Method and device for carrier switching

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher datatransmission rate. The present disclosure proposes a method and device for carrier switching. In one aspect, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration related to switching operation betweeen a first cell and a second cell, wherein the configuration includes information for a first duration;switching operation from a first cell to a second cell based on the first duration, wherein the first duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the first cell.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CARRIER SWITCHING

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more specifically, to a method and device for carrier switching.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0012] Embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system.

[0013] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0014] receiving first information related to a carrier switching pattern from a base station;

[0015] perform communication with the base station according to the carrier switching pattern,

[0016] wherein, the carrier switching pattern includes a first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, a second time domain resource corresponding to the second carrier, a first gap between the first time domain resource and the second time domain resource, and a second gap,

[0017] wherein the carrier switching pattern starts with the second gap if the first information comprises information indicating that the second gap is located at starting of the carrier switching pattern, otherwise the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource and ends with the second gap.

[0018] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, second offset information of the second time domain resource, and

[0019] wherein, the number of time units corresponding to the first gap and the second gap is predefined or preconfigured.

[0020] In an implementation, the second offset information of the second time domain resource indicates an offset of start of the second time domain resource with respect to start of the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, or an offset of end of the second time domain resource with respect to end of the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, or an offset of end of the second time domain resource with respect to end of the first time domain resource.

[0021] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, third number information of time units related to the first carrier,

[0022] wherein a first number of time units corresponding to the first gap and a second number of time units corresponding to the second gap are predefined, preconfigured, or determined based on UE capability information,

[0023] the method further comprises determining fourth number information of time units related to the second carrier based on the periodicity information and the third number information,

[0024] wherein, the second number of time units at end of the fourth number of time units in time domain correspond to the second gap, and the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain correspond to the first gap.

[0025] In an implementation, the first gap is determined to correspond to the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain based on channel usage in the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain, or

[0026] the first gap is preset to the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain.

[0027] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern and information of a fifth number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource,

[0028] wherein a first number of time units corresponding to the first gap and a second number of time units corresponding to the second gap are predefined, preconfigured, or determined based on UE capability information,

[0029] wherein, starting of the first gap and starting of the second gap are the same as end of the first time domain resource and end of the second time domain resource respectively, and end of the second gap is the same as end of the periodicity,

[0030] the method further comprises: determining the second time domain resource based on the periodicity information, the information of the fifth number of time units, the first gap, and the second gap.

[0031] In an implementation, the information indicating that the second gap is located at starting of the carrier switching pattern comprises first offset information of the first time domain resource,

[0032] the first information also includes: periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of a first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of a second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, second offset information of the second time domain resource.

[0033] In an implementation, the first information further comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of a first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of a second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, first offset information of the first time domain resource, and second offset information of the second time domain resource.

[0034] In an implementation, the second offset is an offset of the second time domain resource with respect to the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern or the first time domain resource.

[0035] In an implementation, the first gap corresponds to the same number of time units as the second gap, or

[0036] the first gap and the second gap correspond to different numbers of time units.

[0037] In an implementation, the UE capability information comprises at least one of: information on a number of carriers the UE supports for simultaneous operation, a type of a carrier the UE supports,

[0038] the method further comprises: reporting the UE capability information to the base station.

[0039] In an implementation, the method further comprises receiving second information related to a carrier switching configuration related to at least one carrier switching pattern from the base station,

[0040] wherein the first information related to the carrier switching pattern is included in the second information,

[0041] wherein, time units corresponding to different patterns of the at least one carrier switching pattern are continuous in time domain or discontinuous in time domain.

[0042] In an implementation, different patterns of the at least one carrier switching pattern are configured with a same periodicity, or are configured with different periodicities.

[0043] In an implementation, the second information further comprises a periodicity of the carrier switching configuration,

[0044] the method further comprising:

[0045] determining starting of the carrier switching configuration based on at least one of a predetermined parameter M, the periodicity of the carrier switching configuration, and a duration of a radio frame.

[0046] In an implementation, the method further comprises: receiving configuration information from the base station, the configuration information including at least one of: third information indicating a transmit and / or receive method, and fourth information indicating the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0047] In an implementation, the third information indicates the UE to transmit and / or receive signals by switching between the first carrier and the second carrier across time units, or

[0048] the third information indicates the UE to transmit and / or receive signals by switching between a first case and a second case across time units,

[0049] wherein, the first case corresponds to the UE transmitting and / or receiving signals based on the first carrier, and the second case corresponds to the UE transmitting and / or receiving signals based on the second carrier.

[0050] In an implementation, the first carrier is an FDD carrier and the second carrier is a supplemental downlink (SDL) carrier or a supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier.

[0051] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0052] transmit, to a user equipment (UE), first information related to a carrier switching pattern;

[0053] perform communication with the UE according to the carrier switching pattern,

[0054] wherein, the carrier switching pattern includes a first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, a second time domain resource corresponding to the second carrier, a first gap between the first time domain resource and the second time domain resource, and a second gap,

[0055] wherein the carrier switching pattern starts with the second gap if the first information comprises information indicating that the second gap is located at starting of the carrier switching pattern, otherwise the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource and ends with the second gap.

[0056] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, second offset information of the second time domain resource, and

[0057] wherein, the number of time units corresponding to the first gap and the second gap is predefined or preconfigured.

[0058] In an implementation, the second offset information of the second time domain resource indicates an offset of start of the second time domain resource with respect to start of the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, or an offset of end of the second time domain resource with respect to end of the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, or an offset of end of the second time domain resource with respect to end of the first time domain resource.

[0059] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, third number information of time units related to the first carrier,

[0060] wherein a first number of time units corresponding to the first gap and a second number of time units corresponding to the second gap are predefined, preconfigured, or determined based on UE capability information,

[0061] the method further comprises determining fourth number information of time units related to the second carrier based on the periodicity information and the third number information,

[0062] wherein, the second number of time units at end of the fourth number of time units in time domain correspond to the second gap, and the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain correspond to the first gap.

[0063] In an implementation, the first gap is determined to correspond to the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain based on channel usage in the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain, or

[0064] the first gap is preset to the first number of time units at end of the third number of time units in time domain or the first number of time units at starting of the fourth number of time units in time domain.

[0065] In an implementation, if the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, the first information comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern and information of a fifth number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource,

[0066] wherein a first number of time units corresponding to the first gap and a second number of time units corresponding to the second gap are predefined, preconfigured, or determined based on UE capability information,

[0067] wherein, starting of the first gap and starting of the second gap are the same as end of the first time domain resource and end of the second time domain resource respectively, and end of the second gap is the same as end of the periodicity,

[0068] In an implementation, the second time domain resource is determined based on the periodicity information, the information of the fifth number of time units, the first gap, and the second gap.

[0069] In an implementation, the information indicating that the second gap is located at starting of the carrier switching pattern comprises first offset information of the first time domain resource,

[0070] the first information also includes: periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of a first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of a second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, second offset information of the second time domain resource.

[0071] In an implementation, the first information further comprises periodicity information of the carrier switching pattern, information of a first number of time units corresponding to the first time domain resource, information of a second number of time units corresponding to the second time domain resource, first offset information of the first time domain resource, and second offset information of the second time domain resource.

[0072] In an implementation, the second offset is an offset of the second time domain resource with respect to the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern or the first time domain resource.

[0073] In an implementation, the first gap corresponds to the same number of time units as the second gap, or

[0074] the first gap and the second gap correspond to different numbers of time units.

[0075] In an implementation, the UE capability information comprises at least one of: information on a number of carriers the UE supports for simultaneous operation, a type of a carrier the UE supports,

[0076] the method further comprises: receiving the UE capability information from the UE.

[0077] In an implementation, the method further comprises transmitting second information related to a carrier switching configuration related to at least one carrier switching pattern to the UE,

[0078] wherein the first information related to the carrier switching pattern is included in the second information,

[0079] wherein, time units corresponding to different patterns of the at least one carrier switching pattern are continuous in time domain or discontinuous in time domain.

[0080] In an implementation, different patterns of the at least one carrier switching pattern are configured with a same periodicity, or are configured with different periodicities.

[0081] In an implementation, the second information further comprises a periodicity of the carrier switching configuration,

[0082] wherein, starting of the carrier switching configuration is determined based on at least one of a predetermined parameter M, the periodicity of the carrier switching configuration, and a duration of a radio frame.

[0083] In an implementation, the method further comprises: transmitting configuration information to the UE, the configuration information including at least one of: third information indicating a transmit and / or receive method, and fourth information indicating the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0084] In an implementation, the third information indicates the UE to transmit and / or receive signals by switching between the first carrier and the second carrier across time units, or

[0085] the third information indicates the UE to transmit and / or receive signals by switching between a first case and a second case across time units,

[0086] wherein, the first case corresponds to the UE transmitting and / or receiving signals based on the first carrier, and the second case corresponds to the UE transmitting and / or receiving signals based on the second carrier.

[0087] In an implementation, the first carrier is an FDD carrier and the second carrier is a supplemental downlink (SDL) carrier or a supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier.

[0088] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0089] a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals;

[0090] a controller configured to control the UE to perform the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0091] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0092] a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals;

[0093] a controller configured to control the base station to perform the method according to according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0094] Embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system.

[0095] By using the method and device proposed in this application, the resources of different carriers can be better utilized, and the switching gaps for the UE to receive / transmit on different carriers and to switch between different carriers can be configured using appropriate signaling.

[0096] The above and additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become more apparent and readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0097] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0098] FIG. 2a illustrates example wireless transmit paths according to the present disclosure;

[0099] FIG. 2b illustrate example wireless receive paths according to the present disclosure;

[0100] FIG. 3a illustrates an example user equipment according to the present disclosure;

[0101] FIG. 3b illustrates an example base station according to the present disclosure;

[0102] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of transmitting / receiving on different carriers across different time units;

[0103] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of transmitting / receiving on different carriers across different time units;

[0104] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a method performed by a UE;

[0105] FIG. 7a shows schematic diagrams of carrier switching patterns (Carrier-switching-Patterns);

[0106] FIG. 7b shows schematic diagrams of carrier switching patterns (Carrier-switching-Patterns);

[0107] FIG. 7c shows schematic diagrams of carrier switching patterns (Carrier-switching-Patterns);

[0108] FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram where different carrier switching patterns are continuous in time domain;

[0109] FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram where different carrier switching patterns are discontinuous in time domain;

[0110] FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic diagram where the parameter M corresponds to at least one carrier switching configuration (Carrier-switching-Config);

[0111] FIG. 11 illustrates example configurations of carrier switching patterns according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0112] FIG. 12 illustrates example configurations of carrier switching patterns according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0113] FIG. 13 illustrates example configurations of carrier switching patterns according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0114] FIG. 14 illustrates example configurations of carrier switching patterns according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0115] FIG. 15 illustrates example configurations of carrier switching patterns according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0116] FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0117] FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0118] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that in the drawings, the same or similar elements are represented by the same or similar reference numerals as much as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of known functions or configurations that may make the subject matter of the present disclosure unclear will be omitted.

[0119] In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, descriptions related to technical contents that are well known in the art and are not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted. Such omission of unnecessary description is to prevent obscuring the main idea of the present disclosure and to convey the main idea more clearly.

[0120] For the same reason, in the drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically shown. In addition, the size of each element does not exactly reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements have the same reference numerals.

[0121] Advantages and features of the present disclosure and the manner of achieving them will become apparent by referring to the embodiments described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following examples are provided so as to fully disclose the present disclosure and to inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is only limited by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.

[0122] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100 in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless communication network 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless communication network 100 may be able to be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0123] The wireless communication network 100 includes a gNodeB (gNB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one Internet Protocol (IP) network 130, such as the Internet, a proprietary IP network, or other data network.

[0124] Depending on the type of network, other well-known terms such as "base station (BS)" or "access point (AP)" could be used instead of "gNodeB" or "gNB". For convenience, the terms "gNodeB" and "gNB" are used in this disclosure to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the type of network, other well-known terms can be used instead of "user equipment" or "UE," such as "mobile station," "subscriber station," "remote terminal," "wireless terminal," or "user device." For the sake of convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this disclosure to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a gNB, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normally considered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0125] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a first plurality of user equipments (UEs) within coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes UE 111, which may be located in a small business (SB), UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E), UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS), UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R), UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R), and UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cellular phone, wireless laptop, wireless PDA, or the like. gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 can communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, WiMAX, or other advanced wireless communication technologies.

[0126] Dotted lines show the approximate extents of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with a gNB, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, can have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

[0127] As described in more detail below, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 include 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102 and gNB 103 support codebook design and structure for systems with 2D antenna arrays.

[0128] Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the wireless network 100, various changes can be made to FIG. 1. The wireless network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement, for example. Furthermore, gNB 101 can directly communicate with any number of UEs and provide wireless broadband access to the network 130 for those UEs. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can directly communicate with the network 130 and provide direct wireless broadband access to the network 130 for the UEs. In addition, gNB 101, 102 and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0129] FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate example wireless transmission and reception paths according to the present disclosure. In the following description, the transmission path 200 can be described as being implemented in a gNB, such as gNB 102, and the reception path 250 can be described as being implemented in a UE, such as UE 116. However, it should be understood that the reception path 250 can be implemented in a gNB and the transmission path 200 can be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, the reception path 250 is configured to support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0130] The transmission path 200 includes a channel coding and modulation block 205, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210, a size N Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 215, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 220, a cyclic prefix addition block 225, and an up-converter (UC) 230. The reception path 250 includes a down-converter (DC) 255, a cyclic prefix removal block 260, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 265, a size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.

[0131] In the transmission path 200, the channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulated symbols. The Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210 converts (such as demultiplexes) serial modulated symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is a size of the IFFT / FFT used in gNB 102 and UE 116. The size N IFFT block 215 performs IFFT operations on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. The Parallel-to-Serial block 220 converts (such as multiplexes) parallel time-domain output symbols from the Size N IFFT block 215 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The cyclic prefix addition block 225 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time-domain signal. The up-converter 230 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of the cyclic prefix addition block 225 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal can also be filtered at a baseband before switching to the RF frequency.

[0132] The RF signal transmitted from gNB 102 arrives at UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and operations in reverse to those at gNB 102 are performed at UE 116. The down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and the cyclic prefix removal block 260 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time-domain baseband signal. The Serial-to-Parallel block 265 converts the time-domain baseband signal into a parallel time-domain signal. The Size N FFT block 270 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. The Parallel-to-Serial block 275 converts the parallel frequency-domain signal into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 280 demodulates and decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0133] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmission path 200 similar to that for transmitting to UEs 111-116 in the downlink, and may implement a reception path 250 similar to that for receiving from UEs 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmission path 200 for transmitting to gNBs 101-103 in the uplink, and may implement a reception path 250 for receiving from gNBs 101-103 in the downlink.

[0134] Each of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be implemented using only hardware, or using a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented in configurable hardware or a combination of software and configurable hardware. For example, the FFT block 270 and IFFT block 215 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, in which the value of the size N may be modified according to the implementation.

[0135] Furthermore, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is only illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms can be used, such as Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions. It should be understood that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer which is a power of 2 (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

[0136] Although FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate examples of wireless transmission and reception paths, various changes may be made to FIGs. 2a and 2b. For example, various components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. Furthermore, FIGs. 2a and 2b are intended to illustrate examples of types of transmission and reception paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communication in a wireless network.

[0137] FIG. 3a illustrates an example UE 116 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 3a is for illustration only, and UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a UE has various configurations, and FIG. 3a does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of the UE.

[0138] UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 303, a microphone 304, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 305. UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller / processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface 308, an input device(s) 309, a display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an operating system (OS) 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0139] The RF transceiver 302 receives an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the wireless network 100 from the antenna 301. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 305, where the RX processing circuit 305 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to controller / processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0140] The TX processing circuit 303 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email or interactive video game data) from controller / processor 307. The TX processing circuit 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0141] The controller / processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute an OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, the controller / processor 307 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuit 305 and the TX processing circuit 303 according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0142] The controller / processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs residing in the memory 311, such as operations for channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller / processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an execution process. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 is configured to execute the application 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from the gNB or the operator. The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to an I / O interface 308, where the I / O interface 308 provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptop computers and handheld computers. I / O interface 308 is a communication path between these accessories and the controller / processor 307.

[0143] The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to the input device(s) 309 and the display 310. An operator of UE 116 can input data into UE 116 using the input device(s) 309. The display 310 may be a liquid crystal display or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics (such as from a website). The memory 311 is coupled to the controller / processor 307. A part of the memory 311 can include a random access memory (RAM), while another part of the memory 311 can include a flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0144] Although FIG. 3a illustrates an example of UE 116, various changes can be made to FIG. 3a. For example, various components in FIG. 3a can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. As a specific example, the controller / processor 307 can be divided into a plurality of processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Furthermore, although FIG. 3a illustrates that the UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.

[0145] FIG. 3b illustrates an example gNB 102 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. 3b is for illustration only, and other gNBs of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a gNB has various configurations, and FIG. 3b does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of a gNB. It should be noted that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102.

[0146] As shown in FIG. 3b, gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 374, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n include a 2D antenna array. gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.

[0147] RF transceivers 372a-372n receive an incoming RF signal from antennas 370a-370n, such as a signal transmitted by UEs or other gNBs. RF transceivers 372a-372n down-convert the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 376, where the RX processing circuit 376 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. RX processing circuit 376 transmits the processed baseband signal to controller / processor 378 for further processing.

[0148] The TX processing circuit 374 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 378. TX processing circuit 374 encodes, multiplexes and / or digitizes outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceivers 372a-372n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from TX processing circuit 374 and up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via antennas 370a-370n.

[0149] The controller / processor 378 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 378 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceivers 372a-372n, the RX processing circuit 376 and the TX processing circuit 374 according to well-known principles. The controller / processor 378 can also support additional functions, such as higher-level wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 378 can perform a Blind Interference Sensing (BIS) process such as that performed through a BIS algorithm, and decode a received signal from which an interference signal is subtracted. A controller / processor 378 may support any of a variety of other functions in gNB 102. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0150] The controller / processor 378 is also capable of executing programs and other processes residing in the memory 380, such as a basic OS. The controller / processor 378 can also support channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 supports communication between entities such as web RTCs. The controller / processor 378 can move data into or out of the memory 380 as required by an execution process.

[0151] The controller / processor 378 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 382. The backhaul or network interface 382 allows gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems through a backhaul connection or through a network. The backhaul or network interface 382 can support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when gNB 102 is implemented as a part of a cellular communication system, such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G or new radio access technology or NR, LTE or LTE-A, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs through wired or wireless backhaul connections. When gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with a larger network, such as the Internet, through a wired or wireless local area network or through a wired or wireless connection. The backhaul or network interface 382 includes any suitable structure that supports communication through a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or an RF transceiver.

[0152] The memory 380 is coupled to the controller / processor 378. A part of the memory 380 can include an RAM, while another part of the memory 380 can include a flash memory or other ROMs. In certain embodiments, a plurality of instructions, such as the BIS algorithm, are stored in the memory. The plurality of instructions are configured to cause the controller / processor 378 to execute the BIS process and decode the received signal after subtracting at least one interference signal determined by the BIS algorithm.

[0153] As will be described in more detail below, the transmission and reception paths of gNB 102 (implemented using RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuit 374 and / or RX processing circuit 376) support aggregated communication with FDD cells and TDD cells.

[0154] Although FIG. 3b illustrates an example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 3b. For example, gNB 102 can include any number of each component shown in FIG. 3a. As a specific example, the access point can include many backhaul or network interfaces 382, and the controller / processor 378 can support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another specific example, although shown as including a single instance of the TX processing circuit 374 and a single instance of the RX processing circuit 376, gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (such as one for each RF transceiver).

[0155] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0156] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help readers understand the present disclosure. They are not intended and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the content disclosed herein, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications to the illustrated embodiments and examples can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0157] Communication systems are usually divided into Time Division Duplexing (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) as well as Supplementary Downlink (SDL) carriers and Supplementary Uplink (SUL) carriers.

[0158] In a communication system, the transmission from the base station to the user equipment (UE) is called downlink, the downlink corresponds to downlink transmission (also called downlink transmitting or downlink sending, etc.), and the downlink transmission includes at least one of transmission of a downlink channel and transmission of a downlink signal, where the downlink channel includes PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) and PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and the downlink signal may include but is not limited to a downlink reference signal. The transmission by the UE to the base station is called uplink. The uplink corresponds to uplink transmission (which may also be called uplink transmitting or uplink sending, etc.), and the uplink transmission includes at least one of transmission of an uplink channel and transmission of an uplink signal, where the uplink channel includes PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), the uplink signal may include but is not limited to an uplink reference signal.

[0159] Semi-static signaling may be Higher-layer Signaling. The dynamic signaling may be Group-common Downlink Control Information (DCI) that does not schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Dynamic signaling may also be DCI that schedules Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0160] The UE has a limited capability, and the UE may transmit and / or receive simultaneously on at most N (N may be a positive integer, for example, N may be 1) carrier(s) (different carriers are located in different bands, the carriers may be frequency division duplexing (FDD) carriers, the carriers may be time division duplexing (TDD) carriers, the carriers may also be supplementary downlink (SDL) carriers, the carrier may also be supplementary uplink (SUL) carriers), and the number of carriers configured by the base station to the UE is L (L may be a positive integer, for example, L is equal to 2), L may be greater than N, in this case, the UE may receive and / or transmit simultaneously on at most N different carriers of the configured L carriers in different time units, for example, the UE operates on the configured L carriers across different time units. For example, the UE may receive and / or transmit simultaneously on at most 1 carrier, and the UE may receive and / or transmit simultaneously on 1 of the 2 configured carriers in different time units, receive and / or transmit on carrier one (for example, an FDD carrier) during a period of time starting at time t1 and end at time t2, receive on carrier two (for example, an SDL carrier or SUL carrier) during a period of time starting at time t3 and end at time t4, as shown in FIG. 4. A switching time gap is required for the UE to switch from receiving / transmitting on carrier one to receiving / transmitting on carrier two (in the description of this disclosure, the switching time gap may also be called switching gap or switching interval, or gap). During the switching time gap, the UE does not receive / transmit, as shown in FIG. 5. Among them, the capability of the UE may be reported to the base station through signaling. For example, the capability of the UE reported to the base station is that the UE may receive and / or transmit simultaneously on 1 carrier (different carriers are located in different bands, and the carrier may be a frequency division duplex (FDD) carrier, the carrier may also be a supplementary downlink (SDL) carrier, or the carrier may also be a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier), and at the same time reporting that one carrier is an FDD carrier and the other carrier is an SDL carrier or an SUL carrier. Alternatively, the capability reported by the UE to the base station is that the UE may receive and / or transmit simultaneously on 1 carrier (different carriers are located in different bands, and the carrier may be a frequency division duplex (FDD) carrier, the carrier may also be a supplementary downlink (SDL) carrier or an SUL carrier).

[0161] According to embodiments of the present application, under the condition of a limited UE capability, by switching between different carriers, resources of different carriers may be utilized more fully and flexibly, thereby improving communication performance.

[0162] The technical solution of the present application and how the technical solution of the present application solves the above technical problems will be described in detail below with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described repeatedly in some embodiments. The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The text and drawings in the following description are provided as examples only to assist the reader in understanding the present disclosure. They are not intended, nor should they be construed, to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, based upon this disclosure, that changes may be made to the embodiments and examples shown without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0163] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment in a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the method may include:

[0164] Step S610: receive configuration information transmitted by the base station;

[0165] Step S620: determine a carrier for transmitting and / or receiving by the user equipment, according to the configuration information;

[0166] Step S630: transmit and / or receive on the determined carrier.

[0167] In the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information may be obtained by receiving higher layer signaling. In an implementation, the configuration information may also be obtained through other signaling, such as dynamic signaling, etc.

[0168] The configuration information may include configured carriers, for example, the UE is configured with 2 carriers: a first carrier (or called carrier one) and a second carrier (or called carrier two), for example, one of which is an FDD carrier and the other is an SDL carrier or an SUL carrier. In the description of the present disclosure, for convenience of description and ease of understanding, the description is made by taking the UE being configured with 2 carriers or 2 operating cases as an example. It should be understood that the principles of the technology of the present disclosure may be correspondingly applicable to cases where the UE is configured with other numbers of carriers or other numbers of cases. For example, the UE may be configured with 3 carriers or 3 or more operating cases related to the 3 carriers, in such case, the technology of the present disclosure may also be applied accordingly. In addition, in the description of the present disclosure, for convenience of description, the first carrier being an FDD carrier and the second carrier being an SDL carrier are taken as an example. It should be understood that this is only exemplary and not intended to be limiting, and the principles of the present disclosure may also be applied to the case where the first carrier and the second carrier are other types of carriers, for example, the first carrier is an FDD carrier, the second carrier is an SUL carrier; the first carrier is an SDL carrier, the second carrier is an FDD carrier; or the first carrier is an SDL carrier, the second carrier is an SUL carrier, etc.

[0169] The configuration information may also include the configured transmitting and / or receiving method. In a possible implementation, the configured transmitting and / or receiving method for the UE is to transmit and / or receive on the configured FDD carrier and SDL carrier in different time units by switching.

[0170] Another possible implementation is that the UE is configured to transmit and / or receive in such a way that the UE operates in Case 1 and Case 2 in different time units through switching.

[0171] Case 1: 1 antenna port transmit / 2 antenna port receive on FDD carrier 1, and 0 antenna port transmit / 0 antenna port receive on carrier 2 (1 Tx / 2 Rx on FDD carrier 1 and 0 Tx / 0 Rx on carrier 2).

[0172] Case 2: 2 antenna port receive on SDL carrier 2 and 0 antenna port transmit / 0 antenna port receive on carrier 1 (2 Rx on SDL carrier 2 and 0 Tx / 0 Rx on carrier 1).

[0173] The above definitions of Case 1 and Case 2 are only examples and may also be defined as follows.

[0174] Case 1: 2 antenna port receive on SDL carrier 2 and 0 antenna port transmit / 0 antenna port receive on carrier 1 (2 Rx on SDL carrier 2 and 0 Tx / 0 Rx on carrier 1).

[0175] Case 2: 1 antenna port transmit / 2 antenna port receive on FDD carrier 1, and 0 antenna port transmit / 0 antenna port receive on carrier 2 (1 Tx / 2 Rx on FDD carrier 1 and 0 Tx / 0 Rx on carrier 2).

[0176] The configuration information may also include information for determining the time units in which the UE transmits and / or receives on the configured FDD carrier and SDL carrier.

[0177] The configuration information may also include information for determining the time units in which the UE operates in configured Case 1 and Case 2.

[0178] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with some specific optional embodiments.

[0179] In the optional embodiments described below, the granularity of a time unit in time domain may be a slot, an OFDM symbol, or other time granularities (for example, milliseconds (ms)), or a combination of a slot, an OFDM symbol and other time granularities, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the configured carriers may be 15kHz or other configurations.

[0180] In the optional embodiments described below, determining the time units in which the UE operates in the configured Case 1 and Case 2 is taken as an example for explanation, which may also be applied to determining the time units in which the UE transmits and / or receives on the configured FDD carrier and SDL carrier, Case 1 corresponds to the UE transmitting and / or receiving on the configured FDD carrier, and Case 2 corresponds to the UE receiving on the configured SDL carrier.

[0181] The method of determining the time unit in which the UE operates in the configured Case 1 and Case 2 and the switching gap may be as described in detail below. It should be understood that in the description of this disclosure, for convenience of description, "time unit" is used to express the meaning of "time domain resource" or "time domain location" in most cases. For example, "the time unit for operating in Case 1" means the time domain resource or time domain location or time unit location corresponding to Case 1, or it may be understood that which time units Case 1 corresponds to (for example, time units 1-2, or slots 1, 2 and / or symbols 0-6, etc.). In addition, in the description of the present disclosure, "time unit" is sometimes used to express the time domain granularity, such as a slot, a symbol, etc. For example, "a Carrier-switching-Pattern includes P time units" means that a Carrier-switching-Pattern includes P time domain granularity units, such as P slots or P symbols. In addition, it should be understood that the unit of time domain granularity may be one granularity or a combination of multiple granularities. For example, the unit of time domain granularity may be a slot, for example, the time domain resource is expressed as M1 slots; or the unit of time domain granularity may be slots and symbols, for example, time domain resource is expressed as M1 slots and N1 symbols. Thus, in the present disclosure, the specific meaning of "time unit" may be determined according to its context.

[0182] Carrier switching may be determined based on a determined carrier switching pattern (Carrier-switching-Pattern). A Carrier-switching-Pattern includes P time units (also called the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern is P time units). In part of time units in this Carrier-switching-Pattern, the UE operates in Case 1, in another part of time units in this Carrier-switching-Pattern, the UE operates in Case 2, the remaining time units except for the time units of Case 1 and Case 2 in this Carrier-switching-Pattern are switching gaps, as shown in FIGs. 7a, 7b, and 7c. In FIGs. 7a, 7b, and 7c, in a Carrier-switching-Pattern, two gaps are included, the UE switches from Case 1 to Case 2 in one of the gaps and the UE switches from Case 2 to Case 1 in the other one of the gaps.

[0183] In another optional implementation method, in a Carrier-switching-Pattern, there may be 2S gaps, where S gaps are used for UE switching from Case 1 to Case 2, and the other S gaps for UE switching from Case 2 to Case 1, where S is a positive integer. Furthermore, in case that the Carrier-switching-Pattern involves other numbers of carriers, there may be other numbers of gaps. For example, in the case where the Carrier-switching-Pattern involves 3 carriers, there may be 3S gaps in the Carrier-switching-Pattern, such as 3 gaps, or 6 gaps, etc.

[0184] At least one Carrier-switching-Pattern may be included in a Carrier-switching-Config, and different Carrier-switching-Patterns in a Carrier-switching-Config may be continuous in time, that is, the end time of the previous Carrier-switching-Pattern is the start time of the following Carrier-switching-Pattern, as shown in FIG. 8. In another implementation, different Carrier-switching-Patterns in a Carrier-switching-Config may be discontinuous, as shown in FIG. 9. When one Carrier-switching-Pattern may be included in one Carrier-switching-Config, the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Config is the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern. When more than one Carrier-switching-Patterns are included in one Carrier-switching-Config and different Carrier-switching-Patterns in one Carrier-switching-Config are continuous in time, the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Config is the sum of the periodicities of the more than one Carrier-switching-Patterns in the Carrier-switching-Config.

[0185] The periodicities of different Carrier-switching-Patterns in a Carrier-switching-Config may be configured separately, and the periodicitis of the Carrier-switching-Patterns may be obtained by receiving higher layer signaling configuration. In another implementation, different Carrier-switching-Patterns in the Carrier-switching-Config may be configured with the same periodicity.

[0186] Different Carrier-switching-Patterns in a Carrier-switching-Config may be determined separately.

[0187] An example pseudo code may be as follows.

[0188]

[0189] Among them, pattern1 and pattern2 in the above pseudo code represent the carrier switching patterns configured through the carrier switching configuration (Carrier-Switching-Config), Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, and "xxxxxx" may represent other specific configuration information of the carrier switching pattern (Carrier-switching-Pattern), such as the number of time units for case 1, etc., for specific content, please refer to the description below in conjunction with Examples 1-4.

[0190] The following describes a method for determining the starting of Carrier-switching-Config. Assume that the periodicity of Carrier-switching-Config is P, a time parameter related to the configuration of carrier switching is M, and M is divisible by P (i.e., M mod P = 0), where the UE determines M through the protocol or obtains M by receiving high-layer signaling (for example, the protocol specifies M as 20 milliseconds, etc.). The time parameter M may correspond to M / P carrier switching configurations (Carrier-switching-Configs), and the starting of the first of every M / P Carrier-switching-Configs may be determined as the first OFDM symbol of a frame with SFN mod M / 10 = 0, where SFN is the system frame number and 10 is the duration of one radio frame. For example, P = 10 milliseconds, in the case of M / P = 2, the time parameter M corresponds to the periodicity of 2 Carrier-switching-Configs. As shown in FIG. 10, the SFN corresponding to the starting of the first Carrier-switching-Config of every 2 Carrier-switching-Configs satisfies SFN mod M / 10 = 0. In the case of M = 20ms, it may be obtained that the starting of the first Carrier-switching-Config of M / P Carrier-switching-Configs corresponding to the time parameter M is the starting of the frame with SFN 0, 2, 4,..., that is, the starting of the first Carrier-switching-Config of every M / P Carrier-switching-Configs is the first OFDM symbol of an even numbered frame.

[0191] According to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, a UE may receive first information related to a carrier switching pattern from a base station. Through the first information, the UE may identify the carrier switching pattern and perform communication with the base station according to the carrier switching pattern. The carrier switching pattern may include a first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, a second time domain resource corresponding to the second carrier, a first gap between the first time domain resource and the second time domain resource (or called a switching gap between the first carrier and the second carrier), and a second gap.

[0192] In an implementation, the carrier switching pattern starts with the time domain resource of a certain carrier, for example, starts with the first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, for example, as shown in FIG. 7a. In an implementation, the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap, followed by the time domain resource corresponding to a certain carrier, for example, as shown in FIG. 7b. In an implementation, the carrier switching pattern starts with a time domain resource corresponding to a certain carrier, for example, starts with a first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, and ends with a third time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier, and a second time domain resource corresponding to the second carrier is located between the first time domain resource and the third time domain resource, and has a second gap from the third time domain resource, for example, as shown in FIG. 7c.

[0193] In an implementation, the carrier switching pattern starts with a time domain resource corresponding to a certain carrier (for example, the first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier) by default, unless a message indicating that the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap is received from the base station or other device on the network side. For example, if the first information received from the base station includes information indicating that a second gap is located at the starting of the carrier switching pattern, the carrier switching pattern starts with the second gap, otherwise the carrier switching pattern starts with the first time domain resource, ends with the second gap, or ends with the third time domain resource and the second time domain resource is located between the first time domain resource and the third time domain resource with the second gap from the third time domain resource.

[0194] For example, the information indicating that the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap may be an indicator used to indicate whether the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap, or to indicate that the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap. Alternatively, the information indicating that the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap may be offset information. For example, the UE receives information indicating a first offset between the first time domain resource corresponding to the first carrier and the starting of the carrier switching pattern periodicity, it is considered that the carrier switching pattern starts with a gap.

[0195] The following describes a method for determining the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 and operates in Case 2 in a Carrier-switching-Pattern and the time unit of the gap in which the UE switches between operating in Case 1 and operating in Case 2.

[0196] Example 1:

[0197] The UE obtains the periodicity of a Carrier-switching-Pattern by receiving higher layer signaling, and then the UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, and the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), where the starting of the time unit in which the UE operates in Case 1 is the starting of the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern.

[0198] The UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, and the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), and the UE determines the start time at which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling.

[0199] The method for the UE to determine the start time in which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling is that, the UE receives higher layer signaling to obtain a time offset of the start time at which the UE operates in Case 2 relative to the starting of the Carrier-switching-Pattern (for example, the time offset may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be the number of slots, the time offset may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be milliseconds), as shown in FIG. 11. An example pseudo code may be as follows. In the following pseudo code, Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, Nrofcase1Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 1, Nrofcase1Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 1 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Nrofcase2Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 2, Nrofcase2Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 2 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Offsetofcase2overstart represents the offset between the starting or end of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the starting of the carrier switching pattern periodicity, or may also represent the offset between the starting or end of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the starting of the time domain resource of Case 1.

[0200]

[0201] Another implementation method is that, the method for the UE to determine the start time at which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling is that, the UE receives higher layer signaling to obtain the time offset of the end time at which the UE operates in Case 2 relative to the end of the Carrier-switching-Pattern (for example, the time offset may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be the number of slots, the time offset may also be the number of OFDM symbols, and the time offset may also be milliseconds), as shown in FIG. 12. An example pseudo code may be as follows. In the following pseudo code, Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, Nrofcase1Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 1, Nrofcase1Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 1 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Nrofcase2Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 2, Nrofcase2Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 2 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Offsetofcase2overend represents the offset between the starting or end of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the end of the carrier switching pattern periodicity, or it may also represent the offset between the starting or end of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the end of the time domain resource of Case 1.

[0202]

[0203] Within a Carrier-switching-Pattern periodicity, in addition to the determined time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 and the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, the remaining time units are the gaps for the UE switching from Case 1 to Case 2 and the UE switching from Case 2 to Case 1. In this case, the UE does not expect the time units of the gaps in the remaining time units that may be used to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 and from Case 2 to Case 1 to be less than the minimum value of a gap (the minimum value of a gap may also be called the gap threshold value), the minimum value of a gap may be obtained through the protocol, the UE may also obtain it by receiving signaling, and the UE may also obtain it through the capability reported by the UE.

[0204] The benefits of adopting the method of this example are that, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, the gap for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2, and the gap for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1, may be flexibly determined.

[0205] Example 2:

[0206] The UE obtains the Carrier-switching-Pattern periodicity by receiving high-layer signaling

[0207] The UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, and the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), and the UE determines the start time at which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling, as shown in FIG. 13.

[0208] The method for the UE to determine the start time at which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling is that the UE receives higher layer signaling to obtain the time offset of the start time at which the UE operates in Case 1 relative to the starting of the Carrier-switching-Pattern (for example, the time offset may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be the number of slots, the time offset may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be milliseconds)

[0209] The UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, and the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), and the UE determines the starting time at which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling, as shown in FIG. 13.

[0210] The method for the UE to determine the starting time at which the UE operates in Case 2 by receiving higher layer signaling is that the UE receives higher layer signaling to obtain the time offset of the starting time at which the UE operates in Case 2 relative to the starting of the Carrier-switching-Pattern (for example, the time offset may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be the number of slots, the time offset may also be the number of OFDM symbols, the time offset may also be milliseconds)

[0211] An example pseudo code may be as follows. In the following pseudo code, Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, Nrofcase1Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 1, Nrofcase1Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 1 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Nrofcase2Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 2, Nrofcase2Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 2 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols), Offsetofcase1overstart represents the offset between the starting of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 1 and the starting of the carrier switching pattern periodicity, Offsetofcase2overstart represents the offset between the starting of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the starting of the carrier switching pattern periodicity, or it may also represent the offset between the starting of the time domain resource corresponding to Case 2 and the starting of the time domain resource of Case 1.

[0212]

[0213] Within a Carrier-switching-Pattern periodicity, in addition to the determined time unit in which the UE operates in Case 1 and the time unit in which the UE operates in Case 2, the remaining time units are the gap for the UE switching from Case 1 to Case 2 and the UE switching from Case 2 to Case 1. In this case, the UE does not expect the time units of the gaps in the remaining time units that may be used to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 and from Case 2 to Case 1 to be less than the minimum value of a gap (the minimum value of a gap may also be called the gap threshold value), the minimum value of a gap may be obtained through the protocol, the UE may also obtain it by receiving signaling, and the UE may also obtain it through the capability reported by the UE.

[0214] The benefits of adopting the method of this example are that, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, the gap for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2, and the gap for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1, may be flexibly determined.

[0215] Example 3:

[0216] The UE obtains the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern by receiving higher layer signaling, and then the UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, and the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), where the starting of the time unit in which the UE operates in Case 1 is the starting of the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern.

[0217] The time units in the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern except the time unit in which the UE operates in Case 1 are the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2.

[0218] The switching gap gap-1 for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 and the switching gap gap-2 for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 may correspond to the same gap length, e.g., the same number of time units. The number of time units corresponding to gap-1 and gap-2 may be determined by the UE through a protocol, obtained by receiving high-layer signaling, or obtained by the capability reported by the UE. In another implementation, gap-1 for the UE switching from Case 1 to Case 2 and gap-2 for the UE switching from Case 2 to Case 1 may be of two independent gap lengths, for example corresponding to different numbers of time units. The number of time units corresponding to gap-1 and gap-2 may be determined by the UE through a protocol, obtained by receiving higher layer signaling, or obtained respectively through the capability reported by the UE.

[0219] The gap-1 is located at the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, and the gap-2 is located at the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, as shown in FIG. 14.

[0220] Another implementation method is that gap-2 is located at the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, and whether gap-1 is located at the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 or gap-1 is located at the starting of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2 is determined according to the condition of the channels and signals in the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 and the condition of channels and signals in the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2. For example, when there are channels and signals to transmit and / or receive in the end gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, and there are no channels and signals in the starting gap-1 part of the time unit in which the UE operates in Case 2, it is determined that gap-1 is located at the starting of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2. When there are no channels and signals to transmit and / or receive within the end gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, and there are channels and signals within the starting gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, it is determined that gap-1 is located at the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1. When there are no channels and signals to transmit and / or receive within the end gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, and there are not channels and signals within the starting gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, it is determined according to the protocol whether gap-1 is located at the end part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 or gap-1 is located at the starting part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2. When there are channels and signals to transmit and / or receive within the end gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, and there are channels and signals within the starting gap-1 part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2, it is determined according to the protocol whether gap-1 is located at the end part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 or gap-1 is located at the starting part of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2.

[0221] An example pseudo code may be as follows. In the following pseudo code, Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, Nrofcase1Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 1, and Nrofcase1Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 1 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols).

[0222]

[0223] The benefit of adopting the method of this example is that, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the gap for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2, and the gap for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 may be determined with as little signaling as possible.

[0224] Example 4:

[0225] The UE obtains the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern by receiving higher layer signaling, and then the UE obtains the number of time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 by receiving higher layer signaling (for example, the number of time units may be the number of slots and the number of OFDM symbols, the number of time units may also be the number of slots, the number of time units may also be the number of OFDM symbols, and the number of time units may also be the number of milliseconds), where the starting of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1 is the starting of the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern.

[0226] The gap-1 for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 starts from the end of the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1. The end of gap-2 for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 is the same as the end of the periodicity of the Carrier-switching-Pattern.

[0227] Within a Carrier-switching-Pattern periodicity, except for the determined time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, gap-1 for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2, and gap-2 for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1, the remaining time units are the time units in which the UE operates in Case 2.

[0228] As shown in FIG. 15.

[0229] The gap-1 for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 and the gap-2 for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 may be of one gap length, e.g., corresponding to the same number of time units. The number of time units corresponding to gap-1 and gap-2 may be determined by the UE through a protocol, obtained by receiving high-layer signaling, or obtained by the capability reported by the UE. The gap-1 for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2 and the gap-2 for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 may be of two independent gap lengths, for example corresponding to different numbers of time units. The number of time units corresponding to gap-1 and gap-2 may be determined by the UE through a protocol, obtained by receiving higher layer signaling, or obtained respectively through the capability reported by the UE.

[0230] An example pseudo code may be as follows. In the following pseudo code, Carrier-switching-Pattern-Periodicity represents the periodicity of the carrier switching pattern, Nrofcase1Slots represents the number of slots corresponding to Case 1, and Nrofcase1Symbols represents the number of symbols corresponding to Case 1 (for example, the number of OFDM symbols).

[0231]

[0232] The benefit of adopting the method of this example is that, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the time units in which the UE operates in Case 1, the gap for the UE to switch from Case 1 to Case 2, and the gap for the UE to switch from Case 2 to Case 1 may be determined with as little signaling as possible.

[0233] FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment 1600 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 16, the user equipment 1600 includes a transceiver 1601 and a controller 1602. The transceiver 1601 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 1602 is coupled with the transceiver 1601 and configured to perform control such that the user equipment 1600 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the user equipment 1600 may also include a memory (not shown) on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 1602, the user equipment 1600 may perform at least one method corresponding to the above embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0234] FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a base station 1700 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 17, the base station 1700 includes a transceiver 1701 and a controller 1702. The transceiver 1701 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 1702 is coupled with the transceiver 1701 and configured to perform control such that the base station 1700 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the base station 1700 may also include a memory (not shown), on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 1702, the base station 1700 may perform at least one method corresponding to the above embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0235] The above description is only an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

[0236] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention includes reference to devices for performing one or more of the operations described herein. These devices may be specially designed and manufactured for the required purposes, or they may comprise known devices found in general purpose computers. These devices have computer programs stored therein that are selectively activated or reconfigured. Such a computer program may be stored in a device (e.g., a computer) readable medium, including, but not limited to, any type of disk including a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a CD-ROM, and a magnetic-optical disk, a ROM (Read-Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, a magnetic card, or an optical card, or in any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, respectively coupled to a bus. That is, a readable medium includes any medium that stores or transmits information in a form readable by a device (e.g., a computer).

[0237] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that each block of the structural diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the structural diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams, may be implemented by computer program instructions. Those skilled in the art may understand that these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing method for implementation, so that the solution specified in the structural diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams disclosed in the present invention may be executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing method.

[0238] Those skilled in the art may understand that the steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes that have been discussed in the present invention may be alternated, changed, combined, or deleted. Furthermore, other steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes that have been discussed in the present invention may also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted. Furthermore, the steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes disclosed in the present invention in the prior art may also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted.

[0239] The above are only some embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that those of ordinary skill in the art may also make several improvements and modifications without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications are also It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1.A method, performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, the method comprising:receiving, from a base station, configuration related to switching operation betweeen a first cell and a second cell, wherein the configuration includes information for a first duration;switching operation from a first cell to a second cell based on the first duration,wherein the first duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the first cell.2.The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration further includes information for a second duration,wherein the method further comprising: switching operation from the second cell to the first cell based on the second duration,wherein the second duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the second cell.3.The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration further includes information for a switching pattern,wherein the switching pattern is periodic.4.The method of claim 1, wherein subcarrier spacing of configured BWPs of the first cell and the second cell are 15 kHz.5.A method, performed by a base station (BS) in a communication system, the method comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), configuration related to switching operation betweeen a first cell and a second cell, wherein the configuration includes information for a first duration;wherein operation is switched from a first cell to a second cell based on the first duration,wherein the first duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the first cell.6.The method of claim 5,wherein the configuration further includes information for a second duration,wherein operation is switched from the second cell to the first cell based on the second duration,wherein the second duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the second cell.7.The method of claim 5,wherein the configuration further includes information for a switching pattern,wherein the switching pattern is periodic.8.The method of claim 5, wherein subcarrier spacing of configured BWPs of the first cell and the second cell are 15 kHz.9.A user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:a transceiver configured to transmit or receive signals;a controller configured to control the UE to:receive, from a base station, configuration related to switching operation betweeen a first cell and a second cell, wherein the configuration includes information for a first duration;switch operation from a first cell to a second cell based on the first duration,wherein the first duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the first cell.10.The UE of claim 9,wherein the configuration further includes information for a second duration,wherein the controller is further configured to control the UE to: switch operation from the second cell to the first cell based on the second duration,wherein the second duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the second cell.11.The UE of claim 9,wherein the configuration further includes information for a switching pattern,wherein the switching pattern is periodic.12.The UE of claim 9, wherein subcarrier spacing of configured BWPs of the first cell and the second cell are 15 kHz.13.A base station (BS) in a communication system, comprising:a transceiver configured to transmit or receive signals;a controller configured to control the BS to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration related to switching operation betweeen a first cell and a second cell, wherein the configuration includes information for a first duration;wherein operation is switched from a first cell to a second cell based on the first duration,wherein the first duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the first cell.14.The BS of claim 13,wherein the configuration further includes information for a second duration,wherein operation is switched from the second cell to the first cell based on the second duration,wherein the second duration ends at the end of the last slot from slots related to the second cell.15.The BS of claim 13,wherein the configuration further includes information for a switching pattern,wherein the switching pattern is periodic.

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