Dedicated time division duplex uplink downlink (TDD-UL-DL) configuration in subband full duplex (SBFD)

Abstract

A method in a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving a first configuration for a set of symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the set of symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range; and receiving a second configuration specific to the UE and 5 indicating a subset of the set of symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range 10 for downlink in the first configuration.

Description

[0001] DEDICATED TIME DIVISION DUPLEX UPLINK DOWNLINK (TDD-UL-DL) CONFIGURATION IN SUBBAND FULL DUPLEX (SBFD)

[0002] FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes, such as base stations, and mobile user equipments (UE), as well as communication between network nodes and between UEs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] The New Radio (NR) standard in 3GPP is being designed to provide service for multiple use cases such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC), and machine type communication (MTC). Each of these services has different technical requirements. For example, the general requirement for eMBB is high data rate with moderate latency and moderate coverage, while URLLC service requires a low latency and high reliability transmission but perhaps for moderate data rates.

[0007] One of the solutions for low latency data transmission is shorter transmission time intervals. In NR, in addition to transmission in a slot, a mini-slot transmission is also allowed to reduce latency. A mini-slot may include any number of 1 to 14 OFDM symbols. It may be noted that the concepts of slot and mini-slot are not specific to a specific service meaning that a mini-slot may be used for either eMBB, URLLC, or other services. FIG. 1 shows an example radio resource in NR.

[0008] In 3 GPP Rel-15 NR, a UE can be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the downlink with a single downlink carrier bandwidth part being active at a given time. A UE can be configured with up to four carrier bandwidth parts in the uplink with a single uplink carrier bandwidth part being active at a given time.

[0009] An NR slot may include several OFDM symbols, according to current agreements either 7 or 14 symbols (OFDM subcarrier spacing < 60 kHz) and 14 symbols (OFDMsubcarrier spacing > 60 kHz). FIG. 2 shows a subframe with 14 OFDM symbols. In FIG. 2 Tsand Tsymbdenote the slot and OFDM symbol duration, respectively.

[0010] FDD and TDD systems

[0011] Transmission and reception from a node, e.g. a terminal in a cellular system, can be multiplexed in the frequency domain or in the time domain (or combinations thereol). FIG. 3 depicts frequency- and time-division duplex multiplexing. Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) as illustrated to the left in FIG. 3 implies that downlink and uplink transmission take place in different, sufficiently separated, frequency bands. Time Division Duplex (TDD), as illustrated to the right in FIG. 3, implies that downlink and uplink transmission take place in different, non-overlapping time slots. Thus, TDD can operate in unpaired spectrum, whereas FDD requires paired spectrum.

[0012] Typically, the structure of the transmitted signal in a communication system is organized in the form of a frame structure. For example, NR uses ten equally sized slots per radio frame as illustrated in FIG. 4 for the case of 15 kHz subcarrier spacing. FIG. 4 depicts uplink / downlink time / frequency structure in case of FDD or TDD.

[0013] In cases of FDD operation (as shown in the upper part of FIG. 4), there are two carrier frequencies, one for uplink transmission (fUL) and one for downlink transmission (fDL). At least with respect to the terminal in a cellular communication system, FDD can be either full duplex or half duplex. In the full duplex case, a terminal can transmit and receive simultaneously, while in half-duplex operation, the terminal cannot transmit and receive simultaneously (the base station is capable of simultaneous reception / transmission though, e.g. receiving from one terminal while simultaneously transmitting to another terminal). In LTE, a half-duplex terminal is monitoring / receiving in the downlink except when explicitly being instructed to transmit in a certain subframe.

[0014] In cases of TDD operation (as shown in the lower part of FIG. 4), there may only be a single carrier frequency and uplink and downlink transmissions are always separated in time also on a cell basis. As the same carrier frequency is used for uplink and downlink transmission, both the base station and the mobile terminals need to switch from transmission to reception and vice versa. It may be necessary, for a TDD system, to provide the possibility for a sufficiently large guard time where neither downlink nor uplink transmissions occur. This may be required to avoid interference between uplink and downlink transmissions. For NR, this guard time is provided by special subframes, which are split into three parts: symbols for DL, a guard period (GP), and symbols for uplink. The remaining subframes are either allocated to uplink or downlink transmission.In more detail, the following two information elements (IES) are defined in current specifications. The TDD pattern is typically configured with at least the first IE and optionally the 2nd IE:

[0015] • TDD-DL-UL-ConflgCommon (cell-specific)

[0016] • TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated (UE-specific)

[0017] The first IE is cell specific (common to all UEs) and is provided by broadcast signaling. It provides the number of slots in the TDD pattern via a reference subcarrier spacing and a periodicity such that the S-slot pattern repeats every S slots. This IE allows for very flexible configuration of the pattern characterized as follows:

[0018] • A number of full downlink slots at the beginning of the pattern configured by the parameter nDownlinkSlots

[0019] • A number of full uplink slots at the end of the pattern configured by the parameter nUplinkSlots

[0020] • A number of downlink ('D') symbols following the full downlink slots configured by the parameter nDownlinkSymbols

[0021] • A number of uplink ('U') symbols preceding the full downlink slots configured by the parameter nUplinkSlots

[0022] • If there is a gap between the last downlink symbol and the first uplink symbol, then all symbols in the gap are characterized as flexible ('F'). A symbol classified as 'F' can be used for downlink or uplink. A UE determines the direction in one of the following two ways:

[0023] o Detecting a DCI that schedules / triggers a DL signal / channel, e.g., PDSCH, CSI-RS or schedules / triggers an UL signal / channel, e.g. PUSCH, SRS, etc.

[0024] o By dedicated (UE-specific) signaling of the IE TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated. This parameter overrides some or all of the 'F' symbols in the pattern, thus providing a semi-static indication of whether a symbol is classified as 'D' or 'U'.

[0025] • Optionally, a second pattern that is concatenated to the first pattern can be configured as above. If a second pattern is configured, the constraint is that the sum of the periodicities of the two patterns must evenly divide 20 ms.

[0026] FIG. 5 shows an example TDD DL / UL pattern configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConfigCommon. It includes three full 'D' slots, 1 full 'U' slot, with a mixed slot in between consisting of four 'D' symbols and 3 'U' symbols. The remaining seven symbols in the mixed slot are classified as 'F.'If a UE is not configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated, then the pattern at the top of the diagram is what may be assumed. As stated above, the network can make use of the 'F' symbols flexibly, by scheduling / triggering either an uplink or a downlink signal / channel in a UE specific manner. This allows for very dynamic behavior: the direction is not known to the UE a priori; rather, the direction becomes known once the UE detects a DCI scheduling / triggering a particular DL or UL signal / channel.

[0027] In contrast, the DL / UL direction for some or all of the 'F' symbols in a particular slot can be provided to the UE in a semi-static manner by RRC configuring the UE with TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated. The lower part of FIG. 5 shows three example configurations for overriding 'F' symbols in Slot 3. If the IE indicates 'allDownlink' or 'allUplink' for a particular slot (or slots), then all 'F' symbols in the slot are converted to either 'D' or 'U,' respectively. If the IE indicates 'explicit,' then a number of symbols at the beginning of the slot and / or a number of symbols at the end of the slot are indicated as 'D' and 'U,' respectively. In the example below, the first seven and the last five are indicated as 'D' and 'U', which converts some of the 'F' symbols (but not all in this example) to 'D' and 'U.'

[0028] A behavior in the above is that the UE-specific IE TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated can only override (i.e., specify 'D' or 'U') for symbols that are configured as 'F' by the cell-specific IE TDD-DL-UL-ConflgCommon. In other words, a UE does not expect to have a 'D' symbol converted to 'U' or vice versa.

[0029] FIG. 6 shows three additional example TDD DL / UL patterns configured by TDD-DL-UL-ConflgCommon. In the first and second patterns, there are no 'F' symbols, hence according to current behavior in, e.g., 3GPP Release 17 (Rel-17) specifications, the UE would not expect to be configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated. In the second pattern, all symbols in Slots 1, 2, and 3 are configured as 'F;' hence, the UE could be configured with TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated to provide a direction ('D' or 'U') for any or all symbols in these 3 slots. Note that the current (Rel-17) specifications allow the dedicated configuration of the TDD pattern on a slot-specific basis. In other words, TDD-DL-UL-ConflgDedicated is not restricted to be the same in each slot where 'F' symbols are overridden.Subband full duplex

[0030] As described above, in a conventional TDD system, entire carrier bandwidth (BW) or all carriers in the same frequency band may need to use the same DL transmission or UL reception directions. This is further illustrated in FIG. 7, which depicts conventional TDD carrier or carrier systems.

[0031] For the 3GPP Release 18 (Rel-18) evolution of the NR system, 3GPP has decided to study the technical feasibilities and potential benefits of subband full duplex (SBFD) systems.

[0032] • In such a system, a portion of a wide bandwidth carrier may be used for a different direction than that of the rest of the carrier. This is illustrated in the left-hand side of FIG. 8, which shows subband full duplex systems. That is, unlike a conventional TDD system as shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 7 where the entire bandwidth is used for DL transmission in the first three slots, the center portion of the SBFD carrier is used for UL reception while the rest of the carrier continues to be used for DL transmission as shown in the left-hand side of FIG. 8.

[0033] • Similarly, instead of utilizing all carriers for the same DL or UL directions in a conventional TDD system as shown in the right-hand side of FIG. 7, some carriers in the SBFD system can be used for a different direction than that of the other carriers as shown in the right-hand side of FIG. 8.

[0034] In a 3GPP Rel-18 study, the scope has been limited such that in SBFD operation, only network nodes transmit DL and receive UL simultaneously. An individual UE is scheduled in only one direction (DL or UL) at a time.

[0035] In 3GPP Release 19 (Rel-19), 3GPP Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network (TSG RAN), RAN Work Group 1 (WG1) (RANI) has agreed to configure one or more OFDM symbols of a slot with two or more resource block sets (RB sets) (subbands) where each resource block (RB) set corresponds to a frequency domain subband and has a defined transmission direction ('D' or 'U'). The RB sets may have gaps between them that serve as guardbands where neither DL nor UL transmission occurs. FIG. 9 shows two example RB set configurations, one with D-U-D configuration and the other with U-D-U configuration. The RB sets are configured either by introduction of new RRC parameter(s) or enhancement of an existing radio resource control (RRC) parameter, e.g., TDD-UL-DL-ConflgDedicated. In either case, the parameter(s) signal the size and frequency domain location of the RB sets as well as which symbols / slots in the TDD UL / DL pattern are configured with RB sets.TDD-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated

[0036] UE-specific configuration of flexible symbols into downlink (DL), uplink (UL) or remaining as flexible (F) is provided by the RRC parameter tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated. In short, for each slot, the network configures a UE with a number of F symbols as all DL, or all UL, or an explicit number of DL symbols in the start of the slot and an explicit number of UL symbols in the end of the slot. This is described in, e.g., 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.213, Clause 11.1, which states:

[0037]

[0038] SUMMARY

[0039] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method in a UE is provided. The method includes receiving a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. The method includes to receiving a second configuration specific to the UE and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulablefor uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0040] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a UE is provided. UE is configured to receive a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. UE is configured to receive a second configuration specific to the UE and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0041] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method in a network node is provided. The method includes transmitting a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. The method includes transmitting a second configuration specific to the UE and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0042] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network node is provided. Network node is configured to transmit a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. Network node is configured to transmit a second configuration specific to the UE and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in thesubset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0043] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0045] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example radio resource in NR;

[0046] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a subframe with 14 OFDM symbols;

[0047] FIG. 3 is a diagram of frequency- and time-division duplex multiplexing;

[0048] FIG. 4 is a diagram of uplink / downlink time / frequency structure in FDD and TDD; FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example TDD DL / UL pattern;

[0049] FIG. 6 is a diagram of example TDD DL / UL patterns;

[0050] FIG. 7 is a diagram of conventional TDD carrier or carrier systems;

[0051] FIG. 8 is a diagram of subband full duplex systems;

[0052] FIG. 9 is a diagram of example RB set configurations;

[0053] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system according to principles disclosed herein;

[0054] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a network node in communication with a user equipment over a wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0055] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another example network architecture illustrating a communication system according to principles disclosed herein;

[0056] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0057] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process in a user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0058] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another example process in a user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0059] FIG. 17 is a diagram of TDD patterns and symbol types according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0060] FIG. 18 is a diagram of a symbol for switching guard periods according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0061] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to SBFD configuration. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0063] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. 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,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0064] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication.In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0065] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. 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,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0066] The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a user equipment (UE) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0067] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The UE herein can be any type of user equipment capable of communicating with a network node or another UE over radio signals, such as a wireless device (WD). The UE may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity UE, a sensor equipped with UE, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device etc.Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

[0068] Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR) and / or 6G, may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. It is contemplated that other 3GPP systems may make use of the concepts and arrangements disclosed herein. For example, a disclosure relating to NR may also be implementable in a 6G system and / or an LTE system, a disclosure relating to 6G may also be implementable in a NR and / or LTE system, and a disclosure relating to LTE may also be implementable in a NR and / or 6G system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

[0069] Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a user equipment or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of user equipments and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and user equipment described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.

[0070] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0071] Some embodiments are directed to SBFD configuration. Referring again to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 10 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G) and / or 6G, which comprises an access network 12, such as a radioaccess network, and a core network 14. The core network 14 includes one or more network nodes 15. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first user equipment (UE) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second UE 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of UEs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as user equipments 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two UEs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more UEs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0072] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 12 may contain some access network nodes 16 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 16 support (or the same access network nodes 16 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, communication system 10 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G, 5G and 6G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an access network 12 and / or a core network 14 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 12 and / or multiple core networks 14 with individual networks supporting different standards generations.

[0073] Also, it is contemplated that a UE 22 can be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a UE 22 can have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, UE 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN, a gNB for NR / NG-RAN (i.e. being configured for multiradio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and / or Wi-Fi.

[0074] A network node 16 (eNB or gNB) is configured to include a configuration unit 24 which is configured to perform one or more network node 16 functions described herein,including functions related to SBFD configuration. A user equipment 22 is configured to include a implementation unit 26 which is configured to perform one or more UE 22 functions described herein, including functions related to SBFD configuration.

[0075] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE 22 and network node 16 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 11.

[0076] The communication system 10 includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 28 enabling it to communicate with the UE 22. The hardware 28 may include a communication interface 29 comprising a radio interface 30 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 32 with a UE 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The radio interface 30 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 30 includes an array of antennas 34 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.

[0077] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 28 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 36 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 38 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 40, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0078] Thus, the network node 16 further has software 42 stored internally in, for example, memory 40, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 42 may be executable by the processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node 16.

[0079] Processor 38 corresponds to one or more processors 38 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 40 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, thesoftware 42 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36, causes the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, processing circuitry 36 of the network node 16 may include configuration unit 24 which is configured to perform one or more network node 16 functions described herein, including functions related to SBFD configuration.

[0080] The network node 16 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 16 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 16 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 40 or portions of memory 40 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna may be shared by different RATs). The network node 16 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 16, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 16.

[0081] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 16 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry, instead, the processing circuitry 36 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 34. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF receivers, transmitters and / or transceivers are part of the radio interface 30. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 29 includes one or more ports or terminals, the radio interface 30, and the RF receiver, transmitter and / or transceiver, and the communication interface 31 communicates with baseband processing circuitry, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0082] The antenna 34 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 34 may be coupled to the radio front-endcircuitry in radio interface 30 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 34 is separate from the network node 16 and connectable to the network node 16 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0083] Network node 15 can include one or more components described above with respect to network node 16, e.g., communication interface 29, radio interface 30, antenna 34, ports, processing circuitry 36, processor 38, memory 40 and software 42. These elements of network node 15 can be arranged such that network node 15 can perform various core network functions. Network node 15 can communicate wirelessly or via a wired connection with network nodes 16 via communication link 59.

[0084] The communication system 10 further includes the UE 22 already referred to. The UE 22 may have hardware 44 that may include a radio interface 46 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 32 with a network node 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the UE 22 is currently located. The radio interface 46 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 46 includes an array of antennas 48 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.

[0085] Communication functions of the radio interface 46 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / intemet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0086] The hardware 44 of the UE 22 further includes processing circuitry 50. The processing circuitry 50 may include a processor 52 and memory 54. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 50 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control,e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 52 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 54, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0087] Thus, the UE 22 may further comprise software 56, which is stored in, for example, memory 54 at the UE 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the UE 22. The software 56 may be executable by the processing circuitry 50. The software 56 may include a client application 58. The client application 58 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 22.

[0088] The processing circuitry 50 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by UE 22. The processor 52 corresponds to one or more processors 52 for performing UE 22 functions described herein. The UE 22 includes memory 54 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 56 and / or the client application 58 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50, causes the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50 to perform the processes described herein with respect to UE 22. For example, the processing circuitry 50 of the user equipment 22 may include implementation unit 26 which is configured to perform one or more UE 22 functions described herein, including functions related to SBFD configuration.

[0089] In some embodiments, the inner workings of the network node 16 and UE 22 may be as shown in FIG. 11 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 10.

[0090] The wireless connection 32 between the UE 22 and the network node 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc. In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for thepurpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.

[0091] Although FIGS. 10 and 11 show various “units” such as configuration unit 24 and implementation unit 26 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0092] FIG. 12 is another example of a communication system 10 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 10 of FIG. 12 includes multiple access points (APs) 60 (with four example APs 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 10 of FIG.

[0093] 12 as stations (STAs) 62 (referred to individually as STA 62a, STA 62b, STA 62c, STA 62d, and STA 62e). STA 62a is served by AP 60a in a first basic service set (BSS) 64a. STA 62b and STA 62c are served by AP 60b in a second BSS, BSS 64b. STA 62d is served by AP 60c in a third BSS, BSS 64c. STA 62e is served by AP 60d in a fourth BSS, BSS 64d. Stations 62 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like, including UEs 22 that are shown and described with respect to FIGS. 10 and 11. In other words, in some embodiment, STA 62 is a UE 22. Further, stations 62 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0094] Each of STAs 62 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 60. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 62, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0095] Each AP 60 may provide data connectivity to STAs 62 connected to a particular AP 60. As illustrated, APs 60 may be connected to a data network 66. In this way, APs 60 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 62 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like.Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 62 and its serving AP 60 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 62, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 62 and / or on a device linked to STA 62. By way of example, FIG. 12 illustrates an application service platform 68 provided in data network 66. The application(s) executed on STA 62 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 62 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 62 and / or the application service platform 68, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 62.

[0096] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 36 (including the configuration unit 24), processor 38, and / or radio interface 30. Network node 16 configured to configure the UE 22 with a subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and an SBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol (Block SI 00).

[0097] Network node 16 configured to communicate with the UE 22 based on the SBFD configuration (Block SI 02).

[0098] In some embodiments, network node 16 is further configured to configure the UE with a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol.

[0099] In some embodiments, a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0100] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.

[0101] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process in a user equipment 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of user equipment 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 50 (including the implementation unit 26), processor 52, and / or radio interface 46. UE 22 is configured to receive a subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and anSBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol (Block SI 04). UE 22 is configured to communicate with the network node 16 based on the SBFD configuration (Block S106).

[0102] In some embodiments, UE 22 is configured to receive a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol.

[0103] In some embodiments, a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0104] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.

[0105] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another example process in a user equipment 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of user equipment 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 50 (including the implementation unit 26), processor 52, and / or radio interface 46. UE 22 is configured to receive (Block SI 08) a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. UE 22 is configured to receive (Block SI 10) a second configuration specific to the UE 22 and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0106] In some embodiments, those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.

[0107] In some embodiments, the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

[0108] In some embodiments, the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.In some embodiments, the UE 22 is further configured to communicate with the network node 16 based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those of the symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

[0109] In some embodiments, the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0110] In some embodiments, the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

[0111] In some embodiments, the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured with a synchronization signal block. One or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) may for example overlap a symbol of the second type.

[0112] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of another example process in a network node 16 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 36 (including the configuration unit 24), processor 38, and / or radio interface 30. Network node 16 configured to transmit (Block SI 12) a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range. Network node 16 configured to transmit (Block SI 14) a second configuration specific to the UE 22 and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as: a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; or a second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0113] In some embodiments, those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.In some embodiments, the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

[0114] In some embodiments, the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.

[0115] In some embodiments, the network node 16 is further configured to communicate with the UE 22 based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those of the symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

[0116] In some embodiments, the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

[0117] In some embodiments, the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

[0118] In some embodiments, the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured via a synchronization signal block. One or more synchronization symbol blocks (SSBs) may for example overlap a symbol of the second type.

[0119] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for SBFD configuration.

[0120] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for SBFD configuration.

[0121] Currently, there is no solution as to how to provide a UE-specific time domain SBFD configuration. This may require UEs to be attentive to both DL and UL based on dynamic scheduling, resulting in a higher activation level and, as an effect, less efficient power management. Hence, there is a need for efficient methods to provide functionality that allows SBFD-aware UEs to assume configuration for DL or UL operation in SBFD symbols, and thereby allow for more efficient power management.

[0122] Described herein is a signaling protocol providing an SBFD-aware UE with a UE-specific time domain TDD-UL-DL configuration for SBFD symbols.

[0123] Embodiments include specification of new symbol types and an efficient protocol for configuring dedicated time domain SBFD configurations for SBFD-aware UEs, while at the same time introducing minimal specification impact.Advantages of embodiments described herein include that UEs may be efficiently configured with UE-specific TDD-UL-DL configurations, thereby increasing power performance and device longevity.

[0124] A SBFD aware UE 22 means a UE 22 that is capable of operating in a cell configured with SBFD feature, i.e., the cell / the network node 16 transmits DL and receive UL simultaneously in SBFD slots and symbols within a carrier. The UE 22 can be aware of SBFD configurations so that the UE 22 knows which slots / symbols are SBFD capable, which are also referred to as SBFD slots / symbols. This does not mean that the UE 22 needs to support full duplex operation. The UE 22 may or may not support full duplex operation. Such UE 22 may also be capable of operating in a cell configured with legacy DL / UL allocation, i.e., non-SBFD feature and enable the switch between operate SBFD and legacy DL / UL allocation, i.e., non-SBFD.

[0125] The following embodiments are applicable to SBFD-aware UEs 22.

[0126] Example Embodiment 1

[0127] In legacy NR, a slot format includes downlink (DL) symbols, uplink (UL) symbols, and flexible (F) symbols. In 3GPP Rel-19, SBFD symbols are configured in DL and / or flexible symbols configured in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon.

[0128] In at least one embodiment, all symbols not configured as SBFD are non-SBFD symbols. SBFD-DL, SBFD-UL and SBFD-F symbols may be configured in SBFD symbols (regardless of whether these previously were DL or F). It should be noted that SBFD-DL differs from DL in that DL is configured prior to the SBFD configuration and has no subband restriction, whereas SBDF-DL is configured following the SBFD configuration and is restricted to the DL subband. The corresponding difference applies to SBFD-UL and UL symbols. SBFD-F may either be scheduled as DL in the DL subband or UL in the UL subband.

[0129] It should be noted that SBFD-DL, SBFD-UL and SBFD-F symbols could be configured as UE-specific configurations, i.e., same SBFD symbol could be configured as SBFD-DL symbol for one UE 22, SBFD-UL for other UE 22, and SBFD-F for other UE 22.

[0130] It should be noted that calling SBFD-DL, SBFD-UL and SBFD-F symbols is from UE’s behaviour perspective. In standardizations, those symbols could be called as DL, UL, F symbols as legacy but with different behaviours, e.g., with some restrictions as below.FIG. 17 depicts example TDD patterns and symbol types from different UEs’ 22 perspectives.

[0131] For SBFD-DL symbols, the following may apply:

[0132] • DL receptions within DL usable PRBs are allowed;

[0133] • UL transmissions are not allowed;

[0134] • DL receptions outside DL usable PRBs are not allowed as default; and • DL receptions outside DL usable PRBs could be allowed under certain conditions, i.e., SBFD-DL symbol is configured with SSB.

[0135] For SBFD-UL symbols, the following may apply:

[0136] • UL transmissions within UL usable PRBs are allowed;

[0137] • UL transmissions outside UL usable PRBs are not allowed;

[0138] • DL receptions are not allowed as default; and

[0139] • DL receptions could be allowed under certain conditions, e.g., SBFD-DL symbol is configured with SSB.

[0140] For SBFD-F symbols, the following may apply:

[0141] • UL transmissions within UL usable PRBs are allowed;

[0142] • DL receptions within DL usable PRBs are allowed;

[0143] • UL transmissions outside UL usable PRBs are not allowed;

[0144] • DL receptions outside DL usable PRBs are not allowed; and

[0145] • DL receptions could be allowed under certain conditions, e.g., SBFD-DL symbol is configured with SSB.

[0146] For all the above, SSB symbols overlapping with SBFD symbols may be considered as DL or SBFD-DL symbols or as SBFD-F symbols.

[0147] Example Embodiment 2

[0148] The device (e.g., UE 22) is provided with a dedicated RRC TDD-UL-DL configuration specifying which, among all SBFD-symbols (i.e., both DL and F symbols in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon configured as SBFD symbols) that are configured as SBFD-DL or SBFD-UL and which are not configured, i.e., remain as SBFD-F, i.e., schedulable in both UL and DL.

[0149] In at least one embodiment, the dedicated RRC configuration provides:

[0150] • a set of slot configurations

[0151] • for each slot configuration from the set of slot configurations

[0152] o a slot index for a slot

[0153] o a set of symbols for a slot where,if symbols = allDownlink, all symbols in the slot are SBFD-downlink

[0154] ■ if symbols = allUplink, all symbols in the slot are SBFD-uplink

[0155] ■ if symbols = explicit, provides a number of SBFD-downlink first symbols in the slot and a number of SBFD-uplink last symbols in the slot. The remaining symbols in the slot are SBFD-flexible

[0156] In at least one embodiment, the dedicated RRC configuration is the RRC parameter tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated that is reinterpreted for SBFD symbols such that:

[0157] • a symbol is a non-SBFD symbol unless configured as an SBFD symbol • a set of slot configurations by slotSpecificConfigurationsToAddModList • for each slot configuration from the set of slot configurations

[0158] o a slot index for a slot provided by slotindex

[0159] o a set of non-SBFD symbols for a slot by symbols where

[0160] ■ if symbols = allDownlink, all symbols in the slot are downlink

[0161] ■ if symbols = allUplink, all symbols in the slot are uplink ■ if symbols = explicit, nrofDownlinkSymbols provides a number of downlink first symbols in the slot and nrofUplinkSymbols provides a number of uplink last symbols in the slot. If nrofDownlinkSymbols is not provided, there are no downlink first symbols in the slot and if nrofUplinkSymbols is not provided, there are no uplink last symbols in the slot. The remaining symbols in the slot are flexible

[0162] o a set of SBFD symbols for a slot by symbols where

[0163] ■ if symbols = allDownlink, all symbols in the slot are SBFD-downlink

[0164] ■ if symbols = allUplink, all symbols in the slot are SBFD-uplink

[0165] ■ if symbols = explicit, nrofDownlinkSymbols provides a number of SBFD-downlink first symbols in the slot and nrofUplinkSymbols provides a number of SBFD-uplink last symbols in the slot. If nrofDownlinkSymbols is not provided, there are no SBFD-downlink first symbols in the slot and if nrofUplinkSymbols is not provided, there are no SBFD-uplink last symbols in the slot. The remaining symbols in the slot are SBFD-flexibleThat is, when tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated indicates a flexible symbol to be DL (either by allDownlink or explicit), the symbol becomes a DL symbol if the UE 22 has not received a SBFD configuration for the symbol and a SBFD-DL symbol if the UE 22 has received a SBFD configuration for the symbol. Similarly when tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated indicates a flexible symbol to be UL (either by allDownlink or explicit), the symbol becomes an UL symbol if the UE 22 has not received a SBFD configuration for the symbol and a SBFD-UL symbol if the UE 22 has received a SBFD configuration for the symbol. For symbols not indicated as DL or UL by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated the symbol will remain flexible if the UE 22 has not received a SBFD configuration for the symbol and a SBFD-F symbol if the UE 22 has received a SBFD configuration for the symbol. Thus, it can be noted that the UE 22 is allowed to be configured and applied tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated for symbols indicated as DL by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationCommon if they are also configured as SBFD symbols, which is different compared to legacy where only symbols indicated as F by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationCommon can be overridden by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated.

[0166] The below table presents the symbol type based on different configuration combinations:

[0167] Table 1: Table describing the relation between tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationCommon, tdd- UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated and SBFD configuration.

[0168]

[0169] In at least one embodiment, SBFD-DL and / or SBFL-UL symbol may only be configured and / or applied in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated on top of corresponding SBFD symbol under certain conditions, e.g.,SBFL-UL symbol could only be configured and / or applied in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated if corresponding symbol in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon is configured as F.

[0170] SBFD-DL symbol could only be configured and / or applied in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated if corresponding symbol in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon is configured as F.

[0171] SBFD-UL symbol could not be configured and / or applied in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated if corresponding symbols in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon is configured as DL. However, SBFD-DL could be configured and / or applied in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated regardless whether corresponding symbols in TDD-UL-DL-ConflgCommon is configured as DL or F symbols.

[0172] In at least one embodiment, special symbol for switching guard period could be implicitly maintained, i.e., not updated by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated. For instance, the F symbol in slot finished by UL symbols is maintained as an F symbol for switching guard period even when this symbol is indicated as SBFD-UL symbol in tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated.

[0173] FIG. 18 depicts an example of a special symbol for switching guard periods that is not updated by tdd-UL-DL-ConflgurationDedicated.

[0174] Example Embodiments:

[0175] Example Al . A method implemented in a user equipment (UE) 22 that is configured to communicate with a network node 16, the method comprising: receiving a subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and an SBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol; and communicating with the network node based on the SBFD configuration.

[0176] Example A2. The method of Example Al , further comprising receiving a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol.

[0177] Example A3. The method of any of Examples Al and A2, wherein a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0178] Example A4. The method of any of Examples Al -A3, wherein the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.Example Bl. A user equipment (UE) 22 configured to communicate with a network node 16, the UE 22 configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or processing circuitry configured to: receive a subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and an SBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol; and communicate with the network node based on the SBFD configuration.

[0179] Example B2. The UE 22 of Example Bl, further configured to receive a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol.

[0180] Example B3. The UE 22 of any of Examples Bl and B2, wherein a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0181] Example B4. The UE 22 of any of Examples B1-B3, wherein the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.

[0182] Example CL A method implemented in a network node 16 that is configured to communicate with a user equipment, UE, 22 the method comprising: configuring the UE 22 with a subband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and an SBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol; and communicating with the UE 22 based on the SBFD configuration.

[0183] Example C2. The method of Example Cl, further comprising configuring the UE 22 with a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol.

[0184] Example C3. The method of any of Examples Cl and C2, wherein a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0185] Example C4. The method of any of Examples C1-C3, wherein the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.

[0186] Example DI. A network node 16 configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) 22, the network node 16 configured to, and / or comprising a radio interface and / or comprising processing circuitry configured to: configure the UE 22 with asubband full duplex, SBFD, configuration, corresponding to a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising one or more of an SBFD downlink, SBFD-DL, symbol, an SBFD uplink, SBFD-UL, symbol, and an SBFD flexible, SBFD-F, symbol; and communicate with the UE 22 based on the SBFD configuration.

[0187] Example D2. The network node 16 of Example DI, further configured to configure the UE with a dedicated radio resource control-, RRC, time-division duplex-, TDD, UL-DL configuration indicating those of the plurality of symbols that are configured as the one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol, the SBFD-UL symbol, and the SBFD-F symbol

[0188] Example D3. The network node 16 of any of Examples DI and D2, wherein a guard period is implicitly maintained.

[0189] Example D4. The network node 16 of any of Examples D1-D3, wherein the configuration indicates to apply one or more of the SBFD-DL symbol and the SBFD-UL symbol on top of a corresponding SBFD symbol.

[0190] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0191] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0192] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0193] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0194] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0195] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

[0196] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings and the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented in a user equipment, UE, (22) that is in communication with a network node (16), the method comprising:receiving (SI 08) a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range; andreceiving (SI 10) a second configuration specific to the UE (22) and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as:a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; ora second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.

5. The method of any of Claims 1-4, further comprising communicating with the network node (16) based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

6. The method of any of Claims 1-5, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

7. The method of any of Claims 1-6, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

8. The method of Claim 7, wherein the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured with a synchronization signal block.

9. A user equipment, UE, (22) that is in communication with a network node (16), the UE (22) comprising processing circuitry (50) configured to:receive a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range; andreceive a second configuration specific to the UE (22) and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as:a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; ora second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

10. The UE (22) of Claim 9, wherein those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.

11. The UE (22) of any of Claims 9-10, wherein the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

12. The UE (22) of any of Claims 9-11, wherein the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.

13. The UE (22) of any of Claims 9-12, wherein the processing circuitry (50) is further configured to communicate with the network node (16) based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

14. The UE (22) of any of Claims 9-13, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

15. The UE (22) of any of Claims 9-14, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

16. The UE (22) of Claim 15, wherein the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured with a synchronization signal block.

17. A method implemented in a network node (16) that is in communication with a user equipment, UE, (22), the method comprising:transmitting (SI 12) a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range; andtransmitting (SI 14) a second configuration specific to the UE (22) and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as:a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; ora second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

18. The method of Claim 17, wherein those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.

19. The method of any of Claims 17-18, wherein the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

20. The method of any of Claims 17-19, wherein the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.

21. The method of any of Claims 17-20, further comprising communicating with the UE (22) based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those of the symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

22. The method of any of Claims 17-21, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

23. The method of any of Claims 17-22, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

24. The method of Claim 23, wherein the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured with a synchronization signal block.

25. A network node (16) that is in communication with a user equipment, UE, (22), the network node (16) comprising processing circuitry (36) configured to:transmit a first configuration for a set of one or more symbols, the first configuration being common for a plurality of UEs, the one or more symbols each being schedulable for uplink in a first frequency range and for downlink in a second frequency range; andtransmit a second configuration specific to the UE (22) and indicating a subset of the one or more symbols, each symbol in the subset being indicated by the second configuration as:a first type of symbol schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration but not schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration; ora second type of symbol schedulable for uplink in a frequency range assigned for uplink in the first configuration but not schedulable for downlink in a frequency range assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

26. The network node (16) of Claim 25, wherein those symbols from the set of one or more symbols that are not indicated by the second configuration as being of the first type of symbol or of the second type of symbol are a third type of symbol schedulable for both uplink and downlink.

27. The network node (16) of any of Claims 25-26, wherein the first configuration is implicitly maintained for one or more symbols configured as a guard period.

28. The network node (16) of any of Claims 25-27, wherein the set of one or more symbols is a set of one or more subband full duplex, SBFD, symbols.

29. The network node (16) of any of Claims 25-28, wherein the processing circuitry (36) is further configured to communicate with the UE (22) based on the first configuration and the second configuration by using those of the symbols indicated as the first type of symbol for downlink communication and by using those symbols indicated as the second type of symbol for uplink communication.

30. The network node (16) of any of Claims 25-29, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration.

31. The network node (16) of any of Claims 25-30, wherein the second type of symbol is also schedulable for downlink in a frequency range not assigned for downlink in the first configuration when a condition is met.

32. The network node (16) of Claim 31, wherein the condition comprises that a symbol of the second type is configured with a synchronization signal block.

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