control signaling (e.g., higher signaling) carried by a PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel). For example, the DCI may be UE specific DCI, and the DCI may also be common DCI. The common DCI may be DCI common to a part of UEs, such as group common DCI, and the common DCI may also be DCI common to all of UEs in a serving cell (e.g., cell common DCI). The DCI may also be multicast DCI or broadcast DCI. The DCI may be uplink DCI (e.g., DCI for scheduling a PUSCH) and / or downlink DCI (e.g., DCI for scheduling a PDSCH).

[0195] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably:

[0196] - DCI

[0197] - DCI format

[0198] - PDCCH

[0199] - grant

[0200] - dynamic grant.

[0201] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, the second control signaling may be control signaling transmitted by the second transceiving node to the first transceiving node. In the following examples, uplink control signaling is taken as an example (but is not limited thereto) to illustrate the second control signaling. The uplink control signaling may be UCI (Uplink Control Information) carried by a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and / or control signaling (e.g., higher signaling) carried by a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel). A type of UCI may include one or more of: HARQ-ACK information, SR (Scheduling Request), LRR (Link Recovery Request), CSI (Chanel State Information), CG (Configured Grant) UCI, or UTO (unused transmission occasion)-UCI. In the example embodiments of the disclosure, when UCI is carried by a PUCCH, the UCI may be used interchangeably with the PUCCH.

[0202] In some implementations, a PUCCH with an SR may be a PUCCH with a positive SR and / or a negative SR. The SR may be the positive SR and / or the negative SR.

[0203] In some implementations, the CSI report may be Part 1 CSI and / or Part 2 CSI.

[0204] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, a time unit where the first transceiving node transmits the first data and / or the first control signaling may be a downlink time unit, such as a downlink slot.

[0205] In implementations described in connection with FIG. 4 or 5, a time unit where the second transceiving node transmits the second data and / or the second control signaling may be an uplink time unit, such as an uplink slot or PUCCH slot or PCell (primary cell) slot or PUCCH slot on PCell. The “PUCCH slot” may be understood as a PUCCH transmission slot.

[0206] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, a time unit (e.g., a downlink time unit or an uplink time unit) may be one or more slots, one or more subslots, one or more OFDM symbols, one or more spans, one or more subframes, one or more frames or one or more half frames.

[0207] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 performed by a base station according to some example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0208] Referring to FIG. 6, in operation S610, the base station transmits downlink data and / or downlink control signaling. For example, the base station transmits downlink data and / or downlink control signaling to the UE in a time unit.

[0209] In operation S620, the base station receives uplink data and / or uplink control signaling from the UE. For example, the base station receives the uplink data and / or the uplink control signaling from the UE in a time unit.

[0210] In some implementations, operations S610 and / or S620 may be performed based on the methods described according to various example embodiments of the disclosure (e.g., various methods / manners described below).

[0211] In some implementations, the method 600 may omit one or more of operation S610 or S620, or may include additional operations, for example, the operations performed by the base station based on the methods described according to various example embodiments of the disclosure (e.g., various methods / manners described below).

[0212] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method 700 performed by a UE according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0213] Referring to FIG. 7, in operation S710, the UE may receive downlink (DL) data (e.g., downlink data carried by PDSCH(s)) and / or downlink control signaling from a base station. For example, the UE may receive the downlink data and / or the downlink control signaling from the base station based on predefined rules and / or received configuration parameters.

[0214] Optionally, in operation S720, the UE determines uplink (UL) data and / or uplink control signaling, and / or a transmission power of the uplink data and / or the uplink control signaling, and / or a time unit based on the downlink data and / or the downlink control signaling.

[0215] In operation S730, the UE transmits the uplink data and / or the uplink control signaling to the base station. For example, the UE transmits the uplink data and / or the uplink control signaling to the base station in the determined time unit. For another example, the UE transmits the uplink data and / or the uplink control signaling to the base station in the determined time unit according to the determined transmission power.

[0216] [HARQ / scheduling general timing]

[0217] In some implementations, operations S710 and / or S720 and / or S730 may be performed based on the methods described according to various example embodiments of the disclosure (e.g., various methods / manners described below).

[0218] In some implementations, the method 700 may omit one or more of operation S710, S720 or S730, or may include additional operations, for example, the operations performed by the UE (terminal) based on the methods described according to various example embodiments of the disclosure (e.g., various methods / manners described below).

[0219] In some implementations, acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) for downlink transmission(s) may be performed through HARQ-ACK.

[0220] Some examples of uplink transmission timing will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8A-8C.

[0221] In an example, the UE receives a DCI format and receives a PDSCH according to time domain resources indicated by the DCI format. For example, a parameter K0 may be used to indicate a time unit interval (offset) between the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI format and the DCI format (e.g., a PDCCH carrying the DCI format), where K0 may be in units of slots, for example, PDSCH slots (e.g., slots of an active BWP in a serving cell where PDSCH is located). For example, FIG. 8A gives an example in which K0=1. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8A, the time unit interval from the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI format to the PDCCH carrying the DCI format is one slot. In the example embodiments of the disclosure, “the UE receives a DCI / DCI format” may refer to that “the UE detects the DCI / DCI format.”

[0222] In another example, the UE receives a DCI format and transmits a PUSCH based on time domain resources indicated by the DCI format. For example, a timing parameter K2 may be used to indicate a time unit interval between the PUSCH scheduled by the DCI format and the DCI format (e.g., a PDCCH carrying the DCI format), where K2 may be in units of slots, for example, PUSCH slots (e.g., slots of an active BWP in a serving cell where PUSCH is located). For example, FIG. 8B gives an example in which K2 = 1. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8B, the time unit interval between the PUSCH scheduled by the DCI format and the PDCCH carrying the DCI is one slot. K2 may also be used to indicate a time unit interval between a PDCCH for activating CG (configured grant) PUSCH(s) and the first activated CG PUSCH (e.g., CG PUSCH transmission occasion). In examples of the disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the PUSCH may be a dynamically scheduled PUSCH (e.g., scheduled by DCI) (e.g., which may be referred to as DG (dynamic grant) PUSCH, in the example embodiments of the disclosure) and / or a PUSCH not scheduled by DCI (e.g., CG PUSCH).

[0223] In yet another example, the UE receives a PDSCH, and may transmit HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception in a PUCCH in a time unit (e.g., uplink time unit). For example, a timing parameter (which may also be referred to as a timing value) K1 (e.g., the higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL-ACK) may be used to indicate a time unit interval between the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception and the PDSCH, and K1 may be in units of time units (e.g., uplink time units, such as PUCCH time units), such as slots or subslots. For example, FIG. 8A gives an example in which K1 = 3. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8A, the time unit interval between the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception and the PDSCH is 3 slots. It should be noted that in the example embodiments of the disclosure, the timing parameter K1 may be used interchangeably with a time unit offset K1, the timing parameter K0 may be used interchangeably with a time unit offset K0, and the timing parameter K2 may be used interchangeably with a time unit offset K2.

[0224] The PDSCH may be a PDSCH scheduled by DCI and / or a SPS (semi-persistent scheduling) PDSCH. The UE periodically receives the SPS PDSCH after the SPS PDSCH is activated by the DCI. In examples of the disclosure, the SPS PDSCH may be equivalent to a PDSCH not scheduled by the DCI / PDCCH. After the SPS PDSCH is released (deactivated), the UE will no longer receive the SPS PDSCH.

[0225] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, HARQ-ACK may be HARQ-ACK for a SPS PDSCH reception (e.g., HARQ-ACK not indicated by DCI) and / or HARQ-ACK indicated by a DCI format (e.g., HARQ-ACK for a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format, where the PDSCH reception may be a PDSCH reception providing a transport block (TB) with enabled HARQ-ACK information). Or, for example, HARQ-ACK may be HARQ-ACK for a DCI format without scheduling PDSCH.

[0226] In yet another example, the UE receives DCI (e.g., DCI indicating SPS PDSCH release (deactivation)), and may transmit HARQ-ACK information for the DCI in a PUCCH in a time unit (e.g., uplink time unit). For example, the timing parameter K1 may be used to indicate a time unit interval between the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK information for the DCI and the DCI, and K1 may be in units of time units (e.g., uplink time units), such as slots or subslots. For example, FIG. 8C gives an example in which K1 = 3. In the example of FIG. 8C, the time unit interval between the PUCCH with the HARQ-ACK information for the DCI and the DCI is 3 slots. For example, the timing parameter K1 may be used to indicate a time unit interval between a PDCCH reception carrying DCI indicating SPS PDSCH release (deactivation) and the PUCCH feeding back HARQ-ACK for the PDCCH reception.

[0227] In some implementations, the UE may report (or signal / transmit) a UE capability to the base station or indicate the UE capability in operation S720. For example, the UE reports (or signals / transmits) the UE capability to the base station by transmitting a PUSCH. In this case, the PUSCH transmitted by the UE includes the UE capability information. A UE capability may be a UE capability parameter, or a value of a UE capability parameter.

[0228] In some implementations, the base station may configure higher layer signaling for the UE based on a UE capability received from the UE.

[0229] In some implementations, downlink channels (downlink resources) may include PDCCHs and / or PDSCHs. Uplink channels (uplink resources) may include PUCCHs and / or PUSCHs.

[0230] [Two levels of priorities]

[0231] In some implementations, the UE may be configured with two levels of priorities for uplink transmission (for example, the UE is configured with the higher layer parameterPUCCH-ConfigurationList). The PUCCH resource configured by the first PUCCH-Config is a PUCCH resource of a lower priority, and the PUCCH resource configured by the second PUCCH-Config is a PUCCH resource of a higher priority. For another example, the priority of a PUCCH or a PUSCH may be indicated by a DCI format, for example, by a physical layer priority index (phy-PriorityIndex) field.

[0232] When two or more uplink physical channels on a serving cell overlap (for example, overlap in time), or PUCCH(s) and PUSCH(s) overlap (for example, overlap in time), it is necessary to resolve the overlapping for the physical channels. “Resolving the overlapping for the physical channels” may refer to “resolving the collision of overlapping physical channels”. The resulting physical channels after resolving the overlapping for the physical channels do not overlap or collide. The overlapping of physical channels may be resolved by multiplexing and / or prioritization. The multiplexing may refer to multiplexing UCI of two or more physical channels in a physical channel. For example, the multiplexing of multiple PUCCHs and / or PUSCHs that overlap in time domain may include multiplexing UCI of the PUCCHs in a PUCCH or PUSCH. It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “resolving the overlapping for the physical channels” may also be used interchangeably with “determining the overlapping of the physical channels”. The prioritization may refer to transmitting a physical channel of the higher priority and not transmitting a physical channel of the lower priority. It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “Not transmitting a physical channel”, “cancelling the transmission of a physical channel”, “stopping the transmission of a physical channel”, and “deprioritizing the priority of a physical channel” may be used interchangeably. For example, the prioritization of two PUCCHs and / or PUSCHs overlapping in time domain by the UE may include that the UE transmits the PUCCH or the PUSCH of the higher priority and / or the UE does not transmit the PUCCH or the PUSCH of the lower priority. In embodiments of the disclosure, unless otherwise indicated, “resolving the overlapping of physical channels” may be understood as resolving the overlapping of physical channels with the same physical layer priority.

[0233] In some implementations, if the UE is configured / indicated to multiplex UCIs (e.g., HARQ-ACK) of different priorities via higher layer signaling (e.g., via higher layer parameteruci-MuxWithDiffPrio), when resolving the overlapping for physical channels with different priorities, the UE may multiplex UCIs (e.g., HARQ-ACK) with different priorities; otherwise (e.g., if the UE is not configured the parameter for multiplexing UCIs with different priorities), when resolving the overlapping for physical channels with different priorities, the UE performs prioritization for PUCCHs and / or PUSCHs with different priorities.

[0234] For example, the two levels of priorities may include a first priority and a second priority which are different from each other. In an example, the first priority may be higher than the second priority; for example, the first priority is the higher priority, and the second priority is the lower priority. In another example, the first priority may be lower than the second priority. However, embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to this, and for example, the UE may be configured with more than two levels of priorities. For the sake of convenience, in some example embodiments of the disclosure, description will be made considering that the first priority is higher than the second priority. It should be noted that all embodiments of the disclosure are applicable to situations where the first priority may be higher than the second priority; all embodiments of the disclosure are applicable to situations where the first priority may be lower than the second priority; and all embodiments of the disclosure are applicable to situations where the first priority may be equal to the second priority. In some example embodiments of the disclosure, the terms “first priority”, “higher priority”, “greater priority index” and “priority index 1” may be used interchangeably. In the example embodiments of the disclosure, the terms “second priority”, “lower priority”, “smaller priority index” and “priority index 0” may be used interchangeably.

[0235] [Subslot]

[0236] In some implementations, the UE may be configured with a subslot-based PUCCH transmission. For example, a subslot length parameter (which may also be referred to as a parameter with respect to a subslot length in the example embodiments of the disclosure) (e.g., the higher layer parameter subslotLengthForPUCCH) of each PUCCH configuration parameter of the first PUCCH configuration parameter and the second PUCCH configuration parameter may be 7 OFDM symbols or 6 OFDM symbols or 2 OFDM symbols. Subslot configuration length parameters in different PUCCH configuration parameters may be configured separately. If no subslot length parameter is configured in a PUCCH configuration parameter, the scheduling time unit of the PUCCH configuration parameter is one slot by default. If a subslot length parameter is configured in the PUCCH configuration parameter, the scheduling time unit of the PUCCH configuration parameter is L (L is the configured subslot configuration length) OFDM symbols.

[0237] The mechanism of a slot-based PUCCH transmission is basically the same as that of a subslot-based PUCCH transmission. In the disclosure, a slot may be used to represent a PUCCH occasion unit; for example, if the UE is configured with subslots, a slot which is a PUCCH occasion unit may be replaced with a subslot. For example, it may be specified by protocols that if the UE is configured with the subslot length parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter subslotLengthForPUCCH), unless otherwise indicated, a number of symbols included in the slot of the PUCCH transmission is indicated by the subslot length parameter.

[0238] For example, if the UE is configured with the subslot length parameter, and a subslot n is the last uplink subslot overlapping with a PDSCH reception or PDCCH reception (e.g., SPS PDSCH release, and / or indicating SCell dormancy, and / or triggering a Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook report and without scheduling PDSCH reception), then HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception or PDCCH reception is transmitted in an uplink subslot n+k, where k is determined by the timing parameter K1 (the definition of the timing parameter K1 may refer to the previous description). For another example, if the UE is not configured with the subslot length parameter, and a slot n is the last uplink slot overlapping with a downlink slot where the PDSCH reception or PDCCH reception is located, then the HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception or PDCCH reception is transmitted in an uplink slot n+k, where K is determined by the timing parameter K1.

[0239] [Multicast service (MBS)]

[0240] In the example embodiments of the disclosure, unicast may refer to a manner in which a network communicates with a UE, and multicast (or groupcast) may refer to a manner in which a network communicates with multiple UEs. For example, a unicast PDSCH may be a PDSCH received by one UE, and scrambling of the PDSCH may be based on a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) specific to the UE, e.g., Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI). A multicast PDSCH may be a PDSCH received by more than one UE simultaneously, and scrambling of the multicast PDSCH may be based on a UE-group common RNTI. For example, the UE-group common RNTI for scrambling the multicast PDSCH may include an RNTI (which may be referred to as Group RNTI (G-RNTI) in the example embodiments of the disclosure) for scrambling of a dynamically scheduled multicast transmission (e.g., PDSCH) or an RNTI (which may be referred to as group configured scheduling RNTI (G-CS-RNTI) in the example embodiments of the disclosure) for scrambling of a multicast SPS transmission (e.g., SPS PDSCH). UCI of the unicast PDSCH may include HARQ-ACK information, an SR, or CSI of the unicast PDSCH reception. UCI of the multicast PDSCH may include HARQ-ACK information of the multicast PDSCH reception. In the example embodiments of the disclosure, “multicast” may also be replaced by “broadcast”.

[0241] [HARQ-ACK codebook]

[0242] In the example embodiment as shown in FIG. 7, in operation S710, the UE may receive downlink data (e.g., downlink data carried by PDSCH(s)) and / or downlink control signaling (e.g., DCI format(s) carried by PDCCH(s)) from the base station.

[0243] In operation S720, the UE may determine HARQ-ACK information bits transmitted in an uplink slot based on the downlink data and / or the downlink control signaling. For example, determining the HARQ-ACK information bits transmitted in the uplink slot includes at least one of the following:

[0244] - determining values of the HARQ-ACK information bits;

[0245] - determining the order of the HARQ-ACK information bits;

[0246] - determining a total number of the HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0247] In operation S730, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits to the base station. Here, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK information bits in a PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0248] In some implementations, a HARQ-ACK codebook may include HARQ-ACK information (in the disclosure, which may also be called HARQ-ACK information bits) for one or more PDSCH receptions and / or DCI format(s) (e.g., DCI format without scheduling PDSCH reception). HARQ-ACK information for a PDSCH reception may be understood as HARQ-ACK information for transport block(s) (TB(s)) included in the PDSCH reception. In case that the UE is configured with PDSCH CBG (code block group) transmission (for example, the parameterPDSCH-CodeBlockGroupTransmissionis configured), or in case that one PDSCH reception includes one or more CBGs, HARQ-ACK information for a PDSCH reception may be understood as HARQ-ACK information for the CBGs included in the PDSCH reception. If HARQ-ACK information for one or more PDSCH receptions and / or DCI(s) is multiplexed in a time unit (e.g., uplink time unit) for transmission (e.g., transmission in a PUCCH in a same time unit), the UE may generate the HARQ-ACK codebook based on a predefined rule. The UE generating the HARQ-ACK codebook may include ordering the HARQ-ACK information bits and / or compressing (e.g., bundling) the HARQ-ACK information bits. For example, if a TB or CBG in a PDSCH reception is successfully decoded, HARQ-ACK information for the TB or CBG in the PDSCH reception is positive ACK. The positive ACK may be represented by 1 in the HARQ-ACK codebook, for example. If a TB or CBG in a PDSCH reception is not successfully decoded, HARQ-ACK information for the TB or CBG in the PDSCH reception is negative ACK (NACK). The NACK may be represented by 0 in the HARQ-ACK codebook, for example. For example, the UE may generate the HARQ-ACK codebook based on pseudo codes specified by protocols. In an example, if the UE receives a DCI format that indicates SPS PDSCH release (deactivation), the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information (ACK) for the DCI format. In another example, if the UE receives a DCI format that indicates secondary cell dormancy, the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information (ACK) for the DCI format. In yet another example, if the UE receives a DCI format that indicates to transmit HARQ-ACK information (e.g., a Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook) of all HARQ-ACK processes of all configured serving cells, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information of all of the HARQ-ACK processes of all of the configured serving cells. In order to reduce a size of the Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook, in an enhanced Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook, the UE may transmit HARQ-ACK information of a specific HARQ-ACK process of a specific serving cell based on an indication of the DCI. In yet another example, if the UE receives a DCI format that schedules a PDSCH reception, the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception. In yet another example, the UE receives a SPS PDSCH, and the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the SPS PDSCH reception. In yet another example, if the UE is configured by higher layer signaling to receive a SPS PDSCH, the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the SPS PDSCH reception. The reception of the SPS PDSCH configured by higher layer signaling may be cancelled by other signaling. In yet another example, if at least one uplink symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) of the UE in a semi-static frame structure configured by higher layer signaling overlaps with a symbol of the SPS PDSCH reception, the UE does not receive the SPS PDSCH. In yet another example, if the UE is configured by higher layer signaling to receive a SPS PDSCH according to a predefined rule, the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the SPS PDSCH reception. It should be noted that, in the example embodiments of the disclosure, “'A' overlaps with 'B'” may mean that 'A' at least partially overlaps with 'B'. That is, “'A' overlaps with 'B'” includes a case where 'A' completely overlaps with 'B'. “'A' overlaps with 'B'” may mean that 'A' overlaps with 'B' in time domain and / or 'A' overlaps with 'B' in frequency domain.

[0249] In some implementations, if HARQ-ACK information transmitted (or multiplexed) in a same time unit (e.g., uplink time unit) does not include HARQ-ACK information for any DCI format, nor does it include HARQ-ACK information for a dynamically scheduled PDSCH reception (e.g., a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format) and / or DCI, or the HARQ-ACK information transmitted (or multiplexed) in the same time unit (e.g., uplink time unit) only includes HARQ-ACK information for one or more SPS PDSCH receptions, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information (e.g., HARQ-ACK information only for SPS PDSCH receptions) according to a rule for generating a HARQ-ACK codebook for SPS PDSCH receptions. The UE may multiplex the HARQ-ACK information only for SPS PDSCH receptions in a specific PUCCH resource. For example, if the UE is configured with a PUCCH list parameter for SPS (e.g.,SPS-PUCCH-AN-List), the UE multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information only for SPS PDSCH receptions in a PUCCH of a PUCCH list for SPS. For example, the UE determines a PUCCH resource in the PUCCH list for the SPS according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits. If the UE is not configured with the PUCCH list parameter for SPS, the UE multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information only for SPS PDSCH receptions in a PUCCH resource specific to SPS HARQ-ACK (for example, the PUCCH resource is configured by the parametern1PUCCH-AN).

[0250] In some implementations, if HARQ-ACK information transmitted (or multiplexed) in a same time unit (e.g., uplink time unit) includes HARQ-ACK information for a DCI format, and / or a dynamically scheduled PDSCH reception (e.g., a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format), the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information according to a rule for generating a HARQ-ACK codebook for a dynamically scheduled PDSCH reception and / or a DCI format. For example, the UE may determine to generate a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook) or a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook) according to a HARQ-ACK codebook configuration parameter for a PDSCH reception (e.g., the higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook). For example, if the UE is configured with the HARQ-ACK codebook configuration parameter (e.g., higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook) as semi-static, the UE may generate a semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook. If the UE is configured with the HARQ-ACK codebook configuration parameter (e.g., higher layer parameter pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook) as dynamic, the UE may generate a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook. The dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook may also be an enhanced dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook based on grouping and HARQ-ACK retransmission). The UE may multiplex the HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK associated with dynamically scheduling, which may be configured in a resource set list parameter (e.g., parameter resourceSetToAddModList). The UE determines a PUCCH resource set (e.g., parameter PUCCH-ResourceSet) in a resource set list according to a number of HARQ-ACK information bits, and the PUCCH resource may be determined as a PUCCH in the PUCCH resource set according to a PRI (PUCCH Resource Indicator) field indication in the last DCI format.

[0251] In some implementations, if HARQ-ACK information transmitted (multiplexed) in a same time unit (e.g., uplink time unit) includes only HARQ-ACK information for SPS PDSCH receptions (e.g., PDSCH receptions not scheduled by DCI formats), the UE may generate the HARQ-ACK codebook according to a rule for generating a HARQ-ACK codebook for SPS PDSCH receptions (e.g., the pseudo code for a HARQ-ACK codebook for SPS PDSCH receptions).

[0252] [Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook]

[0253] The semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook), may determine the size of the HARQ-ACK codebook and an order of HARQ-ACK information bits according to a semi-statically configured parameter (e.g., a parameter configured by higher layer signaling).

[0254] For a serving cell c, an active downlink BWP (bandwidth part), and an active uplink BWP, the UE determines a set of occasions for candidate PDSCH receptions for which the UE can transmit corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH in an uplink slot .

[0255] may be determined by at least one of the following:

[0256] a) a set of HARQ-ACK slot timing values K1 associated with the active uplink BWP on a primary cell or PUCCH-sScell (PUCCH switching SCell);

[0257] b) a set of row indexes of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table associated with the active downlink BWP;

[0258] c) where is the configuration of a downlink subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the downlink active BWP, and is the configuration of an uplink subcarrier spacing of the active uplink BWP.

[0259] d) a semi-static uplink and downlink frame structure configuration, such as the parametertdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommonand the parametertdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

[0260] e) a downlink slot offset parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter ) for the serving cellcand its corresponding slot offset SCS (e.g., the higher layer parameter ), and a slot offset parameter (e.g., the higher layer parameter ) for a primary cell and its corresponding slot offset SCS (e.g., the higher layer parameter ).

[0261] In the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, the set of the parameter K1 is used to determine a candidate uplink slot, and then determine candidate downlink slots according to the candidate uplink slot. The candidate downlink slots satisfy at least one of the following conditions: (i) if the time unit of the PUCCH is a subslot, the end of at least one candidate PDSCH reception in the candidate downlink slots overlaps with the candidate uplink slot in time domain; or (ii) if the time unit of the PUCCH is a slot, the end of the candidate downlink slots overlaps with the candidate uplink slot in time domain. It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a starting symbol may be used interchangeably with a starting position, and an end symbol may be used interchangeably with an end position. In some implementations, the starting symbol may be replaced by the end symbol, and / or the end symbol may be replaced by the starting symbol.

[0262] A number of PDSCH receptions in a candidate downlink slot for which HARQ-ACK needs to be fed back is determined by a maximum value of a number of non-overlapping valid candidate PDSCH receptions in the downlink slot (e.g., the valid candidate PDSCH receptions may be candidate PDSCH receptions that do not overlap with semi-statically configured uplink symbols). Time domain resources occupied by the candidate PDSCH receptions may be determined by (i) a time domain resource allocation table configured by higher layer signaling (in the example embodiments of the disclosure, it may also be referred to as a table associated with time domain resource allocation) and (ii) a certain row in time domain resource allocation table dynamically indicated by a DCI. Each row in time domain resource allocation table may define information with respect to time domain resource allocation. For example, for the time domain resource allocation table, an indexed row defines a timing value (e.g., time unit (e.g., slot) offset (e.g., K0)) between a PDCCH and a PDSCH, and a start and length indicator (SLIV), or directly defines a starting symbol and allocation length. For example, for the first row of the time domain resource allocation table, a starting OFDM symbol is 0 and an OFDM symbol length is 4; for the second row of the time domain resource allocation table, the starting OFDM symbol is 4 and the OFDM symbol length is 4; and for the third row of the time domain resource allocation table, the starting OFDM symbol is 7 and the OFDM symbol length is 4. The DCI for scheduling the PDSCH may indicate any row in time domain resource allocation table. When all OFDM symbols in the downlink slot are downlink symbols, the maximum value of the number of non-overlapping valid PDSCHs in the downlink slot is 2. At this time, the Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook may need to feed back HARQ-ACK information for two PDSCHs in the downlink slot on the serving cell.

[0263] FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate examples of time domain resource allocation tables (TDRAs). Specifically, FIG. 9A illustrates a time domain resource allocation table in which one PDSCH is scheduled in one row, and FIG. 9B illustrates a time domain resource allocation table in which multiple PDSCHs are scheduled in one row. Referring to FIG. 9A, each row corresponds to a set of {K0, mapping type, SLIV}, which includes a timing parameter K0 value, a mapping type, and an SLIV. Referring to FIG. 9B, unlike FIG. 9A, each row corresponds to multiple sets of {K0, mapping type, SLIV}.

[0264] [Type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook]

[0265] In some implementations, the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook) and / or the enhanced dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., Type-2 HARQ-ACK based on grouping and HARQ-ACK retransmission) may determine a size and an order of the HARQ-ACK codebook according to an assignment indicator. For example, the assignment indicator may be a DAI (Downlink Assignment Indicator). In the following embodiments, the assignment indicator as the DAI is taken as an example for illustration. However, the example embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto, and any other suitable assignment indicator may be adopted. It should be noted that the method for dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook in the disclosure may also be used for enhanced dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0266] In some implementations, the DAI may include at least one of a first DAI and a second DAI.

[0267] In some examples, the first DAI may be a C-DAI (Counter-DAI), and the first DAI may be a cumulative number of the downlink assignment index. The value of the first DAI field in a DCI format is a cumulative number of {serving cell, PDCCH monitoring occasion (MO)}-pair(s) up to the current serving cell and the current time unit, where the time unit may be a time unit of the PDCCH reception, for example, PDCCH monitoring occasion. The {serving cell, PDCCH MO}-pairs may include DCI formats scheduling PDSCH receptions and / or DCI formats having associated / corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits without scheduling PDSCH receptions. The first DAI may be included in a downlink DCI format. HARQ-ACK information for a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format and / or a DCI format without scheduling PDSCH reception is transmitted in a same time unit (for example, transmitted in a same PUCCH in a same time unit). The second DAI may be T-DAI (Total-DAI). The second DAI may be a total number of the downlink assignment index. The value of the second DAI field in a DCI format may be a total number of {serving cell, PDCCH MO}-pair(s) up to the current time unit. The second DAI may be included in a downlink DCI format and / or an uplink DCI format. The second DAI included in an uplink DCI format may be also called UL DAI.

[0268] In some implementations, the first DAI may be sorted in the following order:

[0269] - first in ascending order of serving cell index (e.g. scheduled serving cell index), and

[0270] - second in ascending order of PDCCH MO index.

[0271] In some implementations, the first DAI may also be sorted in the following order. For example, if the UE reports a capability to support more than one PDSCH reception on a serving cell scheduled from a PDCCH MO (e.g., PDSCH receptions scheduled by more than one PDCCH), the first DAI may be sorted in the following order:

[0272] - first in increasing order of the PDSCH reception starting time (e.g., the PDSCH reception starting time for the same {serving cell, PDCCH MO}-pair),

[0273] - second in ascending order of serving cell index (e.g., scheduled serving cell index), and

[0274] - third in ascending order of PDCCH MO index.

[0275] In some examples, the first DAI may be a C-DAI (Counter-DAI). The first DAI may indicate an accumulative number of at least one of DCI scheduling PDSCH reception(s), DCI format(s) indicating SPS PDSCH release (deactivation), or DCI indicating secondary cell dormancy. For example, the accumulative number may be an accumulative number up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit. For example, the C-DAI may also indicate: an accumulative number of {serving cell, time unit} pair(s) scheduled by PDCCH(s) up to the current time unit within a time window (which may also include a number of PDCCHs (e.g., PDCCHs indicating SPS release and / or PDCCHs indicating secondary cell dormancy)); or an accumulative number of PDCCH(s) up to the current time unit; or an accumulative number of PDSCH transmission(s) up to the current time unit; or an accumulative number of {serving cell, time unit} pair(s) in which PDSCH transmission(s) related to PDCCH(s) (e.g., scheduled by the PDCCH(s)) and / or PDCCH(s) (e.g., PDCCH indicating SPS release and / or PDCCH indicating secondary cell dormancy) is present, up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or an accumulative number of PDSCH(s) with corresponding PDCCH(s) and / or PDCCHs (e.g., PDCCHs indicating SPS release and / or PDCCHs indicating secondary cell dormancy) already scheduled by a base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or an accumulative number of PDSCHs (the PDSCHs are PDSCHs with corresponding PDCCHs) already scheduled by the base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or an accumulative number of time units with PDSCH transmissions (the PDSCHs are PDSCHs with corresponding PDCCHs) already scheduled by the base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit. The order of each bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook corresponding to at least one of PDSCH reception(s), DCI format(s) indicating SPS PDSCH release (deactivation), or DCI indicating secondary cell dormancy may be determined by the time when the first DAI is received and the information of the first DAI.

[0276] In some examples, the second DAI may indicate a total number of at least one of all PDSCH receptions, DCI indicating SPS PDSCH release (deactivation), or DCI format(s) indicating secondary cell dormancy. For example, the total number may be a total number of all serving cells up to the current time unit. For example, the T-DAI may refer to: a total number of {serving cell, time unit} pairs scheduled by PDCCH(s) up to the current time unit within a time window (which may also include a number of PDCCHs for indicating SPS release); or a total number of PDSCH transmissions up to the current time unit; or a total number of {serving cell, time unit} pairs in which PDSCH transmission(s) related to PDCCH(s) (e.g., scheduled by the PDCCH) and / or PDCCH(s) (e.g., a PDCCH indicating SPS release and / or a PDCCH indicating secondary cell dormancy) is present, up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or a total number of PDSCHs with corresponding PDCCHs and / or PDCCHs (e.g., PDCCHs indicating SPS release and / or PDCCHs indicating secondary cell dormancy) already scheduled by a base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or a total number of PDSCHs (the PDSCHs are PDSCHs with corresponding PDCCHs) already scheduled by the base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit; or a total number of time units with PDSCH transmissions (e.g., the PDSCHs are PDSCHs with corresponding PDCCHs) already scheduled by the base station up to the current serving cell and / or the current time unit.

[0277] In the following examples, the first DAI as the C-DAI and the second DAI as the T-DAI are taken as an example (but not limited thereto) for illustration.

[0278] Tables 1 and 2 show a correspondence between the DAI field and or or Numbers of bits of the C-DAI and T-DAI are limited.

[0279] For example, in case that a C-DAI or T-DAI in a DCI format is represented with 2 bits, the value of the C-DAI or T-DAI in the DCI format may be determined by equations in Table 1. or is the value of the T-DAI in the DCI format received in a PDCCH Monitoring Occasion (MO) m, and is the value of the C-DAI in the DCI format for a serving cellcreceived in the PDCCH monitoring occasionm. Both and are related to a number of bits of the DAI field in the DCI format. MSB is the most significant bit and LSB is the least significant bit.

[0280]

[0281] For example, when the C-DAI or T-DAI is 1, 5 or 9, as shown in Table 1, all of the DAI field are indicated with “00”, and the value of or is represented as “1” by the equation in Table 1. Y may represent the value of the DAI corresponding to the number of DCI formats actually transmitted by the base station (the value of the DAI before conversion by the equation in the table).

[0282] For example, in case that the C-DAI or T-DAI in the DCI format is 1 bit, values greater than 2 may be represented by equations in Table 2.

[0283]

[0284] In some implementations, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits in a PUCCH according to pseudo code 1. For example, if the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH (e.g., a PUCCH for any PUCCH format) in slot n, the UE determines HARQ-ACK information bits according to pseudo code 1, where is the total number of HARQ-ACK information bits

[0285]

[0286]

[0287]

[0288] In some implementations, for a HARQ-ACK codebook in a PUSCH, the UE may set after completing the c and m loops of generating the HARQ-ACK codebook in pseudo-code 1, where is UL DAI, the value of which may be determined according to Table 1 or 2.

[0289] [HARQ feedback mode]

[0290] In some implementations, whether to feed back HARQ-ACK information may be configured by higher layer parameters or dynamically indicated by a DCI. The mode of feeding back (or reporting) the HARQ-ACK information (HARQ-ACK feedback mode or HARQ-ACK reporting mode) may also be at least one of the following modes.

[0291] - HARQ-ACK feedback mode 1: transmitting ACK or NACK (ACK / NACK). For example, for a PDSCH reception, if the UE decodes a corresponding transport block (TB) correctly, the UE transmits ACK; and / or, if the UE does not decode the corresponding transport block correctly, the UE transmits NACK. For example, a HARQ-ACK information bit of the HARQ-ACK information provided according to the HARQ-ACK feedback mode 1 is an ACK value or a NACK value.

[0292] - HARQ-ACK feedback mode 2: transmitting NACK only (NACK-only). For example, for a PDSCH reception, if the UE decodes the corresponding transport block correctly, the UE does not transmit the HARQ-ACK information; and / or, if the UE does not decode the corresponding transport block correctly, the UE transmits NACK. For example, at least one HARQ-ACK information bit of the HARQ-ACK information provided according to the HARQ-ACK feedback mode 2 is a NACK value. For example, for the HARQ-ACK feedback mode 2, the UE does not transmit a PUCCH that would include only HARQ-ACK information with ACK values.

[0293] For the PDSCH reception of a HARQ process, if the UE is configured not to feed back HARQ-ACK information, the HARQ-ACK codebook does not include HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH reception.

[0294] It should be noted that, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, all or one or more of the methods, steps or operations described in the example embodiments of the disclosure may be specified by protocols and / or configured by higher layer signaling and / or indicated by dynamic signaling. The dynamic signaling may be a PDCCH and / or DCI and / or a DCI format. For example, a SPS PDSCH and / or CG PUSCH may be dynamically indicated by a corresponding activated DCI / DCI format / PDCCH. All or one or more of the described methods, steps and operations may be optional. For example, if a certain parameter (e.g., parameter X) is configured, the UE performs a certain approach (e.g., approach A), otherwise (if the parameter, e.g., parameter X, is not configured), the UE performs another approach (e.g., approach B). Unless otherwise specified, the parameters in the example embodiments of the disclosure may be higher layer parameters. For example, the higher layer parameters may be parameters configured or indicated by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling).

[0295] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a PCell (Primary Cell) or PSCell (Primary Secondary Cell) in the example embodiments of the disclosure may be used interchangeably with a cell having a PUCCH. A serving cell may be used interchangeably with a cell.

[0296] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, methods for downlink in the example embodiments of the disclosure may also be applicable to uplink, and methods for uplink may also be applicable to downlink. For example, a PDSCH may be replaced with a PUSCH, a SPS PDSCH may be replaced with a CG PUSCH, and downlink symbols may be replaced with uplink symbols, so that methods for downlink may be applicable to uplink.

[0297] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, methods applicable to scheduling multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs in the example embodiments of the disclosure may also be applicable to a PDSCH / PUSCH transmission with repetitions. For example, a PDSCH / PUSCH of multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs may be replaced by a repetition of multiple repetitions of the PDSCH / PUSCH transmission.

[0298] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “configured with and / or indicated a transmission with repetitions” may be understood that a number of the repetitions of the transmission is greater than 1. For example, “configured with and / or indicated a PUCCH transmission with repetitions” may be understood that “the PUCCH transmission is repeated on more than one slot / subslot”. “Not configured with and / or indicated a transmission with repetitions” may be understood that a number of the repetitions of the transmission is equal to 1. For example, “not configured with and / or indicated a PUCCH transmission with repetitions” may be understood that “a number of the repetitions of the PUCCH transmission is equal to 1”. For example, the UE may be configured with a parameter related to a number of repetitions of a PUCCH transmission; when the parameter is greater than 1, it may mean that the UE is configured with a PUCCH transmission with repetitions, and the UE may repeat the PUCCH transmission on time units (e.g., slots); when the parameter is equal to 1, it may mean that the UE is not configured with a PUCCH transmission with repetitions. For example, the PUCCH transmission with repetitions may include only one type of UCI. If the PUCCH is configured with repetitions, in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a repetition of the multiple repetitions of the PUCCH may be used as a PUCCH (or a PUCCH resource), or all of the repetitions of the PUCCH may be used as a PUCCH (or a PUCCH resource), or a specific repetition of the multiple repetitions of the PUCCH may be used as a PUCCH (or a PUCCH resource).

[0299] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a PDCCH and / or DCI and / or a DCI format schedules multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs, which may be multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs on a same serving cell and / or multiple PDSCHs / PUSCHs on different serving cells.

[0300] It should be noted that in the example embodiments of the disclosure, multiple approaches / methods can be combined in any order. In a combination, an approach / method may be performed one or more times, or an approach / method may not be performed.

[0301] It should be noted that multiple steps in the method of the disclosure may be implemented in any order.

[0302] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “canceling a transmission” may mean canceling the transmission of the entire uplink channel and / or cancelling the transmission of a part of the uplink channel.

[0303] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “an order from small to large” (e.g., an ascending order) may be replaced by “an order from large to small” (e.g., a descending order), and / or “an order from large to small” (e.g., a descending order) may be replaced by “an order from small to large” (e.g., an ascending order).

[0304] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a PUCCH / PUSCH with / including / with A may be understood as a PUCCH / PUSCH only carrying / including / with A, and may also be understood as a PUCCH / PUSCH with / including / with at least A.

[0305] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “slot” may be replaced by “subslot” or “time unit”.

[0306] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, a time interval (or time unit interval) between a first physical channel and a second physical channel may be understood as a time interval (or time unit interval) between an end position (or end symbol) of the first physical channel and a starting position (or starting symbol) of the second physical channel, wherein the first physical channel is earlier than the second physical channel, or, a time interval (or time unit interval) between a time unit where the first physical channel is located and a time unit where the second channel is located. The time unit in which the physical channel is located may be understood as a time unit that overlaps with the end position (or end symbol) of the physical channel or a time unit that overlaps with the starting position (or starting symbol) of the physical channel.

[0307] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “performing a predefined method (or step) if a predefined condition is satisfied” and “not performing the predefined method (or step) if the predefined condition is not satisfied” may be used interchangeably. “Not performing a predefined method (or step) if a predefined condition is satisfied” and “performing the predefined method (or step) if the predefined condition is not satisfied” may be used interchangeably.

[0308] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “configured with a parameter (or information)”, “provided with a parameter (or information)”, “configured with a parameter of a specific value (e.g., 'enable')” and “receiving a parameter (or information) “ may be used interchangeably. Being configured with one or more parameters may refer to being configured with a parameter list in an IE, the parameter list including one or more parameters. Being configured with multiple parameters may also mean that the parameters are configured in multiple IEs, respectively.

[0309] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information” and “PUCCH including HARQ-ACK information” may be used interchangeably.

[0310] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “HARQ-ACK”, “HARQ-ACK feedback”, “HARQ-ACK information”, “HARQ-ACK information bit” and “HARQ-ACK codebook” may be used interchangeably.

[0311] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “determining HARQ-ACK information bits” and “generating HARQ-ACK information bits” may be used interchangeably.

[0312] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “uplink” and “downlink” may be used interchangeably, “channel”, “channel transmission”, “physical channel” and “physical channel transmission” may be used interchangeably, and “physical channel” and “physical channel resource” may be used interchangeably. “PUCCH” and “PUCCH resource” may be used interchangeably, and “PUSCH” and “PUSCH resource” may be used interchangeably.

[0313] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “the starting time of a resource (or channel)” and “the first symbol of the resource (or channel)” and “the starting time of the first symbol of the resource (or channel)” may be used interchangeably.

[0314] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “the ending time of a resource (or channel)” and “the last symbol of the resource (or channel)” and “the ending time of the last symbol of the resource (or channel)” may be used interchangeably.

[0315] It should be noted that the embodiments of the disclosure may be applicable to one serving cell, or to multiple serving cells.

[0316] It should be noted that the embodiments of the disclosure may be applicable to one BWP or to multiple BWPs.

[0317] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, two or more physical channels may overlap in time domain and / or in frequency domain.

[0318] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, the method applicable to RRC parameters may also be used for MAC CEs, and vice versa.

[0319] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, “first and second” and “two” may be used interchangeably. For example, “first channel and second channel” may refer to two channels. In the description of example embodiments of the disclosure, “first and second” may also refer to two or more. For example, "first channel and second channel” may also refer to two or more channels.

[0320] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, the behavior of the UE (or base station) and the corresponding conditions of the behavior of the UE (or base station) may be used interchangeably. For example, “the UE receives (or is configured with) first information (or parameter)” and “if the UE is configured with the first information (or parameter)” may be used interchangeably.

[0321] It should be noted that in the description of the example embodiments of the disclosure, receiving information carried by a DCI format may be understood as detecting a DCI format that carries the information.

[0322] It should be noted that in the example embodiments of the disclosure, the terms “index”, “identification”, “identifier”, and “number” may be used interchangeably.

[0323] It should be noted that satisfying a condition in the embodiments of the disclosure may be understood as satisfying at least the condition. That is, this condition and other conditions may be satisfied simultaneously. For example, “satisfying a specific condition” in the embodiment of the disclosure may be replaced with “at least satisfying a specific condition”.

[0324] It should be noted that the UE may support the method described in the embodiments of the disclosure through capability reporting, and / or the method described in the embodiments of the disclosure may be enabled through higher layer signaling parameter configuration.

[0325] In operation S710, the UE may receive, from the base station, a DCI format, for example, DCI formats 1_3, which may schedule PDSCH receptions on one or more serving cells. The one or more serving cells may be one or more serving cells in a set of serving cells, where for each serving cell of the one or more serving cells, the DCI format may schedule one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell.

[0326] It should be noted that the serving cell set includes a first number (quantity) of serving cells. Each serving cell of the first number of serving cells may be configured with a TDRA table for PDSCHs, where each row in the TDRA table may include one or more SLIVs, and the SLIVs may be SLIVs for PDSCHs.

[0327] It should be noted that the DCI format may schedule one or more PDSCH receptions on at most second number (quantity) of serving cells. The second number may be determined based on UE capability reporting. The second number may also be determined based on higher layer signaling configuration. For example, the base station may notify / indicate the second number to the UE through higher layer signaling.

[0328] In operation S720, the UE may generate a third number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format. The third number may be determined based on a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of a second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells. For example, the third number may be a maximum of a sum of a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of a second number of serving cells (any second number of serving cells) among the first number of serving cells. Or, the third number may be a maximum number (which may be referred to as a first maximum in the embodiments of the disclosure) of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on a second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells, where the first maximums for the second number of serving cells are the largest first maximums among first maximums for the first number of serving cells (or larger than other first maximums for the first number of serving cells). In other words, the third number may be a sum of the first maximums for the second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among the first number of serving cells, where the first maximum is a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on the serving cell.

[0329] In operation S730, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0330] It should be noted that each of the above steps is optional.

[0331] The above method of determining the third number is explained below with a specific example (referred to as Example 1 for convenience of description). It can be understood that the first number, the second number, and the maximum number of SLIVs in each row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of each serving cell in the following specific example are only examples, and the embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto. Consider the specific example where: a serving cell set includes 4 serving cells, that is, the first number is 4; a DCI format can schedule PDSCH receptions on at most 2 serving cells, i.e., the second number is 2; the maximum numbers (for convenience of description, which may be referred to as N_sliv_max) of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs are 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the four serving cells, respectively. For example, each row in a TDRA table for PDSCHs of the first serving cell includes 1 SLIV. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the second serving cell includes at most 2 SLIVs. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the third serving cell includes at most 3 SLIVs. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell includes at most 4 SLIVs. The third serving cell and the fourth serving cell are the second number of serving cells (i.e., 2 serving cells) with the largest (or larger) number of the corresponding SLIVs, that is, the 2 serving cells with the largest (or larger) value of N_sliv_max. According to the embodiments of the disclosure as described above, for Example 1, the third number may be the sum of the maximum number (i.e., 3) of SLIVs included in a row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the third serving cell and the maximum number (i.e., 4) of SLIVs included in a row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell, that is, the sum of N_sliv_max for the third serving cell and N_sliv_max for the fourth serving cell. That is, the third number may be determined as 3+4 = 7. In addition, the sum of the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the third serving cell and the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell (i.e., the sum of N_sliv_max for the third serving cell and N_sliv_max for the fourth serving cell, which is 7 in Example 1) is the maximum of the sum of N_sliv_max for any two serving cells among the 4 serving cells. Therefore, according to the embodiments of the disclosure as described above, for Example 1, the third number may be determined as the maximum (i.e., 7) of the sum of N_sliv_max for two serving cells (for example, any two serving cells) among the 4 serving cells.

[0332] It should be noted that this method can be applicable to a case where one PDSCH corresponds to 1 bit of HARQ-ACK information. For example, In some implementations, the UE is not configured with a first parameter or the UE is configured with the first parameter with the value of 1; for example, for any serving cell, the UE is not configured with the first parameter or the UE is configured with the first parameter with the value of 1. The first parameter may be a parameter related to a maximum number of codewords. For example, the first parameter may indicate the maximum number of codewords. The maximum number of codewords may be a maximum number of codewords scheduled by a DCI format, for example, a maximum number of codewords in a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format. It should be noted that the description with respect to codewords may also be applicable to TBs, that is, if not otherwise stated, the term “codeword” in the embodiments of the disclosure may also be replaced by “TB”; for example, the first parameter may indicate a maximum number of TBs, which may be a maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in a PDSCH reception) scheduled by a DCI format. As an example, the first parameter may be maxNrofCodeWordsScheduledByDCI. For another example, the UE is configured with a parameter related to HARQ-ACK spatial bundling for PUCCH (for example, parameter harq-ACK-SpatialBundlingPUCCH), and the UE is configured the first parameter with a value (for example, 2) greater than 1.

[0333] This method determines the number of HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to a DCI format based on the maximum number of PDSCHs that can be scheduled by the DCI format. This can avoid that the UE feeds back unnecessary HARQ-ACK information bits, which is beneficial to reducing the number of HARQ-ACK information bits, reducing the resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission while meeting specific reliability, and improving the reliability of HARQ-ACK transmission in case of using specific uplink resources.

[0334] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a first UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) (in the embodiments of the disclosure, which may be referred to as a first maximum number) of PDSCH receptions that can be scheduled by a DCI format, where the maximum number is the maximum of the total number of PDSCH receptions on one or more serving cells. Through the first capability parameter, the UE may report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE. The UE does not expect that the number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the number indicated by the first UE capability parameter. Or, in operation S720, the UE may generate a fourth number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, where the fourth number is based on the first UE capability parameter. For example, the fourth number may be smaller than or equal to the value of the maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter. As an example, the fourth number may be the value of the maximum number indicated by the first UE capability parameter. This method can further reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits. In particular, when the fourth number is smaller than the third number, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in this method is smaller, and no HARQ-ACK information bits are lost. This method can reduce resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission while meeting specific reliability, and can improve the reliability of HARQ-ACK transmission in case of using specific uplink resources.

[0335] Alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate a fifth number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, where the fifth number is the minimum of the third number and the fourth number (smaller one of the third number and the fourth number). For example, the fourth number may be smaller than or equal to the number indicated by the first UE capability parameter. As an example, the fourth number may be the number indicated by the first UE capability parameter. This method can further reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits, reduce the resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission while meeting specific reliability, and improve the reliability of HARQ-ACK transmission in case of using specific uplink resources.

[0336] Alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate a sixth number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, where the sixth number is the product of the second number and a seventh number (quantity), where the seventh number is a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of multiple serving cells in the serving cell set. That is, the seventh number may be a maximum number of SLIVs included in any row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of any serving cell in the serving cell set.

[0337] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a second UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) (in the embodiments of the disclosure, which may be referred to as a second maximum number) of serving cells (for example, serving cells where PDSCHs are located) that can be scheduled by a DCI format. The second number may be based on the second UE capability parameter. For example, the second number may be smaller than or equal to the value of the maximum number indicated by the second UE capability parameter. As an example, the second number may be the value of the maximum number indicated by the second UE capability parameter. Through the second capability parameter, the UE may report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of serving cells (for example, serving cells where PDSCHs are located) scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE.

[0338] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a third UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) (in the embodiments of the disclosure, which may be referred to as a third maximum number) of PDSCH receptions on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format. For example, the third UE capability parameter indicates a maximum number of PDSCH receptions on a serving cell among multiple serving cells that can be scheduled by a DCI format. The seventh number may be based on the third UE capability parameter. For example, the seventh number may be smaller than or equal to the value of the maximum number indicated by the third UE capability parameter. As an example, the seventh number may be the value of the maximum number indicated by the third UE capability parameter. Through the third capability parameter, the UE can report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of PDSCH receptions on a serving cell scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE.

[0339] In some implementations, alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate an eighth number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, where the eighth number is a sum of a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of the first number of serving cells. Referring back to the above Example 1, the maximum numbers of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs are 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the four serving cells, respectively, and thus the eighth number may be determined as 1+2+3+4 = 10.

[0340] In some implementations, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format are arranged / placed in a certain order. For example, the order may be based on serving cell indexes and / or times of the PDSCH receptions. For example, the HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH receptions on a serving cell with a smaller index is located before (or after) the HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception on a serving cell with a larger index, and / or the HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception earlier in time is located before (or after) the HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH reception later in time on a same serving cell. This method can ensure the consistent understanding of the HARQ-ACK bit position between the UE and the base station, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0341] In some implementations, when a ninth number (quantity) is smaller than a tenth number (quantity), the UE generates a number of NACK bits, where the number of NACK bits is equal to the tenth number minus the ninth number. For example, the NACK bits may be located after (or before) the HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format. The ninth number may be a number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, and the tenth number may be at least one of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, and the eighth number described above. Each of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, and the eighth number may be a positive integer.

[0342] In some implementations, the UE may also be configured the first parameter with a value (e.g., 2) greater than 1; for example, for at least one serving cell (or BWP), the UE is configured with the first parameter with a value (e.g., 2) greater than 1. The UE is not configured with a parameter related to HARQ-ACK spatial bundling for PUCCH (e.g., parameter harq-ACK-SpatialBundlingPUCCH). At this time, there are multiple (for example, 2) TBs in each PDSCH reception, and the UE generates one HARQ-ACK information bit separately for each TB.

[0343] As mentioned above, the first parameter may be a parameter related to a maximum number of codewords. The maximum number of codewords may be a maximum number of codewords scheduled by a DCI format, for example, a maximum number of codewords in a PDSCH reception scheduled by a DCI format. It should be noted that the description with respect to codewords may also be applicable to TBs, that is, if not otherwise stated, the term “codeword” in the embodiments of the disclosure may also be replaced by “TB”; for example, the first parameter may indicate a maximum number of TBs, which may be a maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in a PDSCH reception) scheduled by a DCI format. As an example, the first parameter may be maxNrofCodeWordsScheduledByDCI. For another example, the UE is configured with a parameter related to HARQ-ACK spatial bundling for PUCCH (for example, parameter harq-ACK-SpatialBundlingPUCCH), and the UE is configured the first parameter with a value (for example, 2) greater than 1. In this case, in operation S720, the UE may generate an eleventh number (quantity) of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format. The eleventh number may be determined based on a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of a second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells and / or a first parameter associated with each serving cell of the second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells. For example, the eleventh number may be a maximum of a sum of products of the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of each serving cell of a second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells and the first parameter for the serving cell. Or, the eleventh number may be a sum of (i) a maximum of a number (quantity) of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on the first number of serving cells and (ii) a maximum of a product of a number (quantity) of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of a second number of serving cells among the first number of serving cells and the first parameter, where the products for the second number of serving cells are the largest products among the products for the first number of serving cells.

[0344] The above method of determining the eleventh number is explained below with a specific example (referred to as Example 2 for convenience of description). It can be understood that the first number, the second number, the maximum number of SLIVs in each row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of each serving cell, and the value of the first parameter for each serving cell in the following specific example are only examples, and the embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto. Consider the following specific example where: a serving cell set includes 4 serving cells, that is, the first number is 4; a DCI format can schedule PDSCH receptions on at most 2 serving cells, i.e., the second number is 2; the maximum numbers (for convenience of description, which may be referred to as N_sliv_max) of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs are 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the four serving cells, respectively. For example, each row in the TDRA table of the PDSCH of the first serving cell includes 1 SLIV. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the second serving cell includes at most 2 SLIVs. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the third serving cell includes at most 3 SLIVs. Each row in the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell includes at most 4 SLIVs. The first parameter (the values of the first parameter, for convenience of description, which may be referred to as P_1) is 2, 2, 1, and 1 for the four serving cells, respectively. The products of N_sliv_max and P_1 for the first serving cell, the second serving cell, the third serving cell, and the fourth serving cell are 1×2 = 2, 2×2 = 4, 3×1 = 3, and 4×1 = 4, respectively. In such case, the second serving cell and the fourth serving cell are a second number of serving cells (i.e., 2 serving cells) with the largest (or larger) products of N_sliv_max and P_1. According to the embodiment of the disclosure as described above, for this Example 2, the eleventh number may be the sum of (i) the product (i.e., 4) of the maximum number (i.e., N_sliv_max for the second serving cell) of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the second serving cell and the first parameter (the value of the first parameter) and (ii) the sum of the product (i.e., 4) of the maximum number (i.e., N_sliv_max for the fourth serving cell) of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell and the first parameter (the value of the first parameter). That is, the eleventh number may be determined as 4+4 = 8. In addition, the sum of the product of the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the second serving cell and P_1 and the product of the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of the TDRA table for PDSCHs of the fourth serving cell and P_1 (i.e., the sum of the product of N_sliv_max and P_1 for the second serving cell and the product of N_sliv_max and P_1 for the fourth serving cell, which is 8 in Example 2) is the maximum of the sum of the products of N_sliv_max for any two serving cells among the 4 serving cells of P_1. Therefore, according to the embodiments of the disclosure as described above, for this Example 2, the eleventh number may be determined as the maximum (i.e., 8) of the sum of the products of N_sliv_max and P_1 for two serving cells (e.g., any two serving cells) among the 4 serving cells.

[0345] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a fourth UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) that can be scheduled by a DCI format, where the maximum number is the maximum of the total number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on one or more serving cells. With the fourth capability parameter, the UE may report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE. The UE does not expect that the number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the number indicated by the fourth UE capability parameter. Alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate a fourth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, where the fourth number is based on the fourth UE capability parameter. For example, the fourth number may be smaller than or equal to the number indicated by the fourth UE capability parameter. As an example, the fourth number may be the number indicated by the fourth UE capability parameter. This method can further reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits. In particular, when the fourth number is smaller than the third number, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits in this method is smaller, and no HARQ-ACK information bits are lost. This method can reduce resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission while meeting specific reliability, and can improve the reliability of HARQ-ACK transmission in case of using specific uplink resources.

[0346] Alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate a fifth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format, where the fifth number is the minimum of the third number and the fourth number (smaller one of the third number and the fourth number). For example, the fourth number may be smaller than or equal to the number indicated by the fourth UE capability parameter. As an example, the fourth number may be the number indicated by the fourth UE capability parameter. This method can further reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits, reduce the resources used for HARQ-ACK transmission while meeting specific reliability, and improve the reliability of HARQ-ACK transmission in case of using specific uplink resources.

[0347] Alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate a sixth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs (e.g., TBs in the one or more PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, where the sixth number is the product of the second number and a seventh number, where the seventh number is a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of multiple serving cells in the serving cell set. That is, the seventh number may be a maximum number of SLIVs included in any row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs of any serving cell in the serving cell set.

[0348] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a second UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) of serving cells (serving cells where PDSCHs of TBs are located) that can be scheduled by a DCI format. The second number may be based on the second UE capability parameter. For example, the second number may be smaller than or equal to the number indicated by the second UE capability parameter. As an example, the second number may be the number indicated by the second UE capability parameter. Through the second capability parameter, the UE may report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of serving cells (for example, serving cells where PDSCHs of TBs are located) scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE.

[0349] In some implementations, the UE may transmit a fifth UE capability parameter indicating a maximum number (quantity) of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format. For example, the fifth UE capability parameter indicates a maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on a serving cell of multiple serving cells that can be scheduled by a DCI format. The seventh number may be based on the fifth UE capability parameter. For example, the seventh number may be smaller than or equal to the number indicated by the fifth UE capability parameter. As an example, the seventh number may be the number indicated by the fifth UE capability parameter. Through the fifth capability parameter, the UE may report / indicate to the base station the maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on a serving cell scheduled by a DCI format, supported by the UE.

[0350] In some implementations, alternatively, in operation S720, the UE may generate an eighth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs (e.g., TBs in the one or more PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, where the eighth number is a sum of the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on each serving cell of the first number of serving cells. Referring back to the above Example 2, the maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs are 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the four serving cells, respectively, then the eighth number may be determined as 1+2+3+4 = 10.

[0351] In some implementations, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format are arranged / placed in a certain order. For example, the order may be based on serving cell indexes and / or times of the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions). For example, the HARQ-ACK information bit for a TB (e.g., TB in a PDSCH reception) on a serving cell with a smaller index is located before the HARQ-ACK information bit for a TB (e.g., TB in a PDSCH reception) on a serving cell with a larger index, and the HARQ-ACK information bit for a TB (e.g., TB in a PDSCH reception) earlier in time is located before the HARQ-ACK information for a TB (e.g., a TB in a PDSCH reception) later in time on a same serving cell. This method can ensure the consistent understanding of the HARQ-ACK bit position between the UE and the base station, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0352] In some implementations, when a ninth number is smaller than a tenth number, the UE generates a number of NACK bits, where the number of NACK bits is equal to the tenth number minus the ninth number. For example, the NACK bits may be located after (or before) the HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (for example, the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, where the ninth number is the number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (for example, the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, and the tenth number may be at least one of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, the eighth number, and the eleventh number described above. Each of the third number, the fourth number, the fifth number, the sixth number, the eighth number, and the eleventh number may be a positive integer.

[0353] It should be noted that the first number and the second number in the embodiments of the disclosure may both be positive integers.

[0354] It should be noted that the UE may be configured with one or more serving cell sets by higher layer signaling, where each serving cell set includes one or more serving cells. In the embodiments of the disclosure, the tenth number may be replaced by the maximum of the tenth numbers for the multiple serving cell sets.

[0355] It should be noted that the above example embodiments of the disclosure may be applicable to scenarios where the UE is not configured with first information, where the first information indicates a twelfth number (quantity), which is one of the following:

[0356] - A number of HARQ-ACK information bits per DCI format in a HARQ-ACK codebook.

[0357] - A maximum number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format. Optionally, the twelfth information is not greater than the first UE capability parameter, and the UE does not expect that the number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0358] - A maximum number of TBs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format. Optionally, the twelfth information is not greater than the fourth UE capability parameter; the UE does not expect that the number of TBs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0359] - A maximum number of TBs on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format Optionally, the twelfth information is not greater than the fifth UE capability parameter; the UE does not expect that the number of TBs in PDSCH receptions on a serving cell, scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0360] For example, in case that the UE is not configured with the first information, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information according to one or more example embodiments described above.

[0361] In some implementations, the UE may be configured with the first information, that is, the UE may receive the first information in operation S710. In operation S720, the UE may generate a twelfth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the DCI format. In some implementations, when the ninth number is smaller than the twelfth number, the UE generates a number of NACK bits, where the number of NACK bits is equal to the twelfth number minus the ninth number. For example, the NACK bits may be located after (or before) the HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, where the ninth number is the number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format.

[0362] This method can reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits through reasonable configuration (for example, RRC configuration). For example, compared with other methods, the base station can configure a relatively small twelfth number, and through reasonable scheduling, ensure that the number of TBs scheduled by a DCI format is not greater than the twelfth number. The twelfth number may be smaller than a number (quantity) determined in a predefined manner (for example, the manners described according to some example embodiments of the disclosure), so that the number of HARQ-ACK information bits can be significantly reduced, thereby improving the HARQ-ACK transmission performance.

[0363] In some implementations, the UE may be configured with the first information. For example, a parameter related to the first information or indicating the first information may be configured through higher layer signaling. As an example, in operation S710, the UE may receive the first information. Here, the first information indicates a twelfth number (quantity), which may be one of the following:

[0364] - A number of HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to a first DCI format (for example, a number of HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to PDSCHs scheduled by the first DCI format). For example, the first DCI format may schedule PDSCH receptions (e.g., TB-based PDSCH receptions) on one or more serving cells, which may be one or more serving cells in a set of serving cells, where for each of the one or more serving cells, the DCI format may schedule one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell. As an example, the first DCI format may be DCI format 1_3.

[0365] - A number of HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to each DCI format in a first HARQ-ACK sub-codebook. The first HARQ-ACK sub-codebook may include HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by a first DCI format.

[0366] - A maximum number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a first DCI format. Optionally, the twelfth number is not greater than the first UE capability parameter reported by the UE, where the first UE capability parameter indicates the maximum number of PDSCH receptions that can be scheduled by a DCI format. For details about the first UE capability parameter, reference may be made to the previously described embodiments. The UE does not expect that the number of PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0367] - A maximum number of TBs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by a first DCI format. Optionally, the twelfth number is not greater than the fourth UE capability parameter reported by the UE, where the fourth UE capability parameter indicates the maximum number of TBs (for example, TBs in PDSCH reception) that can be scheduled by a DCI format. For details about the fourth UE capability parameter, reference may be made to the previously described embodiments. The UE does not expect that a number of TBs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0368] - A maximum number of TBs on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a first DCI format. Optionally, the twelfth number is not greater than the fifth UE capability parameter indicating the maximum number of TBs (e.g., TBs in PDSCH receptions) on a serving cell that can be scheduled by a DCI format. For details about the fifth UE capability parameter, reference may be made to the previously described embodiments. The UE does not expect that a number of TBs in PDSCH receptions on a serving cell scheduled by a DCI format is greater than the twelfth number.

[0369] It should be noted that the number of HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to a DCI format may be understood as a number of HARQ-ACK information bits that the UE generates in case that the UE receives PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format, where the HARQ-ACK Information bits include HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs or CBGs in PDSCH receptions scheduled by the DCI format.

[0370] In operation S720, the UE may generate a twelfth number of HARQ-ACK information bits for first PDSCH receptions on the one or more serving cells scheduled by the first DCI format. In some implementations, when the ninth number is smaller than the twelfth number, the UE generates a number of NACK bits, where the number of NACK bits is equal to the twelfth number minus the ninth number. For example, the NACK bits may be located after (or before) the HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format, where the ninth number is the number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the TBs (e.g., the TBs in the PDSCH receptions) scheduled by the DCI format. Here, one bit of HARQ-ACK information is generated separately for each TB in the first PDSCH reception, or one bit of HARQ-ACK information is generated separately for each first PDSCH reception.

[0371] In operation S730, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0372] In some cases, when the UE receives multiple first DCI formats scheduling PDSCH receptions, where HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH receptions are indicated to be fed back in a same uplink time unit (for example, PUCCH time unit), the UE generates a HARQ-ACK codebook (or first HARQ-ACK sub-codebook) including HARQ-ACK information bits for TBs in the PDSCH receptions scheduled by the multiple first DCI formats, where the HARQ-ACK information bits corresponding to each first DCI format are ordered according to C-DAI and / or T-DAI.

[0373] This method can reduce the number of HARQ-ACK information bits through reasonable RRC configuration. For example, compared with other methods, the base station can configure a relatively small twelfth number, and through reasonable scheduling, ensure that the number of TBs scheduled by a DCI format is not greater than the twelfth number, and the twelfth number can be smaller than the number determined in a predefined manner, so that the number of HARQ-ACK information bits can be greatly reduced, thereby improving the HARQ-ACK transmission performance.

[0374] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1000 performed by a UE according to some example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0375] Referring to FIG. 10, in operation S1010, the UE receives a DCI format that schedules PDSCH receptions on multiple serving cells in a set of serving cells, where for each serving cell of the multiple serving cells, the DCI format schedules one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell.

[0376] Next, in operation S1020, the UE generates a third number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions on each serving cell scheduled by the DCI format. The third number is determined based on first maximums for a second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among a first number of serving cells, wherein the first maximum for the serving cell is a maximum number of SLIVs included in a row of a TDRA table for PDSCHs on the serving cell, the first number is a number of serving cells included in the set of serving cells, and the second number is a maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by the DCI format.

[0377] Next, in operation S1030, the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK information bits.

[0378] In some implementations, one or more of operations S1010 to S1030 may be performed based on methods described according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0379] In some implementations, the method 1000 may omit one or more of operations S1010 to S1030, or may include additional operations, such as operations that may be performed by the UE described according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0380] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a base station according to some example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0381] Referring to FIG. 11, in operation S1110, the base station transmits, to a UE, a DCI format that schedules PDSCH receptions on multiple serving cells in a set of serving cells, where for each serving cell of the multiple serving cells, the DCI format schedules one or more PDSCH receptions on the serving cell.

[0382] Next, in operation S1120, the base station receives, from the UE, a third number of HARQ-ACK information bits for the one or more PDSCH receptions on each serving cell scheduled by the DCI format. The third number is determined based on first maximums for a second number of serving cells with larger first maximums among a first number of serving cells, wherein the first maximum for the serving cell is a maximum number of SLIVs among rows of a TDRA table for the PDSCHs on the serving cell, the first number is a number of serving cells included in the set of serving cells, and the second number is a maximum number of serving cells that can be scheduled by the DCI format.

[0383] In some implementations, one or more of operations S1110 to S1120 may be performed based on methods described according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0384] In some implementations, the method 1100 may omit one or more of operations S1110 to S1120, or may include additional operations, such as operations that may be performed by a base station described according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0385] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0386] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication, may include a User Equipment (UE), a portable phone, a smartphone, a tablet, an Internet of things (IoT) device, etc., having various form factors, and may perform wireless communication with a base station (BS) through a wireless channel.

[0387] Referring to FIG. 12, the UE 1200 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1201, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1202, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1203. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, and the memory 1203 of the UE 1200 may operate. However, components of the UE 1200 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 12. In another embodiment, the UE 1200 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, or the memory 1203 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0388] The transceiver 1201 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1200 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1201 may enable the UE 1200 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1201 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1201) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0389] According to an embodiment, the UE 1200 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1200 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1200 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1200 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0390] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1201 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1201 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1201 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1202 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1202.

[0391] The processor 1202 may control general operations of the UE 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1202 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1202 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1203, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1202 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0392] The processor 1202 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1201 to control the transceiver 1201.

[0393] The processor 1202 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1202 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1202 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1202 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1201 or the memory 1203.

[0394] The processor 1202 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1200 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1202 may control operations of the UE 1200 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1202 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1203, so as to control other components of the UE 1200 to enable execution of various operations.

[0395] The memory 1203 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1203 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0396] The memory 1203 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1202 and may be accessed by the processor 1202.

[0397] The memory 1203 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1203, the processor 1202 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0398] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1200 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1203 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0399] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0400] The BS 1300 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1300 through a wireless channel.

[0401] Referring to FIG. 13, the BS 1300 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1301, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1302, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1303. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, and the memory 1303 of the BS 1300 may operate. However, components of the BS 1300 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 13. In another embodiment, the BS 1300 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, or the memory 1303 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0402] The transceiver 1301 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1300 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1301 may enable the BS 1300 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE 1200 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1301 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1301) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1301 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1301 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1301 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1302 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1302.

[0403] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1300 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1300 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 13, when the BS 1300 performs wired communication, the BS 1300 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1301. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0404] The processor 1302 may control general operations of the BS 1300 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1302 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1302 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1303, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1302 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0405] The processor 1302 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1301 to control the transceiver 1301.

[0406] The processor 1302 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1302 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1302 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1301 or the memory 1303.

[0407] The processor 1302 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1300 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1302 may control operations of the BS 1300 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1300 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1302 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1303, so as to control other components of the BS 1300 to enable execution of various operations.

[0408] The memory 1303 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1303 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0409] The memory 1303 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1302 and may be accessed by the processor 1302.

[0410] The memory 1303 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1303, the processor 1302 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0411] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1300 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1303 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0412] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with network entity such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a Session Management Function (SMF) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0413] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0414] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a network entity 1400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0415] The network entity 1400 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1400.

[0416] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0417] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN).

[0418] Referring to FIG. 14, the network entity 1400 may include at least one network interface 1401, at least one processor 1402 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 1403 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1400, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 14. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0419] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1401, the processor 1402, and the memory 1403 of the network entity 1400 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1400 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 14. In another embodiment, the network entity 1400 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1401, the processor 1402, or the memory 1403 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0420] The network interface 1401 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1400 and a receiver part of the network entity 1400, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1401 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1401 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1401 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0421] The processor 1402 may control general operations of the network entity 1400 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1402 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1402 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1403, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1402 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0422] According to an embodiment, the processor 1402 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1401 to control the network interface 1401.

[0423] The processor 1402 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1402 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1402 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1401 or the memory 1403.

[0424] The processor 1402 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1400 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1402 may control operations of the network entity 1400 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1402 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1403, so as to control other components of the network entity 1400 to enable execution of various operations.

[0425] The memory 1403 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1403 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0426] The memory 1403 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1402 and may be accessed by the processor 1402.

[0427] The memory 1403 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1403, the processor 1402 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0428] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1400 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1403 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0429] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[0430] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above illustrative embodiments are described herein and are not intended to be limiting. It should be understood that any two or more of the embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. Furthermore, other embodiments may be utilized and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that aspects of the invention of the disclosure as generally described herein and shown in the drawings may be arranged, replaced, combined, separated and designed in various different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

[0431] Those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and steps described in this application may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described above in the form of their functional sets. Whether such function sets are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians may implement the described function sets in different ways for each specific application, but such design decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of this application.

[0432] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this application may be implemented or performed by a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logics, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0433] The steps of the method or algorithm described in this application may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination thereof. The software module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor to enable the processor to read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal or a base station). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a communication apparatus (e.g., a terminal or a base station) as discrete components.

[0434] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, each function may be stored as one or more pieces of instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or delivered through it. The computer-readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium, the latter including any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

[0435] The above description is only an exemplary implementation of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention, which is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1.A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:receiving, from a base station, information configuring at least one set of serving cells;receiving, from the base station, a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_3 scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on one or more serving cells from a set of serving cells among the at least one set of serving; andtransmitting, to the base station, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information for the PDSCH receptions,wherein a number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is determined based on a sum of a value across serving cells of the set of serving cells.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the value is a product of a maximum number of code words for a serving cell and a maximum number of start and length indicator values (SLIVs) over all rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the serving cells.3.The method of claim 1, wherein the number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is a maximum number, over the at least one set of serving cells, of the sum of the value.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, to the base station, capability information indicating a maximum number of PDSCHs that can be scheduled by the DCI format 1_3.5.A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information configuring at least one set of serving cells;transmitting, to the UE, a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_3 scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on one or more serving cells from a set of serving cells among the at least one set of serving; andreceiving, from the UE, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information for the PDSCH receptions,wherein a number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is determined based on a sum of a value across serving cells of the set of serving cells.6.The method of claim 5, wherein the value is a product of a maximum number of code words for a serving cell and a maximum number of start and length indicator values (SLIVs) over all rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the serving cells.7.The method of claim 5, wherein the number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is a maximum number, over the at least one set of serving cells, of the sum of the value.8.The method of claim 5, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, capability information indicating a maximum number of PDSCHs that can be scheduled by the DCI format 1_3.9.A user equipment (UE) comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:receive, from a base station, information configuring at least one set of serving cells,receive, from the base station, a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_3 scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on one or more serving cells from a set of serving cells among the at least one set of serving, andtransmit, to the base station, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information for the PDSCH receptions,wherein a number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is determined based on a sum of a value across serving cells of the set of serving cells.10.The UE of claim 9, wherein the value is a product of a maximum number of code words for a serving cell and a maximum number of start and length indicator values (SLIVs) over all rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the serving cells.11.The UE of claim 9, wherein the number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is a maximum number, over the at least one set of serving cells, of the sum of the value.12.The UE of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to:transmit, to the base station, capability information indicating a maximum number of PDSCHs that can be scheduled by the DCI format 1_3.13.A base station comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the base station to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE), information configuring at least one set of serving cells,transmit, to the UE, a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_3 scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) receptions on one or more serving cells from a set of serving cells among the at least one set of serving, andreceive, from the UE, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information for the PDSCH receptions,wherein a number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is determined based on a sum of a value across serving cells of the set of serving cells.14.The base station of claim 13, wherein the value is a product of a maximum number of code words for a serving cell and a maximum number of start and length indicator values (SLIVs) over all rows of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table for the serving cells.15.The base station of claim 13, wherein the number of bits for the HARQ-ACK information is a maximum number, over the at least one set of serving cells, of the sum of the value.

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