Enablement or disablement of orthogonal cover code for transmission
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-02-07
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-13
Smart Images
Figure CN2025076337_13082026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
ENABLEMENT OR DISABLEMENT OF ORTHOGONAL COVER CODE FOR TRANSMISSIONFIELD
[0001] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for enablement or disablement of orthogonal cover code (OCC) for a transmission.BACKGROUND
[0002] The use of OCC and how to signal the configuration and dynamic activation of it has been discussed. For dynamic grant in radio resource control (RRC) connected mode, the study of parameters signalled via downlink control information (DCI) and / or signalled by RRC may support capacity enhancements for uplink (UL) .SUMMARY
[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:receive, from a second apparatus, a RRC configuration message indicating one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an OCC enabling; in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determine at least one of the following: whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC, cause, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.
[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, a RRC configuration message indicating one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an OCC enabling; in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determining at least one of the following: whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC, causing, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.
[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a RRC configuration message indicating one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling; means for in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determining at least one of the following: whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC, means for causing, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.
[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the second aspect.
[0007] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0014] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.
[0016] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.
[0017] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
[0018] It shall be understood that although the terms “first, ” “second, ” …, etc. in front of noun (s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun (s) . For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.
[0019] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.
[0020] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.
[0021] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and / or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.
[0022] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) : (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit (s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.
[0023] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.
[0024] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.
[0025] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.
[0026] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.
[0027] As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “resource block, ” “physical resource block” (PRB) , “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.
[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may comprise a first apparatus 110 which may also be, for example, referred to as a terminal device or a UE.
[0029] The communication network 100 may further comprise a second apparatus 120, which may be, for example, considered as being a network device or being included in a network device. In some example embodiments, the network device may be discussed as a BS, a gNB, or an eNB.
[0030] A serving area provided by the second apparatus 120 is called a cell. The second apparatus 120 may provide one or more cells serving the first apparatus. For example, the first apparatus 110 may communicate with the second apparatus 120 within the cell 102. In some scenarios, the cell 102 may be considered as a cell that is serving the first apparatus 110.
[0031] In some scenarios, the communication network 100 may refer to a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) and the second apparatus 120 may be implemented in a satellite and moves along with the satellite.
[0032] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.
[0033] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and second apparatus 120 is a network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL) , while a link from the first apparatus 110 to second apparatus 120 is referred to as an UL. In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) apparatus (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) apparatus (or a receiver) . In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX apparatus (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is an RX apparatus (or a receiver) .
[0034] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the second apparatus 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the first apparatus 110 may be another device than a terminal device.
[0035] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a UE and the second apparatus 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.
[0036] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.
[0037] For the work item on internet of things (IoT) NTN, the main objective may comprises uplink capacity enhancements and in particular the use of orthogonal cover codes for Narrow-band IoT physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH) .
[0038] The use of OCC and how to signal the configuration and dynamic activation of it has been discussed. It is agreed that the OCC sequence index and activation (enabling) may need to be signaled. The OCC codeword [1, 1] may be understood as OCC index 0 and OCC codeword [1, -1] as OCC index 1. Note OCC index and OCC sequence index are used interchangeably.
[0039] According to some agreements, for support of single-tone OCC for NPUSCH format 1, the parameters that need to be signalled may comprise OCC sequence index and enabling of OCC feature. For dynamic grant in RRC CONNECTED, which and whether any parameters are signalled via DCI and which and whether any parameters are signalled by RRC will be studied.
[0040] For support of single-tone OCC for NPUSCH format 1 for connected mode, the parameters that need to be signalled may comprise OCC sequence index and enabling of OCC feature.
[0041] One challenge is that the DCI format N0 used for scheduling NPUSCH has no spare bits. DCI may transport downlink or uplink scheduling information for one cell and one RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) . The RNTI may be encoded in the Cyclic Redundant Check (CRC) . The processing structure for one DCI may be according to DCI Format N0, which is used for the scheduling of NPUSCH and operation on preconfigured UL resources in one UL cell.
[0042] It is agreed that the network needs to inform the UE about the enabling of OCC and the OCC codeword to apply. How this can be achieved by repurposing some fields in the DCI format N0 or using a different RNTI became a focus of discussion. Furthermore, how to achieve the target of providing OCC activation &codeword information to the UE may also need to be discussed.
[0043] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC. In this solution, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, an RRC configuration message indicating one or more DCI format parameters and respective specific values or value ranges of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an OCC enabling. If the first apparatus receives DCI for scheduling an uplink transmission, the first apparatus determines whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC. Based on the determination, the first apparatus causes the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel. The transmission on the uplink channel may be scheduled based on the DCI received by the first apparatus.
[0044] This solution may activate the OCC for NPUSCH transmission without changing the DCI format N0 content, e.g., for modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and repetitions fields. The solution is based on mapping certain settings, e.g. a range of time or frequency resource, MCS, repetitions, to have OCC activated, while values outside the range will have OCC deactivated.
[0045] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0046] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which shows a signaling chart 200 of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the signaling chart 200 involves a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 200.
[0047] As shown in FIG. 2, the first apparatus 110 may receive (202) , from the second apparatus 120, an RRC configuration message indicating one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an OCC enabling. For example, the one or more DCI format parameters may be DCI format N0 parameters.
[0048] In some example embodiments, the DCI format parameters may include at least one of the following: a time resource, a frequency resource, a scheduling delay, a MCS, a resource unit, a number of repetitions, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process.
[0049] In some example embodiments, a DCI format parameter may be configured with a specific value or a specific value range. For example, for the frequency resource, the frequency resource may be configured with offset X and periodicity Y.
[0050] As another example, for MCS, a specific value range e.g. MCS0, MCS1 and MCS2, may be configured.
[0051] In some other examples, some values in the specific value range may be configured to have a new meaning (MCS8 meaning MCS0+OCC activated, MCS9 meaning MCS1+OCC activated and MCS10 meaning MCS2+OCC activated) .
[0052] In general, this can be understood as a mapping of the one or more DCI format parameters (as mentioned above) to activation / deactivation of OCC (and potentially a remapping of a parameter value at the same time) .
[0053] Then the first apparatus 110 may receive (204) , from the second apparatus 120, DCI for scheduling an uplink transmission.
[0054] In some example embodiments, in response to that the DCI includes a parameter, which belongs to the one or more DCI format parameters indicated in the RRC configuration, with the value being equal to the specific value of the DCI format parameter or falling within a specific value range indicated in the RRC configuration, the first apparatus 110 may cause the OCC to be enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel. Further, the first apparatus 110 may perform (206) the transmission on the uplink channel using the OCC.
[0055] In some other example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether the OCC is enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel based on an indication in a DCI field. If the indication indicates that the OCC is enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel, the first apparatus 110 may perform (206) the transmission on the uplink channel using the OCC. If the indication indicates that the OCC is disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel, the first apparatus 110 may perform the transmission on the uplink channel without the OCC.
[0056] For example, the indication in the DCI may restrict the usage of OCC independently. That is, the indication may cause the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel regardless of whether DCI uses at least one DCI format parameter with the value matching the specific value indicated in the RRC configuration.
[0057] As an example, the indication as mentioned above may be indicated in one field in the DCI format N0 parameters.
[0058] For example, the indication may be indicated in a resourceReservationConfigUL field or a subcarrier indication field in the DCI. The resourceReservationConfigUL field may be repurposed as it is primarily used for coexistence with NR. The subcarrier indication field may be used as some values are currently reserved (48-63 for 3.75 kHz Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) and 19-63 for 15 kHz SCS) i.e., one of the reserved values may be repurposed. The resourceReservationConfigUL or the reserved value of the subcarrier indication field may be used to directly enable or disable the OCC, independently of the restrictions to the DCI format N0.
[0059] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine an OCC index or codeword based on at least one DCI format parameter. Alternatively, the first apparatus 110 may obtain the OCC index or the codeword from the RRC configuration.
[0060] For example, the OCC index or codeword may be defined as part of the RRC configuration. In some other example embodiments, one of the DCI format parameters may also indicate the OCC index or the codeword. For example, the periodic time resource may alternate between OCC index 0 and 1, e.g. OCC index 0 is assigned to X, X+2*Y, X+4*Y, while OCC index 1 is assigned to X+Y, X+3*Y etc.
[0061] Further, the first apparatus 110 may perform the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.
[0062] Alternatively, the activation of the OCC may be given by one resource or setting, e.g. the time or frequency resource, while the OCC index or codeword is indicated by another resource or setting, e.g. the HARQ process or scheduling delay.
[0063] After the OCC is enable, if the first apparatus 110 receives (208) a further DCI received (206) from the second apparatus 120 and determine this DCI uses a parameter with a further value to cause the OCC to be disabled (e.g., the further value of the parameter does not match the value for OCC enabling indicated in the RRC configuration) or an indication indicating the OCC is to be disabled, the first apparatus 110 may cause the OCC to be disabled for a further transmission on the uplink channel. Further, the first apparatus 110 may perform (210) the further transmission on the uplink channel without OCC.
[0064] As described above, example embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the network node to dynamically activate OCC for a subset of the scheduling grants without redefining fields of the DCI format N0. Furthermore, example embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the network node to control the OCC index or the codeword based on the DCI format N0 fields.
[0065] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example method 300 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 300 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.
[0066] At block 310, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, a RRC configuration message indicating one or more downlink control information, DCI, format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling.
[0067] At block 320, in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, at block 330, the first apparatus determines at least one of the following: whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC.
[0068] At block 340, the first apparatus causes, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.
[0069] In some example embodiments, the one or more DCI format parameters comprises at least one of the following: a time resource, a frequency resource, a scheduling delay, a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, a resource unit, a number of repetitions, a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process.
[0070] In some example embodiments, one or more specific values of a DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters are configured with at least one of the following: a specific value, or a specific value range.
[0071] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that DCI comprises the parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with the value being equal to the specific value of the DCI format parameter or falling within a specific value range indicated in the RRC configuration, causing the OCC to be enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel; and performing the transmission on the uplink channel using the OCC.
[0072] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, causing the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel.
[0073] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, causing the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel regardless of whether DCI uses at least one parameter with the value matching the specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration.
[0074] In some example embodiments, a field in the DCI is used to indicate whether the OCC is enabled or disable.
[0075] In some example embodiments, the one or more DCI format parameters are DCI format N0 parameters.
[0076] In some example embodiments, the field in the DCI used to indicate whether disables or enables the OCC comprises a resourceReservationConfigUL field or a subcarrier indication field.
[0077] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: determining an OCC index or an OCC codeword based on at least one DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the at least one DCI format parameter; and performing the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.
[0078] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: obtaining an OCC index or an OCC codeword from the RRC configuration message; and performing the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.
[0079] In some example embodiments, the method 300 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that, after the OCC is enabled, a further DCI received from the second apparatus uses the parameter with a further value to cause the OCC to be disabled or an indication disabling the OCC, performing a further transmission on the uplink channel without OCC.
[0080] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network node.
[0081] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 300 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.
[0082] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a RRC configuration message indicating one or more downlink control information, DCI, format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling; means for in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determine at least one of the following: whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, or whether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC, means for causing, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.
[0083] In some example embodiments, the one or more DCI format parameters comprises at least one of the following: a time resource, a frequency resource, a scheduling delay, a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, a resource unit, a number of repetitions, a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process.
[0084] In some example embodiments, one or more specific values of a DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters are configured with at least one of the following: a specific value, or a specific value range.
[0085] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that DCI comprises the parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with the value being equal to the specific value of the DCI format parameter or falling within a specific value range indicated in the RRC configuration, causing the OCC to be enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel; and means for performing the transmission on the uplink channel using the OCC.
[0086] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, causing the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel.
[0087] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, causing the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel regardless of whether DCI uses at least one parameter with the value matching the specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration.
[0088] In some example embodiments, a field in the DCI is used to indicate whether the OCC is enabled or disable.
[0089] In some example embodiments, the one or more DCI format parameters are DCI format N0 parameters.
[0090] In some example embodiments, the field in the DCI used to indicate whether disables or enables the OCC comprises a resourceReservationConfigUL field or a subcarrier indication field.
[0091] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining an OCC index or an OCC codeword based on at least one DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the at least one DCI format parameter; and means for performing the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.
[0092] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for obtaining an OCC index or an OCC codeword from the RRC configuration message; and means for performing the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.
[0093] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that, after the OCC is enabled, a further DCI received from the second apparatus uses the parameter with a further value to cause the OCC to be disabled or an indication disabling the OCC, performing a further transmission on the uplink channel without OCC.
[0094] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network node.
[0095] FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a device 400 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 400 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 420 coupled to the processor 410, and one or more communication modules 440 coupled to the processor 410.
[0096] The communication module 440 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 440 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 440 may include at least one antenna.
[0097] The processor 410 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 400 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.
[0098] The memory 420 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 424, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 422 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.
[0099] A computer program 430 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 410. The instructions of the program 430 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 430 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 424. The processor 410 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 430 into the RAM 422.
[0100] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 430 so that the device 400 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 3 The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.
[0101] In some example embodiments, the program 430 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 400 (such as in the memory 420) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 400. The device 400 may load the program 430 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 422 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .
[0102] FIG. 5 shows an example of the computer readable medium 500 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 500 has the program 430 stored thereon.
[0103] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
[0104] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.
[0105] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.
[0106] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.
[0107] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0108] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.
[0109] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
Claims
1.A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:receive, from a second apparatus, a radio resource control, RRC, configuration message indicating one or more downlink control information, DCI, format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling;in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel , determine at least one of the following:whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, orwhether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC,cause, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.2.The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more DCI format parameters comprises at least one of the following:a time resource,a frequency resource,a scheduling delay,a modulation and coding scheme, MCS,a resource unit,a number of repetitions,a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process.3.The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more specific values of a DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters are configured with at least one of the following:a specific value, ora specific value range.4.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that DCI comprises the parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with the value being equal to the specific value of the DCI format parameter or falling within a specific value range indicated in the RRC configuration, cause the OCC to be enabled for the transmission on the uplink channel; andperform the transmission on the uplink channel using the OCC.5.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, cause the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel.6.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that the indication in the DCI disables the OCC, cause the OCC to be disabled for the transmission on the uplink channel regardless of whether DCI uses at least one parameter with the value matching the specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration.7.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-6, wherein a field in the DCI is used to indicate whether the OCC is enabled or disable.8.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the one or more DCI format parameters are DCI format N0 parameters.9.The first apparatus of claim 7, wherein the field in the DCI used to indicate whether disables or enables the OCC comprises a resourceReservationConfigUL field or a subcarrier indication field.10.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine an OCC index or an OCC codeword based on at least one DCI format parameter in the one or more DCI format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the at least one DCI format parameter; andperform the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.11.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:obtain an OCC index or an OCC codeword from the RRC configuration message; andperform the transmission on the uplink channel based on the OCC index or the codeword.12.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:in accordance with a determination that, after the OCC is enabled, a further DCI received from the second apparatus uses the parameter with a further value to cause the OCC to be disabled or an indication disabling the OCC, perform a further transmission on the uplink channel without OCC.13.The first apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network node.14.A method comprising:receiving, from a second apparatus, a radio resource control, RRC, configuration message indicating one or more downlink control information, DCI, format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling;in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determining at least one of the following:whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, orwhether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC,causing, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.15.A first apparatus comprising:means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a radio resource control, RRC, configuration message indicating one or more downlink control information, DCI, format parameters and respective one or more specific values of the one or more DCI format parameters associated with an orthogonal cover code, OCC enabling;means for in accordance with receiving, from the second apparatus, DCI for scheduling an uplink channel, determining at least one of the following:whether DCI comprises a parameter, indicated in the RRC configuration, with a value matching a specific value of the DCI format parameter indicated in the RRC configuration, orwhether an indication in the DCI enables the OCC,means for causing, based on the determination, the OCC to be enabled or disabled for a transmission on the uplink channel.16.A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 14.