Methods for signaling orthogonal cover codes for nb-iot devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus for wireless communication between a base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), where the BS generates and transmits a downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission, to the UE, and receives an NPUSCH transmission with orthogonal cover code (OCC). The DCI comprises a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value, a subcarrier resources value, and an enabling / disabling OCC field for enabling or disabling an OCC of the NPUSCH transmission, where when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the DCI further comprises an OCC sequence index.

Description

METHODS FOR SIGNALING ORTHOGONAL COVER CODES FOR NB-IOT DEVICESCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 792,107, filed on 21 April 2025, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication systems, and in particular, to a method for signaling orthogonal cover codes between a base station and a user equipment, where the user equipment may be a narrowband (NB) Internet of Things device.BACKGROUND

[0003] As Internet of Things (loT) devices proliferate, they create a need for uplink (UL) capacity enhancement, as such devices often transmit significantly more information than they receive over a downlink (DL). At present, narrowband loT nonterrestrial networks (NB-IoT-NTN) (e.g., satellite networks) are already being deployed live. With these early and upcoming deployments, it is clearly emerging that loT-NTNs, in particular for narrowband loT (NB-IoT) devices, will need to support a massive capacity in terms of number and types of user equipment (UE), with the UE devices having varying qualities of characteristics, e.g. low cost devices, wearables, etc., which may have worse signal handling characteristics compared to a smartphone or tablet.

[0004] Multiplexing of UEs by usage of orthogonal cover codes (OCC) for narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) format 1 and narrowband physical random access channel (NPRACH) should be studied and, if beneficial, be specified. Therefore, in order to unlock the additional UL capacity potential, there is a need for methods that de-couple the UL from the downlink (DL) as much as possible. Apart from these potential enhancements, reducing the necessary' uplink and downlink signaling to complete a data transmission, such as an Early Data Transmission (EDT) transaction, could be beneficial, and therefore should be studied and, if beneficial, specified.SUMMARY

[0005] According to a first aspect of a method, a base station generates a downlink control information (DCI) indicating an uplink grant for a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission with an orthogonal cover code (OCC) by a user equipment (UE); transmits the DCI to the UE; and receives the NPUSCH transmissionFW 6000757US01 1with the OCC that is transmitted based on the DCI. The DCI may include a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value (or MCS indication), a subcarrier resources value (or subcarrier indication), and an enabling / disabling OCC field for enabling or disabling an OCC of the NPUSCH transmission. When (or if) the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that the OCC is enabled, the DCI may include an OCC sequence index.

[0006] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 3.75 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier source value are included in a MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field. As an example, the MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field may include 9 bits to indicate a combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier source value.

[0007] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 15 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value are included in a MCS field and a subcarrier indication field, respectively.

[0008] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is a first SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the subcarrier resources value is from a reduced set of subcarrier resources values that is a subset of the set of subcarrier resources values. When the SCS value is a second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the MCS value is from a reduced set of MCS values that is a subset of the set of MCS values, and a value to indicate the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value is a linear combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value.

[0009] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that OCC is enabled, the MCS value is a remainder of the linear combination divided by a number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values, and wherein the subcarrier resources value is a quotient of the linear combination divided by the number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values.

[0010] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the base station receives from the UE prior to formatting the DCI, an indication from the UE that the UE supports transmission of the NPUSCH using the OCC.

[0011] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the NPUSCH transmission is transmitted by the UE based on information in the DCI. Accordingly, base station may receive the NPUSCH transmission with the OCC using corresponding subcarrier resources, MCS and OCC indicated in the DCI.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the subcarrier resources value is from the set of subcarrier resources values; and when theFW 6000757US01 2SCS value is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the MCS value is from the set of MCS values.

[0013] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the base station does not configure the UE for transmission of the NPUSCH w ith the OCC, the DCI excludes the enabling / disabling OCC field, the MCS value is from the set of MCS values, and the subcarrier resources value is from the set of subcarrier resources values.

[0014] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first SCS value is 15 kHz.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the second SCS value is 3.75 kHz.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the DCI is based on DCI format No.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value, a subcarrier resources field for OCC within the DCI comprises the enabling / disabling OCC field and a field to convey the subcarrier resources value.

[0018] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value, a size of the subcarrier resources field is six bits, the enabling / disabling OCC field is one bit of the subcarrier resources field, and when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the field to convey the subcarrier resources value is five bits of the subcarrier resources field.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value, the size of the subcarrier resources field is six bits, the enabling / disabling OCC field is one bit of the subcarrier resources field, and when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the subcarrier resources field further includes one bit allocated to an OCC sequence index, and the remaining four bits indicate the subcarrier resources value.

[0020] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the set of subcarrier resources values has 19 defined values.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the first SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the reduced set of subcarrier resources values has 12 defined values.

[0022] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the set of MCS values has 11 defined values.

[0023] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the reduced set of MCS values has 10 defined values.FW 6000757US01 3

[0024] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the SCS value is the second SCS value, the enabling / disabling OCC field is a first field of the DCI, and when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, a combination of a second field and a third field of the DCI is allocated to indicate an OCC sequence index and the linear combination.

[0025] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, a size of the first field is one bit, a size of the combination of the second field and the third field is ten bits, one bit of the combination of the second field and the third field is allocated to an OCC sequence index, and the remaining nine bits are allocated to the linear combination.

[0026] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is disabled, the second field conveys the MCS value, and the third field conveys the subcarrier resources value.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the UE is a narrowband Internet of Things device.

[0028] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first aspect and / or various implementations may be implemented using one or more non-transitoiy computer readable media, the non-transitory computer readable media containing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the first aspect and / or various implementations.

[0029] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the set of MCS values range from o to 10, and the reduced set of MCS values range from 0 to 9.

[0030] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, prior to generating the DCI, the BS may transmit, to the UE, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling parameter NPUSCH-OCC-Enabled.

[0031] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, prior to generating the DCI, the BS may receive, from the UE, an indication indicating that the UE supports the NPUSCH transmission using the OCC.

[0032] According to a second aspect, a base station comprises one or more processors and a memoiy coupled to the one or more processors. The memory contains instructions to be executed by the one or more processors that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the base station to perform the method according to the first aspect.

[0033] According to a third aspect, a method comprises receiving, by UE from a BS, a DCI indicating an uplink grant for a NPUSCH transmission; and transmitting, from the UE to the base station, the NPUSCH transmission with an OCC on subcarrier resources indicated by a subcarrier resources value and with a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indicated by a MCS value. The DCI includes the MCS value, the subcarrierFW 6000757US01 4resources value, and an enabling / disabling OCC field for enabling or disabling an OCC of the NPUSCH transmission; where the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that the OCC is enabled, and the DCI further comprises an OCC sequence index.

[0034] The DCI comprises a MCS value from a set of MCS values, and a subcarrier resources value from a set of subcarrier resources values, and an enabling / disabling OCC field when the BS configures the UE for the transmission of the NPUSCH with an OCC. When the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates OCC is enabled, for a first SCS value the subcarrier resources value is from a reduced set of subcarrier resources values that is a subset of the set of subcarrier resources values, and for a second SCS value, the MCS value is from a reduced set of MCS values that is a subset of the set of MCS values and a value to indicate the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value is a linear combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value. In some embodiments, the detailed information carried in the DCI corresponds to the first aspect.

[0035] According to a fourth aspect, a UE comprises one or more processors and a memory coupled to the one or more processors. The memory contains instructions to be executed by the one or more processors that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the UE to perform the method of the third aspect.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example communications system with which OCC may be used, according to an embodiment of this application;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a diagram of another example communications system with which OCC may be used, according to an embodiment of this application;

[0038] FIG. 3A is a diagram of an example end-user device, such as a user equipment, that may be used to implement the disclosed methods for OCC signaling, according to an embodiment of this application;

[0039] FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example base station device that may be used to implement the disclosed methods for OCC signaling, according to an embodiment of this application;

[0040] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing system that may be used for implementing the devices and methods disclosed herein, according to various embodiments of this application;

[0041] FIG. 5 is an example process flow of communications between a base station and a user equipment according to an embodiment of this application;

[0042] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operations of a method for a base station to configure a DCI for OCC communication with a user equipment according to an embodiment of this application;FW 6000757US01 5

[0043] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of operations that may be performed by a user equipment according to another embodiment of this application;

[0044] FIG. 8 is another flowchart of operations that may be performed by a base station according to another embodiment of this application; and

[0045] FIG. 9 is a diagram of possible DCI format layouts that may be formatted by a base station in various scenarios, according to an embodiment of this application.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0046] Terms used in embodiments of this application are only used to explain specific embodiments of this application, but are not intended to limit this application.

[0047] Disclosed embodiments provide for the support of capacity enhancements for an uplink from a terminal device, such as a user equipment (UE), with a base station. Specifically, various disclosed embodiments include enhancements to enable multiplexing of multiple UEs (e.g. up to the min of 4 and the maximum allowed by the existing uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) signaling) in a single 3.75 kHz or 15 kHz subcarrier via orthogonal cover codes (OCC) for narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) format 1.

[0048] Embodiments include both single-tone support for 3.75 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) as well as multi-tone support for 15 kHz SCS.

[0049] Figure 1 illustrates an example communications system too. Communications system too includes an access node 110 serving UEs with coverage 101, such as UEs 120. In a first operating mode, communications to and from a UE passes through access node 110 with a coverage area 101. The access node 110 is connected to a backhaul network 115 for connecting to the internet, operations and management, and so forth. In a second operating mode, communications to and from a UE do not pass through access node no, however, access node 110 typically allocates resources used by the UE to communicate when specific conditions are met. Communications between a pair of UEs 120 can use a sidelink connection (shown as two separate one-way connections 125). In Figure 1, the sidelink communication is occurring between two UEs operating inside of coverage area 101. However, sidelink communications, in general, can occur when UEs 120 are both outside coverage area 101, both inside coverage area 101, or one inside and the other outside coverage area 101. Communication between a UE and access node pair occur over uni-directional communication links, where the communication links between the UE and the access node are referred to as uplinks 130, and the communication links between the access node and UE is referred to as downlinks 135.

[0050] Access nodes may also be commonly referred to as Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), next generation (NG) Node Bs (gNBs), master eNBs (MeNBs), secondary eNBs (SeNBs), master gNBs (MgNBs), secondary gNBs (SgNBs), network controllers, controlFW 6000757US01 6nodes, base stations, access points, transmission points (TPs), transmission-reception points (TRPs), cells, carriers, macro cells, femtocells, pico cells, and so on, while UEs may also be commonly referred to as mobile stations, mobiles, terminals, users, subscribers, stations, and the like. Access nodes may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE- A), 5G, 5G LTE, 5G NR, sixth generation (6G), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, such as 802.na / b / g / n / ac / ad / ax / ay / be, etc. While it is understood that communications systems may employ multiple access nodes capable of communicating with a number of UEs, only one access node and two UEs are illustrated for simplicity.

[0051] In some embodiments, the communications system 100 may be implemented partially or wholly as a non-terrestrial network (NTN). In such an implementation, one or more of the access nodes may be satellite-based, and may further communicate with a backhaul network by one or more satellites and / or via communication with a ground or Earth-based station, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art. In such implementations, the UE (which may be an Internet of Things device, and in some instances a narrowband loT device) may communicate directly with the one or more satellite-based access nodes, and / or one or more terrestrial -based access nodes. As will be understood, communications may be made between two different UE devices (located on Earth) partially or completely via the NTN. The following Table 1 illustrates various parameters and aspects of a NTN, according to various embodiments:Table 1: NTN Parameters and AspectsParameter valueScenario Orbit GEO LEO6oo Elevation angle 12.5 degrees 30 degreesChannel and Carrier frequency 2GHzimpairmentsChannel model NTN-TDL-CThe channels from different UE are independent.Frequency error Uniform random selection from [-0.1 ppm, +0.1 ppm] for all UEsVariation of frequency error is negligible.FW 6000757US01 7For GEO, the same frequency error is applied to each subframe of a transport block.For LEO, the same frequency error is applied to each subframe of a segment (if applied in the evaluation). Companies to report their assumption on frequency error across segments.Timing error Uniform random selection from [-97TS, +97TS] for all UEs Timing drift 8oqs / s for LEO6oo and 0 for GEO.Power imbalance Uniformly distributed between +Pimb and -Pimb for all UEsProponent to report the value of Pimb (can be zero) and justification for the chosen valuetransmitter SCS 3.75 kHz and 15 kHz 15 kHzNumber of tones Single tone Single tone and multi tone up to 12 tonesWaveform DFT-s-OFDMFrequency w / o frequency hoppinghoppingMIMO scheme SISODMRS For baseline evaluations: For baseline evaluations: configuration0S#3 per slot for 3.75 kHz 0S#4 per slot for 15 kHz OS#4 per slot for 15 kHzFor OCC evaluations:For OCC evaluations: Up to proponentUp to proponentNumber of Up to proponent Up to proponent resource unit(Mm)FW 6000757US01 8Modulation Up to proponent Up to proponent order (Qm)TBS (JTBS) Up to proponent Up to proponentNumber of Up to proponentrepetitions (Wrep)OCC length Up to 4OCC sequence Up to proponentNumber ofUE Up to proponentVelocity of UE 3km / hreceiver Receiver MMSEalgorithmChannel Real channel estimationestimationKPI SNR at 10% Report for baseline and OCC schemesBLERAggregated Total throughput of up to 4 UEs multiplexed throughputTarget detection 99%probabilityTarget false 0.1%alarm probabilitySNR operating Report SNR where target detection probability and false point alarm probability are reached for baseline and OCC schemes

[0052] Figure 2 illustrates an example communication system 200. In general, the system 200 enables multiple w ireless or w ired users to transmit and receive data and other content. The system 200 may implement one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),FW 6000757US01 9frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), or non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA).

[0053] In this example, the communication system 200 includes electronic devices (ED) 2ioa-2ioc, radio access networks (RANs) 22oa-22ob, a core network 230, a public sw itched telephone network (PSTN) 240, the Internet 250, and other networks 260. While certain numbers of these components or elements are shown in Figure 2, any number of these components or elements may be included in the system 200. As discussed elsewhere, it should be understood that that RANs 22oa-22ob may be implemented as terrestrial networks, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) such as a satellitebased network, or a hybrid of both (i.e., a portion of the network is terrestrial-based, and a portion is non-terrestrial).

[0054] The EDs 2ioa-2ioc are configured to operate or communicate in the system 200. For example, the EDs 2ioa-2ioc are configured to transmit or receive via wireless or wired communication channels. Each ED 2ioa-2ioc represents any suitable end user device and may include such devices (or may be referred to) as a user equipment or device (UE), wireless transmit or receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, touchpad, wireless sensor, ambient internet of things (AIoT) device (e.g., for asset management), or consumer electronics device. The terms user equipment, UE, and terminal device may be used interchangeably herein to refer to an end user device in communication with a base station or other network device, for communications that use OCC.

[0055] The RANs 220a-220b here include base stations 27Oa-27Ob, respectively. Each base station 27Oa-27Ob is configured to wirelessly interface with one or more of the EDs 2ioa-2ioc to enable access to the core network 230, the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 240, the Internet 250, or the other networks 260. For example, the base stations 27oa-27ob may include (or be) one or more of several well-known devices, such as a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a Next Generation (NG) NodeB (gNB), a gNB centralized unit (gNB-CU), a gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), or a wireless router. The EDs 2toa-2toc are configured to interface and communicate with the Internet 250 and may access the core network 230, the PSTN 240, or the other networks 260.

[0056] In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the base station 270a forms part of the RAN 220a, which may include other base stations, elements, or devices. Also, the base station 270b forms part of the RAN 220b, which may include other base stations, elements, or devices. Each base station 270a-270b operates to transmit or receiveFW 6000757US01 10wireless signals within a particular geographic region or area, sometimes referred to as a “cell.” In some embodiments, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology may be employed having multiple transceivers for each cell.

[0057] The base stations 27oa-2yob communicate with one or more of the EDs 210a-210c over one or more air interfaces 290 using wireless communication links. The air interfaces 290 may utilize any suitable radio access technology.

[0058] It is contemplated that the system 200 may use multiple channel access functionality, including such schemes as described above. In particular embodiments, the base stations and EDs implement 5G New Radio (NR), LTE, LTE-A, or LTE-B. Of course, other multiple access schemes and wireless protocols may be utilized.

[0059] The RANs 22oa-22ob are in communication with the core network 230 to provide the EDs 2ioa-2ioc with voice, data, application, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), or other services. Understandably, the RANs 22oa-22ob or the core network 230 may be in direct or indirect communication with one or more other RANs (not shown). The core network 230 may also serve as a gateway access for other networks (such as the PSTN 240, the Internet 250, and the other networks 260). In addition, some or all of the EDs 2ioa-2ioc may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies or protocols. Instead of wireless communication (or in addition thereto), the EDs may communicate via wired communication channels to a service provider or switch (not shown), and to the Internet 250.

[0060] Although Figure 2 illustrates one example of a communication system, various changes may be made to Figure 2. For example, the communication system 200 could include any number of EDs, base stations, networks, or other components in any suitable configuration.

[0061] Figures 3A and 3B illustrate example devices that may implement the methods and teachings according to this disclosure. In particular, Figure 3A illustrates an example ED 310, and Figure 3B illustrates an example base station 370. These components could be used in the system 200 or in any other suitable system.

[0062] As shown in Figure 3A, the ED 310 includes at least one processing unit 300. The processing unit 300 implements various processing operations of the ED 310. For example, the processing unit 300 could perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other functionality enabling the ED 310 to operate in the system 200. The processing unit 300 also supports the methods and teachings described in more detail above. Each processing unit 300 includes any suitable processing or computing device configured to perform one or more operations. Each processing unit 300 could, for example, include a microprocessor, microcontroller,FW 6000757US01 11digital signal processor, field programmable gate array, or application specific integrated circuit.

[0063] The ED 310 also includes at least one transceiver 302. The transceiver 302 is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna or NIC (Network Interface Controller) 304. The transceiver 302 is also configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 304. Each transceiver 302 includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission or processing signals received w irelessly or by w ire. Each antenna 304 includes any suitable structure for transmitting or receiving wireless or wired signals. One or multiple transceivers 302 could be used in the ED 310, and one or multiple antennas 304 could be used in the ED 310. Although show n as a single functional unit, a transceiver 302 could also be implemented using at least one transmitter and at least one separate receiver.

[0064] The ED 310 further includes one or more input / output devices 306 or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 250). The input / output devices 306 facilitate interaction with a user or other devices (network communications) in the network. Each input / output device 306 includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

[0065] In addition, the ED 310 includes at least one memory 308. The memory 308 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 310. For example, the memory 308 could store software or firmware instructions executed by the processing unit(s) 300 and data used to reduce or eliminate interference in incoming signals. Each memory 308 includes any suitable volatile or non-volatile storage (or memory) and retrieval device(s). Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disc, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like.

[0066] As shown in Figure 3B, the base station 370 includes at least one processing unit 350, at least one transceiver 352, which includes functionality for a transmitter and a receiver, one or more antennas 356, at least one memory 358, and one or more input / output deuces or interfaces 366. A scheduler, which would be understood by one skilled in the art, is coupled to the processing unit 350. The scheduler could be included within or operated separately from the base station 370. The processing unit 350 implements various processing operations of the base station 370, such as signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other functionality. The processing unit 350 can also support the methods and teachings described in more detailFW 6000757US01 12above. Each processing unit 350 includes any suitable processing or computing device configured to perform one or more operations. Each processing unit 350 could, for example, include a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, field programmable gate array, or application specific integrated circuit.

[0067] Each transceiver 352 includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission to one or more EDs or other devices. Each transceiver 352 further includes any suitable structure for processing signals received wirelessly or by wire from one or more EDs or other devices. Although show n combined as a transceiver 352, a transmitter and a receiver could be separate components. Each antenna 356 includes any suitable structure for transmitting or receiving wireless or wired signals. While a common antenna 356 is shown here as being coupled to the transceiver 352, one or more antennas 356 could be coupled to the transceiver(s) 352, allowing separate antennas 356 to be coupled to the transmitter and the receiver if equipped as separate components. Each memory 358 includes any suitable volatile or non-volatile storage (or memory) and retrieval device(s). Each input / output device 366 facilitates interaction with a user or other devices (network communications) in the network. Each input / output device 366 includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving / providing information from a user, including network interface communications.

[0068] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a computing system 400 that may be used for implementing the devices and methods disclosed herein. For example, the computing system can be any entity of UE, access network (AN), mobility management (MM), session management (SM), user plane gateway (UPGW), or access stratum (AS). Specific devices may utilize all of the components shown or only a subset of the components, and levels of integration may vaiy from device to device. Furthermore, a device may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processing units, processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, etc. The computing system 400 includes a processing unit 402. The processing unit includes a central processing unit (CPU) 414, memory 408, and may further include a mass storage device 404, a video adapter 410, and an I / O interface 412 connected to a bus 420.

[0069] The bus 420 may be one or more of any type of several bus architectures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, or a video bus. The CPU 414 may comprise any type of electronic data processor. The memory 408 may comprise any type of non-transitory system memory such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the memoryFW 6000757US01 13408 may include ROM for use at boot-up, and DRAM for program and data storage for use while executing programs.

[0070] The mass storage 404 may comprise any type of non-transitory storage device configured to store data, programs, and other information and to make the data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus 420. The mass storage 404 may comprise, for example, one or more of a solid state drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, or an optical disk drive.

[0071] The video adapter 410 and the I / O interface 412 provide interfaces to couple external input and output devices to the processing unit 402. As illustrated, examples of input and output devices include a display 418 coupled to the video adapter 410 and a mouse, keyboard, or printer 416 coupled to the I / O interface 412. Other devices may be coupled to the processing unit 402, and additional or fewer interface cards may be utilized. For example, a serial interface such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) (not shown) may be used to provide an interface for an external device.

[0072] The processing unit 402 also includes one or more network interfaces 406, which may comprise wired links, such as an Ethernet cable, or wireless links to access nodes or different networks. The network interfaces 406 allow the processing unit 402 to communicate with remote units via the networks. For example, the network interfaces 406 may provide wireless communication via one or more transmitters / transmit antennas and one or more receivers / receive antennas. In an embodiment, the processing unit 402 is coupled to a local-area network 422 or a wide-area network for data processing and communications with remote devices, such as other processing units, the Internet, or remote storage facilities.

[0073] It should be appreciated that not all components in the devices described in Figures 1-4 are required. In a non-limiting example, the ED 310 may be implemented as an AIoT device 310, or as a regular Internet of Things (loT) device. In some embodiments, the loT device may be a narrowband loT (NB-IoT) device. But, the AloT device 310 may not include an input / output devices 306 for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen. The transceiver 302 of the AIoT device 310 may be capable of transmitting by backscattering a radio wave received, instead of by generating the radio wave, for wireless communication purpose. In another non-limiting example, the system 400 may be implemented as an AIoT device 400 that does not include or use the mass storage device 404, the video adapter 410, the mouse, keyboard, or printer 416, or the display 418.

[0074] It should be appreciated that not all components in the devices described in FIG. 1-4 are required. In a non-limiting example, the ED 310 may be implemented as anFW 6000757US01 14AIoT device 310. But, the AIoT device 310 may not include an input / output devices 306 for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen. The transceiver 302 of the AIoT device 310 may be capable of transmitting by backscattering a radio wave received, instead of by generating the radio wave, for wireless communication purposes. In another non-limiting example, the system 400 may be implemented as an AIoT device 400 that does not include or use the mass storage device 404, the video adapter 410, the mouse, keyboard, or printer 416, or the display 418.

[0075] In embodiments, a user equipment (UE) or other terminal device (such as ED 310) may support the use of orthogonal cover codes (OCC) for uplink transmissions to a base station (such as base station 370) or other network device, such as on a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH). A new radio resource control (RRC) signaling parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is used to enable OCC for NPUSCH format 1 single tone. In embodiments, multi-tone also may be enabled.

[0076] Whether the format is single or multi-tone may be signaled such as by indicating a subcarrier spacing value of either 3.75 kHz or 15 kHz. For example, in embodiments the RRC parameter ntn-OCC-SingleTone-khzis may indicate whether the UE supports OCC for single-tone NPUSCH format 1 with 15 kHz SCS in the RRC_CONNECTED state of the UE. Similarly, the RRC parameter ntn-OCC-SingleTone-khz3dot75 may indicate whether the UE supports OCC for single-tone NPUSCH format 1 with 3.75 kHz SCS in the RRC_CONNECTED state (mode).

[0077] OCC multiplexing is not supported between a UE using NPUSCH format 1 with 3.75 kHz SCS and another UE using NPUSCH format 1 with 15 kHz SCS.

[0078] When the RRC parameter is configured, downlink control information (DCI) format No will indicate an OCC sequence index (0 or 1) and activation / deactivation of OCC. In embodiments, these two indications are equivalent to, and so may be transmitted using, 2 bits of information.

[0079] To preserve compatibility with UEs and other terminals that do not support OCC as well as to avoid unnecessary complexity and possible increased signaling overhead, it is desirable to not increase the size of the DCI beyond the size when the RRC parameter is not configured (e.g., legacy signaling). Accordingly, in various embodiments, certain DCI fields may be repurposed or constrained to be not present in the DCI, to instead indicate an OCC sequence index and OCC activation / deactivation. Thus, DCI format No is modified in embodiments to repurpose selected fields to signal activation of OCC along with other necessaiy parameters. Such repurposing may involve resizing fields, removing reserved values (or fields that may be unused in various scenarios), removing unlikely signaling combinations, and / or any other suitable methodFW 6000757US01 15that allows for field repurposing without diminishing (or substantially diminishing) DCI functionality for a given scenario. Such parameters will be discussed in greater detail herein, but include signaling aspects such as subcarrier bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, modulation and coding scheme, subcarrier indication, and / or OCC sequence index, to name a few possible fields.

[0080] DCI format No, per the relevant specifications, may include the following fields and associated bit lengths:

[0081] - Subcarrier indication - 6 bits

[0082] - Resource assignment - 3 bits

[0083] - Scheduling delay - 2 bits

[0084] - Modulation and coding scheme - 4 bits. This field is not present if format No CRC is scrambled by a pre-configured uplink resources - radio network temporary identifier (PUR-RNTI). If npusch-16QAM-Config is configured and the value is '1111', this field functions as 16QAM (16 symbol-based Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) indicator.

[0085] - Redundancy version - 1 bit

[0086] - Repetition number - 3 bits. If 16QAM is indicated (such as via the aforementioned MCS field), it functions as Modulation and coding scheme for 16QAM.

[0087] - New data indicator - 1 bit. If multiple transport blocks (TB) are scheduled, it functions as New data indicator for the first TB.

[0088] - DCI subframe repetition number - 2 bits

[0089] - Number of scheduled TB for Unicast - 1 bit, where value 0 indicates a single TB is scheduled and value 1 indicates multiple TB are scheduled. This field is only present if the higher layer parameter npusch-MultiTB-Config is enabled and the corresponding DCI is mapped onto the UE specific search space given by the cell radio network temporary- identifier (C-RNT1). The field is set to 0 if the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI is scrambled by semi-persistent scheduling C- RNTI (SPS C-RNTI).

[0090] - HARQ process number - 1 bit. This field is only present if two (2) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes are configured and the corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search space given by the C-RNTI, or if a Number of scheduled TB for Unicast is present. If multiple TB are scheduled, it functions as a New data indicator for the second TB.

[0091] - Resource reservation - 1 bit. This field is only present if the higher layer parameter resourceReservationConfigUL is configured and the DCI is mapped onto the UE -specific search space given by C-RNTI.FW 6000757US01 16

[0092] Of these fields, the following fields are repurposed in various embodiments disclosed herein:

[0093] - Modulation and coding scheme

[0094] - Redundancy version

[0095] - Subcarrier indication

[0096] How particular repurposed fields are employed depends, in various embodiments, on the particular subcarrier spacing (SCS) that is selected to be used between a UE and a base station. For example, and as will be described further hereinbelow, when the subcarrier indication field (SIF) is repurposed w ith a 3.75 kHz SCS, codepoints 0-47 are used for subcarrier indication. Conversely, for a 15 kHz SCS, reducing the size of the SIF by i-bit (to five bits) does not impact the single tone allocation.

[0097] As mentioned above, two possible subcarrier spacing values are described for embodiments, namely, 3.75 kHz and 15 kHz. For NPUSCH transmission with subcarrier spacing Af = 3.75 kHz, nsc= Iscwhere Iscis the subcarrier indication field (SIF) and values of SIF lsc= 48,49, ... ,63 are reserved, or nscis configured by higher layers, parameter npusch-SubCarrierSetlndex in PUR-Config-NB for NPUSCH transmissions using preconfigured uplink resources.

[0098] For NPUSCH transmission with subcarrier spacing Af = 15 kHz, the subcarrier indication field ( / sc) in the DCI or npusch-SubCamerSetlndex in PUR-Config-NB for NPUSCH transmissions using preconfigured uplink resources determines the set of contiguously allocated subcarriers (nsc) according to Table 2. To explain what is meant by a set of subcarrier resources values, and what is meant by a reduced set of subcarrier resources values, consider: A set of values can be grouped into defined values and reserved values. A reduced set of values has fewer defined values and may have some or no reserved values. For example, Table 2 show s 64 values, of which 19 values ( / sc= o .. 18) are defined, and 45 values (19 .. 63) are reserved. If the table is halved to only have 32 values but the same 19 values are kept (only the number of reserved values is reduced to 13), it may not be considered a reduced set, as the number of defined values remains unchanged. An example of a reduced set is w hen the table has 16 values, with only 11 values defined (while there were originally 19) and 4 values reserved. To use Table 2 as an example, a reduced set of values would be a reduction from 19 defined values to 12, even while the number of reserved values increases to 52 (and / or the eight values taken from the 19 defined values are set aside for some other identified use, depending on the needs of a given embodiment).FW 6000757US01 17Table 2: Allocated subcarriers for NPUSCH with Af = 15 kHz.Subcarrier indication field ( lsc) Set of Allocated subcarriers ( „sc)0 - 1112-15 3( / sc- 12) + {0,1,2}16-17 6( / sc- 16) + {0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5}18 {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}19-63 Reserved

[0099] Continuing on, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field may also be repurposed in embodiments, as the MCS order may not be too high. In some cases, the MCS values may be reduced, as described above. However, for single-tone allocations, there are eleven MCS indices, and so at least 4 bits are needed. Those indices are mapped to transport block size (TBS) indices using Modulation Order Qm=i and Qm=2 (i.e., already no 16-QAM), according to Table 3.Table 3: Modulation and TBS index table for NPUSCH with N^u= 1.MCS Index Modulation Order TBS IndexIMCS Qm ^TBS0 1 01 1 22 2 13 2 34 2 45 2 56 2 67 2 78 2 89 2 9to 2 10

[0100] In addition, the current MCS field has different purposes based on two other RRC configurations. If a pre-configured uplink resource (PUR) is used, then the field is not present. If 16QAM is configured, the value ‘nil’ is not available, as it indicates 16QAM.

[0101] As mentioned above, the Modulation and coding scheme field is 4 bits in length. This field is not present if format No cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is scrambled by PUR-RNTI. If npusch-i6QAM-Config is configured and the value is Tin', it functionsFW 6000757US01 18as 16QAM indicator. However, in the following we assume that neither PUR nor 16QAM are configured. If 16QAM is configured, then one additional codepoint is necessary to sen e as the 16QAM indicator; however, such a configuration is unlikely.

[0102] The unused codepoints in SIF and MCS may be combined if the SIF and MCS are jointly signaled, i.e., the two fields are treated as a single 10-bit field. For 3.75 kHz SCS, there are 48 subcarrier indices and 11 MCS indices, 528 combinations (codepoints) in total. A 9 bit field (1 bit savings from a 10 bit field) can be used to signal 512 combinations, so only 16 combinations need to be excluded. This is less of a restriction than if the 1 bit w ere taken directly from SIF (16x11=176 combinations excluded) or MCS (48*3=144 combinations). In fact, 8 bits (2 bits savings) may be used for the joint SIF / MCS signaling with 272 combinations excluded.

[0103] For 15 kHz SCS, there are 19x11 =209 combinations of SIF and MCS, and an 8 bit field (2 bits savings from a 10 bit jointly signaled SIF and MCS) may be used to signal these combinations.

[0104] PDSCH scheduling delay and HARQ-ACK delay for 14 HARQ processes - 5 or 7 bits as defined in Tables 4 and 5, below. This field is only present when the higher layer parameter ce-PDSCH-i4HARQ-Config is configured and the DCI is mapped onto the UE -specific search space given by the C-RNTI. The field is 5 bits when ce-HARQ-AckDelay is Alt-2e and 7 bits when ce-HARQ-AckDelay is Alt-i.Table 4: Content of "PDSCH scheduling delay and HARQ-ACK delay for 14 HARQ" for ce-HARQ-AckDelay = Alt-2eBit field PDSCH scheduling delay HARQ-ACK delay mapped to option (subframes)index0 0 41 0 52 0 63 0 74 0 85 0 96 0 107 0 118 0 129 0 1310 0 1511 0 17FW 6000757US01 1912 1 413 1 514 1 1015 1 1216 1 1317 1 1418 1 1519 1 1620 1 1721 1 1822 2 423 2 524 2 1025 2 1226 2 1327 2 1428 2 1529 2 1630 2 1731 2 18Table 5: Content of "PDSCH scheduling delay and HARQ-ACK delay for 14 HARQ" for ce-HARQ-AckDelay = Alt-1Bit field PDSCH scheduling delay HARQ-ACK delay mapped to option (y) BL / CE DLindex (Table 5.3.3.1.12-3) subframes + 1 subframe + (z) BL / CE UL subframesy z0 0 0 111 0 11 1 12 0 0 223 0 11 2FW 6000757US01 2024 0 0 335 0 11 3 36 1 0 147 1 11 1 48 1 0 259 1 11 2 60 1 0 371 1 11 3 72 2 0 12 11 184 2 0 295 2 11 2 96 2 0 3107 2 11 3 108-127 ReservedExamples for 3.75 kHz SCS

[0105] When the subcarrier spacing is 3.75 kHz, possible optional embodiments may provide savings for 1 or 2 bits from a 10 bit jointly signaled SIF and MCS. In embodiments with a 9 bit jointly signaled SIF and MCS field (1 bit savings), there are 528 values and only 512 codepoints. Optional embodiments providing a 1 bit savings may include:

[0106] - Drop the last 16 SIF values for IMCS =10

[0107] - Drop the last MCS value for all SIF values, or the last MCS value for the highest 16 SIF values.

[0108] - Drop the last x SIF values for all MCS, assuming narrowband physical random access channel (NPRACH) is present on some of the subcarriers. This could be 1 subchannel (SC) for all MCS and 1 additional SC for 5 of the MCS, or to keep it simple,FW 6000757US01 21x=2 SC on each MCS may not be allocated, so that the range of SIF is just o to 45 instead of 0 to 47.

[0109] In embodiments with an 8 bit field (2 bit savings), there are 528 values and only 256 codepoints. One optional embodiment providing a 2 bit savings may include 32 SIF values and 8 MCS values allowed. The MCS can be the top 3 dropped, or can alternate to give a coarser MCS selection rather than a capped one (e.g., top 3 dropped). For example, MCS 10,8,6 can be removed, or MCS 9,7,5, rather than removing MCS 10,9,8. A hybrid of these is also a possible approach: remove MCS 9,8,6 or MCS 10,8,7 or MCS 10,9,7. Note that keeping MCS 10 has less impact on peak data rate.Examples for 15 kHz SCS

[0110] For embodiments with a 15 kHz SCS, there are 19x11 = 209 combinations, and 8 bits (2 bits savings) may be used to signal these combinations.

[0111] With the subcarrier indication and Modulation and coding scheme (8 bits):

[0112] - The subcarrier indication Isc is o to 18, and the existing table is used for the set of allocated subcarriers.

[0113] - Bit field mapped to index: 0 to 255- The first values of o to 18 are for Isc values of o to 18 and MCS Index (Iwcs) = o. The next set of values are 19 to 37 for Isc values of 0 to 18 and IMCS =1. This pattern repeats for IMCS values of 2 to 10. The following formula, which is an example of a linear combination of the Isc and IMCS values, can be used to express the pattern, where 19 represents the number of possible Isc values. The DIV operation is quotient and the MOD operation is the remainder.Bit index = 19* I CS + Isc- IMCS = bit index DIV 19Isc = bit index MOD 19

[0114] In an alternate mapping, the first values of the bit field (i.e., o to 10) are for IMCS o to 10 and Isc = o. The next values of the bit field (i.e., are 11 to 21) for IMCS 0 to 10 and Isc = 1. This pattern repeats for Isc values of 2 to 18. The following formula, which is an another example of a linear combination of the Isc and IMCS values, can be used to express the pattern, where 11 represents the number of possible IMCS values.Bit index = 11* Isc+ IMC - Isc = bit index DIV 11FW 6000757US01 22IMCS = bit index MOD it

[0115] Some assumptions are made for the various embodiments: When OCC is configured, two bits are always repurposed for it. When OCC is dynamically disabled, for optimization only 1 bit may need to be repurposed. If 1 bit is repurposed, it may be repurposed from a jointly signaled MCS and SIF field.

[0116] The following fields and associated bit lengths are used in various embodiments, with the specific fields being present or not present based on whether npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured, as indicated:

[0117] - OCC enabled / disabled - 1 bit, where value o indicates OCC disabled and value 1 indicates OCC enabled. This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0118] - OCC sequence index - 1 bit, where value o indicates OCC sequence

[0011] and value 1 indicates OCC sequence [1 -1] . This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0119] - Modulation and coding scheme and Subcarrier indication for OCC - 9 bits. This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0120] - Subcarrier indication - 6 bits. This field is not present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0121] - Modulation and coding scheme - 4 bits. This field is not present if format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI or if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured. If npusch-i6QAM-Config is configured and the value is 'till', it functions as 16QAM indicator.

[0122] - Redundancy version - 1 bit. This field is not present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.Handling of Pre-configured Uplink Resources (PUR)

[0123] In some embodiments, signaling overhead and power consumption reductions may be achieved by the (mobile-originated) early data transmission (EDT) feature, where data can be transmitted already in Msg3 during the random-access procedure. The earlier transmission of an uplink (UL) data payload has been further enhanced by introducing UL transmission using preconfigured uplink resources (PUR). This feature allows an eNB to configure uplink resources, in which a UE in IDLE mode can send an UL transmission without performing random access procedures. The UE can be potentially configured w ith a cyclic shift of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS), which allows sharing of the preconfigured resources under which up to twoFW 6000757US01 23users can transmit on a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) simultaneously when the NPUSCH transmission is larger than or equal to 64ms for 12- tone allocation. By skipping the random access procedures, the uplink transmission efficiency can be improved and UE power consumption is reduced. Before performing a PUR transmission, the UE must evaluate the validity of the timing advance (TA) based on either individual or combined usage of any of the following attributes: a) serving cell change, b) TA timer, c) reference signal received power (RSRP) change. Additionally, it is possible to configure the TA as always valid within a given cell.

[0124] The higher layers configure PUR for uplink transmissions. In addition, there are two PUR-related functions supported by the DCI when format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI. These are for updating the PUR configuration and for (when a flag MCS = Tito’) an Acknowledgement.PUR-Config-NB

[0125] The information element (IE) PUR-Config-NB is used to specify PUR configuration.PUR-Config-NB information elementFW 6000757US01 24bb

[0126] Table 6 describes the various fields found in the PUR-Config-NB:Table 6: PUR-Config-NB FieldsPUR-Config-NB field descriptionsFW 6000757US01 25ack-NACK-NumRepetitionsNumber of repetitions for the ACK NACK resource unit carrying HARQ response to NPDSCH. If this field is absent and no value was configured via pur-Config, the value of ack-NACK- NumRepetitions used for HARQ response to NPDSCH containing this RRCConnectionRelease- NB message applies.[AlphaParameter: ac(3).Carrier used for PUR.LSB of the H-SFN corresponding to the last subframe of the first transmissionof RRCConnectionRelease message containing pur-Config.NPDCCH configuration for PUR.pripuscft-^cficShi^Parameter: lies. Value no corresponds to value 0 and value n6 corresponds to value 6.| npusch-MCSIndex to tables specified for single tone and multi tone respectively, that defines modulation and TBS index for NPUSCH for PUR. If 16QAM UL for PUR is configured, value singleTone is not applicable, signalled value of multiTone shall be less than or equal to 7, and actual value = signalled value + 14.[npusch-NumRepetitionsIndexIndex to a table that defines number of repetitions for NPUSCH for PUR.Index to a table that defines number of resource units for NPUSCH for PUR.s npusch-SubCarrierSetlndexFor NPUSCH transmission with subcarrier spacing 3.75 kHz, indicates the subcarrier used for PUR.For NPUSCH transmission with subcarrier spacing 15 kHz, index to a table that defines the set of subcarriers for NPUSCH for PUR.Parameter: PO-UE-NPUSCH,C., unit dB.Activation of 16QAM for downlink.pur-ImplicitReleaseAfterFW 6000757US01 26Number of consecutive PUR occasions that can be skipped before implicit release of PUR configuration. Value n2 corresponds to 2 PUR occasions, value 04 corresponds to 4 PUR occasions, and so on.Threshold(s) of change in serving cell NRSRP in dB for TA validation. Value dE>4 corresponds to 4 dB, value dB6 corresponds to 6 dB, and so on. When pur-NRSRP-ChangeThreshold is set to setup, if decreaseThrsh is absent the value of increaseThresh is also used for decreaseThresh.Number of PUR occasions. Value one corresponds to 1 PUR occasion, andvalue infinite corresponds to an infinite number of PUR occasions.Indicates the periodicity for the PUR occasions and time offset until the first PUR occasion. Ppur-jRe^^Duration of the PUR response window. Value in PDCCH periods. Value pp2 corresponds to 2 PDCCH periods, pp3 corresponds to 3 PDCCH periods, and so on.The value considered by the UE is: pur-ResponseWindowTimer = Min (signaled value x PDCCH period, 10.24s).pur-TimeAlignrnentTimerValue of the time alignment timer for PUR. Value in number of periodicity of PUR.| pur-UL-i6QAM-ConfigActivation of 16QAM for uplink.□

[0127] In embodiments, some of the bits in DCI format No may not be RRCconfigured for PUR. For example, the size of the redundancy version (RV) bit may be set to zero.

[0128] Depending on the use of the RV bit for PUR for a given implementation, itmay or may not be possible to remove the RV bit from the DCI. For example, if settingthe RV bit to 1 is used to begin a transmission, that bit would need to be present for OCC as well. However, if the bit is not used by PUR, then removing it would have no ill effect.

[0129] For PUR and OCC, there are several options for support, depending on theneeds of a given embodiment. One option is that when OCC is configured, PUR cannot be configured. Another is that the higher layer configuration of PUR could remainunchanged and available to be supported when OCC is configured, but the update by DCI could be not allowed. Similarly, the Acknowledgement could be not allowed, or bothcould be not allowed.FW 6000757US01 27

[0130] The field for OCC enabled / disabled does not need to be present for PUR and OCC, as PUR is not dynamic. As discussed elsewhere, the OCC enabled / disabled field is 1 bit, where value 0 indicates OCC disabled and value 1 indicated OCC enabled. This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured and the format No CRC is not scrambled by PUR-RNTI. The field not being present can save 1 bit in the DCI. However, in other embodiments the bit could be allowed to remain for simplicity. In this case, specification text could be included to use this dynamic configuration to change the RRC parameter for OCC for PUR, or preferably it is simply ignored for the PUR case.

[0131] The above embodiments may be combined together, w ith OCC and PUR both supported and the joint encoding of MCS and SIF (i.e., linear combination) in order to save a bit.

[0132] DCI format No may be used for the scheduling of NPUSCH and operation on preconfigured UL resources in one UL cell.

[0133] The following information is transmitted by means of the DCI format No:

[0134] - Flag for format No / format Nt differentiation - 1 bit, where value o indicates format No and value 1 indicates format Nt

[0135] - Modulation and coding scheme - 4 bits. This field is only present if format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI and higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is not configured.

[0136] - Modulation and coding scheme and Subcarrier indication for OCC - 9 bits. This field is only present if format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI and if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0137] If format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI, and higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is not configured and Modulation and coding scheme is set to T110' or higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured and Modulation and coding scheme and Subcarrier indication for OCC is set to '111111111', the remaining fields are set as follows:

[0138] - ACK or Fallback indicator - 1 bit, where value o indicates ACK and value 1 indicates fallback;

[0139] - NPUSCH repetition adjustment - 3 bits refer toRep; and

[0140] - Timing advance adjustment - 6 bits. The field is only present if ACK or Fallback indicator is set to o.

[0141] - All the remaining bits in format No are set to one.

[0142] Otherwise:FW 6000757US01 28

[0143] - occ enabled / disabled - 1 bit, where value o indicates OCC disabled and value 1 indicated OCC enabled. This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0144] - OCC sequence index - 1 bit, where value o indicates OCC sequence

[0011] and value 1 indicates OCC sequence [1 -1] . This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0145] - Modulation and coding scheme and Subcarrier indication for OCC - 9 bits. This field is only present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured and format No CRC is not scrambled by PUR-RNTI.

[0146] - Subcarrier indication - 6 bits. This field is not present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0147] - Resource assignment - 3 bits

[0148] - Scheduling delay - 2 bits

[0149] - Modulation and coding scheme - 4 bits. This field is not present if format No CRC is scrambled by PUR-RNTI or if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured. If npusch-i6QAM-Config is configured and the value is Till', it functions as 16QAM indicator.

[0150] - Redundancy version - 1 bit. This field is not present if higher layer parameter npusch-OCC-Enabled is configured.

[0151] The following combinations are possible options for 3.75 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1:

[0152] - Option 1: OCC2, Symbol-level, time division multiplex (TDM) demodulation reference signal (DMRS)

[0153] - Option 2: OCC2, Symbol-level, code division multiplex (CDM) DMRS with new pattern

[0154] - Option 3: OCC2, Slot-level, TDM DMRS

[0155] - Option 4: OCC2, Slot-level, CDM DMRS with legacy pattern

[0156] - Option 5: OCC4, Symbol-level, CDM DMRS with new pattern

[0157] The following combinations are possible options for 15 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1:

[0158] - Option 1: OCC2, Symbol-level, TDM DMRS

[0159] - Option 2: OCC2, Slot-level, TDM DMRS

[0160] - Option 3: OCC2, Slot-level, CDM DMRS with legacy pattern

[0161] - Option 4: OCC4, Symbol-level, TDM DMRS

[0162] - Option 5: OCC4, Slot -level, TDM DMRS

[0163] - Option 6: OCC4, Slot-level, CDM DMRS with legacy pattern

[0164] At least the following schemes are supported for single-tone:FW 6000757US01 29

[0165] - For 3.75 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1, OCC length 2, Symbol-level

[0166] - For 15 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1, OCC length 2, Slot-level, CDM DMRS with legacy pattern

[0167] For 3.75 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1, the maximum OCC length is 2 for connected mode. For single tone 15 kHz SCS Slot-level OCC for NPUSCH format 1, OCC length larger than 2 is not supported.

[0168] For NPUSCH Format 1 single-tone 15 kHz SCS, at least the following options for CDM DMRS with legacy pattern for down-selection may be possible:

[0169] - Option 1: DMRS symbols are spread before the OCC is applied, e.g. according to the formula:ru,occ(n) = rumod M)

[0170] Where: M is the OCC length, q is the assigned OCC codeword for the UE and ru(n) is a reference signal sequence.

[0171] - Option 2: DMRS symbols are not spread before the OCC is applied.

[0172] - Option 2_1: OCC is applied to the legacy complex-valued DMRS symbol used in slot 1 and slot 2, e.g. according to the formula:ru,occW = ru(n)q(n mod M)

[0173] - Option 2_2: OCC is applied to the complex-valued DMRS symbol used in slot 1 and slot 2. Depending on the OCC codeword, different DMRS sequence is used.

[0174] - Option 3: DMRS symbols are not spread and OCC is not applied.

[0175] Legacy complex-valued DMRS symbol may be used in slots corresponding to an OCC codeword of NPUSCH. Different DMRS sequences are used for multiplexed UEs.

[0176] For NPUSCH Format 1 single-tone 15 kHz SCS, the slot-level scheme for non-DMRS symbols may be that spreading is performed in the unit of one slot.

[0177] For support of single-tone OCC for NPUSCH format 1 for connected mode, the parameters that need to be signalled are:

[0178] - OCC sequence index

[0179] - Enabling of OCC feature

[0180] For the support of OCC length 2 for NPUSCH Format 1 single-tone with 3.75 kHz SCS and 15 kHz SCS, the orthogonal sequences are [11; 1 -1].

[0181] For 3.75 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1, TDM DMRS is supported over 4 slots where DMRS are transmitted in the first 2 slots and DMRS REs are blanked in the next 2 slots, or vice-versa, where the DMRS REs are as in legacy NB-IoT and the guard period within the slot is as in legacy NB-IoT.FW 6000757US01 30

[0182] For CONNECTED mode, UE-specific RRC signalling is used for enabling of the OCC feature.

[0183] For the 3.75 kHz SCS symbol-based OCC scheme, the granularity of spreading for data is one symbol.

[0184] Dynamic activation / deactivation of OCC is supported by DCI.

[0185] For 3.75 kHz SCS OCC for NPUSCH format 1, the following mappings between DMRS sequence samples and active TDM DMRS slots may be possible:

[0186] - Option 1: Sequential mapping of samples of the original DMRS sequence to active DMRS slots.

[0187] - Option 2: Dropping of samples of the original DMRS sequence in blanked slots.

[0188] For NPUSCH Format 1 single-tone 15 kHz SCS, for CDM DMRS w ith legacy pattern, DMRS symbols may be spread before the OCC is applied according to the following formula:ru 0CC(Mn + m) = ru(n)q(m), 0 < n < X / M, m=0,

[0189] Where: M is the OCC length, q is the assigned OCC codeword for the UE, (n) is a defined reference signal sequence, and X is the total number of slots in the NPUSCH transmission after OCC is applied.

[0190] Turning to Fig.5, an example process flow- of communication between a base station 502 and a user equipment 504 according to some embodiments is illustrated. In the illustrated example, user equipment (UE) 504 is capable of supporting communication using OCC. User equipment 504 may be a narrowband Internet of Things device, or another suitable UE or terminal. Base station 502 may be terrestrial based or non-terrestrial, e.g. part of a non -terrestrial network such as a satellite-based network. First, user equipment 504 may communicate 506 capability information to the base station 502. Capability information may include whether the user equipment supports orthogonal cover codes (OCC), along with information about any other available functionality. It should be understood that communication 506 may be optional in some embodiments, such as where the base station 502 is aware of the UE 504 capabilities in advance or through other means, such as a netw ork that only allows UEs / terminals with a minimum level of functionality, or any other suitable way.

[0191] Base station 502 next formats 508 a dow nlink control information (DCI) based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), for use with an OCC. How the base station 502 formats the DCI is discussed above, and will be further illustrated in Fig. 6 below-. The DCI may signal aspects such as subcarrier spacing, modulation and coding scheme vahie(s), and subcarrier resource field (SRF) values, among other data elements neededFW 6000757US01 31for the UE 504 to transmit to the base station 502 via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In embodiments, the PUSCH may more specifically be a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH).

[0192] Once the DCI is formatted, base station 502 communicates 510 the DCI to user equipment 504 where OCC is enabled. On receipt of the DCI by the UE 504, the UE 504 prepares 512 for NPUSCH transmission based on the DCI. Following receipt of the DCI and configuration 512, user equipment 504 commences communication 514 with the base station 502 on a NPUSCH according to the DCI.

[0193] Fig. 6 is a flowchart of the operations of a method for a base station to configure a DCI for OCC communication with a user equipment, according to embodiments. Details described above may not be repeated here, and the reader is directed to previous portions of this disclosure for these further details.

[0194] In operation 602, the base station receives OCC capability information from a UE. As discussed above, in some embodiments this information may be transmitted from the UE according to any suitable signaling method. In other embodiments, the information may be conveyed using another suitable technique, such as requiring any UEs accessing the network of which the base station is a part to have minimum capabilities, or signaling out of band, or another suitable method.

[0195] In operation 604, the DCI is formatted based on a subcarrier spacing value. The subcarrier spacing (SCS) value may be a first value, or a second value. The first value may indicate a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, and the second value may indicate a 3.75 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0196] As seen in Fig. 6, if the SCS value is the first value, i.e. is 15 kHz, the method proceeds to operation 606. In operation 606, the base station formats the DCI with a selected modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value that is obtained from a full set of possible MCS values that can be signaled in the DCI, and with a subcarrier resource field (SRF) value that is obtained from a reduced set of SRF values, reduced from the full set of possible SRF values that could be signaled in the DCI.

[0197] Conversely, if the SCS value is the second value, i.e., is 3.75 kHz, the method instead proceeds to operation 608. In operation 608, the base station formats the DCI with a SRF value that is obtained from a full set of possible SRF values, and the MCS value from a reduced set of MCS values, reduced from the full set of possible MCS values. Furthermore, based on the repurposing of the various possible DCI fields described above, the MCS and SRF values may be signaled or indicated using a value comprised of a linear combination of the MCS and SRF values. For example, the 6 bit subcarrier indication field and 4 bit MCS field may be combined to provide 10 possible bits, of w hich one or two bits are used to indicate indices, leaving 8 or 9 possible bits that inFW 6000757US01 32combination signal the desired MCS and SRF values. The reader is referred to the foregoing discussion of the repurposed DCI fields and available MCS and SRF values based on a selected SCS value for further details.

[0198] It should be understood that operations 606 and 608 are entered if OCC is indicated as enabled by the base station. As discussed above, OCC enable / disable is signaled by a repurposed one bit field. If, however, OCC is determined to be disabled, the method proceeds to operation 610. In operation 610, where OCC is disabled, MCS and SRF values are signaled from the full set of possible MCS and SRF values, as no bit are needed for additional OCC-related signaling.

[0199] Once the method is completed and the DCI is formatted as necessary, the base station proceeds to send the DCI to the user equipment and commence communications via the NPUSCH, as described above with respect to Fig. 5.

[0200] Fig. 7 is a flowchart of operations of a process 700 that may be performed by a user equipment according to another embodiment of this application. Specifically, Fig. 7 is a possible implementation of operation 512 of Fig. 5, where the UE 504 prepares for NPUSCH transmission based on a DCI. Various details for the indicated operations have been previously discussed above, and will not be repeated here.

[0201] Process 700 starts with a UE receiving RRC signaling indicating availability of orthogonal cover codes. Depending on the specifics of a given implementation, such signaling may happen after the UE has indicated it is capable of handling OCC codes, such as communication 506 of Fig. 5, above. Following receipt of such signaling (and possibly indicating, per communication 506, that the UE can handle OCC codes), the UE may receive DCI from the base station per communication 510 of Fig. 5. This DCI may be in a DCI format No.

[0202] In operation 702, the UE determines whether OCC is available based on the DCI signaling. If not (the N branch of operation 702), then in operation 704 subcarrier resources and MCS are obtained from the existing (full) set of possible SRF and MCS values, and may be in existing (per No format) locations in the DCI. Following operation 704, the UE obtains any other NPUSCH parameters, and can commence transmission on the NPUSCH. This branch may be considered the legacy or default DCI.

[0203] If, in operation 702, OCC is available (the Y branch), in operation 706 the UE determines whether 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) is being used. If yes (the Y branch of operation 706), then in operation 708 the UE determines w hether OCC is activated. If OCC is activated (the Y branch of operation 708), the UE obtains subcarrier resources from an extracted SRF that is from a reduced first set of subcarrier resource values in operation 712. Conversely, if OCC is not activated (the N branch of operation 708), theFW 6000757US01 33subcarrier resources are obtained from an extracted SRF value that is from a full (nonreduced) first set of subcarrier resource values in operation 714.

[0204] Following either operation 712 or 714, in operation 716 a modulation and coding scheme is obtained from an extracted MCS value, the MCS value being from a full (non-reduced) set of MCS values. Finally, the UE obtains any other NPUSCH parameters, and can commence transmission on the NPUSCH.

[0205] Turning back to operation 706, if 3.75 kHz SCS is being used (the N branch of operation 706), then in operation 710, as with operation 708, the UE determines whether OCC is activated. If OCC is activated (the Y branch of operation 710), then the UE extracts a MCS and SRF value linear combination from the DCI, then, in operation 720, obtains the MCS from the MCS value in the extracted linear combination, where the MCS value is from a reduced set of MCS values.

[0206] If, however, OCC is not activated (the N branch of operation 710), in operation 722 the MCS is obtained from the MCS value in the extracted linear combination, the MCS value being from a full (non-reduced) set of MCS values.

[0207] Following either operation 720 or 722, in operation 724 subcarrier resources are obtained from the SRF value in the extracted linear combination, where the SRF value is from a full (non-reduced) second set of SRF values. Finally, the UE obtains any other NPUSCH parameters, and can commence transmission on the NPUSCH.

[0208] FIG. 8 is another flowchart of operations of a process 800 that may be performed by a base station according to another embodiment of this application.Specifically, Fig. 8 is a possible implementation of operation 508 of Fig. 5, where the base station 502 formats a DCI for NPUSCH transmission. It expands somewhat on the process illustrated in Fig. 6, above. Various details for the indicated operations have been previously discussed above, and will not be repeated here.

[0209] Following transmission of RRC signaling to a UE indicating availability of OCC, in operation 802 the base station first determined whether OCC is available. If not (the N branch), in operation 804 the base station selects or otherwise determines subcarrier resources and MCS from available (full) sets of possible values / resources. Fields are then placed / formatted into a DCI, which is then transmitted to the UE. This N branch of operation 802 can be considered the default or legacy process of formatting a DCI.

[0210] If OCC is available (the Y branch of operation 802), the base station then proceeds to determine in operation 806 whether a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) is to be used. If yes (the Y branch of operation 806), then in operation 808, the base station determines whether OCC should be / is activated. If yes (the Y branch of operation 808), then in operation 810, the base station determines and places into the DCI format a SRFFW 6000757US01 34value that is obtained from a reduced first set of possible SRF values. If, however, OCC is not activated (the N branch of operation 808), then in operation 812 the SRF value is obtained from a full (non-reduced) first set of possible SRF values.

[0211] Following either operation 810 or 812, in operation 814 the base station determines and places a MCS value that is from a full (non-reduced) set of MCS values. Fields are then placed / formatted into a DCI, which is then transmitted to the UE.

[0212] Returning to operation 806, if 3.75 kHz SCS is to be used (the N branch of operation 806), in operation 816 the base station determines and places an SRF value that is obtained from a full (non-reduced) second set of possible SRF values.

[0213] Next, in operation 818 the base station determines whether OCC should be / is activated. If yes (the Y branch of operation 818), then in operation 820, the base station selects an MCS value from a reduced set of possible MCS values, and in operation 822, the base station computes a linear combination using the selected MCS and SRF values.

[0214] Conversely, if OCC is not activated (the N branch of operation 818), the base station selects an MCS value from a full (non-reduced) set of possible MCS values.

[0215] Following either operation 822 or 824, fields are then placed / formatted into a DCI, which is then transmitted to the UE.

[0216] FIG. 9 is a diagram of possible DCI format layouts that may be formatted by a base station in various scenarios, according to an embodiment of this application. The illustrated format layouts correspond to different possible layouts that may be formatted and transmitted by a base station following the execution of process 800, described above with respect to Fig. 8. Further, it should be understood that the illustrated layouts are only meant to depict fields that are relevant to this disclosure, and so should not be considered to be comprehensive or complete.

[0217] Layout 902 reflects a default layout and allocation of fields when OCC is unavailable. It reflects the legacy / existing DCI format.

[0218] Layout 904 reflects a proposed DCI layout when OCC is available but not enabled, and 15 kHz SCS is employed. As can be seen, following Fields 1, an OCC activation field is supplied (1 bit; in this layout, it would indicate that OCC is not enabled / activated), followed by a subcarrier indication from a first set, then the remaining fields similar to layout 902.

[0219] Layout 906 reflects a proposed DCI layout when OCC is both available and enabled, and 15 kHz SCS is employed. Following the OCC activation field (in this layout, it would indicated that OCC is enabled / activated), an additional OCC code field (e.g., 1 bit) is provided along with a subcarrier indication from a second set, then the remaining fields similar to layout 902.FW 6000757US01 35

[0220] Layout 908 reflects a proposed DCI layout when OCC is available but not enabled, and 3.75 kHz SCS is employed. As can be seen, Fields 1, Subcarrier indication, Fields 2, and MCS are similar to layout 902. However, the Redundancy Version field (1 bit) is repurposed to indicate OCC activation (here, it would indicate that OCC is not enabled / activated). Any remaining fields are similar to layout 902.

[0221] Finally, layout 910 reflects a proposed DCI layout when OCC is both available and enabled, and 3.75 kHz SCS is employed. In this layout, following Fields 1, an OCC activation field (1 bit) is followed by an OCC code field, which is then follow ed by a linear combination field. As discussed above with respect to Figs. 6-8, the linear combination comprises both subcarrier indications and MCS values. Following the linear combination, Fields 2 are located, followed by Fields 3 similar to layout 902.

[0222] It should be appreciated that one or more steps of the embodiment methods provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or a transmitting module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps may be performed by a performing unit or module, a generating unit or module, an obtaining unit or module, a setting unit or module, an adjusting unit or module, an increasing unit or module, a decreasing unit or module, a determining unit or module, a modifying unit or module, a reducing unit or module, a removing unit or module, or a selecting unit or module. The respective units or modules may be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For instance, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0223] Although the description has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments described herein, as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from this disclosure that processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, may perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.FW 6000757US01 36

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:generating a downlink control information (DCI) indicating an uplink grant for a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission by a user equipment (UE);transmitting, to the UE, the DCI; andreceiving, from the UE, an NPUSCH transmission with an orthogonal cover code (OCC) that is transmitted based on the DCI,wherein the DCI comprises:a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value, a subcarrier resources value, andan enabling / disabling OCC field for enabling or disabling an OCC of the NPUSCH transmission,wherein when the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the DCI further comprises an OCC sequence index.

2. The method according to claim 1, w herein when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 3.75 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value are included in a MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field includes 9 bits to indicate a combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 15 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value are included in a MCS field and a subcarrier indication field, respectively.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is a first SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, a subcarrier resources value of a subcarrier indication is from a reduced set of subcarrier resources values that is a subset of a set of subcarrier resources values, andwherein w hen the SCS value of the NPUSCH transmission is a second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates the OCC is enabled, the MCS value is from a reduced set of MCS values that is a subset of a set of MCS values, and a value to indicate the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value is a combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value.FW 6000757US01 376. The method according to claim 5, wherein when the SCS value of the NPUSCH transmission is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that OCC is enabled, the MCS value is a remainder of the combination divided by a number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values, and wherein the subcarrier resources value is a quotient of the combination divided by the number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values.

7. The method according to any of claims 5-6, wherein the first SCS value is 15 kHz, and the second SCS value is 3.75 kHz.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein prior to generating the DCI, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling parameter NPUSCH-OCC-Enabled.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, further comprising: receiving, from the UE prior to generating the DCI, an indication indicating that the UE supports the NPUSCH transmission using the OCC.

10. A base station, comprising:one or more processors; anda non-transitory memory coupled to the one or more processors storing instructions to be executed by the one or more processors,wherein when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the base station is caused to perform the method of any of claims 1-9.

11. A non-transitory computer readable media, comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-9.

12. A method for wireless communication, comprising:receiving, from a base station (BS), a downlink control information (DCI) indicating an uplink grant for a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) transmission; andtransmitting, to the base station, an NPUSCH transmission with an orthogonal cover code (OCC) on subcarrier resources indicated by a subcarrier resources value and with a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indicated by a MCS value,wherein the DCI comprises:the MCS value, the subcarrier resources value, andan enabling / disabling OCC field for enabling or disabling an OCC of the NPUSCH transmission, andFW 6000757US01 38wherein the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that the OCC is enabled, and the DCI further comprises an OCC sequence index.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 3.75 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value are included in a MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the MCS and subcarrier indication for OCC field includes 9 bits to indicate a combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resources value.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein when a subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission is 15 kHz, the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value are included in a MCS field and a subcarrier indication field, respectively.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein for a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) value of the NPUSCH transmission and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicating the OCC is enabled, the subcarrier resources value is from a reduced set of subcarrier resources values that is a subset of a set of subcarrier resources values, and wherein for a second SCS value of the NPUSCH transmission and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicating OCC is enabled, the MCS value is from a reduced set of MCS values that is a subset of the set of MCS values, and a value to indicate the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value is a combination of the MCS value and the subcarrier resource value.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein when the SCS value of the NPUSCH transmission is the second SCS value and the enabling / disabling OCC field indicates that OCC is enabled, the MCS value is a remainder of the combination divided by a number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values, and wherein the subcarrier resources value is a quotient of the combination divided by the number of defined values in the reduced set of MCS values.

18. The method according to any of claims 16-17, wherein the first SCS value is 15 kHz, and the second SCS value is 3.75 kHz.

19. The method according to any of claims 12-18, wherein prior to receiving the DCI, the method further comprises receiving, from the BS, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling parameter NPUSCH-OCC-Enabled.

20. The method according to any of claims 12-19, further comprising transmitting, to the BS prior to receiving the DCI, an indication indicating supports for NPUSCH transmission using the OCC.FW 6000757US01 3921. A user equipment (UE), comprising:one or more processors; anda non-transitoiy memory coupled to the one or more processors storing instructions to be executed by the one or more processors,wherein when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the UE is caused to perform the method of any of claims 12-20.

22. A non-transitoiy computer readable media, comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 12-20.FW 6000757US01 40

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