Uplink transmission control

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to uplink (UL) transmission control. A method comprises determining at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period; determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and applying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

Description

UPLINK TRANSMISSION CONTROLCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, US Provisional Application No.63 / 749394, filed January 24, 2025, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for uplink (UL) transmission control.BACKGROUND

[0003] A communication network may serve as a facility that enables communications between two or more communication devices or provides communication devices access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is one example of a communication network.

[0004] The communication network may operate in accordance with standards such as those provided by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) or European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Examples of standards provided by 3GPP are the so-called 3GPP standards for cellular technology generations, such as 3GPP standards for 4G technology, 5G technology, 6G technology etc.SUMMARY

[0005] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: determine at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period; determine at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and apply, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0006] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements; receive, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within theat least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0007] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period; determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and applying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0008] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements; receiving, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0009] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for determining at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period; means for determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and means for applying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0010] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements; means for receiving, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0011] In aseventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus toperform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0012] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0013] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0016] FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of in-band emissions (IBE);

[0017] FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR);

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow of uplink transmission control in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of a time domain pattern according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of radio frequency requirements based on adjacent channel leakage ratio according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of radio frequency requirements based on in-band emissions according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of radio frequency requirements based on guard band according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 10 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0026] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0029] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0030] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0031] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0032] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0033] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”,“includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0035] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0036] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0037] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0038] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network viawhich a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (I AB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0039] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0040] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmissionresource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication environment 100 includes a plurality of communication devices, including a network device 120, a terminal device 110-1, a terminal device 110-2, , and a terminal device 110-N, where N is a positive integer. In the following, the terminal device 110-1, the terminal device 110-2, , and the terminal device 110-N may be referred to as a terminal device 110 individually or as terminal devices 110 collectively.

[0042] In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal device 110 may be a UE and the network device 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The serving area of the network device 120 may be called a cell 102. Although one cell is shown, the communication environment 100 may include more than one cell. The terminal devices 110 may be served by the same cell or different cells.

[0043] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100.

[0044] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the terminal device 110 operating as a UE and the network device 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0045] In some example embodiments, a transmission direction from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a transmission direction from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the terminal device 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the network device 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0046] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division MultipleAccess (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0047] In the environment 100, the terminal device 110 may perform UL transmissions to the network device 120. UL transmissions may include but not limited to physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, or physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, etc. UL transmission control, for example, UL transmission power control, is needed.

[0048] Considering the growing deployment of MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), which involves UL transmission with more than one terminal device, power control mechanisms are needed. Existing solutions of UL transmission power control are specified in technical specifications, which may include but not limited to power control of PUSCH transmissions, PUCCH transmissions, SRS transmissions and PRACH transmissions.

[0049] In existing solutions, UL transmission power of the channels is determined based on configured maximum UE output power depending on the maximum power reduction (MPR). For example, the UE is allowed to set its configured maximum output power PCMAx,f,c for carrier f of serving cell c in each slot. For the single carrier case or single UL component carrier (CC) with carrier aggregation (CA), PCMAx,f,c is within the boundary between PCMAx_L,f,c and PCMAXJJJ.C determined as follows for example:<& " &

[0050] For intra-band (non-)contiguous and inter-band CA, the max power requirement is applicable to the total transmission power over all CCs. For inter-band with 2 UL CC in one NR band, (non-)contiguous and intra-band power class (PC) is applicable for this band. For inter-band with UL in more than one different NR bands, the max power requirement may be measured over allcomponent carriers from different bands. The PC reference above are according to the parameter “ue-PowerClass” or the reported “ue-PowerClassPerBandPerBC-r17” if indicated.

[0051] Based on the configured UE maximum output power PCMAx,f,c> the transmission power of each channel is determined respectively. For example, the PUSCH transmission power is determined by UE based on a combination of open-loop power control and closed-loop power control. The openloop power control includes support for fractional path-loss compensation, where the UE estimates the UL path-loss based on DL measurements and sets the transmit power accordingly. And the closed-loop power control is based on explicit transmit power-control (TPC) commands provided by the network. In summary, the UE is indicated or determines closed-loop parameters (such as closed-loop index, TPC command) and open-loop parameters (such as pathloss reference RS, pO, a). The TPC command is carried in the downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the PUSCH transmission. Also, TPC command (and corresponding closed-loop index) can be carried jointly to multiple UEs by means of group-common DCI using DCI format 2-2. The power control parameters on which the PUSCH transmission power depends include: closed-loop index (also referred to as PC adjustment state), TPC commandabsolute or accumulative TPC command, pathloss reference RS (reference signal), pO (also referred to as POUE_PUSCH,A(for partial of full pathloss compensation), and ATF(i.e.also referred to as power adjustment component. The ATFessentially models how the required received power varies when the number of information bits per resource element (BPRE) changes due to different modulation schemes and channel-coding rates.

[0052] Specifically, the PUSCH transmission power is determined by the UE based on the following. For example, if a UE transmits a PUSCH transmission on active UL BWP b of carrier f of serving cell c using parameter set configuration with index j and PUSCH power control adjustment state with index I, the UE determines the PUSCH transmission power F’puscHA / -,e( j> Qd> in PUSCH transmission occasion i as:

[0053] Specifically, the SRS transmission power is determined by the UE based on the following. If a UE transmits SRS based on a configuration by SRS-ResourceSet on active UL BWP b of carrier f of serving cell c using SRS power control adjustment state with index I, the UE determines the SRS transmission power> in SRS transmission occasion i as:

[0054] Specifically, the PUCCH transmission power is determined by the UE based on the following.If a UE transmits a PUCCH on active UL BWP b of carrier f in the primary cell c using PUCCH power control adjustment state with index I, the UE determines the PUCCH transmission power<>> PUCCH transmission occasion i as:

[0055] In order to avoid interference to connected cell and adjacent cells, there may be radio frequency (RF) requirements, such as adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR), in-band emissions (IBE) or guard band.

[0056] FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of IBE which is related to interference to the connected cell. IBE is a measure of the interference falling into the non-allocated resources blocks in UE channel bandwidth (CBW) 210. When UE transmits a signal 230 on the either side of the UE CBW, UE may not use all resources blocks. Therefore, interference may be caused in the non-allocated resources blocks. The measure of the interference includes carrier leakage 240 relative to transmit power and an image 250 relative to the transmit power.

[0057] FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of ACLR which is related to interference to the adjacent cells. When UE transmits a signal 290 on the either side of the UE CBW, the actual impact of the noise 280 on the adjacent cells are not equal. As shown in FIG. 2B, block A 260 and block B 270 are not equal. For example, as can be seen in FIG.2B, the impact on the block B is less than that of the block A. ACLR is a relative measure compared to wanted power, where the power ration shall be met even if the wanted power is small. Therefore, ACLR is different from e.g. spectrum emission mask etc. Currently, ACLR must be a regulation in many of the countries. The requirements of ACLR may be different depending on power class, frequency range, etc.

[0058] Currently, existing power control mechanisms are based on fixed or static RF requirements, which means that the RF requirements may not change in the time domain. And those requirements do not account, for example, for situation in adjacent cell(s), such as in terms of lack / absence of UL transmissions at certain times in some cell (s) or more generally in terms of interference at or generated by a cell. Due to tighter RF requirements and / or usage of two or more transmit antennas / chains, larger MPR have been introduced. However, larger MPR may result in reduced configured maximum output power and limit the UL transmit power and thus negatively affecting UL coverage. Therefore, a solution enabling more flexible / adaptative RF requirements adaptation is expected / needed, e.g., accounting for the situation in an adjacent cell(s) (and more specifically, for example, at adjacent frequency allocation in an adjacent cell(s)).

[0059] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for enhanced UL transmission control, specifically for UL power control / adjustment.According to example embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE determines at least one set of RF requirements corresponding to at least one time period. Based on the at least one set of RF requirements, the UE determines at least one transmission parameter, for example, at least one maximum transmit power. Within a time period of the at least one time period, the UE applies a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device. The applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of RF requirements corresponding to the time period.

[0060] The solutions of the present disclosure enable determination of time periods for (dynamic) RF requirements adjustment. The solutions also allow the UE to optimize its transmission parameter (for example, UL power more) dynamically according to the RF requirements. This can result in higher coverage, flexibility and capacity, and reduced latency due to less HARQ re-transmission / repetitions with UE power boost in time non-overlapping UL, etc. The solutions leverage the knowledge at the network device regarding situation (such as in terms of lack or absence of UL transmissions, or more generally in terms of interference) e.g., considering two cells that are adjacent. Further, the solutions provide the network with tools / methods to enable suitable adaptation / adjustment of RF requirements and thus adaptation / adjustment of some transmission parameters which depend on those RF requirements.

[0061] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow 300 of uplink transmission control in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of illustration, the signaling flow 300 is described with respect to FIG. 1. The signaling flow 300 involves the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0063] The terminal device 310 determines (312) at least one set of RF requirements corresponding to at least one time period. In example embodiments, a set of RF requirements may include one or more RF requirements. An RF requirement may include any suitable requirement for in-band emission and / or out-of-band emission. For example, the RF requirement may include at least one of a limit on the in-band emission, a rule on the in-band emission, a frequency domain boundary of the in-band emission, a limit on the out-of-band emission, a rule on the out-of-band emission, a frequency domain boundary of the out-of-band emission. The term “time period” may refer to a period in time domain and may be also referred to as “time window”. The terms “time period” and “time window” may be used interchangeably. The at least one time period may be periodically, semi-persistent or dynamically.

[0064] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period may be determined based on information about the at least one period received from the network device 320, for example configuration information or indication from the network device 320. Alternatively, or in addition, theat least one time period may be determined a configuration of a transmission from the terminal device 310 to the network device 320, for example any suitable UL transmission configuration. Alternatively, or in addition, the at least one time period may be determined based on a configuration of time domain resources for the terminal device 310.

[0065] For example, the UE determines at least one time period for the purpose of RF requirement adaptation based on at least one of the factors shown in Table 1.Table 1 Example factors for determining the at least one time period

[0066] As mentioned above, in some example embodiments, the at least one time period may be configured or indicated by the network device 320. As shown in FIG. 3, the network device 320 may transmit (302), to the terminal device 310, information about at least one time period. Correspondingly, the terminal device 310 may receive (304) the information about at least one time period from thenetwork device 320. In such example embodiments, the at least one time period may be determined by the network device 320 for example based on one or more of the example factors as listed in Table 1. For example, the gNB may indicate the information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of RF requirements to the UE via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), MAC CE, or system information (SI).

[0067] In some example embodiments, correspondence or association of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period may be determined based on an indication from the network device 120. For example, the indication may include mapping between the at least one set of radio frequency requirements and the at least one time period. The indication may be received via at least one of RRC signaling, DCI, MAC CE, or SI for example.

[0068] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period may may be indicated by a time domain pattern. In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of: a channel bandwidth for the terminal device 310, or a frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the terminal device 310.

[0069] For example, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with the UE channel bandwidth. Additionally, or alternatively, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated an adjacent cell, CC (component carrier), BW (bandwidth or bandwidth part), or spectrum (or even band).

[0070] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may be indicated by the network device 320 via at least one of: a RRC signaling, DCI, MAC CE or SI. For example, for the purpose of dynamic RF requirement(s) adaptation or adjustment, the time domain pattern may be indicated to the UE (or to multiple UEs) via at least one of RRC, DCI, MAC CE, or SI. Alternatively, the at least one time period may be indicated to the UE (or to multiple UEs) via at least one of RRC, DCI, MAC CE, or SI.

[0071] Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a time domain pattern 400 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The time domain pattern 400 includes more than one time period with various length in the time domain. For a first time period 410, the UE may determine and use a first set of RF requirements. For a second time period 420, the UE may determine and use a second set of RF requirements.

[0072] Reference is now made back to FIG. 3. In some example embodiments, to enable the network device to configure the at least one time period (for example, the time domain pattern), the terminal device 310 may report its capability in RF requirement switching to the network device. As shown in FIG. 3, in some example embodiments, the terminal device 310 may transmit (314), to the network device 320, information indicative of a time length supported by the terminal device to switch from a set of RF requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements. Correspondingly, the network device 320 may receive (316), from the terminal device, information indicative of a time lengthsupported by the terminal device to switch from a set of RF requirements to another set of RF requirements.

[0073] In some examples, a minimum time requirement may be needed for the UE to switch from applying or assuming one RF requirement state / level to applying another RF requirement state / level. Such a minimum time required for switching may correspond to or may be represented as a transient period. The UE may provide the network device with information indicative of the switching time length supported by the UE through e.g., capability signaling or through uplink control information (UCI) or MAC CE. In some examples, the switching time length may be different depending on the RF requirement switch states or intensity. This may correspond to the magnitude of the gap, for example, in terms of RF requirement relaxation or restriction, or the corresponding MPR or Absolute MPR (A-MPR).

[0074] In some example embodiments, at least one time domain pattern may be configured or indicated to the network device 320. Accordingly, the network device 320 may transmit (306), to the terminal device 310, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern. Correspondingly, the terminal device 310 may receive (308), from the network device 320, the activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern. Based on the activation information, the terminal device 310 may determine to use one or more time domain pattern of the at least one time domain pattern.

[0075] For example, the gNB may indicate the UE with activation information indicative whether or which at least one time domain pattern is activated / applicable or not, (i.e., deactivated or not applicable). The activation information may be carried through at least one of RRC, DCI, or MAC CE (or even SI). Alternatively, or additionally, the activation information may be indicated to a group of UEs through group-common DCI / PDCCH. Alternatively, or additionally, the activation information may be per or for a serving cell (or a serving cell group), or CC (or a CC group), or BWP (or a BWP group). In case that the activation information is indicated through group-common DCI / PDCCH, the size of the DCI and the search space set of the DCI format may be configurable via UE higher layer signaling.

[0076] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may indicate: a first time period corresponding to a first set of RF requirements and a second time period corresponding to a second set of RF requirements different from the first set of RF requirements. The first time period and the second time period may repeat in time domain. For example, the first time period 410 and the second time period 420 as shown in FIG. 4 may repeat in time.

[0077] In some examples, a time domain pattern includes more than two (e.g., consecutive) time periods that repeats in time domain. For example, the time domain pattern includes a first time period where the UE may apply or assume or consider at least one first RF requirement, and a second time period where the UE may apply or assume or consider at least one second RF requirement.

[0078] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may be represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits may be indicative of a RF requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit. For example, a time domain pattern may be represented by a bitmap. Each bit of the bitmap may indicate a RF requirement (for example, relaxation or restriction) level or state for a time period equal to the granularity of the pattern. Alternatively, or additionally, a time domain pattern may be represented by a bitstring.

[0079] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may be periodic or semi-persistent. In some examples, the time domain pattern may be configured with a periodicity and offset. The periodicity and the offset indicate the periodicity of the pattern (e.g., in number of symbols or slots, or in milliseconds) and the reference point in time for applying the pattern. Alternatively, or additionally, the periodicity may be determined by the UE as the length in time domain of the pattern or the concatenation of the time periods.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may further indicate or be associated with a set of RF requirements corresponding to the at least one time period. In some examples, a time domain pattern may include or be associated with a single RF requirement (for example, relaxation or restriction) level or state applicable at or within certain time period(s). While in other time periods, a normal RF requirement (i.e., legacy RF requirement) may be applicable. In some examples, an RF requirement level or state may be defined as a delta or difference compared to a normal / default RF requirement.

[0081] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern may be updated. For example, one or more time periods of the at least one time period may be updated, or a periodicity of a time period of the at least one time period. In some examples, for the purpose of (dynamic) RF requirement adaptation or adjustment, the time domain pattern and its associated parameters may be updated via DCI or MAC CE. The update may e.g., correspond to for example updating one or more time periods (e.g., time period length, number of time periods, etc.) or updating corresponding periodicity.

[0082] In some embodiments, a time period of the at least one time period for a first cell corresponds to an energy saving state of a second cell different from the first cell.

[0083] For example, a time period of a time domain pattern (e.g., for a (serving) cell(s)), may correspond to an energy saving mode or level or state of another (serving) cell (s). In some examples, a time period may correspond to such as active or inactive period of cell DRX of another cell(s). In some examples, a time period may correspond to DL symbols / slots or UL symbols / slots of another cell, in case that TDD configuration is different between the cell and another cell (s) . In some examples, a time period may correspond to a period where a certain at least one spatial pattern is applicable in another cell(s). In some examples, a time period may correspond to a period where a certain at least one power level / offset, corresponding to PDSCH, SSB, CSI-RS, RS, etc., is applicable in anothercell(s). In some examples, a time period may correspond to SBFD or full duplex periods (slots, etc.) of another cell(s). In some examples, a time period may correspond to a number of SSBs. In some examples, a time period may correspond to muting (or unmuting) of at least one node / transmissionreception point (TRP), panel(s), sub-panel(s).

[0084] In some examples, a pattern for a cell or a network node may correspond to or be associated with at least one energy saving pattern and / or at least one TDD pattern / configuration etc. of at least one other cell(s) or at least one other network node.

[0085] Now some example embodiments regarding the at least one set of RF requirements are described.

[0086] In some example embodiments, the at least one set of RF requirements corresponding to the at least one time period may be configured or indicated by the network device 320. As shown in FIG.3, the network device 320 may transmit (318), to the terminal device 310, information indicative of the at least one set of RF requirements to be applied within the at least one time period. Correspondingly, the terminal device 310 may receive (322), from the network device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period. It is to be noted that although shown separately, the information indicative of the at least one set of RF requirements and the information about the at least one time period may be transmitted together.

[0087] In some examples, the gNB may indicate or configure the UE with information indicative of at least one RF requirement (for example, relaxation or restriction) to assume or to apply within the at least one time period. The information indicative of at least one RF requirement may be indicated to the UE via at least one of RRC signaling, DCI, MAC CE, or SI. Alternatively, or additionally, the information may be indicated to multiple UEs through group-common DCI / PDCCH, whether it is common information or separate information for each UE of the multiple UEs.

[0088] In some examples, the RF requirement indicated by the information may be only applicable to or useable within a certain time period(s). While in other time periods, the UE may be configured or indicated to apply a normal RF requirement or a default RF requirement (i.e., legacy RF requirement).

[0089] In some example embodiments, the terminal device may determine a first set of RF requirements corresponding to at least one first time period, and determine a second set of RF requirements corresponding to at least one second time period. The first set of RF requirements is different from the second set of RF requirements.

[0090] In some example embodiments, a set of RF requirements corresponding to a time period of the at least one time period comprises or may be determined based on at least one of: at least one frequency domain boundary allowed for uplink within the time period, at least one limit for maximum allowed emission within the time period, at least one guard band size in frequency domain within the time period, or information about radio frequency relaxation within the time period. For example,determining at least one RF requirement based on or associated with at least one time period / window may include: determining a frequency domain boundary, determining a limit for maximum allowed emission (IBE, ACLR limit), determining at least one guard band size, determining RF relaxation range or value / level or limit (such as ACLR relaxation range, IBE relaxation range, etc.).

[0091] In some example embodiments, a set of RF requirements of the at least one set of RF requirements may be based on at least one of ACLR, IBE, out-of-band emission, spectrum emission mask (SEM), spurious emission, power class (related) assumption, or a guard band, etc. In other words, an RF requirement may comprise or correspond to or be related to at least one of the ACLR, IBE, out-of-band emission, SEM, spurious emission, power class (related) assumption, or a guard band etc.

[0092] An example related to ACLR is now described. FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of RF requirements based on ACLR. The time domain pattern 500A includes first time periods applicable for a first set of RF requirements and second time periods applicable for a second set of RF requirements. For example, comparing to the first time periods, the UE may relax the RF requirements during the second time periods due to the adjacent cells are not used. For the first time periods, UE may determine a first ACLR left boundary 501 and a first ACLR right boundary 502 based on an ACLR measured between the UE CBW and the adjacent cells. According to the boundary on the frequency domain, the UE may determine a first ACLR left limit and a first ACLR right limit. For the second time periods, the UE may determine a second ACLR left boundary 503 and a second ACLR right boundary 504 based on an ACLR measured between the UE CBW and the adjacent cells. According to the boundary on the frequency domain, the UE may determine a second ACLR left limit and a second ACLR right limit. As can be seen in FIG.5, the second set of RF requirements allows the UE to transmit with a higher power. In some embodiments, the second ACLR left limit may be different from the second ACLR right limit due to the ACLR may be different between the two adjacent cells.

[0093] Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, a set of RF requirements of the at least one set of RF requirements may be based on IBE. In other words, an RF requirement comprises or corresponds to or be related to the IBE.

[0094] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of RF requirements based on IBE. The time domain pattern 600A includes first time periods applicable for a first set of RF requirements and second time periods applicable for a second set of RF requirements. For the first time periods, UE may determine a first IBE left boundary 601 and a first IBE right boundary 602 based on an IBE measured within the UE CBW. According to the boundary on the frequency domain, the UE may determine a first IBE left limit and a first IBE right limit based on the IBE. For the second time periods, the UE may determine a second IBE boundary left 603 and a second IBE right boundary 604 based on the IBE within the UE CBW. According to the boundary on the frequency domain, the UE may determine a second IBE leftlimit and a second IBE right limit based on the IBE.

[0095] Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, a set of RF requirements of the at least one set of RF requirements may be based on guard band. In other words, an RF requirement may comprise or correspond to or be related the guard band.

[0096] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of RF requirements based on guard band. The time domain pattern 700A includes first time periods applicable for a first set of RF requirements and second time periods applicable for a second set of RF requirements. For the first time periods, UE may determine a first left guard band 701 and a first right guard band 702 based on the guard band measured between the UE CBW and the adjacent cells. For the second time periods, the UE may determine a second left guard band 703 and a second right guard band 704 based on the guard band measured between the UE CBW and the adjacent cells.

[0097] Reference is made back to FIG. 3. The terminal device 310 determines (324) at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements. The transmission parameter may be any suitable parameter for UL transmission, for example, any of those described above.

[0098] In some embodiments, the at least one transmission parameter may include at least one maximum transmit power. For example, the at least one transmission parameter may include a configured maximum output power, or a configured maximum transmit power.

[0099] In some embodiments, the terminal device 310 may determine at least one level of MPR based on the at least one set of RF requirements, and the terminal device 310 may determine the at least one maximum transmit power based on the least one level of MPR. For example, the UE may determine a maximum transmit power based at least part on the MPR due to or corresponding to the at least on RF requirement.

[0100] Then, the terminal device 310 applies (326) within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device. The applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of RF requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period. The terminal device 310 transmits (328), to the network device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period. Correspondingly, the network device 320 receives (332), from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the UE may obtain association of at least one transmission configuration indicator (or indication) state to at least one RF requirement. Obtaining such association may be through indication / update via RRC or MAC CE, or even DCI, signaling from the network device. Two or more different transmission configuration indicator states may be associated with different RF requirements. For an indicated transmission configuration indicator state or for an applicabletransmission configuration indicator state (which may be indicated through DCI, MAC CE or even RRC), the associated at least one RF requirement may be applied. Hence, for an UL transmission for which a configuration indicator state is applicable, the at least one RF requirement associated with that transmission configuration indicator state may be applied. And thus, the UE determines the transmission parameter(s) such as configured max output power or max transmit power corresponding to that UL transmission based on the applicable at least one RF requirement.

[0102] I n some example embodiments, the correspondence or association of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period may be obtained through an association of a transmission configuration indicator state to the at least one set of radio frequency requirements. For example, association of at least one RF requirement to a time period or (to at least one time period) may be implemented through or based on association of the at least one RF requirement to a transmission configuration indicator state. The transmission configuration indicator state may be associated with the at least one time period or with a time period of the at least one time period. The time period may be the transmission time period or period of time during which the transmission configuration indicator state is applicable.

[0103] In some examples, a transmission configuration indicator state may be replaced by spatial relation information or by other parameters, for example, SRS resource indicator (SRI) or transmit precoding / precoder matrix indicator (TPMI) or time domain resource allocation (TDRA) or frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA). Hence, the embodiments applicable for transmission configuration indicator state may also be valid for another parameter, such as spatial relation information or SRI or TPMI or TDRA or FDRA, by replacing that transmission configuration indicator state by that other parameter.

[0104] In at least some example embodiments, configured max output / transmit power or max transmit power corresponds to (or per) one or multiple cells, or one or multiple carriers, or one or multiple BWPs, (bandwidth parts), or one or more component carriers. In at least some embodiments, the terms ‘cell’, ‘serving cell’, ‘bandwidth’, ‘bandwidth part’, ‘carrier’, ‘component carrier’ (or even ‘band’) may be used interchangeably.

[0105] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus in FIG. 1.

[0106] At block 810, the first apparatus determines at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period.

[0107] At block 820, the first apparatus determines at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements.

[0108] At block 830, the first apparatus applies, within a time period of the at least one time period,a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of: information about the at least one period received from the network device, a configuration of a transmission from the first apparatus to the network device; or a configuration of time domain resources for the first apparatus.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: determining a first set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one first time period; and determining a second set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one second time period, wherein the first set of radio frequency requirements is different from the second set of radio frequency requirements.

[0111] In some example embodiments, a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to a time period of the at least one time period comprises or is determined based on at least one of: at least one frequency domain boundary allowed for uplink within the time period, at least one limit for maximum allowed emission within the time period, at least one guard band size in frequency domain within the time period, or information about radio frequency relaxation within the time period.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern corresponds to oris associated with at least one of: a channel bandwidth for the first apparatus, or a frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the first apparatus.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is indicated by the network device via at least one of: a radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or system information.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: receiving, from the network device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern indicates: a first time period corresponding to a first set of radio frequency requirements, and a second time period corresponding to a second set of radio frequency requirements different from the first set of radio frequency requirements, and wherein the first time period and the second time period repeat in time domain.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time periodcorresponding to the bit.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: transmitting, to the network device, information indicative of a time length supported by the first apparatus to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: receiving, from the network device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the method 800 further comprises: determining at least one level of maximum power reduction, MPR, based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and determining the at least one maximum transmit power based on the least one level of MPR.

[0124] In some example embodiments, a time period of the at least one time period for a first cell corresponds to an energy saving state of a second cell different from the first cell.

[0125] In some example embodiments, a set of radio frequency requirements of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements is based on at least one: an adjacent channel leakage ratio, in-band emission, out-of-band emission, spectrum emission mask, spurious emission, a power class, or guard band.

[0126] In some example embodiments, correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is determined based on an indication from the network device.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is obtained through an association of a transmission configuration indicator state to the at least one set of radio frequency requirements.

[0128] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0129] At block 910, the second apparatus transmits, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements.

[0130] At block 920, the second apparatus receives, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time periodof the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of: a configuration of a transmission from the terminal device to the second apparatus; or a configuration of time domain resources for the terminal device.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

[0133] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of: a channel bandwidth for the terminal device, or a frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the terminal device.

[0134] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is indicated to the terminal device via at least one of: a radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or system information.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to the terminal device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: receiving, from the terminal device, information indicative of a time length supported by the terminal device to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to the terminal device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power.

[0142] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 800 (for example, the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 800. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implementedas or included in the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period; means for determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and means for applying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of: information about the at least one period received from the network device, a configuration of a transmission from the first apparatus to the network device; or a configuration of time domain resources for the first apparatus.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining a first set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one first time period; and means for determining a second set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one second time period, wherein the first set of radio frequency requirements is different from the second set of radio frequency requirements.

[0146] In some example embodiments, a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to a time period of the at least one time period comprises or is determined based on at least one of: at least one frequency domain boundary allowed for uplink within the time period, at least one limit for maximum allowed emission within the time period, at least one guard band size in frequency domain within the time period, or information about radio frequency relaxation within the time period.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of: a channel bandwidth for the first apparatus, or a frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the first apparatus.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is indicated by the network device via at least one of: a radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or system information.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the network device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern indicates: a first time periodcorresponding to a first set of radio frequency requirements, and a second time period corresponding to a second set of radio frequency requirements different from the first set of radio frequency requirements, and wherein the first time period and the second time period repeat in time domain.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

[0155] I n some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the network device, information indicative of a time length supported by the first apparatus to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

[0156] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the network device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining at least one level of maximum power reduction, MPR, based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; and means for determining the at least one maximum transmit power based on the least one level of MPR.

[0159] In some example embodiments, a time period of the at least one time period for a first cell corresponds to an energy saving state of a second cell different from the first cell.

[0160] In some example embodiments, a set of radio frequency requirements of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements is based on at least one: an adjacent channel leakage ratio, in-band emission, out-of-band emission, spectrum emission mask, spurious emission, a power class, or guard band.

[0161] In some example embodiments, correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is determined based on an indication from the network device.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is obtained through an association of a transmission configuration indicator state to the at least one set of radio frequency requirements.

[0163] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 900 (for example, the network device 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respectiveoperations of the method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0164] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements; means for receiving, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of: a configuration of a transmission from the terminal device to the second apparatus; or a configuration of time domain resources for the terminal device.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of: a channel bandwidth for the terminal device, or a frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the terminal device.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is indicated to the terminal device via at least one of: a radio resource control signaling, downlink control information, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or system information.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the terminal device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

[0172] In some example embodiments, the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

[0173] I n some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the terminal device, information indicative of a time length supported by the terminal device to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

[0174] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the terminal device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequencyrequirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power

[0176] FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1000 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1000 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010, one or more memories 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, and one or more communication modules 1040 coupled to the processor 1010.

[0177] The communication module 1040 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1040 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1040 may include at least one antenna.

[0178] The processor 1010 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0179] The memory 1020 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1024, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 1022 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0180] A computer program 1030 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1010. The instructions of the program 1030 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1030 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1024. The processor 1010 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1030 into the RAM 1022.

[0181] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1030 so that the device 1000 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 9. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also beimplemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the program 1030 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1000 (such as in the memory 1020) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1000. The device 1000 may load the program 1030 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1022 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. , tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0183] FIG. 11 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1100 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1100 has the program 1030 stored thereon.

[0184] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0185] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machineexecutable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0186] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by theprocessor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0187] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0188] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0189] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0190] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:determine at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period;determine at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; andapply, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of:information about the at least one period received from the network device,a configuration of a transmission from the first apparatus to the network device; ora configuration of time domain resources for the first apparatus.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine a first set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one first time period; anddetermining a second set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one second time period, wherein the first set of radio frequency requirements is different from the second set of radio frequency requirements.

4. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to a time period of the at least one time period comprises or is determined based on at least one of:at least one frequency domain boundary allowed for uplink within the time period,at least one limit for maximum allowed emission within the time period,at least one guard band size in frequency domain within the time period, orinformation about radio frequency relaxation within the time period.

5. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

6. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of:a channel bandwidth for the first apparatus, ora frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the first apparatus.

7. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern is indicated by the network device via at least one of:a radio resource control signaling,downlink control information,a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, orsystem information.

8. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern is one of at least one time domain pattern, and the first apparatus is further caused to:receive, from the network device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

9. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern indicates:a first time period corresponding to a first set of radio frequency requirements, anda second time period corresponding to a second set of radio frequency requirements different from the first set of radio frequency requirements, andwherein the first time period and the second time period repeat in time domain.

10. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit.

11. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

12. The first apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

13. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is further caused to:transmit, to the network device, information indicative of a time length supported by the first apparatus to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

14. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is further caused to:receive, from the network device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

15. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power.

16. The first apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine at least one level of maximum power reduction, MPR, based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; anddetermine the at least one maximum transmit power based on the least one level of MPR.

17. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a time period of the at least one time period for a first cell corresponds to an energy saving state of a second cell different from the first cell.

18. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a set of radio frequency requirements of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements is based on at least one of:an adjacent channel leakage ratio,in-band emission,out-of-band emission,spectrum emission mask,spurious emission,a power class, ora guard band.

19. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is determined based on an indication from the network device.

20. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the correspondence of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to the at least one time period is obtained through an association of a transmissionconfiguration indicator state to the at least one set of radio frequency requirements.

21. A second apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:transmit, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements;receive, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

22. The second apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one time period is determined based on at least one of:a configuration of a transmission from the terminal device to the second apparatus; ora configuration of time domain resources for the terminal device.

23. The second apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one time period is indicated by a time domain pattern.

24. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern corresponds to or is associated with at least one of:a channel bandwidth for the terminal device, ora frequency resource adjacent to the channel bandwidth for the terminal device.

25. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern is indicated to the terminal device via at least one of:a radio resource control signaling,downlink control information,a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, orsystem information.

26. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern is one of at least one time domain pattern, and the second apparatus is further caused to:transmit, to the terminal device, activation information indicative of activation or deactivation of the at least one time domain pattern.

27. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern is represented by a set of bits, and a bit in the set of bits is indicative of a radio frequency requirement level for a time period corresponding to the bit.

28. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern is periodic or semi-persistent.

29. The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the time domain pattern further indicates a set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to the at least one time period.

30. The second apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the second apparatus is further caused to: receive, from the terminal device, information indicative of a time length supported by the terminal device to switch from a set of radio frequency requirements to another set of radio frequency requirements.

31. The second apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the second apparatus is further caused to: transmit, to the terminal device, information indicative of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements to be applied within the at least one time period.

32. The second apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one transmission parameter comprises at least one maximum transmit power.

33. A method comprising:determining, at a terminal device, at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period;determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; andapplying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

34. A method comprising:transmitting, at a network device to a terminal device, information about at least one timeperiod corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements;receiving, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

35. A first apparatus comprising:means for determining at least one set of radio frequency requirements corresponding to at least one time period;means for determining at least one transmission parameter based on the at least one set of radio frequency requirements; andmeans for applying, within a time period of the at least one time period, a transmission parameter of the at least one transmission parameter to an uplink transmission to a network device, wherein the applied transmission parameter is determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

36. A second apparatus comprising:means for transmitting, to a terminal device, information about at least one time period corresponding to at least one set of radio frequency requirements;means for receiving, from the terminal device, at least one uplink transmission within the at least one time period, wherein an uplink transmission within a time period of the at least one time period is applied with a transmission parameter determined based on a set of radio frequency requirements, of the at least one set of radio frequency requirements, corresponding to the time period.

37. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 33 or the method of claim 34.

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