Enhanced link adaptation

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatus configured to perform at least: receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; monitoring a PDCCH candidate with an aggregation level corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; determining that the determined quality indication value has an aggregation level within a predetermined range; and / or transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

Description

ENHANCED LINK ADAPTATIONTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Various example embodiments relate generally to enhanced link adaptation.BACKGROUND

[0002] In at least some systems, for example, such as 5G and 5G- Advanced, link adaptation for physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) is supported through channel state information (CSI) feedback from terminal devices to network devices. In some cases, CSI may include channel quality indication (CQI) information instructing network devices to use specified modulation and coding schemes.BRIEF SUMMARY

[0003] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to perform: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (5) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value,the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCHaggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0004] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (5) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the methodfurther comprises determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the method further comprises adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by an apparatus configured to implement the method and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0005] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising: (1) means for receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) means for measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) means for determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (5) means for transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurementparameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the first apparats further comprises means for receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises at least (1) means for associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) means for associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network devicefor at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0006] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a first apparatus, cause the first apparatus to: (1) receive, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receive, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measure a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (5) transmit, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receive one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to at least (1) associate the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus todetermine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receive instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus configured to implement the method and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0007] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to perform: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receiving,from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform transmitting instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a receptionquality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising: (1) means for transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) means for receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) ameasurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a second apparatus, cause the second apparatus to: (1) transmit, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmit, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receive, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to transmit one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, theconfiguration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to transmit instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0011] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to perform: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) monitoring one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; (4) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (5) determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (6) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reportingparameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions to monitor only those PDCCH candidates which have PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to the most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configurationinformation further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0012] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) monitoring one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; (4) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (5) determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (6) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions to monitor only those PDCCH candidates which have PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to the most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels andrespective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the method further comprises adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0013] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising: (1) means for receiving, from a network device, configuration information forenabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) means for monitoring one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; (4) means for measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (5) means for determining, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (6) means for transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions to monitor only those PDCCH candidates which have PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to the most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises at least (1) means for associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) means for associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respectivePDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0014] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a first apparatus, cause the first apparatus to: (1) receive, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receive, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; (4) measure a reception quality of a measurement resource; (5) determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; and / or (6) transmit, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivationof at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions to monitor only those PDCCH candidates which have PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to the most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receive one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to at least (1) associate the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to determine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value furthercomprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0015] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to perform: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) transmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; and / or (4) receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform transmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor only PDCCH candidates having PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, theinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform receiving instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0016] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) transmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; and / or (4) receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprisestransmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor only PDCCH candidates having PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0017] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising: (1) means for transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) means for transmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; and / or (4) means for receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurementformatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor only PDCCH candidates having PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for receiving instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0018] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a second apparatus, cause the second apparatus to: (1) transmit, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmit, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) transmit, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report; and / or (4) receive, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminaldevice and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to transmit, to the terminal device, instructions to monitor only PDCCH candidates having PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to transmit one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to receive instructions to use, for a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0019] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to perform: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determining, based on the measured reception quality andone or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; (5) determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; and / or (6) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predeterminedvalue; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus at least to perform adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0020] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; (5) determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; and / or (6) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH qualitymeasurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least (1) associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the method further comprises adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1)one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0021] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, comprising: (1) means for receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) means for measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) means for determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; (5) means for determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; and / or (6) means for transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises at least (1) means for associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) means for associating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In someembodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0022] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a first apparatus, cause the first apparatus to: (1) receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; (3) measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource; (4) determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost; (5) determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; and / or (6) transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, themeasurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receive one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to at least (1) associate the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; and / or (2) associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to determine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to receive instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the determining the quality indication value further comprises determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than themeasurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of the measurement resource. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the first apparatus, further cause the first apparatus to adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the adjusting further comprises reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level. In some embodiments, the second PDCCH aggregation level is (1) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or (2) one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

[0023] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to perform: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information furthercomprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0024] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, comprising: (1) transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, theconfiguration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0025] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, comprising: (1) means for transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) means for transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) means for receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

[0026] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a second apparatus, cause the second apparatus to: (1) transmit, to a terminal device, configurationinformation for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting; (2) transmit, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; and / or (3) receive, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of: (1) an error target parameter; (2) a measurement resource parameter; (3) a measurement formatting parameter; and / or (4) a measurement reporting parameter. In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the second apparatus, further cause the second apparatus to transmit one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises an indication of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises (1) instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and / or (2) instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information further comprises instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0027] In the following, the present disclosure will be described in greater detail with reference to certain embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0028] Fig. 1 shows an example of a communication network to which examples disclosed herein may be applied;

[0029] Figs. 2A-2B show examples of link adaptation data in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0030] Fig. 3 shows an example of a method in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0031] Fig. 4 shows an example of a signaling flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0032] Fig. 5 shows an example of a method in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0033] Fig. 6 shows an example of a method in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0034] Fig. 7 shows an example of a method in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0035] Fig. 8 shows an example of a signaling flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0036] Fig. 9 shows an example of a signaling flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0037] Fig. 10 shows an example of a signaling flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment; and

[0038] Fig. 11 shows an example of an apparatus that may be configured in accordance with an example embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection of an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to apply such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. It shall be understood that although the terms “first”, “second”, and / or 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.

[0040] For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “at least one of A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, and “A and / or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of thepresent disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and / or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

[0041] Certain embodiments described may be implemented in a communication network, such as any of the following radio access technologies (RATs): Worldwide Interoperability for Micro-wave Access (WiMAX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM, 2G), GSM EDGE radio access Network (GERAN), General Packet Radio Service (GRPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS, 3G) based on basic wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Long Term Evolution (LIE), LIE -Advanced, and enhanced LTE (eLTE), 5G (also called NR), 6G, and / or any future RAT. Moreover, communications within the communication network 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), and / or Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM).

[0042] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network node” refers to a node in a communication network via which user equipment may access the network and / or which is capable of controlling radio communication and managing radio resources within a cell. The network node or network device may be referred to as a base station (BS), an access point (AP), or an access node. The network device may be, depending on the applied technology, 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 head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node, a nonterrestrial 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, or an aircraft network device.

[0043] Moreover, in connection of split radio access network (RAN), the network device may refer to a centralized unit (CU) or a base station and / or a distributed unit (DU) of a base station. An interface between CU and DU may be referred to as an Fl interface in NR. In the split RAN architecture, node operations may be carried out, at least partly, in the central / centralized unit, CU (e.g., server, host, or node) operationally coupled to the DU, (e.g., aradio head / node). One CU may control one or more DUs, acting at least as transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) nodes. In some embodiments, the DUs may comprise, for example, a radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer, whereas the CU may comprise the layers above the RLC layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) and an internet protocol (IP) layer. Other functional splits are also possible. In practice, any processing task may be performed in either the CU or the DU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the CU and the DU may depend on the applied implementation.

[0044] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, a terminal device may be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), or a Mobile Station (MS). The terminal device may include 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 computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehiclemounted wireless terminal devices, USB dongles, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain context), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial networks, and / or the like.

[0045] The term “resource”, as used herein, may refer to radio resources in time domain, in frequency domain, in space domain, and / or in code domain. Some examples of resources include, for example, physical resource block (PRB), a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a sub-band, a frequency region, a sub-carrier, a beam, and / or the like. The term “measurement resource” may refer to a reference signal resource. The term “transmission” and / or “reception” may refer to wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving via a wireless propagation channel on radio resources.

[0046] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a communication network to which examples disclosed herein may be applied. The communication network or a cellular communication network may comprise a network node 110 providing one or more cells, such as cell 100, and anetwork node 112 providing one or more other cells, such as cell 102. Each cell may be, for example, a macro cell, a micro cell, a femto cell, or a pico cell, for example. The cell may define a coverage area or a service area of the corresponding access node.

[0047] The network node 110 may provide a user equipment (UE) 120 (one or more UEs) with wireless access to the communication network. The wireless access may comprise downlink (DL) communication from the network node to the UE 120 and uplink (UL) communication from the UE 120 to the network node. Examples of uplink channels comprise physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for transmitting control information and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmitting data towards the network. Examples of downlink channels comprise physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for transmitting control information and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for transmitting data towards the user equipment.

[0048] There may be a plurality of UEs 120, 122, in the system. Each of them may be served by the same of by different network nodes 110, 112. UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC), wherein the UE, for example, UE 120, may be connected to multiple network nodes 110, 112. The UEs 120, 122, may communicate with each other, in case device-to-device (D2D) communication interface is established between them via a so-called sidelink (SL). Such D2D communications may be referred to as machine-to-machine, peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), for example.

[0049] In the case of multiple network nodes in the communication network, the network nodes may be connected to each other via an interface. LTE specifications call such an interface an X2 interface. An interface between an LTE node and a 5G node, or between two 5G nodes, may be called an Xn interface.

[0050] The network nodes 110 and 112 may be further connected via another interface to a core network 116 of the communication network. The LTE specifications specify the core network as an evolved packet core (EPC), and the core network may comprise, for example, a mobility management entity (MME) and a gateway node. The MME may handle mobility of terminal devices in a tracking area encompassing a plurality of cells and handle signaling connections between the terminal devices and the core network. The gateway node may handle data routing in the core network and to / from the terminal devices. The 5G specifications specify the core network as a 5G core (5GC). The 5G core may comprise, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a use plane function / gateway (UPF) and otherfunctions. The AMF may handle termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, NAS ciphering and integrity protection, registration management, connection management, mobility management, access authentication and authorization, security context management, and / or the like. The UPF node may support packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, and quality of service (QoS) handling, for example.

[0051] Certain embodiments of the present disclosure are related to downlink control channel link adaptation, for example, for 6G systems. In some embodiments, a 6G resource may include a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configured to carry downlink control information (DCI), for example, such as scheduling grants for terminal devices (e.g., UEs). The actual data transmission may be carried on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The PDSCH may be transmitted with a wide range to modulation and coding schemes (MCSs). In some embodiments, the PDCCH may support only a single, or few, modulation schemes, and further offer link adaptation through using different aggregation levels (e.g., up to aggregation level 16 for UEs in challenging signal interference and noise ratio (SINK) conditions). In some embodiments, the PDCCH may support link adaptation through transmit power boosting.

[0052] In at least some other solutions, link adaptation for the PDSCH is supported through CSI feedback from the UE to the gNB, including channel quality indication (CQI) that guides the gNB on which MCS to use. At least one problem with the other solutions is that no explicit feedback exists for guiding the gNB on how to perform link adaption for the PDCCH. Instead, the gNB may attempt to map the CQI into a transmission format (e.g., an aggregation level and potential power boost) to use for the PDCCH. For some systems (e.g., 6G systems and / or other systems), it may be desirable to improve the overall performance of PDCCH by facilitating more accurate link adaptation. In some cases, PDCCH and PDSCH are set on dis-joint radio resources which are likely to experience different interference levels. Moreover, the more extensive use of extreme multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receivers and / or advanced receivers in some systems may further cause or increase differences in PDCCH and PDSCH performance. For example, receivers (Rx) for PDCCH may be considered simple (in comparison with PDSCH receivers) because terminal devices perform multiple blind decoding attempts to determine when and / or which aggregation level is being transmitted. On the other hand, Rx for PDSCH may be considered more advanced (in comparison with PDCCH receivers) because PDSCHs arescheduled (e.g., known) transmissions, for example, having known MCSs, resources, and / or the like, such that even advanced machine learning (ML)-based Rx may be used (e.g., DeepRx).

[0053] To at least partially tackle these and other problems, there are proposed solutions in the present disclosure for improved and / or enhanced link adaptation, for example, for PDCCH in 6G systems. The proposed solutions include configuration terminal devices to provide relative and / or absolute guidance to network devices relating to PDCCH parameters (e.g., transmission parameters for the PDCCH). The proposed solutions further include optimizing (e.g., adjusting) terminal device PDCCH search spaces and / or blind decoding spaces.

[0054] Certain example embodiments of the present disclosure may result in various advantages. The various advantages may include avoiding overprovisioning of PDCCH transmission resources, which may leave more radio resources for PDSCH (e.g., thereby increasing user plane capacity). The various advantages may include reducing terminal device complexity and / or power consumption by reducing the number of terminal device blind PDCCH decoding attempts.

[0055] Certain embodiments of the present disclosure include at least:a. a network device (e.g., a gNB) configuring terminal device (e.g., UE) feedback to guide PDCCH link adaptation (also referred to as “ PDCCH CQT and “quality indication value” in the present disclosure). This configuration may include at least: information indicating which radio resources to measure; information indicating to inform the terminal device to use the same receiver principle measuring for on SINK, on such resources as it would for PDCCH decoding; information indicating reporting events, reporting format, and / or the like; and / or information indicating to the terminal device how to derive PDCCH CQI feedback;b. the terminal device performing measurements, extracting and / or determining the PDCCH CQI feedback, formatting the PDCCH CQI feedback, and / or prepares transmission of the determined PDCCH CQI feedback. The terminal device may use the same receiver principle for measuring on SINK, on such resources as it would for PDCCH decoding;c. the network device receiving the determined PDCCH CQI feedback and / or applies it for upcoming PDCCH transmissions;d. the network device confirming to the terminal device to use PDCCH parameters for the PDCCH, wherein the PDCCH parameters correspond exactly with the PDCCH CQI feedback, or with PDCCH CQI ± A, where A is an integer parameter;e. the network device providing information to the terminal device expressing a parameter, wherein the parameter indicates for which PDCCH block error rates (e.g., BLERs) the terminal device may derive the recommend PDCCH transmission parameters in the PDCCH CQP, the BLER expresses decoding error probability for PDCCH receptions at the terminal device, which the terminal device may take into consideration when computing new PDCCH link adaptation feedback; and / orf. one or more other features.

[0056] Referring now to Figs. 2A-2B, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4, there are provided example embodiments of the present disclosure. Figs. 2A-2B provide examples of PDCCH CQI formatting tables. Fig. 3 provides an example method for deriving and formatting PDCCH CQI. Fig. 4 provides a signaling flow diagram corresponding to the method of Fig. 3.

[0057] In some embodiments, a network device may configure one or more of the following parameters for a terminal device (or for a plurality of terminal devices):a. an error target parameter (e.g., PDDCHJILER and / or the like): the network device may configure the terminal device for respective target PDCCH BLER values for which the terminal device may compute PDCCH link adaptation; the PDCCH BLER values may be hard coded to a single value (e.g., to 1%) or quantized (e.g., to 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, etc.);b. a measurement resource parameter (e.g., resource _type_to_measure and / or the like): this parameter may be defined in various standards specifications and / or configured by the network device; this parameter indicates to the terminal device which measurement resources (e.g., radio resources) to measure for reception quality corresponding to PDCCH reception at the terminal device; this parameter may explicitly indicate to the UE to use the same receiver principle for measuring SINR on such resources as it would for PDCCH decoding; this parameter may beconfigured such that the terminal device only measures PDCCH reception quality based on:i. past PDCCH receptions (in which case the terminal device would measure and / or estimate the PDCCH reception quality of at least some — e.g., all — of its PDCCH receptions); and / orii. measurements on specific reference signals (RSs) (in which case the network device may transmit RSs in some symbols of certain subframes, and the terminal device may use the RSs to guide measurement / estimation of what the PDCCH reception quality would have been if a PDCCH has been sent instead of the RSs; furthermore, the RS for PDCCH reception quality measurements may be based on CSI-RS or on new RS(s) configured for PDCCH reception quality measurements);c. a measurement formatting parameter (e.g., PDCCH CQI Jbrmat and / or the like):this parameter indicates the format(s) of PDCCH CQP, this parameter may take the values listed in the example table of Fig. 2A, the example table of Fig. 2B, and / or other values or forms; ord. a measurement reporting parameter (e.g., PDCCH CQI reporting and / or the like): this parameter indicates the reporting of PDCCH CQP, this parameter may be configured for periodic reporting, event-based reporting, and / or other types of reporting; event-based reporting may be utilized in cases where the value of PDCCH CQI has changed by more than a predetermined threshold since the last reporting; this parameter may indicate that the reporting of PDCCH CQI should be bundled with CSI / CQI reporting for PDSCH.

[0058] Referring now to Fig. 2 A, an example table of link adaptation (e.g., PDCCH CQI) data is provided. The example table of Fig. 2A shows example values for Index, PDCCH aggregation level (AL), and PDCCH power boost. In the table of Fig. 2A, a respective index may indicate a recommended PDCCH aggregation level and potential PDCCH power boost. In some embodiments, a PDCCH aggregation level (AL) may have various values, for example, such as 1, 2, 4, 8, and / or 16, which may indicate a quantity of control channel elements (CCEs) used to support transmission of PDCCH (e.g., a quantity of CCEs allocated to carry one PDCCH). In some embodiments, where no power adjustments are applied by the network device, the powerboost values (shown in Fig. 2A in decibels (dB)) may be relative to a PDCCH nominal transmit power (e.g., a single transmit power for all resource elements (REs)).

[0059] Referring now to Fig, 2B, an example table of link adaptation (e.g., PDCCH CQI) data is provided. The example table of Fig. 2B shows example values for Index, PDCCH aggregation level, and PDCCH power boost. In the table of Fig. 2B, a respective index may indicate a recommended PDCCH aggregation level and potential power boost. In some embodiments, where the network device relies on PDCCH link adaptation using transmit power control (e.g., varying levels of power boost) and maintains a single fixed value for the PDCCH aggregation level, PDCCH CQI may be formatted according to the example table of Fig. 2B. In various embodiments, the PDCCH aggregation level may be fixed to more than one value. In some embodiments, the PDCCH power boost may take negative values, for example, for terminal devices that are close to their respective serving cells and that are able to successfully decode the PDCCH even if it is sent / transmitted with reduced transmission (Tx) power.

[0060] Referring now to Fig. 3, an example of a method performed by a terminal device is provided. The method may be computer-implemented. The method of Fig. 3 may be performed by the terminal device, for example, if it is configured with configuration information including the error target parameter (e.g., PDCCH BLER), the measurement resource parameter (e.g., resource type to measure), the measurement formatting parameter (e.g.,PDCCH CQI Jbrmaf), and / or the measurement reporting parameter (e.g.,PDCCH CQI reporting), as described herein.

[0061] As shown in block 302, the terminal device may measure the reception quality (e.g., in the form of SINR) on one or more measurement resources indicated by the configuration information (in particular, the measurement resource parameter) received from the network device, the terminal device has internal databases (e.g., tables) including its performance of PDCCH BLER versus SINR for various PDCCH aggregation levels and / or PDCCH power boosts. As shown in block 304, the terminal device uses the internal databases to determine the PDCCH transmission format such that a transmission of the PDCCH in the measurement resources (e.g., radio resources) would ensure that the BLER will be less than or equal to the configured BLER value (e.g., PDCCH BLER).. As shown in block 306, the quality indication value PDCCH CQI may be formatted according to the configuration information. As shown inblock 308, the quality indication value may be transmitted by the terminal device to the network device.

[0062] In some embodiments, the measurement resource parameter (e.g.,resource type to measure) may indicate to the terminal device a measurement resource on which to measure a PDCCH transmission. In such embodiments, the terminal device may rely on determining whether the PDCCH was sent with a power boost (and if so, which value for the power boost). The terminal device may be able to detect such power boost values, for example, by comparing the received PDCCH to received power levels of other signals sent with nominal power values (e.g., zero power boost) such as CSI-RS, demodulation reference signals (DMRSs), and / or other signals for PDSCH. Additionally or alternatively, the value of the power boost may be included in downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., in the PDCCH). Additionally or alternatively, for example, to facilitate PDCCH link adaptation based on transmit power control, the configuration information may include additional information indicating, to the terminal device, transmit power differences (e.g., a A value) between a nominal network device transmit power (e.g., the transmit power that is used by cell-defining reference signals such as signal synchronization blocks (SSBs)) and the transmit power of the PDCCH transmission. In various embodiments, the configuration information may include additional information indicating, to the terminal device, transmit power differences between the nominal network device transmit power and the transmit power of a reference signal that is used to measure the PDCCH CQI. The indicated A value may also express the difference between the transmit power of the PDCCH transmission and the transmit power of a reference signal that is used to measure the PDCCH CQI. For example, the network device may indicate that the reference signal is being transmitted with 3 dB lower power than current PDCCH transmissions; the terminal device may use such information to adjust the SINR measurements (e.g., by adding an additional 3 dB) before determining an appropriate PDCCH CQI value.

[0063] As described herein, the network device may explicitly indicate to the terminal device to use PDCCH parameters for the PDCCH that are exactly in line with the PDCCH CQI or that are in line with PDCCH CQI± A, where A is an integer parameter. This may be achieved by reconfiguring the terminal device PDCCH / control channel configuration(s). For instance, based on the terminal device reports, the network device may (re)configure the terminal device to reduce the number of PDCCH candidates that are to be blind decoded (e.g., reduce thecandidates’ aggregation levels from 1, 2, 4, and / or 8 to only 1 and 2, based on the reported PDDCH CQI). This may yield various advantages, including reducing the number of blind decoding attempts performed by the terminal device, thus reducing complexity and power consumption.

[0064] Referring now to Fig. 4, an example of a signaling flow diagram is provided. In some embodiments, a network device 400 may explicitly indicate to a terminal device 402 that it will only use PDCCH parameters for the PDCCH transmission that are exactly in line with the reported PDCCH CQI or that are in line with PDCCH CQI± A, where A is an integer parameter. Such an indication may be included in the configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device (e.g., via radio resource control (RRC) message(s)). As shown in block 404, RRC configuration of the terminal device 402 for enabling PDCCH CQI reporting occurs and an indication to confirm that the network device 400 will only use PDCCH transmission parameters in a predetermined range (e.g., PDCCH CQI± A) is transmitted. As shown in block 406, the terminal device performs various operations, including taking measurements (e.g., of PDCCH reception quality), determining quality indication values (e.g., PDCCH CQI), and formatting the determined quality indication values. As shown at transmission 408, the terminal device 402 transmits the determined quality indication values to the network device 400. As shown at transmission 410, the network device 400 transmits a PDCCH transmission to the terminal device 402. As shown in block 412, the terminal device 402 performs PDCCH blind decoding for only those PDCCH transmissions satisfying the PDCCH transmission parameters of PDCCH CQI± A.

[0065] In some embodiments, for example, to reduce the number of PDCCH candidates the terminal device monitors, the configuration information may further include an indication that the terminal device should monitor only those PDCCH candidates which have an aggregation level that the terminal device has associated with the most recent PDCCH CQI report.

[0066] In some embodiments, the configuration information may further include an indication that the terminal device should monitor AL / 2, AL, and / or AL*2 aggregation levels, where AL is the aggregation level associated with the most recent PDCCH CQI report.

[0067] In some embodiments, the configuration information may further include an indication that the terminal device should not report a quality indication (e.g., CQI) value that changes the aggregation level of the previously reported quality indication value by more thanone step (e.g., wherein one step may be going from AL to AL / 2 or going from AL to AL*2, etc.). This can improve performance, for example, if a CQI report is missed by the network device and / or if there is a period of time during which it is not clear which CQI report is applied in the terminal device’s monitoring, because there would always be an aggregation level that both the terminal device and the network device know that the terminal device is monitoring.

[0068] In some embodiments, the PDCCH CQI reported by the terminal device to the network device may be selected in such a way that one aggregation level higher and / or one aggregation level lower (e.g., AL / 2 and / or AL*2) would also be suitable for PDCCH link adaptation. For example, if the terminal device reports AL 8 in the PDCCH CQI report, the report implies that AL 4 and AL 16 would also meet the specified PDCCH BLER target.Similarly, a certain entry in the PDCCH CQI reporting tables may also be associated to multiple AL values, for example, [1, 2] in some entries, [2, 4] in other entries, and so on.

[0069] In some embodiments, the network device may be monitoring the long-term BLER of past PDCCH transmissions for a terminal device. This may be achieved by having the network device count a successful PDCCH decoding if the terminal device responds to a scheduling DCI grant (e.g., sent on PDCCH) by sending a scheduled transmission in the uplink (UL) and / or by sending an acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NACK) for a DL scheduled PDSCH transmission. Similarly, if the terminal device does not act on the scheduling DCI, the PDCCH decoding can be counted as a failure. At the terminal side, the terminal device may be unaware of its PDCCH experienced BLER, because the terminal device may be only aware of the cases where it correctly receives the PDCCH (e.g., the terminal device may be unaware of missed PDCCH detections). It may therefore be useful to configure the network device to occasionally report the average experienced PDCCH BLER to the terminal device (e.g., via RRC signaling), such that the terminal device may use such information to further tune its internal tables for PDCCH BLER vs SINR and / or to perform other operations (e.g., adjustments, etc.).

[0070] Referring now to Figs. 5-7, example methods are provided for implementing at least some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0071] Fig. 5 provides an example of a method 500. The method 500 may be a computer-implemented method. As shown in block 510, a terminal device may receive, from a network device, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. As shown in block 520, the terminal device may receive, from the network device, an indication of one ormore PDCCH quality measurement parameters. As shown in block 530, the terminal device may measure a reception quality of a measurement resource. As shown in block 540, the terminal device may determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. As shown in block 550, the terminal device may transmit, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

[0072] Fig. 6 provides an example of a method 600. The method 600 may be a computer-implemented method. As shown in block 610, a terminal device may receive, from a network device, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. As shown in block 620, the terminal device may receive, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. As shown in block 630, the terminal device may monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report. As shown in block 640, the terminal device may monitor a reception quality of a measurement resource. As shown in block 650, the terminal device may determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. As shown in block 660, the terminal device may transmit, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

[0073] Fig. 7 provides an example of a method 700. The method 700 may be a computer-implemented method. As shown in block 710, a terminal device may receive, from a network device, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. As shown in block 720, the terminal device may receive, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. As shown in block 730, the terminal device may measure a reception quality of a measurement resource. As shown in block 740, the terminal device may determine, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. As shown in block 750, the terminal device may determine that the quality indication value as a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range. As shown in block 760, the terminal device may transmit, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

[0074] Referring now to Figs. 8-10, example signaling flow diagrams are provided for implementing at least some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0075] Fig. 8 provides an example of a signaling flow diagram. The example of Fig. 8 includes operations and / or steps performed by a UE 800 (e.g., a terminal device) and a gNB 802 (e.g., a network device). At step 812, the gNB 802 may transmit, to the UE 800, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. In some embodiments, the configuration may include one or more formats for a quality indication value. The one or more formats may include a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and / or respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include reporting criteria for the quality indication value. The reporting criteria may include reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for setting a PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value and / or instructions for allowing a PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include an indication of the measurement resource.

[0076] At step 814, the gNB 802 may transmit, to the UE 800, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters and / or one or more values for the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters include an error target parameter, a measurement resource parameter, a measurement formatting parameter, a measurement reporting parameter, and / or other parameters. At step 816, the UE 800 may measure a reception quality of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the measurement resource may correspond to a reference signal for derivation of a PDCCH quality and / or a PDCCH resource. At step 818, the UE 800 may determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. At step 820, the UE 800 may determine a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. At step 822, the UE 800 may associate the determined PDCCHaggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes. At step 824, the UE 800 may associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes.

[0077] At step 826, the UE 800 may adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the UE 800 may adjust the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the gNB 802 for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the UE 800 may reduce the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the UE 800 and a second PDCCH aggregation level. The second PDCCH aggregation may be one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level or one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level. At step 828, the UE 800 may transmit, to the gNB 802, the determined quality indication value. At step 830, the UE 800 may determine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored, for example, based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 832, the UE 800 may determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 834, the gNB 802 may transmit, to the UE 800, instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value.

[0078] Fig. 9 provides an example of a signaling flow diagram. The example of Fig. 9 includes operations and / or steps performed by a UE 900 (e.g., a terminal device) and a gNB 902 (e.g., a network device). At step 912, the gNB 902 may transmit, to the UE 900, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. In some embodiments, the configuration may include one or more formats for a quality indication value. The one or more formats may include a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and / or respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include reporting criteria for the quality indication value. The reporting criteria may include reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for setting a PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value and / or instructions for allowing a PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more correspondingentries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include an indication of the measurement resource.

[0079] At step 914, the gNB 902 may transmit, to the UE 900, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters and / or one or more values for the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters include an error target parameter, a measurement resource parameter, a measurement formatting parameter, a measurement reporting parameter, and / or other parameters. At step 916, the UE 900 may measure a reception quality of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the measurement resource may correspond to a reference signal for derivation of a PDCCH quality and / or a PDCCH resource. At step 918, the UE 900 may determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. At step 920, the UE 900 may determine a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. At step 922, the UE 900 may associate the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes. At step 924, the UE 900 may associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes.

[0080] At step 926, the UE 900 may adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the UE 900 may adjust the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the gNB 902 for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the UE 900 may reduce the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the UE 900 and a second PDCCH aggregation level. The second PDCCH aggregation may be one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level or one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level. At step 928, the UE 900 may transmit, to the gNB 902, the determined quality indication value. At step 930, the UE 900 may determine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored, for example, based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 932, the UE 900 may determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 934, the gNB 902 may transmit, to the UE 900, instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmittedquality indication value. At step 936, the UE 900 may monitor one or more PDCCH candidates having respective PDCCH aggregation levels corresponding to a most recent quality indication parameter report.

[0081] Fig. 10 provides an example of a signaling flow diagram. The example of Fig. 10 includes operations and / or steps performed by a UE 1000 (e.g., a terminal device) and a gNB 1002 (e.g., a network device). At step 1012, the gNB 1002 may transmit, to the UE 1000, configuration information for enabling PDCCH quality indication reporting. In some embodiments, the configuration may include one or more formats for a quality indication value. The one or more formats may include a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and / or respective PDCCH power boosts. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include reporting criteria for the quality indication value. The reporting criteria may include reporting criteria for quality indication feedback. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for setting a PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value and / or instructions for allowing a PDCCH power boost to take various values. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database. In some embodiments, the configuration information may include an indication of the measurement resource.

[0082] At step 1014, the gNB 1002 may transmit, to the UE 1000, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters and / or one or more values for the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters include an error target parameter, a measurement resource parameter, a measurement formatting parameter, a measurement reporting parameter, and / or other parameters. At step 1016, the UE 1000 may measure a reception quality of a measurement resource. In some embodiments, the measurement resource may correspond to a reference signal for derivation of a PDCCH quality and / or a PDCCH resource. At step 1018, the UE 1000 may determine, based on the measured reception quality and the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost. At step 1020, the UE 1000 may determine that the determined quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range.

[0083] At step 1022, the UE 1000 may determine a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource. At step 1024, the UE 1000 may associate the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes. At step 1026, the UE 1000 may associate the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes.

[0084] At step 1028, the UE 1000 may adjust a search space based on the determined quality indication value. In some embodiments, the UE 1000 may adjust the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the gNB 1002 for at least one PDCCH transmission. In some embodiments, the UE 1000 may reduce the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the UE 1000 and a second PDCCH aggregation level. The second PDCCH aggregation may be one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level or one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level. At step 1030, the UE 1000 may transmit, to the gNB 1002, the determined quality indication value. At step 1032, the UE 1000 may determine that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored, for example, based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 1034, the UE 1000 may determine that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value. At step 1036, the gNB 1002 may transmit, to the UE 1000, instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value.

[0085] Fig. 11 shows, by way of example, a block diagram of an apparatus 10. The apparatus 10 comprises, for example, at least one processor 12 and at least one memory 14 storing instructions 15 that, when executed by the at least one processor 12, cause the apparatus 10 at least to perform the method or methods as disclosed herein, and any of the embodiments thereof. In an example, the at least one memory 14 and instructions 15 (e.g., a computer program, code, software, and / or the like) are configured, with the at least one processor 12, to cause the apparatus 10 to perform the method or methods as disclosed herein, and any of the embodiments thereof.

[0086] A processor 12 may comprise circuitry, or be constituted as circuitry or circuitries, the circuitry or circuitries being configured to perform phases of methods in accordance with example embodiments described herein. As used in this application, the term “circuitry” mayrefer 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 user equipment, 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. 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.

[0087] The memory 14 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology. The memory may comprise a database for storing data. The memory 14 may be at least in part external to apparatus 10 but accessible to apparatus 10.

[0088] The instructions 15 may be comprised in a computer-readable medium or a non-transitory computer readable medium. A term “non-transitory”, as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (e.g., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., random access memory (RAM) vs. read only memory (ROM)).

[0089] For example, the apparatus 10 is a terminal device, such as the UE of Fig. 11. As another example, the apparatus is comprised in such a terminal device, for example, as a chipset configured to control the terminal device. The apparatus 10 may be caused or configured to perform at least the methods of Figs. 3-10 and / or any one or more of the embodiments described.

[0090] As another example, the apparatus 10 is a network node, for example, the network node of Fig. 1. In another embodiment, the apparatus is comprised in such a network node, for example, as a chipset configured to control the network node. The apparatus 10 may be caused orconfigured to perform at least the method of Figs. 4 and / or 8-10 and / or any one or more of the embodiments described herein.

[0091] The apparatus may comprise one or more entities of any protocol layers, such as a MAC entity, an RRC entity, an RLC entity, a PDCP entity, a PHY entity, and / or the like. In some embodiments, the entity is configured to perform at least the method of Figs. 3-10, and / or any one or more of the embodiments described.

[0092] The apparatus 10 comprises a radio interface 16. The radio interface 16 may provide the apparatus 10 with communication capabilities. The radio interface 16 may comprise a receiver configured to receive information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transmitter configured to transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The receiver may comprise more than one receiver. The transmitter may comprise more than one transmitter. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transceiver configured to receive and transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The transceiver may comprise more than one transceiver.

[0093] The apparatus 10 may comprise a user interface 18 comprising, for example, at least one of a keypad, a microphone, a touch display, a display, a speaker, and / or the like. The user interface 18 may be used to control the apparatus by a user. The user interface 18 may be external to the apparatus 10. For example, the apparatus 10 may be connected to another device, such as a computer, either via wireless or wired connection, and the apparatus 10 is controlled by the user via the computer.

[0094] In an embodiment, at least some of the processes described herein may be carried out by an apparatus comprising means for carrying out at least some of the described processes. Means for performing method steps as disclosed herein may include software and / or hardware components of the apparatus 10. For example, the at least one processor 12, the memory 14, and the instructions 15 (e.g., computer program code) form means for carrying out the method or methods as disclosed herein, and any of the embodiments thereof. As used herein, the term “means” is to be construed in singular form, i.e., referring to a single element, or in plural form, i.e., referring to a combination of single elements. Therefore, terminology “means for [performing A, B, C]” is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performing A, B, and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B, and C, orpartially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C. Further, terminology “means for performing A, means for performing B, means for performing C” is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performing A, B, and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B, and C, or partially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C.

[0095] Even though the certain embodiments have been described above with reference to examples according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the present disclosure is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

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 first apparatus at least to perform:receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters;measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource;determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost;determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; andtransmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource.

3. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 for 2, wherein the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of:an error target parameter;a measurement resource parameter;a measurement formatting parameter; ora measurement reporting parameter.

4. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform:receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter.- 54 -5. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the configuration information further comprises:one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the configuration information further comprises:reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform at least:associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; orassociating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform:determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value.

9. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform:receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first apparatus at least to perform:- 55 -determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value.

11. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values.

12. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the determining the quality indication value further comprises:determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource.

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the configuration information further comprises:an indication of the measurement resource.

15. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus at least to perform:adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value.

16. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the adjusting further comprises: adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission.

17. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the adjusting further comprises:- 56 -reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by the first apparatus and a second PDCCH aggregation level.

18. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the second PDCCH aggregation level is:one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

19. A method, comprising:receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters;measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource;determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost;determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; andtransmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the measurement resource corresponds to a reference signal for derivation of at least one of: PDCCH quality or a PDCCH resource.

21. The method of any of claims 19 or 20, wherein the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of:an error target parameter;a measurement resource parameter;a measurement formatting parameter; ora measurement reporting parameter.- 57 -22. The method of any of claims 19 to 21, further comprising:receiving one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter.

23. The method of any of claims 19 to 22, wherein the configuration information further comprises:one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts.

24. The method of any of claims 19 to 23, wherein the configuration information further comprises:reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback.

25. The method of any of claims 19 to 24, further comprising at least:associating the determined PDCCH aggregation level with an index of the plurality of indexes; orassociating the determined PDCCH power boost with an index of the plurality of indexes.

26. The method of any of claims 19 to 25, further comprising:determining that a respective PDCCH candidate of a plurality of PDCCH candidates is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value.

27. The method of any of claims 19 to 26, further comprising:receiving instructions to use, for the respective PDCCH candidate, PDCCH parameters corresponding to the transmitted quality indication value.

28. The method of any of claims 19 to 27, further comprising:determining that a respective PDCCH aggregation level of a plurality of PDCCH aggregation levels is to be monitored based on the transmitted quality indication value.

29. The method of any of claims 19 to 28, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values.

30. The method of any of claims 19 to 29, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

31. The method of any of claims 19 to 30, wherein the determining the PDCCH power boost further comprises:determining a transmit power of the measurement resource relative to a transmit power of one or more resources other than the measurement resource.

32. The method of any of claims 19 to 31, wherein the configuration information further comprises:an indication of the measurement resource.

33. The method of any of claims 19 to 32, further comprising:adjusting a search space based on the determined quality indication value.

34. The method of any of claims 19 to 33, wherein the adjusting further comprises:adjusting the search space to include one or more PDCCH aggregation levels reported by the network device for at least one PDCCH transmission.

35. The method of any of claims 19 to 34, wherein the adjusting further comprises:reducing the search space to only a first PDCCH aggregation level reported by a first apparatus implementing the method and a second PDCCH aggregation level.

36. The method of any of claims 19 to 35, wherein the second PDCCH aggregation level is:one or more PDCCH aggregation levels below the first PDCCH aggregation level; or one or more PDCCH aggregation levels above the first PDCCH aggregation level.

37. A first apparatus, comprising:means for receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;means for receiving, from the network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters;means for measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource;means for determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost;means for determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; andmeans for transmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

38. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a first apparatus, cause the first apparatus at least to perform:receiving, from a network device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;receiving, from a network device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters;measuring a reception quality of a measurement resource;determining, based on the measured reception quality and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost;determining that the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range; andtransmitting, to the network device, the determined quality indication value.

39. A second apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to perform:transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; andreceiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range.

40. The second apparatus of claim 39, wherein the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of:an error target parameter;a measurement resource parameter;a measurement formatting parameter; ora measurement reporting parameter.

41. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 or 40, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the second apparatus at least to perform:transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter.

42. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 to 41, wherein the configuration information further comprises:one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts.- 61 -43. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 to 42, wherein the configuration information further comprises:reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback.

44. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 to 43, wherein the configuration information further comprises:an indication of a measurement resource.

45. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 to 44, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values.

46. The second apparatus of any of claims 39 to 45, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

47. A method, comprising:transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; andreceiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range.- 62 -48. The method of claim 47, wherein the one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters comprise at least one of:an error target parameter;a measurement resource parameter;a measurement formatting parameter; ora measurement reporting parameter.

49. The method of any of claims 47 or 48, further comprising:transmitting one or more values for a respective PDCCH quality measurement parameter.

50. The method of any of claims 47 to 49, wherein the configuration information further comprises:one or more formats for the quality indication value, the one or more formats including a plurality of indexes corresponding to respective PDCCH aggregation levels and respective PDCCH power boosts.

51. The method of any of claims 47 to 50, wherein the configuration information further comprises:reporting criteria for the quality indication value, the reporting criteria further including reporting criteria for quality indication feedback.

52. The method of any of claims 47 to 51, wherein the configuration information further comprises:an indication of a measurement resource.

53. The method of any of claims 47 to 52, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for setting the PDCCH aggregation level to a predetermined value; and instructions for allowing the PDCCH power boost to take various values.- 63 -54. The method of any of claims 47 to 53, wherein the configuration information further comprises:instructions for indicating two or more PDCCH aggregation levels by reporting two or more corresponding entries of a reporting database.

55. A second apparatus, comprising:means for transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;means for transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; andmeans for receiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range.

56. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a second apparatus, cause the second apparatus at least to perform:transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information for enabling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) quality indication reporting;transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication of one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters; andreceiving, from the terminal device, a quality indication value, wherein the quality indication value is a PDCCH quality indication value associated with at least one of a PDCCH aggregation level or a PDCCH power boost, and wherein the quality indication value is based on a reception quality measured by the terminal device and one or more PDCCH quality measurement parameters, and wherein the quality indication value has a PDCCH aggregation level within a predetermined range.- 64 -

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