Method and apparatus for saving power in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G communication system or a 6G communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4G communication system such as long term evolution (LTE). Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a user equipment and a base station, and the present disclosure relates to a 5G communication system or a 6G communication system for supporting higher data rates than 4G communication systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE). The method comprises: receiving first signaling, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state; and determining the state of the frequency subband based on the first signaling, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed: not transmitting a PRACH on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event; not transmitting an SR on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or not transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a PDSCH corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority. The embodiments of the present disclosure can ensure transmission of important messages on the basis of realizing the UE power saving.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAVING POWER IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a communication method, a user equipment and a base station.

[0002] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5G (5th generation) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6G (6th generation) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0003] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bit per second (bps) and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0004] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz (THz) band (for example, 95 gigahertz (GHz) to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, Radio Frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive Multiple-input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS).

[0005] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of UE computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0006] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive eXtended Reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0007] The present disclosure relates to method and apparatus for saving power in a wireless communication system.

[0008] According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a communication method in a wireless communication system.

[0009] Aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient communication methods in a wireless communication system.

[0010] In order to more clearly explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the accompanying drawings to be used in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be briefly described below.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method performed by a UE in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an anchor carrier and non-anchor carriers according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a virtual carrier according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a state pattern of a frequency subband according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another state pattern of a frequency subband according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 9 is a schematic structure diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0022] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0023] According to an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0024] receiving first signaling, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; and

[0025] determining the state of the frequency subband based on the first signaling,

[0026] if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed:

[0027] not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;

[0028] not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or

[0029] not transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

[0030] Optionally, the first signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) or a medium access control control element (MAC CE).

[0031] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0032] receiving second signaling, the second signaling including information related to a state pattern of the frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic;

[0033] wherein, the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate the state pattern;

[0034] wherein, the second signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0035] Optionally, the second signaling includes information related to a plurality of state patterns, and the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate one of the plurality of state patterns.

[0036] Optionally, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:

[0037] a size of a period;

[0038] a duration of the activated state of the frequency subband in the period, the activated state of the frequency subband starting from a starting position of the period;

[0039] information related to the starting position of the period; or

[0040] information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0041] Optionally, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:

[0042] a size of a period;

[0043] information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units in the period, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1;

[0044] information related to a starting position of the period; or

[0045] information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0046] Optionally, the information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units in the period includes a first bitmap, each bit in the first bitmap corresponds to every N time units in the period, and each bit in the first bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0047] Optionally, the starting position of the period of the activated state pattern indicated by the first signaling includes at least one of:

[0048] a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;

[0049] a first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0050] a starting position of a first period that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0051] a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted;

[0052] a first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or

[0053] a starting position of a first period that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted,

[0054] wherein, the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling.

[0055] Optionally, the first signaling includes information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1.

[0056] Optionally, information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window includes a second bitmap, each bit in the second bitmap corresponds to every N time units within the first window, and each bit in the second bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units;

[0057] wherein, a length of the first window is predefined, or preconfigured by RRC signaling.

[0058] Optionally, the first signaling includes information for starting a second window, and the second window is an activated state window or a deactivated state window;

[0059] wherein, the frequency subband is in the activated state within the activated state window, and is in the deactivated state within the deactivated state window;

[0060] wherein, a length of the second window is preconfigured by the RRC signaling, or the length of the second window is indicated by the first signaling.

[0061] Optionally, a starting position of the first window or the second window includes at least one of:

[0062] a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;

[0063] a first time unit that satisfies a third gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0064] a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or

[0065] a first time unit that satisfies a fourth gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted.

[0066] Optionally, the method further comprises at least one of:

[0067] receiving, within the activated state window, third signaling for indicating to terminate the activated state window, and determining that the frequency subband enters the deactivated state; or

[0068] receiving, within the deactivated state window, fourth signaling for indicating to terminate the deactivated state window, and determining that the frequency subband enters the activated state.

[0069] Optionally, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, the method further comprises performing at least one of the following acts:

[0070] not performing a mobility measurement based on a reference signal on the frequency subband, and performing the mobility measurement based on a reference signal on a default frequency subband;

[0071] not transmitting PRACH on the PRACH resource of the frequency subband;

[0072] not transmitting at least one of channel state information (CSI), the HARQ-ACK, and the SR on the PUCCH resource of the frequency subband;

[0073] not transmitting at least one of a periodic sounding reference signal (SRS), a semi-persistent SRS, and an aperiodic SRS on an SRS resource of the frequency subband;

[0074] stopping monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a control resource set (CORESET) of the frequency subband;

[0075] stopping PDCCH monitoring related to the frequency subband;

[0076] not receiving a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) on a downlink assignment resource of the frequency subband;

[0077] not transmitting an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) on an uplink grant resource of the frequency subband;

[0078] terminating or clearing a configured downlink assignment and a Type 2 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband;

[0079] terminating or clearing a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource configured on the frequency subband for semi-persistent CSI reporting;

[0080] terminating or clearing a Type 1 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband;

[0081] excluding the frequency subband from a scheduling bandwidth of the PDSCH or the PUSCH to obtain an available scheduling bandwidth, and determining a payload size of scheduling DCI of the PDSCH or the PUSCH based on the available scheduling bandwidth;

[0082] in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, not performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;

[0083] in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a ratio of available resources other than the resources on the frequency subband in the transmission resources to the transmission resources is greater than a first threshold, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant based on the available resources; or

[0084] in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a priority corresponding to the transmission of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant is higher than a second preset priority, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.

[0085] Optionally, the frequency subband cannot be deactivated if at least one of the following cases is configured on the frequency subband:

[0086] a PUCCH resource;

[0087] a PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is configured by system information;

[0088] a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK reporting;

[0089] a PUCCH resource for SR transmission;

[0090] a PRACH resource;

[0091] a PRACH resource, and the PRACH resource is configured by system information;

[0092] a CORESET resource;

[0093] a CORESET resource, and the CORESET resource is configured by system information;

[0094] a CORESET resource, and the number for the CORESET is zero, or the CORESET is configured for at least one of a Type 0 common search space, a Type 0A common search space, a Type 1 common search space, and a Type 2 common search space;

[0095] a reference signal for the mobility measurement, the mobility measurement including at least one of a radio resource management measurement, a radio link monitoring measurement, or a beam management measurement;

[0096] a resource for paging message transmission;

[0097] a resource for system information transmission;

[0098] a downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell; or

[0099] an uplink initial BWP of the cell.

[0100] Optionally, the plurality of frequency subbands include a first frequency subband and a second frequency subband, and the receiving the first signaling comprises:

[0101] receiving the first signaling on the first frequency subband, wherein the information related to a state of a frequency subband includes information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband.

[0102] Optionally, the first signaling is carried by at least one of:

[0103] a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a PBCH period in which the PBCH is located;

[0104] a system information block (SIB), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a minimum modification period of the SIB; or

[0105] a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling a paging message, an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a paging period in which the PDCCH is located.

[0106] Optionally, the information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband includes a third bitmap, each bit in the third bitmap corresponds to one second frequency subband, and each bit in the third bitmap is used to indicate the state of the corresponding second frequency subband.

[0107] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0108] receiving a SIB, the SIB including related information of a state pattern of the at least one second frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic;

[0109] wherein, the first signaling includes information used to activate or deactivate the state pattern.

[0110] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0111] If a non-cell-defining synchronization signal block (NCD-SSB) is configured on the second frequency subband, the state of the second frequency subband is determined based on an NCD-SSB detection on the second frequency subband, and the effective duration of the state of the second frequency subband is an NCD-SSB period in which the NCD-SSB is located.

[0112] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0113] if it is determined that the state of the second frequency subband is deactivated, performing at least one of the following acts:

[0114] stopping monitoring the paging message on the second frequency subband, and determining another frequency subband for monitoring the paging message;

[0115] stopping initiating a random access procedure on the second frequency subband, and determining another frequency subband to initiate the random access procedure;

[0116] stopping monitoring a PDCCH on the second frequency subband, the PDCCH being used for the random access procedure or an uplink preconfigured transmission procedure, and determining another frequency subband for downlink transmission in the random access procedure or downlink transmission in the uplink preconfigured transmission procedure.

[0117] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0118] receiving configuration information related to a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a neighboring cell.

[0119] Based on the configuration information, if it is determined that PDSCH transmission resources overlap with SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell, the PDSCH transmission resources after excluding overlapping resources are used for PDSCH transmission.

[0120] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0121] transmitting first signaling to a user equipment (UE), the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive;

[0122] if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state,

[0123] at least one of the following acts is performed by the UE:

[0124] not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;

[0125] not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or

[0126] not transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

[0127] According to yet another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment (UE), comprising:

[0128] a transceiver; and

[0129] a processor coupled to the transceiver and is configured to perform the method performed by the UE in a communication system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0130] According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station, comprising:

[0131] a transceiver; and

[0132] a processor coupled to the transceiver and is configured to perform the method performed by the base station in a communication system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0133] According to a further aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, that when executed by a processor, implements the method performed by a UE or a base station in the communication system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0134] According to a further aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product including a computer program, that when executed by a processor, implements the method performed by a UE or a base station in a communication system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0135] In the communication method, the user equipment and the base station according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, first signaling is received, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; the state of the frequency subband is determined based on the first signaling, and if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed: not transmitting a PRACH on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event; not transmitting an SR on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or not transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a PDSCH corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority, thereby ensuring transmission of important messages on the basis of realizing the UE power saving.

[0136] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0137] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0138] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0139] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0140] Herein, it will be understood that each block of flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0141] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0142] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit / module” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit / module” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit / module” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit / module” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit / module” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit / module,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit / module.” Moreover, the components and “~units / modules” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit / module” may include one or more processors.

[0143] The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0144] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, FPGA, ASIC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like. The one processor or the combination of processors executes instructions that can be stored in a memory, such as the operating system, in order to control the overall operation of the device. Also, the one processor or the combination of processors is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory, such as processes for the disclosure.

[0145] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0146] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure. Additionally, or alternatively, such software may be a computer program [product] comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0147] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0148] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0149] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0150] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0151] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0152] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0153] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0154] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0155] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0156] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, elements or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0157] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0158] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0159] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure. If a method step (e.g. transmit a signal) is performed according to the disclosure of the application in connection with one of the above terms (such as “in case that ~” or the like), it may be interpreted to include the meanings (disclosure) of a prior determination that a feature has a specific state “~” (e.g. a bit length is above X), and then perform the method step in response to said determination.

[0160] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0161] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0162] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0163] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0164] In the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0165] The drawings or flowcharts described herein illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0166] The process of the flowchart may be performed by a device. One or more of the steps of the flowchart can be implemented by one or more processors / computer programs executing instructions to perform the noted functions.

[0167] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the present disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the present disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0168] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0169] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0170] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms describedherein, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0171] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0172] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0173] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0174] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a terminal transmits a signal to a BS.

[0175] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5G mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0176] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0177] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), RRC, or MAC control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0178] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), DCI, UE-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0179] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0180] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0181] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5th-generation (5G) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6th-generation (6G) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems.

[0182] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, have various significantly improved metrics compared to the current 5G communication systems. The peak data rate will reach at least 50 Gbit / s, and the user experienced data rate will reach at least 300 Mbit / s, the air-interface latency will be less than 1 ms, and the air-interface reliability will reach 10-5. In addition to the above basic communication metrics, the 6G communication systems will also have sensing capabilities, AI-related capabilities, better security, better interoperability and better sustainability.

[0183] In order for the 6G communication systems to fulfill the above metrics, more advanced air-interface technologies and network technologies need to be developed. The evolution of extreme Multiple Input Multiple Output (extreme MIMO) has been already under consideration, including the use of ultra-large scale antenna arrays, the development and evolution of distributed antenna systems, and the design of MIMO air-interface algorithms assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This technology enables higher spectral efficiency, greater coverage, and precise localization and sensing capabilities. Additionally, for technologies that contribute to improve high-frequency band coverage, including metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, new antenna architectures, and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), etc., they also need to be better evolved and developed.

[0184] In order to meet some of newly added functions of the 6G communication systems, new technologies need to be developed in the terms of network energy saving, air-interface security, and network security, meanwhile the feasibility of fusion technologies such as Integrated Sensing and Communication, needs to be studied.

[0185] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of user equipment (UE) computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as mobile edge computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0186] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0187] Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C. Likewise, the term “set” means one or more. Accordingly, a set of items can be a single item or a collection of two or more items.

[0188] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0189] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0190] The figures included herein, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Further, those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system.

[0191] FIGS. 1-3 below describe various embodiments of the present disclosure implemented in wireless communications systems. The descriptions of FIGS. 1-3 are not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably-arranged communications system.

[0192] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 could be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0193] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network includes a base station (next generation nodeB, gNB or gNodeB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. The gNB 101 communicates with the gNB 102 and the gNB 103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network.

[0194] The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a plurality of first user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of the gNB 102. The plurality of first UEs includes a UE 111, which may be located in a small business; a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R1); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R2); and a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a plurality of second UEs within a coverage area 125 of the gNB 103. The plurality of second UEs include the UE 115 and the UE 116, as well as subscriber stations (SS, for example, UEs) 117, 118 and 119. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using existing wireless communication techniques, and one or more of the UE 111-119 may communicate directly with each other (e.g., UEs 117-119) using other existing or proposed wireless communication techniques.

[0195] Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced (or “evolved”) base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a base station-type apparatus and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the network type, the term “user equipment” (UE) can refer to any component such as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station (SS), remote terminal, wireless terminal, receive point, or user device. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a user equipment-type device and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normally considered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0196] Dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending upon the configuration of the gNBs and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

[0197] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-119 include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, and one or more of the gNBs 101-103 includes circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof.

[0198] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network, various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless network could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 could communicate directly with the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadband access to the network 130. Further, the gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 could provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0199] FIG. 2 illustrates an example base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 is for illustration only, and the gNBs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, gNBs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a gNB.

[0200] As shown in FIG 2, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 200a-200n, multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers 201a-201n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 203, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 204. The gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 205, a memory 206, and a backhaul or network interface 207.

[0201] The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive, from the antennas 200a-200n, incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100. The RF transceivers 201a-201n down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are sent to the RX processing circuitry 204, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The RX processing circuitry 204 transmits the processed baseband signals to the controller / processor 205 for further processing.

[0202] The TX processing circuitry 203 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, electronic mail, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 205. The TX processing circuitry 203 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TX processing circuitry 203 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 201a-201n.

[0203] The controller / processor 205 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 205 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceivers 201a-201n, the RX processing circuitry 204, and the TX processing circuitry 203 in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 205 could support additional functions as well, such as more advanced wireless communication functions.

[0204] For instance, the controller / processor 205 could support beam forming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multiple antennas 200a-200n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of other functions could be supported in the gNB 102 by the controller / processor 205.

[0205] The controller / processor 205 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 206, such as an operating system (OS). The controller / processor 205 can move data into or out of the memory 206 as required by an executing process.

[0206] The controller / processor 205 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 207. The backhaul or network interface 207 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 207 could support communications over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as one supporting 5G, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 207 includes any suitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

[0207] The memory 206 is coupled to the controller / processor 205. Part of the memory 206 could include a random access memory (RAM), and another part of the memory 206 could include a Flash memory or other read only memory (ROM).

[0208] Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 2. For example, the gNB 102 could include any number of each component shown in FIG. 2. As a particular example, an access point could include a number of interfaces 207, and the controller / processor 205 could support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another particular example, while shown as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry 203 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 204, the gNB 102 could include multiple instances of each (such as one per RF transceiver). Also, various components in FIG. 2 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs.

[0209] FIG. 3 illustrates an example user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3 is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 and 117-119 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a UE.

[0210] As shown in FIG. 3, the UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, TX processing circuitry 303, a microphone 304, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 305. The UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller or processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 308, an input device 309, a touchscreen display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an OS 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0211] The RF transceiver 302 receives, from the antenna 301, an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the network 100. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent to the RX processing circuitry 305, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to the speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to the processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0212] The TX processing circuitry 303 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 307. The TX processing circuitry 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuitry 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0213] The processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 307 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuitry 305, and the TX processing circuitry 303 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0214] The processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 311, such as processes for CSI reporting on uplink channel. The processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an executing process. In some embodiments, the processor 307 is configured to execute the applications 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from gNBs or an operator. The processor 307 is also coupled to the I / O interface 308, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers and handheld computers. The I / O interface 308 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 307.

[0215] The processor 307 is also coupled to the touchscreen display 310. The user of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen display 310 to enter data into the UE 116. The touchscreen display 310 may be a liquid crystal display, light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

[0216] The memory 311 is coupled to the processor 307. Part of the memory 311 could include RAM, and another part of the memory 311 could include a Flash memory or other ROM.

[0217] Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes may be made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor 307 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as a mobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0218] With development of communication systems, deployment manners of carriers by operators may change. In order to deal with such changes, how to enhance the communication process of the UE in the communication system is a technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure.

[0219] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the implementations of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help readers understand the present disclosure. They are not intended for or should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the content disclosed herein, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the illustrated embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, different embodiments may be referenced by, learned from, or combined with each other, and the same terms, similar features, and similar implementation steps in different embodiments are not repeatedly described.

[0220] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method performed by a UE in a communication system. As shown in FIG. 4, the method comprises the following steps.

[0221] Step S401: Receive first signaling, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive.

[0222] Optionally, different frequency subbands belong to different bands, or different frequency subbands correspond to different carriers in a same band.

[0223] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, an operator may deploy a plurality of carriers in one serving cell (which may also be understood as deploying a plurality of frequency subbands, and hereinafter, the carriers and the frequency subbands may be replaced with each other), which has at least one of the following advantages over the manner of aggregating the plurality of carriers by aggregating a plurality of serving cells (each carrier corresponds to one cell, for example, carrier aggregation (CA)).

[0224] 1. Broadcast signaling overhead is saved. For example, in a CA system, each carrier corresponds to one serving cell, and each serving cell needs to transmit basic broadcast signaling, including a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a System Information Block 1 (SIB1), and the like. That is, the broadcast signaling of the corresponding serving cell needs to be transmitted on each carrier, but for a system in which a plurality of carriers are deployed in one serving cell according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, since there is only one serving cell, the broadcast signaling of the serving cell can be transmitted on one of the carriers, and the broadcast signaling overhead can be greatly reduced;

[0225] 2. Signaling of carrier activation is simplified. For example, in a CA system, a secondary cell may be activated / deactivated through radio resource control (RRC) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling, and the secondary cell being activated / deactivated may also be understood as the carriers corresponding to the secondary cell being activated / deactivated, but for a system in which a plurality of carriers are configured in one serving cell according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, certain carrier in one serving cell may be activated / deactivated through physical layer signaling (for example, downlink control information (DCI)), thereby realizing more flexible and faster activation / deactivation of one carrier;

[0226] 3. Mobility measurement and management is simplified. For example, in a CA system, each carrier corresponds to one serving cell, and the mobility measurement and management of the corresponding serving cell needs to be performed on each carrier, but for a system in which a plurality of carriers are deployed in one serving cell according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, since there is only one serving cell, the mobility measurement and management of the serving cell is performed on one of the carriers (such as an anchor carrier or a pre-configured carrier, etc., but not limited thereto);

[0227] 4. In the initial access stage, the UE is offloaded to different carriers. For example, in an existing system, at most two uplink carriers are deployed in one serving cell, which are a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier respectively, and the UE can select one of the uplink carriers to access the cell based on downlink path loss, but for a system in which more than two uplink carriers are deployed in one serving cell according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, physical random access channel (PRACH) resources can be configured on each uplink carrier, and the UE can select one carrier from a plurality of uplink carriers to initiate the initial random access, and a criterion for selecting the carrier can be based on not only the downlink path loss, thereby achieving the purpose of offloading the UE to different carriers to a greater extent in the initial access stage and preventing initial access congestion.

[0228] For deployment of a plurality of carriers in one cell, the plurality of carriers may be a spectrum allocated to different communication systems, for example, wherein one carrier belongs to a spectrum allocated by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) to a 6G system, and the other carrier belongs to a spectrum allocated by the ITU to a 5G system, and the spectrum allocated to the 5G system may be redefined as 5G and 6G sharing, or reallocated to the 6G system for use.

[0229] For deployment of a plurality of carriers in one cell, there may be the following two scenarios.

[0230] In scenario 1, for a same physical channel (including a physical control channel and / or a physical shared channel), the base station may separately configure respective parameters on each carrier. For example, the physical shared channel transmitted on a first carrier and the physical shared channel transmitted on a second carrier may apply different higher layer configuration parameters (that is, a set of transmission parameters configured through higher layer signaling), the physical shared channel transmitted on the first carrier and the physical shared channel transmitted on the second carrier may be separately scheduled based on respective carrier bandwidths, and transmission resources of the physical shared channel can be limited only within one carrier. The physical shared channel includes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and / or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0231] In scenario 2, for a same physical channel (including a physical control channel and / or a physical shared channel), the parameters configured by the base station may be applied to different carriers. For example, the same higher layer configuration parameters (that is, a set of transmission parameters configured through higher layer signaling) are applied to the physical shared channel transmitted on a first carrier and the physical shared channel transmitted on a second carrier, and in addition, the physical shared channel transmitted on the first carrier and the physical shared channel transmitted on the second carrier may be scheduled based on an aggregated bandwidth of the plurality of carriers, and transmission resources of the physical shared channel may be within one carrier or across the plurality of carriers. Differences between the two scenarios are specifically described below.

[0232] In the scenario 1 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of carriers are deployed in one serving cell, and the network may configure corresponding physical channels on each carrier, that is, the network may configure corresponding physical control channels (including physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)), physical shared channels (including PDSCH and PUSCH), and / or physical reference signals (including channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), sounding reference signal (SRS), etc.) on each carrier respectively. However, functions of the plurality of carriers deployed in the cell may be different. For example, one carrier provides services required for basic coverage of the UE, including services such as initial synchronization, transmission of cell system information, initial random access, paging, and / or mobility management, and another carrier mainly provides data transmission services for the UE.

[0233] For deployment of a plurality of carriers in one cell, only one carrier is referred to as an anchor carrier, and other carriers are referred to as non-anchor carriers. The anchor carrier has at least one of the following functions.

[0234] 1. The anchor carrier provides initial synchronization and basic system information transmission services for UEs within the cell. For example, an SSB and an SIB1 may be transmitted on the anchor carrier. The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and the SSB transmitted on the anchor carrier specifically refers to an SSB for cell defining (CD), that is, CD-SSB. For example, the UE receives the CD-SSB and SIB1 on the anchor carrier, but does not receive the CD-SSB and SIB1 on the non-anchor carriers.

[0235] 2. The anchor carrier provides an initial random access service for UEs within the cell, for example, a resource configuration of a cell-common PRACH, and / or a transmission configuration of necessary physical channels in a random access procedure, configured on the anchor carrier, includes an initial downlink bandwidth part (BWP) and an initial uplink BWP configuration. For example, the UE initiates the random access procedure over the anchor carrier to access a network, without accessing the network over the non-anchor carriers.

[0236] 3. The anchor carrier provides paging physics for UEs within the cell. For example, the base station transmits a paging message on the anchor carrier. For example, the UE monitors the paging message on the anchor carrier, without monitoring the paging message on the non-anchor carriers.

[0237] 4. The anchor carrier provides mobility management services for UEs within the cell, including services such as radio resource management (RRM), radio link management ( RLM) and beam management (BM). For example, physical reference signals (including CD-SSB and / or CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted on the anchor carrier are used to configure RRM, RLM and / or BM related measurements. For example, the UE performs the RRM, RLM and BM related measurements on the anchor carrier, without performing these measurements based on physical reference signals transmitted on the non-anchor carriers.

[0238] Since the anchor carrier needs to provide a basic coverage for the UE, the anchor carrier has a lower frequency point and a larger downlink coverage than the non-anchor carriers. In addition, the anchor carrier may also provide basic data transmission services for UEs within the cell, but since the bandwidth of the anchor carrier is smaller and the provided peak rate of data transmission is lower, it is necessary to provide additional data transmission services for the UE through the non-anchor carriers, so as to increase the peak rate of data transmission.

[0239] The non-anchor carriers may be regarded as a supplement to the data rate of the anchor carrier, so the non-anchor carriers may also be referred to as supplementary carriers. For supplementary downlink (SDL) carriers, the SDL carriers are mainly used for supplementing the data transmission services, for example, providing the data transmission services with a higher peak rate than the anchor carrier, but for supplementary uplink (SUL) carriers, the SUL carriers may be used for supplementing the data transmission services, and / or for supplementing the coverage, for example, providing the data transmission services with a higher peak rate than the anchor carrier, and / or providing a wider coverage than the anchor carrier.

[0240] For example, as shown in FIG. 5, wherein the carrier f1 is an anchor carrier, which may provide basic coverage and data transmission services for a cell, and the carrier f2 and the carrier f3 are non-anchor carriers, which may provide a supplement to data services for hotspot areas within the cell.

[0241] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the anchor carrier may also be referred to as a primary carrier, a normal carrier, or other technical terms, and the non-anchor carrier may also be referred to as a secondary carrier, a supplementary carrier, a data carrier, or other technical terms. The anchor carrier may be necessarily a paired carrier (including a downlink carrier and an uplink carrier), while the non-anchor carrier may be a paired carrier, or may be a downlink only carrier (DL only carrier), or may be an uplink only carrier (UL only carrier).

[0242] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the anchor carrier mainly provides a basic coverage for the UE, for example, provides at least one of cell synchronization, cell system information, initial random access, paging, mobility management and other services, while the non-anchor carrier mainly provides data transmission services for the UE, and when the UE has few data traffic or even no data traffic, the base station may dynamically activate or deactivate transmissions on the non-anchor carrier for the purpose of network energy saving (NES) and UE power saving. For example, if the base station indicates that the non-anchor carrier is deactivated, the transmissions on the corresponding carrier are stopped; if the base station indicates that the non-anchor carrier is activated, the transmissions on the corresponding carrier may be performed normally. The deactivated state may also be referred to as an OFF state, and the activated state may also be referred to as an ON state.

[0243] Alternatively, for the purpose of network energy saving and UE power saving, the base station may configure discontinuous reception (DRX) and / or discontinuous transmission (DTX) for the non-anchor carriers. For example, the DL only non-anchor carriers may be configured with DRX, the UL only non-anchor carriers may be configured with DTX, and the paired non-anchor carriers may be configured with both DTX and DRX. In an active state of DTX, reception of the UE on the carrier (corresponding to transmission of the base station) may be performed normally, and in an inactive state of DTX, reception of the UE on the carrier is stopped, while in an active state of DRX, transmission of the UE on the carrier (corresponding to reception of the base station) may be performed normally, and in an inactive state of DRX, transmission of the UE on the carrier is stopped.

[0244] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the DEACTIVATED state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) may also be the OFF state, or the inactive state of DTX / DRX, etc., and the DEACTIVATED carrier refers to a carrier in the OFF state, a carrier in the DEACTIVATED state, or a carrier in the inactive state of DTX / DRX, while the ACTIVATED state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) may be the ON state, or the active state of DTX / DRX, and the ACTIVATED carrier refers to a carrier in the ACTIVATED state, or a carrier in the active state of DTX / DRX.

[0245] In the scenario 2 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of carriers are deployed in one serving cell, physical channels transmitted on the plurality of carriers may correspond to a same higher layer configuration (that is, a set of transmission parameters configured through higher layer signaling), the plurality of carriers are used to extend the transmission bandwidth of the cell, especially extend the transmission bandwidth of the physical shared channel (including PDSCH and PUSCH). The physical shared channel may be scheduled based on an aggregated bandwidth of the plurality of carriers, and transmission resources of one PDSCH (or PUSCH) may span the plurality of carriers.

[0246] For example, there is no large-bandwidth spectrum in the spectrum allocated to an operator, and there are only several small-bandwidth spectrums spread in different bands. In this case, the operator may aggregate a plurality of small-bandwidth carriers into a large-bandwidth virtual carrier, and then deploy the virtual carrier as one serving cell, to achieve a deployment effect similar to that of the large-bandwidth carrier.

[0247] A maximum difference between the virtual carrier and the normal carrier is that the virtual carrier includes a plurality of segments of frequency resources, and the plurality of segments of frequency resources are inconsecutive in frequency domain and may be located in different bands. The small-bandwidth carriers may be considered as a part of the virtual carrier, and therefore the small-bandwidth carriers used to constitute the virtual carrier may be referred to as carrier segments, carrier parts, carrier subbands, or the like. The frequency resources on the small-bandwidth carriers may be referred to as frequency subbands, that is, the virtual carrier includes a plurality of frequency subbands, and each frequency subband corresponds to one carrier. For sake of simplicity, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the frequency subband may represent one of a plurality of carriers deployed in one cell or the frequency resources on this carrier.

[0248] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, four frequency subbands whose bandwidth sizes are 5MHz, 10MHz, 20MHz, and15 MHz may constitute a virtual carrier with a bandwidth size of 50 MHz, and these four frequency subbands may belong to different band numbers. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the virtual carrier is formed by aggregating a plurality of frequency subbands that are discrete in the frequency domain, the bandwidth size of the virtual carrier is a sum of bandwidth sizes of the plurality of frequency subbands, and theoretically, the virtual carrier of 50 MHz may reach a peak rate similar to that of a conventional carrier of 50 MHz, and the virtual carrier may be deployed as one serving cell like the conventional carrier to provide communication services for the UE.

[0249] In the plurality of frequency subbands constituting the virtual carrier, similar to the anchor carrier in the scenario 1, only one frequency subband is referred to as a basic frequency subband, and the remaining frequency subbands are referred to as secondary frequency subbands. The basic frequency subband mainly provides a basic coverage for the UE, including functions such as initial synchronization, cell system information, initial random access, and / or mobility management. For example, the basic frequency subband is only used to transmit the SSB and SIB1, initiate the initial random access, and / or perform the mobility management related measurements, etc., while these functions are not supported on the supplementary frequency subbands. The supplementary frequency subbands are mainly used to extend the transmission bandwidth of the physical shared channel, that is, the UE does not independently perform physical shared channel transmission based on the supplementary frequency subbands, and the UE performs physical shared channel transmission based on the total bandwidth of the virtual carrier. Compared with the physical shared channel, the number of payload bits of a physical control channel is relatively small, and the transmission does not need to be performed by using a large bandwidth, and thus the physical control channel transmission may be configured independently on the supplementary frequency subbands.

[0250] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the basic frequency subband may also be referred to as an anchor frequency subband, a primary frequency subband, a normal frequency subband, a first frequency subband, or the like, and the supplementary frequency subbands may also be referred to as non-anchor frequency subbands, secondary frequency subbands, second frequency subbands, or the like.

[0251] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a possible scenario where in actual deployment, two neighboring cells both use the virtual carrier to deploy the cells, and the primary frequency subbands of the two cells are different, for example, correspond to different carriers, and the supplementary frequency subbands of the two cells are completely the same, that is, the primary frequency subbands are under an inter-frequency deployment between neighboring cells, and the supplementary frequency subbands are under an intra-frequency deployment between neighboring cells. Due to the intra-frequency deployment, it is necessary to perform interference coordination of the supplementary frequency subbands between the cells. A way of interference coordination is that the neighboring cells use the supplementary frequency subbands at different times in a staggered manner. For example, if the cell A transmits data using the supplementary frequency subbands in one slot, then the neighboring cell B cannot use the frequency subbands in that slot.

[0252] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, for the purpose of inter-cell interference coordination, network energy saving and / or UE power saving, the frequency subbands (e.g., the supplementary frequency subbands) on the virtual carrier may be dynamically indicated as ACTIVATED or DEACTIVATED, for example, through the first signaling.

[0253] Step S402: Determine the state of the frequency subband based on the first signaling.

[0254] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the frequency subband may be replaced with a carrier, and the related technical solutions may be directly applicable or are applicable after simple modification. That is, all the technical solutions in the present disclosure may be applied to the foregoing scenario 1 or 2. For example, the determining the state of the frequency subband may also be replaced with determining the state of the carrier.

[0255] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the DEACTIVATED frequency subband refers to a deactivated frequency subband, a disabled frequency subband, or a muted frequency subband, that is, resources on the frequency subband cannot be used normally, while the ACTIVATED subband refers to an activated frequency subband, or an enabled frequency subband, that is, resources on the frequency subband can be used normally.

[0256] In other words, when the frequency subband is indicated as ACTIVATED (the active state), it means that corresponding frequency resources can be used normally, while when the frequency subband is indicated as DEACTIVATED (the inactive state), it means that corresponding frequency resources cannot be used normally, and the acts that the UE can perform refer to step S403.

[0257] Step S403: If the frequency subband is in the deactivated state (for ease of description, the frequency subband in the deactivated state may be referred to below as a DEACTIVATED frequency subband), the base station may disable transmission (including downlink and / or uplink) on this frequency subband, so as to achieve the purpose of power saving on the network side. Correspondingly, the UE may perform at least one of the following acts.

[0258] (1) Not transmitting a PRACH on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;

[0259] Optionally, the UE does not transmit a random access channel (RACH) on the PRACH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0260] Optionally, under a preset condition, the UE may transmit the RACH on the PRACH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if the higher layer indicates the emergency service, the UE may initiate a RACH procedure on the PRACH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and if the random access procedure is triggered by a preset first event, the first event may be one of 16 events described below for triggering the random access procedure. For example, if the random access procedure is triggered by beam recovery, the UE may initiate the RACH procedure on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and if a priority level of data to be transmitted is higher than a preset priority level (the corresponding priority value is lower than a preset priority value), the UE may initiate the RACH procedure on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0261] Transmission resources of the PRACH are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the PRACH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0262] (2) Not transmitting an SR on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event;

[0263] Optionally, the UE does not transmit the SR on the SR resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0264] Optionally, under a preset condition, the UE may transmit the SR on the SR resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if the SR procedure is triggered by a preset second event, the SR may be transmitted on the SR resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and the second event may be one of events described below for triggering the SR procedure.

[0265] Transmission resources of the SR (i.e., the PUCCH resources) are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the SR overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0266] (3) Not transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback on a PUCCH resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a PDSCH corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority;

[0267] Optionally, the UE does not transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and the corresponding HARQ-ACK is discarded or transmitted on other carriers.

[0268] Optionally, under a preset condition, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if a priority level of the PDSCH is higher than a preset first priority level (corresponding priority value is lower than a preset priority value), the UE may transmit the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PUCCH resource of the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, wherein the priority of the PDSCH is indicated by corresponding DCI.

[0269] Transmission resources of the PUCCH are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the PUCCH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0270] Optionally, the first signaling includes layer 1 signaling (Layer 1, L1, physical layer signaling, for example, DCI) or layer 2 signaling (Layer 2, L2, MAC layer signaling, for example, MAC CE).

[0271] Optionally, the above method may be performed by a UE in an RRC connected state.

[0272] The method performed by the UE according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can ensure transmission of important messages on the basis of realizing the UE power saving.

[0273] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, in addition to the above UE's acts, step S403 may further comprise performing at least one of the following acts.

[0274] (4) Not performing a mobility measurement based on a reference signal on the frequency subband, and performing the mobility measurement based on a reference signal on a default frequency subband;

[0275] Transmission resources of the reference signal are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the reference signal overlap with resources on the frequency subband. The reference signal includes a CSI-RS and / or an SSB, and the default frequency subband is predefined or preconfigured.

[0276] If there is a reference signal (e.g., NCD-SSB and / or CSI-RS) configured for the mobility measurement on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, the UE does not perform a related mobility measurement on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband and falls back to performing the mobility measurement based on a default reference signal on the default frequency subband. The mobility measurement includes RRM, RLM and / or BM related measurements, the default frequency subband is predefined or preconfigured, for example, the default frequency subband is an anchor frequency subband, and the default reference signal is predefined or preconfigured, for example, the default reference signal is the CD-SSB or CSI-RS.

[0277] (5) Not transmitting PRACH on the PRACH resource of the frequency subband;

[0278] Transmission resources of the PRACH are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the PRACH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0279] (6) Not transmitting at least one of channel state information (CSI), the HARQ-ACK, and the SR on the PUCCH resource of the frequency subband;

[0280] Transmission resources of the PUCCH are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the PUCCH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0281] Optionally, CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is not reported, but aperiodic CSI reporting related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is allowed, and the aperiodic CSI reporting may be configured to be transmitted on other frequency subbands.

[0282] Optionally, periodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is not reported, wherein the CSI may be layer 1-reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) and / or non-L1-RSRP.

[0283] Optionally, semi-persistent CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband (or the deactivated carrier) is not reported, including semi-persistent CSI transmitted on the PUSCH and / or semi-persistent CSI transmitted on the PUCCH, wherein the CSI may be L1-RSRP and / or non-L1-RSRP.

[0284] Optionally, aperiodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is not reported, wherein the CSI may be L1-RSRP and / or non-L1-RSRP.

[0285] (7) Not transmitting at least one of a periodic sounding reference signal (SRS), a semi-persistent SRS, and an aperiodic SRS on an SRS resource of the frequency subband;

[0286] Optionally, the aperiodic SRS may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, but the periodic SRS and the semi-persistent SRS are not allowed.

[0287] Transmission resources of the SRS are configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the SRS overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0288] (8) Stopping monitoring the PDCCH on a control resources set (CORESET) of the frequency subband;

[0289] Resources of the CORESET are configured on the frequency subband, or the resources of the CORESET overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0290] Optionally, PDCCH monitoring on a Type 3 common search space (CSS) and a UE-specific search space (USS) is stopped only on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, but the PDCCH on a Type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is needed to be monitored.

[0291] Optionally, PDCCH monitoring in which a cell-radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI) scrambles a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is stopped only on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, but PDCCH monitoring scrambled with another radio network temporary identity (RNTI) value is needed to be monitored, for example, PDCCH monitoring in which the CRC is scrambled by system information RNTI (SI-RNTI), paging-RNTI (P-RNTI), paging early indication-RNTI (PEI-RNTI), multicast / broadcast services control channel-RNTI (MCCH-RNTI), multicast MCCH-RNTI, random access-RNTI (RA-RNTI), Message B-RNTI (MSGB-RNTI, i.e., Message B RNTI of a two-step random access procedure), Temporary Cell-RNTI (Temporary C-RNTI), and the like.

[0292] (9) Stopping the frequency subband related PDCCH monitoring, for example, it may refer to the case in which the DCI for scheduling the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is transmitted on other frequency subbands, that is, cross-frequency subband scheduling;

[0293] (10) Not receiving a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) on a downlink assignment resource of the frequency subband;

[0294] (11) Not transmitting an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) on an uplink grant resource of the frequency subband;

[0295] For example, the PUCCH is not transmitted on the frequency subband, or the PUCCH for CSI reporting is not transmitted on the frequency subband, and the PUCCH for HARQ-ACK reporting and SR may still be transmitted on the frequency subband.

[0296] (12) Terminating or clearing a configured downlink assignment and a Type 2 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband, for example, a semi-persistent scheduling PDSCH (SPS-PDSCH) and a Type 2 configured grant PUSCH (CG-PUSCH);

[0297] Transmission resources of the SPS-PDSCH or Type2 CG-PUSCH is configured on the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the SPS-PDSCH or Type2 CG-PUSCH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0298] (13) Terminating or clearing PUSCH resources configured on the frequency subband for semi-persistent CSI reporting;

[0299] Transmission resources of the PUSCH belong to the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the PUSCH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0300] (14) Terminating or clearing a Type 1 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband, for example, Type 1 CG-PUSCH;

[0301] Transmission resources of the Type 1 CG-PUSCH belong to the frequency subband, or the transmission resources of the Type 1 CG-PUSCH overlap with resources on the frequency subband.

[0302] (15) Excluding the frequency subband from the scheduling bandwidth of the PDSCH or the PUSCH to obtain an available scheduling bandwidth, and determining a payload size of scheduling DCI of the PDSCH or the PUSCH based on the available scheduling bandwidth;

[0303] That is, a new bandwidth is determined for scheduling the PDSCH or PUSCH. For example, if one frequency subband is indicated to be deactivated (for example, disabled), the available bandwidth of the cell decreases, and the UE needs to determine the payload size of the DCI based on the aggregated bandwidth of the frequency subbands that are not deactivated, and monitor the DCI based on the new payload size of the DCI.

[0304] (16) In case that the transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, not performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;

[0305] (17) In case that the transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a ratio of available resources other than the resources on the frequency subband in the transmission resources to the transmission resources is greater than a first threshold, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant based on the available resources;

[0306] Otherwise, the UE does not need to perform the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.

[0307] (18) In case that the transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a priority corresponding to the transmission of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant is higher than a second preset priority, performing the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.

[0308] Otherwise, the UE does not need to perform the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.

[0309] For (16) to (18), the case in which the transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband includes that the transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant are configured on the frequency subband, the downlink assignment includes a dynamically scheduled downlink assignment and / or a preconfigured downlink assignment (i.e., SPS-PDSCH), and the uplink grant includes a dynamically scheduled uplink grant and / or a preconfigured uplink grant (i.e., Type 1 CG-PUSCH and / or Type 2 CG-PUSCH).

[0310] Optionally, each of the above acts may be configured to be allowed or not through corresponding higher layer parameters, that is, each act may be configured separately to be allowed or not. For example, if the corresponding higher layer parameters are configured and the indication value is true, the UE may perform the mobility measurement, transmit the RACH, transmit the SR, or transmit the aperiodic SRS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, or the UE may report aperiodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and so on.

[0311] Optionally, the set of the above acts (including at least two of the above acts) may configure whether it is allowed or not through the corresponding higher layer parameters, that is, one higher layer parameter may indicate whether a set of acts are allowed or not. For example, if the corresponding higher layer parameters are configured and the indication value is true, the UE may perform the mobility measurement, transmit the RACH, and transmit the SR on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and so on.

[0312] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the event (the first event) for triggering the random access procedure may be at least one of the following events:

[0313] 1) an initial access procedure initiated from an RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE);

[0314] 2) an RRC connection re-establishment procedure;

[0315] 3) during an RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED) or during an RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE), while a small data transmission (SDT) procedure is in progress, when an uplink synchronization state is asynchronous, uplink or downlink data arrives;

[0316] 4) during the RRC connected state or during the RRC inactive state while the SDT procedure is in progress, when no PUCCH resources are used for the SR, uplink data arrives;

[0317] 5) a handover, except for the case where no RACH (RACH-less) handover is configured;

[0318] 6) an SR failure;

[0319] 7) explicitly requested by an RRC synchronization reconfiguration;

[0320] 8) an RRC connection recovery procedure initiated from the RRC inactive state;

[0321] 9) establishing a time alignment for a primary timing advance group (TAG) or a secondary TAG;

[0322] 10) requesting other system information;

[0323] 11) a beam failure recovery procedure;

[0324] 12) a failure of consecutive uplink listen before talk (LBT) on a special cell (SpCell);

[0325] 13) small data transmission in the RRC inactive state;

[0326] 14) a random access procedure for positioning purposes during the RRC connected state;

[0327] 15) an early uplink synchronization on a candidate cell managed by L1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM); or

[0328] 16) an RACH-based LTM cell handover.

[0329] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the event (the second event) for triggering the SR procedure may be at least one of the following events:

[0330] 1) an SR triggered by a buffer status report (BSR) procedure;

[0331] 2) an SR triggered by a pre-emptive BSR procedure;

[0332] 3) an SR triggered by a beam recovery procedure;

[0333] 4) an SR triggered by a beam failure recovery procedure of a secondary cell (SCell);

[0334] 5) an SR triggered by a beam failure recovery procedure of a beam failure detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set of a serving cell;

[0335] 6) an SR triggered by a positioning measurement gap activation / deactivation request;

[0336] 7) an SR triggered by consistent LBT failure recovery of the SCell;

[0337] 8) an SR triggered by timing advance reporting;

[0338] 9) an SR triggered by a delay status reporting (DSR) procedure; or

[0339] 10) one MAC CE is to be transmitted without suitable resources, and the MAC CE is a predefined MAC CE.

[0340] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional method for indicating a carrier (or frequency subband) state is provided, and specifically, the method performed by the UE may further comprise:

[0341] step S400: Receive second signaling, the second signaling includes information related to a state pattern of the frequency subband, and the state pattern is periodic, or the state pattern repeats at a time of T (or a period T). Here, the unit of the length of T may be an absolute time. For example, a size of the period is Tms, or the unit of the length of T is a time unit. For example, there are T time units included in the period.

[0342] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the time unit may be a slot or a symbol, the symbol refers to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and one slot refers to a time length including 14 OFDM symbols.

[0343] Optionally, the second signaling includes higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling).

[0344] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate the state pattern configured in the second signaling.

[0345] The state pattern being activated by the first signaling means that the state pattern configured in the second signaling is enabled.

[0346] The state pattern being deactivated by the first signaling means that the state pattern configured in the second signaling is invalid (i.e., not enabled).

[0347] Optionally, the second signaling includes information related to a plurality of state patterns, and the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate one of the plurality of state patterns.

[0348] Exemplarily, the base station configures the plurality of patterns related to the carrier (or the frequency subband) state through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling), and activates one of the patterns by layer 1 signaling (for example, DCI) or layer 2 signaling (for example, MAC CE).

[0349] Alternatively, the base station directly indicates the patterns related to the carrier (or the frequency subband) state by the first signaling (such as L1 or L2 signaling), that is, the parameters related to the patterns are configured by the L1 or L2 signaling.

[0350] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, optional implementations are provided for specific content of the state patterns.

[0351] In an optional implementation, the state patterns may indicate discontinuous reception or discontinuous transmission, or the state patterns may be directly referred to as discontinuous reception or discontinuous transmission.

[0352] In an example, a state pattern of such a carrier (or frequency subband) is shown in FIG. 7, and in a time period T, states of the carrier (or the frequency subband) in previous onDuration time of the time period T are all ACTIVATED, and states in remaining time of the time period T are all DEACTIVATED. To indicate this state pattern, the information related to the state pattern may include at least one of the following.

[0353] (1) A size of the period, that is, a length of the time period, for example, a size of T;

[0354] (2) A duration of the activated state of the frequency subband in the period, that is, a duration in which the frequency subband state is ACTIVATED, may be understood as the size of the onDuration;

[0355] The frequency subband is in the activated state within the duration of each period, otherwise is in the deactivated state outside the duration of each period.

[0356] Optionally, the frequency subband activated state starts from a starting position of the period.

[0357] (3) Information related to the starting position of the period. Specifically, the information may include related information for determining the starting position of the period, for example, an offset SlotOffset of the starting position of the period. For another example, the starting position of the period may be determined by the following formula:

[0358] Floor[(SFNХ10)+subframe number]modulo(T)=SlotOffset.

[0359] That is, a time unit (that is, a slot) that meets the foregoing formula is the starting position of the period. Here, the SFN represents a system frame number, the subframe number represents a subframe number in a radio frame, and one radio frame includes 10 subframes. The SlotOffset is a parameter related to the starting position of the period.

[0360] (4) Information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated, wherein the state pattern being activated here means that the state pattern is enabled after being configured, and the state pattern being deactivated means that the state pattern is not enabled after being configured. For example, the second signaling may directly indicate that the state pattern is activated after being configured, and the first signaling may subsequently deactivate the state pattern. Similarly, the second signaling may directly indicate that the state pattern is not activated after being configured, and the first signaling may subsequently activate the state pattern.

[0361] In another optional implementation, the information included in the second signaling may be a state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) on each time unit in the time period (for example, T). For example, the state pattern may indicate a state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) on each time unit in the time period (for example, T). In other words, the second signaling includes a pattern of related carriers (or frequency subbands) indicated with a time unit granularity in the time period T, and the pattern is repeated with the time T.

[0362] Optionally, in the time period T, the state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) in each time unit (N=1) or every N (N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1) consecutive time units may be separately indicated. To indicate this state pattern, the information related to the state pattern may include at least one of the following.

[0363] (1) A size of the period, that is, a length of the time period, for example, a size of T;

[0364] (2) Information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units in the period, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1;

[0365] wherein the carrier (or the frequency subband) has a same state on N consecutive time units.

[0366] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, assuming that the period T includes 10 time units, and assuming that N=1, 10 bits are required to indicate states on each time unit, a bit value “0” indicates that the state is DEACTIVATED, and a bit value “1” indicates that the state is ACTIVATED.

[0367] For another example, assuming that the period T includes 40 time units, and assuming that N=4, 10 bits are required to indicate states on every 4 consecutive time units, a bit value “0” indicates that the state is DEACTIVATED, and a bit value “1” indicates that the state is ACTIVATED.

[0368] For another example, assuming that there are a plurality of T values, a first T value is that the period T includes 10 time units, and a second T value is that the period T includes 40 time units, the base station may select one of the T values to configure the corresponding pattern.

[0369] (3) Information related to a starting position of the period. Specifically, the information may include related information for determining the starting position of the period, for example, an offset SlotOffset of the starting position of the period. For another example, the starting position of the period T may be determined by the above formula.

[0370] (4) Information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated. For example, the second signaling may directly indicate that the state pattern is activated, and the first signaling may subsequently deactivate the state pattern. Similarly, the second signaling may directly indicate that the state pattern is not activated, and the first signaling may subsequently activate the state pattern.

[0371] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the sizes of T and N may be predefined or preconfigured.

[0372] Optionally, this state pattern is indicated by way of a bitmap. For example, the information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units in the period includes a first bitmap, each bit in the first bitmap corresponds to every N time units in the period, and each bit in the first bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0373] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the effective time of the state pattern of the carrier (or the frequency subband) is related to the time when the UE receives the first signaling (such as L1 / L2 signaling) for indicating or activating the state pattern, and / or the starting position of the period of the state pattern. For example, if the UE receives one piece of first signaling, wherein the first signaling is used to activate the pattern or indicates to activate one of a plurality of preconfigured patterns, the starting position of the period of the activated state pattern indicated by the first signaling includes at least one of the following.

[0374] (1) A first time unit after receiving the first signaling, then the effective time of the pattern may start from the first time unit after the UE receives the first signaling;

[0375] (2) A first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling, then the effective time of the pattern may start from the first time unit that satisfies the first gap after the UE receives the first signaling, and the first gap may be predefined or preconfigured;

[0376] (3) A starting position of a first period after receiving the first signaling, or a starting position of a first period that satisfies the first gap after receiving the first signaling, for example, the effective time of the pattern may start from the starting position of the first period that satisfies the first gap after the UE receives the first signaling, wherein the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling;

[0377] (4) A first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted, then the effective time of the pattern may start from the first time unit after the HARQ-ACK feedback performed by the UE on the received first signaling;

[0378] (5) A first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted, then the effective time of the pattern may start from the first time unit that satisfies the second gap after the HARQ-ACK feedback performed by the UE on the received first signaling, wherein the value of the second gap may be predefined or preconfigured;

[0379] (6) A starting position of the first period after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted, or a starting position of a first period that satisfies the second gap after the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted. For example, the effective time of the pattern may start from the starting position of the first period that satisfies the second gap after the UE performs the HARQ-ACK feedback on the received first signaling, wherein the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling.

[0380] Optionally, if the UE does not receive, within a period of time, the latest first signaling (for example, L1 / L2 signaling) used to indicate or activate the pattern of the carrier (or the frequency subband) state, the UE may fall back to a default pattern, that is, the UE determines the state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) based on the default pattern, wherein the default pattern may be predefined or preconfigured.

[0381] For example, after the UE is indicated to activate the first pattern by the L1 / L2 signaling, the UE determines the state of the carrier (or the frequency subband) according to the first pattern, and if the effective time of the first pattern exceeds a preset time period, and the UE does not receive new L1 / L2 signaling used to indicate or activate the pattern, the UE stops using the current first pattern, and switches to a second pattern, wherein the second pattern is predefined or preconfigured. For example, the second pattern may be that the carrier (or the frequency subband) is in an ACTIVATED state on each time unit.

[0382] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional method for indicating the carrier (or the frequency subband) state is provided. Specifically, for step S401, the first signaling includes information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units within a first window, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1. Optionally, the first window is aperiodic.

[0383] Optionally, the information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units within a first window includes a second bitmap, each bit in the second bitmap corresponds to every N time units within the first window, and each bit in the second bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0384] Optionally, a length of the first window is predefined, or preconfigured by RRC signaling.

[0385] The effective time of the first window may be related to the time when the UE receives the first signaling, for example, the starting position of the first window includes at least one of:

[0386] (1) a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;

[0387] (2) a first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0388] (3) a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or

[0389] (4) a first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted.

[0390] For specific meanings, it can refer to similar descriptions in the foregoing, and the details are not described herein again.

[0391] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, another optional method for indicating a carrier (or frequency subband) state is provided. Specifically, for step S401, the first signaling includes information for starting a second window, and the second window is an activated state window or a deactivated state window.

[0392] The frequency subband is in the activated state within the activated state window, and is in the deactivated state within the deactivated state window.

[0393] Optionally, the deactivated state window may be referred to as a DEACTIVATED window, and a carrier (for example, a non-anchor carrier) is in a DEACTIVATED state within the duration of this window and is in an ACTIVATED state beyond this window, or a frequency subband (for example, a supplementary frequency subband) is in the DEACTIVATED state within the duration of this window and is in the ACTIVATED state beyond this window.

[0394] Optionally, the activated state window may be referred to as an ACTIVATED window, and a carrier (for example, a non-anchor carrier) is in an ACTIVATED state within the duration of this window and is in a DEACTIVATED state beyond this window, or a frequency subband (for example, a supplementary frequency subband) is in the ACTIVATED state within the duration of this window and is in the DEACTIVATED state beyond this window.

[0395] Optionally, a length of the second window is preconfigured through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling), for example, lengths of a plurality of DEACTIVATED windows (or ACTIVATED windows) are preconfigured through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling), and then one of the lengths is indicated by the first signaling (for example, L1 or L2 signaling). For example, the length of the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) may be 10 time units, 20 time units, 40 time units, or the like.

[0396] Optionally, the length of the second window is indicated by the first signaling. For example, the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L1 signaling (for example, DCI), or the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L2 signaling (for example, MAC CE).

[0397] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the effective time of the second window may be related to the time when the UE receives the first signaling, for example, the starting position of the second window includes at least one of the following.

[0398] (1) A first time unit after receiving the first signaling; for example, assuming that the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L1 signaling, the starting position of the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is the first time unit after the UE receives the L1 signaling;

[0399] (2) A first time unit that satisfies a third gap after receiving the first signaling; for example, assuming that the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L1 signaling, the starting position of the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is the first time unit that satisfies a third gap position after the UE receives the L1 signaling, and the third gap may be predefined, preconfigured by the higher layer signaling, or indicated by the L1 signaling;

[0400] (3) A first time unit after transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling; for example, assuming that the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L2 signaling, then the starting position of the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is the first time unit after the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK feedback of the L2 signaling;

[0401] (4) A first time unit that satisfies a fourth gap after transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling; for example, assuming that the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is indicated by the L2 signaling, the starting position of the DEACTIVATED window (or the ACTIVATED window) is the first time unit that satisfies the fourth gap after the UE transmits the HARQ-ACK feedback of the L2 signaling, and the fourth gap may be predefined, preconfigured by the higher layer signaling, or indicated by the L2 signaling.

[0402] Optionally, within the activated state window, the UE receives third signaling for indicating to terminate the activated state window, and the UE determines that the frequency subband enters the deactivated state. For example, within the ACTIVATED window of the frequency subband (e.g., non-anchor), the UE may receive signaling for indicating to terminate the ACTIVATED window in advance, and the UE may terminate the previously started ACTIVATED window in advance and enter the DEACTIVATED state in advance.

[0403] Optionally, within the deactivated state window, the UE receives fourth signaling for indicating to terminate the deactivated state window, and the UE determines that the frequency subband enters the activated state. For example, within the DEACTIVATED window of the frequency subband (e.g., non-anchor), the UE may receive signaling for indicating to terminate the DEACTIVATED window in advance, and the UE may terminate the previously started DEACTIVATED window in advance and enter the ACTIVATED state in advance. Particularly, since the UE cannot monitor the PDCCH on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, the signaling for indicating to terminate the DEACTIVATED window in advance can only be transmitted on the frequency subband in the non-DEACTIVATED state, such as the anchor frequency subband or other non-anchor frequency subbands within the cell.

[0404] Optionally, in the DEACTIVATED window of the frequency subband, the UE may receive the signaling for indicating to start the DEACTIVATED window again, and if the UE receives the signaling for indicating to start the DEACTIVATED window again, the UE ignores the original DEACTIVATED window, and enters the ACTIVATED state after an ending position of a new DEACTIVATED window, where the new DEACTIVATED window may be an extension or a shortening of the original DEACTIVATED window. Particularly, since the UE cannot monitor the PDCCH on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, the signaling for indicating to start the DEACTIVATED window herein can only be transmitted on the frequency subband in the non-DEACTIVATED state, for example, the anchor frequency subband or other non-anchor frequency subbands within the cell.

[0405] Optionally, in the ACTIVATED window of the frequency subband, the UE may receive the signaling for indicating to start the ACTIVATED window again, and if the UE receives the signaling for indicating to start the ACTIVATED window again, the UE ignores the original ACTIVATED window and enters the DEACTIVATED state after an ending position of a new ACTIVATED window, wherein the new ACTIVATED window may be an extension or a shortening of the original ACTIVATED window.

[0406] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided yet another optional method for indicating a state of a carrier (or a frequency subband). Specifically, for step S401, the base station directly indicates the frequency subband (e.g., non-anchor) to enter an ACTIVATED or DEACTIVATED state by the first signaling (e.g., L1 / L2 signaling), and the state continues until new first signaling is received to change its state.

[0407] Optionally, after one state (for example, the DEACTIVATED state) is enabled, if no new signaling for indicating the ACTIVATED or DEACTIVATED state is monitored for a long time (for example, for a preset time period), the UE falls back to a preset state, wherein the preset state is predefined or preconfigured, for example, the preset state is the ACTIVATED state. Such a fallback act may be controlled using a timer. For example, when the carrier is indicated as ACTIVATED, the UE starts the timer inactivityTimer, whose size is preconfigured by higher-layer signaling, and after the inactivityTimer expires, the carrier falls back to the DEACTIVATED state.

[0408] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, for a UE in the RRC idle state or the inactive state, an optional method for indicating a state of a carrier (or a frequency subband) is provided. Specifically, a plurality of frequency subbands include a first frequency subband (for example) and a second frequency subband, and step S401 may specifically comprise: receiving the first signaling on the first frequency subband, wherein the information related to a state of a frequency subband includes information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband.

[0409] Optionally, the first signaling is carried by at least one of the following.

[0410] (1) A physical broadcast channel (PBCH), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a PBCH period in which the PBCH is located;

[0411] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signaling for indicating the frequency subband (or carrier) state is transmitted through the PBCH, and optionally, the PBCH includes one bitmap to indicate the ACTIVATED or DEACTIVATED state of each second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband). For example, the information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband includes a third bitmap, each bit in the third bitmap corresponds to one second frequency subband, and each bit in the third bitmap is used to indicate the state of the corresponding second frequency subband, and the effective time of the state is the duration of the PBCH period. In other words, assuming that the UE receives the PBCH at the time n, the UE determines the ACTIVATED / DEACTIVATED state of each second frequency subband according to indication information in the PBCH, and the ACTIVATED / DEACTIVATED state indicated in the PBCH is applied until the time n+T1. Particularly, the network does not identify a change of the information bit value related to the state of the second frequency subband in the PBCH as a change of the system information, that is, the network does not notify the UE that the system information is changed due to the change of the information bit value related to the state of the second frequency subband in the PBCH.

[0412] (2) A system information block (SIB), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a minimum modification period of the SIB;

[0413] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signaling for indicating the frequency subband (or carrier) state is transmitted through the system information. For example, the SIB1 includes information for indicating the state about the second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband), and the effective period of the signaling is the minimum modification period of the system information, and after the information for indicating the state about the second frequency subband changes, the network should notify the UE that the system information changes.

[0414] (3) A PDCCH for scheduling a paging message, an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a paging period in which the PDCCH is located.

[0415] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signaling for indicating the frequency subband (or carrier) state is indicated by the scheduling PDCCH of the paging message (i.e., the PDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI). Optionally, the UE may receive a SIB, the SIB includes related information of the state pattern of at least one second frequency subband, and the state pattern is periodic, wherein the first signaling includes information for activating or deactivating the state pattern, for example, a plurality of patterns (state patterns) related to the state of the second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband) are configured in the system information, one of the plurality of patterns is activated by one or more bits in the PDCCH for scheduling the paging message, and the effective period of the pattern is until a new pattern indication is received.

[0416] Optionally, if the UE does not monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI for a long time, for example, the UE does not monitor the new pattern indication within a preset time period after one pattern is enabled, the pattern used to determine the state of the non-anchor frequency subband may fall back to a default pattern, and the default pattern may be predefined or preconfigured, for example, the default pattern may be that all second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband) states are DEACTIVATED.

[0417] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if a Non-Cell Defining SSB (NCD-SSB) is configured on the second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband), the UE determines the state of the second frequency subband based on an NCD-SSB detection on the second frequency subband, and the effective duration of the state of the second frequency subband is an NCD-SSB period in which the NCD-SSB is located. For example, whether the frequency subband (or carrier) is in the ACTIVATED state is determined by detecting the NCD-SSB on the frequency subband (or carrier). For example, if a reference signal receiving power (RSRP) value measured by the UE based on the NCD-SSB on the second frequency subband is higher than a preset threshold, the UE considers that the second frequency subband is in the ACTIVATED state, otherwise, the UE considers that the second frequency subband is in the DEACTIVATED state, and the effective period of the state is at least a duration of the NCD-SSB period.

[0418] In an optional implementation, for the foregoing scenario in which a plurality of carriers (or frequency subbands) are deployed in one cell, if a carrier (or frequency subband) is indicated as the DEACTIVATED state, the UE performs at least one of the following acts.

[0419] 1) If there is an NCD-SSB and / or CSI-RS configured for the mobility measurement on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, the related mobility measurement is not performed on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, and the mobility measurement is performed based on a default reference signal when falling back to a default frequency subband. The mobility measurement includes RRM, RLM and / or BM, and the default frequency subband is predefined or preconfigured, for example, the default frequency subband is an anchor frequency subband, and the default reference signal is predefined or preconfigured, for example, the default reference signal is the CD-SSB or CSI-RS;

[0420] 2) Not transmitting the RACH on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0421] Optionally, under a preset condition, the RACH may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if the higher layer indicates the emergency service, an RACH procedure may be initiated on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, if a random access procedure is triggered by a preset first event, the first event may be one of 16 events described above for triggering the random access procedure. For example, if the random access procedure is triggered by beam recovery, the RACH procedure may be initiated on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, if the priority level of data to be transmitted is higher than a preset priority level (the corresponding priority value is lower than a preset priority value), the RACH procedure may be initiated on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0422] 3) Not transmitting the SR on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0423] Optionally, under a preset condition, the SR may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if an SR procedure is triggered by a preset second event, the SR may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, the second event may be one of preset events described above for triggering the SR.

[0424] 4) Not reporting the CSI on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0425] 5) The CSI related to the DEACTIVATED is not reported, but aperiodic CSI reporting related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is allowed, and the aperiodic CSI reporting is configured to be transmitted on other carriers;

[0426] 6) Not transmitting a HARQ-ACK feedback on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0427] Optionally, under a preset condition, the HARQ-ACK feedback may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband. For example, if a priority level of the PDSCH is higher than a preset priority level (the corresponding priority value is lower than a preset priority value), the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, wherein the priority of the PDSCH is indicated by corresponding DCI.

[0428] 7) Not transmitting the SRS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0429] Optionally, the aperiodic SRS may be transmitted on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, but the periodic SRS and the semi-persistent SRS are not allowed.

[0430] 8) Stopping PDCCH monitoring on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0431] Optionally, PDCCH monitoring on a Type 3 common search space (CSS) and a UE-specific search space (USS) is stopped only on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, but the PDCCH on a Type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband is needed to be monitored.

[0432] Optionally, the PDCCH monitoring scrambled with the C-RNTI is stopped only on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0433] 9) Stopping the PDCCH monitoring related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0434] 10) Not receiving a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0435] 11) Not transmitting a PUCCH on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0436] 12) Not transmitting an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0437] 13) Not initiating a random access procedure on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0438] 14) Not transmitting a periodic SRS on a DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0439] 15) Not transmitting a semi-persistent SRS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0440] 16) Not transmitting an aperiodic SRS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0441] 17) Not reporting periodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0442] 18) Not reporting semi-persistent CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband (or the deactivated carrier), including semi-persistent CSI transmitted on the PUSCH and / or semi-persistent CSI transmitted on the PUCCH;

[0443] 19) Not reporting aperiodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband;

[0444] 20) Terminating or clearing any configured downlink assignment and any Type 2 configured uplink grant on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, for example, SPS-PDSCH and Type 2 CG-PUSCH;

[0445] 21) Terminating or clearing any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband; or

[0446] 22) Terminating or clearing any Type 1 configured uplink grant on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0447] Optionally, whether each act is allowed may be configured by using the corresponding higher layer parameter, that is, whether each act is allowed may be separately configured. For example, if the corresponding higher layer parameter is configured and the indication value is true, the UE may perform a mobility measurement, transmit the RACH, transmit the SR, or transmit the aperiodic SRS on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, or the UE may report the aperiodic CSI related to the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0448] Optionally, the set of the above acts (including at least two of the above acts) may configure whether it is allowed through the corresponding higher layer parameter, that is, one higher layer parameter may indicate whether a set of acts are allowed. For example, if the corresponding higher layer parameter is configured and the indication value is true, the UE may perform the mobility measurement, transmit the RACH, and transmit the SR on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband.

[0449] In another optional implementation, in the scenario 2 in which a plurality of frequency subbands are deployed in one cell, for the plurality of frequency subbands forming the virtual carrier, one or more supplementary frequency subbands may be indicated as disabled (deactivated), and if a frequency subband is indicated as disabled, the UE performs at least one of the following acts:

[0450] 1) determining a new scheduling bandwidth, determining a bandwidth other than the disabled subband in the virtual carrier as the scheduling bandwidth of the PDSCH or the PUSCH, and determining the payload size of the scheduling DCI of the PDSCH or the PUSCH based on the scheduling bandwidth. For example, if one frequency subband is indicated as disabled, the available bandwidth of the cell becomes smaller, and the UE needs to determine the payload size of the DCI based on the reduced bandwidth, and monitor the DCI based on a new DCI payload size;

[0451] 2) in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant include resources on the disabled subband, the UE does not need to perform a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;

[0452] 3) in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant include resources on the disabled subband, the UE determines the resources on the disabled subband are unavailable by default, if a ratio of the available resources to the unavailable resources (or a ratio of the available resources to total transmission resources) in the transmission resources is greater than a preset threshold, the UE performs, based on the available resources in the transmission resources, the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant; otherwise, the UE does not need to perform the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;

[0453] 4) in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant include resources on the disabled subband, if the priority value corresponding to the transmission is lower than a preset threshold (that is, the priority level is higher than a preset threshold level), the UE performs the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or uplink grant, that is, the UE may use the resources on the disabled subband; otherwise, the UE does not need to perform the transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;

[0454] 5) stopping monitoring the PDCCH on the disabled subband, where it is assumed that CORESET resources are configured on the disabled subband. For example, all PDCCHs on the CORESET are stopped to be monitored; or only PDCCHs of specific SS on the CORESET are stopped to be monitored, for example, PDCCHs of Type 3 CSS and USS on the CORESET are stopped to be monitored, and PDCCHs of Type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS on the CORESET may be monitored;

[0455] 6) not transmitting the PUCCH on the disabled subband, and it is assumed that PUCCH resources are configured on the disabled subband. For example, the PUCCH on the disabled subband is not transmitted; or the PUCCH used for CSI reporting on the disabled subband is not transmitted, but the PUCCH used for HARQ-ACK reporting and the SR may still be transmitted;

[0456] 7) CSI related to the disabled subband is not reported, and it is assumed that CSI-RS resources are configured on the disabled subband. For example, the CSI related to the disabled subband is not reported, including periodic CSI, semi-persistent CSI, and aperiodic CSI; or periodic CSI and semi-persistent CSI related to the disabled subband are not reported, and the aperiodic CSI related to the disabled subband may be reported; or

[0457] 8) not transmitting the SRS on the disabled subband, and it is assumed that the SRS is configured on the disabled subband. For example, the SRS on the disabled subband is not transmitted, including a periodic SRS, a semi-persistent SRS, and an aperiodic SRS; or the periodic SRS and the semi-persistent SRS on the disabled subband are not transmitted, and the aperiodic SRS on the disabled subband may be transmitted.

[0458] Optionally, whether the UE needs to monitor the PDCCH on the disabled subband is configured by the higher layer parameter. For example, when a corresponding higher layer parameter is configured and a configuration value is true, the UE needs to monitor the PDCCH on the disabled subband; and / or whether the UE transmits the PDCCH on the disabled subband is configured by the higher layer parameter, and / or whether the UE can report the CSI related to the disabled subband is configured by the higher layer parameter, and / or whether the UE transmits the SRS on the disabled subband is configured by the higher layer parameter.

[0459] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a UE in the RRC idle state / inactive state also needs to periodically monitor the ACTIVATED / DEACTIVATED signaling for indicating the second frequency subband (non-anchor frequency subband), for example, the ACTIVATED / DEACTIVATED signaling for indicating the second frequency subband is transmitted through broadcast signaling of the cell. If it is determined that the state of the second frequency subband is deactivated, the UE performs at least one of the following acts.

[0460] 1) Stopping monitoring a paging message on the second frequency subband, and determining another frequency subband for monitoring the paging message;

[0461] Further, the paging message is monitored on the determined frequency subband (carrier). For example, the UE switches to a predefined or preconfigured default frequency subband to monitor the paging message, and the default frequency subband cannot be indicated as the DEACTIVATED state. The UE determines one carrier from other frequency subbands for monitoring the paging message according to predefined rules, and the other frequency subbands include the anchor frequency subband and other non-anchor frequency subbands in the ACTIVATED state.

[0462] 2) Stopping initiating a random access procedure on the second frequency subband, and determining another frequency subband for initiating a random access procedure;

[0463] Further, if a PRACH procedure needs to be initiated, then the PRACH procedure is initiated on the determined frequency subband. For example, the UE switches to a predefined or preconfigured default frequency subband to initiate the PRACH procedure, and the default frequency subband cannot be indicated as the DEACTIVATED state. The UE determines one carrier from other frequency subbands for monitoring the paging message according to predefined rules, and the other frequency subbands include the anchor frequency subband and other non-anchor frequency subbands in the ACTIVATED state.

[0464] 3) Stopping monitoring the PDCCH on the second frequency subband, where the PDCCH is used for a random access procedure or an uplink preconfigured transmission procedure, and determining another frequency subband for downlink transmission in the random access procedure or downlink transmission in the uplink preconfigured transmission procedure.

[0465] If the RACH procedure is in progress, the UE stops monitoring the downlink transmission in the RACH procedure on the DEACTIVATED frequency subband, including Msg2 (Message 2, message 2 of a four-step random access procedure), MsgB, Msg4 (Message 4, message 4 of the four-step random access procedure), etc., and determines another frequency subband for initiating a possible PRACH procedure. If the PRACH procedure needs to be initiated, the PRACH procedure is initiated on the determined frequency subband. For example, the UE switches to a predefined or preconfigured default frequency subband to initiate the PRACH procedure, and the default frequency subband cannot be indicated as the DEACTIVATED state. The UE determines one frequency subband from other frequency subbands for monitoring the paging message according to predefined rules, and the other frequency subbands include the anchor frequency subband and other non-anchor frequency subbands in the ACTIVATED state.

[0466] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if at least one of the following cases is configured on the frequency subband, the frequency subband cannot be deactivated (DEACTIVATED or disabled):

[0467] 1) a PUCCH resource, for example, the PUCCH resource is configured on a non-anchor carrier, or the PUCCH resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband;

[0468] 2) a PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is configured by system information;

[0469] 3) a PUCCH resource used for HARQ-ACK reporting, where the PUCCH resource is configured on the supplementary frequency subband, and the PUCCH resource is used for HARQ-ACK reporting;

[0470] 4) a PUCCH resource for SR transmission, for example, the PUCCH resource for SR transmission is configured on a non-anchor carrier, or the PUCCH resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband, and the PUCCH resource is used for SR reporting;

[0471] 5) a PRACH resource, for example, the PRACH resource is configured on a non-anchor carrier, or the PRACH resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband;

[0472] 6) a PRACH resource, and the PRACH resource is configured by system information;

[0473] 7) a CORESET resource, for example, the CORESET resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband;

[0474] 8) a CORESET resource, and the CORESET resource is configured by system information;

[0475] 9) a CORESET resource, and the number for the CORESET is zero, or the CORESET is configured for at least one of a Type 0 common search space (CSS), a Type 0A CSS, a Type 1 CSS, and a Type 2 CSS, for example, the CORESET is configured on a non-anchor carrier, and the CORESET is associated with a specific search space, for example, the CORESET is configured for Type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS, and for another example, the CORESET resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband, and the CORESET is configured with a preset PDCCH search space, for example, at least one of Type 0 / 0A / 1 / 2 CSS;

[0476] 10) a reference signal for mobility measurement, where the mobility measurement includes at least one of a radio resource management measurement, a radio link monitoring measurement and a beam management measurement; for example, the CSI-RS and / or NCD-SSB for cell RRM, RLM and / or BM related measurement is configured on a non-anchor carrier, and for another example, the NCD-SSB resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband; or the CSI-RS resource is configured on a supplementary frequency subband, and the CSI-RS resource is configured for a mobility management related measurement, including RRM, RLM and / or BM related measurement;

[0477] 11) a resource for paging message transmission, for example, a resource configured for paging on a non-anchor carrier, such as a PDCCH configured for paging;

[0478] 12) a resource for system information transmission;

[0479] 13) a downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell, for example, a downlink initial BWP of the cell configured on the non-anchor carrier, that is, a first downlink active BWP used by UEs within the cell to enter the RRC connected state; or

[0480] 14) an initial uplink BWP of a cell, for example, an initial uplink BWP of the cell configured on the non-anchor carrier, that is, a first active uplink BWP used by UEs within the cell to enter the RRC connected state.

[0481] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an optional implementation, where the UE may receive configuration information related to a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a neighboring cell, and if it is determined, based on the configuration information, that PDSCH transmission resources overlap with SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell, the PDSCH transmission resources after excluding overlapping resources are used for PDSCH transmission.

[0482] Exemplarily, the UE receives an SSB configuration of the neighboring cell, and assumes that the SSB of the neighboring cell is transmitted according to the SSB configuration of the neighboring cell. If the PDSCH resource assignment overlaps with a physical resource block (PRB) including SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell, the UE should assume that the PRB including the SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell is not used for the PDSCH on the OFDM symbol where the SSB is transmitted, that is, the PRB where the SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell are located should be excluded from available transmission resources of the PDSCH.

[0483] For example, a plurality of carriers or frequency subbands are deployed in both the serving cell and the neighboring cell of the UE (which may be the above scenario 1 or scenario 2). For the scenario 1, the anchor carrier of the neighboring cell and one non-anchor carrier of the serving cell share the same frequency point. For the scenario 2, the primary frequency subband of the neighboring cell and one secondary frequency subband of the serving cell share the same frequency point. In other words, the two neighboring cells may deploy the same plurality of carriers (or frequency subbands). In order to reduce the co-channel interference between the cells, the anchor carrier (or the primary frequency subband) of the two neighboring cells may be deployed as different carriers. Since there is a fixed SSB transmission on the anchor carrier (or the primary frequency subband), the neighboring cell should avoid the SSB resource when transmitting the PDSCH on this carrier. The UE may obtain the SSB configuration of the neighboring cell through UE-specific RRC signaling or SIB. The SSB configuration includes information of at least one of the frequency domain position of the SSB, the subcarrier spacing of the SSB, the SSB period, the position in the SSB burst, the SSB power, etc., the frequency domain position of the SSB may be indicated by an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), and information of the position in the SSB burst indicates the SSB actually transmitted in the SSB burst through a bitmap.

[0484] Optionally, the UE obtains information of the SSB configuration of the neighboring cell through the SIB or UE-specific RRC signaling, wherein the SSB configuration includes the configuration of CD-SSB and / or the configuration of NCD-SSB. If a carrier or frequency subband is the same as the carrier or frequency subband where the SSB of the neighboring cell is located, and if the PDSCH resource assignment overlaps with the PRB including the SSB transmission resources, the UE shall assume that the PRB including the SSB transmission resources is not used for the PDSCH on the OFDM symbol where the SSB is transmitted.

[0485] The method performed by the UE according to the embodiment of the present disclosure facilitates inter-cell interference coordination, network energy saving, and / or UE power saving.

[0486] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method performed by a base station in a communication system, and the method comprises:

[0487] step S901: transmitting first signaling to a user equipment (UE), the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; and

[0488] step S902: if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed by the UE:

[0489] not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;

[0490] not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or

[0491] not transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

[0492] Optionally, the base station may perform at least one of the following acts:

[0493] not receiving the PRACH on the PRACH resource of the frequency subband;

[0494] not receiving the SR on the SR resource of the frequency subband;

[0495] not receiving the PUCCH on the PUCCH resource of the frequency subband;

[0496] not transmitting the PDSCH on the downlink assignment resource of the frequency subband;

[0497] not transmitting the PDCCH on the CORESET resource of the frequency subband;

[0498] not receiving the PUSCH on the uplink assignment resource of the frequency subband; or

[0499] not receiving the SRS on the SRS resource of the probability subband.

[0500] Optionally, the first signaling includes a DCI or a MAC CE;

[0501] Optionally, the method further comprises: transmitting second signaling, the second signaling including information related to a state pattern of a frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic;

[0502] wherein, the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate the state pattern.

[0503] Optionally, the second signaling includes RRC signaling.

[0504] Optionally, the second signaling includes information related to a plurality of state patterns, and the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate one of the plurality of state patterns.

[0505] Optionally, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:

[0506] a size of a period;

[0507] a duration of the activated state of the frequency subband in the period, the activated state of the frequency subband starting from a starting position of the period;

[0508] information related to a starting position of the period; or

[0509] information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0510] Optionally, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:

[0511] a size of a period;

[0512] information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units in the period, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1;

[0513] information related to a starting position of the period; or

[0514] information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0515] Optionally, the information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units in the period includes a first bitmap, each bit in the first bitmap corresponds to every N time units in the period, and each bit in the first bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0516] Optionally, the starting position of the period of the activated state pattern indicated by the first signaling includes at least one of:

[0517] a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;

[0518] a first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0519] a starting position of a first period that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0520] a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted;

[0521] a first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or

[0522] a starting position of a first period that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted,

[0523] wherein, the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling.

[0524] Optionally, the first signaling includes information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units within a first window, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1.

[0525] Optionally, the information related to a state of a frequency subband on every N time units within a first window includes a second bitmap, each bit in the second bitmap corresponds to every N time units within the first window, and each bit in the second bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0526] Optionally, a length of the first window is predefined, or preconfigured by RRC signaling.

[0527] Optionally, the first signaling includes information for starting a second window, and the second window is an activated state window or a deactivated state window;

[0528] wherein, the frequency subband is in the activated state within the activated state window, and is in the deactivated state within the deactivated state window.

[0529] Optionally, a length of the second window is preconfigured by the RRC signaling, or the length of the second window is indicated by the first signaling.

[0530] Optionally, a starting position of the first window or the second window includes at least one of:

[0531] a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;

[0532] a first time unit that satisfies a third gap after receiving the first signaling;

[0533] a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or

[0534] a first time unit that satisfies a fourth gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted.

[0535] Optionally, the method further comprises at least one of:

[0536] transmitting, within the activated state window, third signaling for indicating to terminate the activated state window; or

[0537] transmitting, within the deactivated state window, fourth signaling for indicating to terminate the deactivated state window.

[0538] Optionally, if at least one of the following cases is configured on the frequency subband, the frequency subband cannot be deactivated:

[0539] a PUCCH resource;

[0540] a PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is configured by system information;

[0541] a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK reporting;

[0542] a PUCCH resource for SR transmission;

[0543] a PRACH resource;

[0544] a PRACH resource, and the PRACH resource is configured by system information;

[0545] a CORESET resource;

[0546] a CORESET resource, and the CORESET resource is configured by system information;

[0547] a CORESET resource, and the number for the CORESET is zero, or the CORESET is configured for at least one of a Type 0 common search space (CSS), a Type 0A CSS, a Type 1 CSS, and a Type 2 CSS;

[0548] a reference signal for mobility measurement, where the mobility measurement includes at least one of a radio resource management measurement, a radio link monitoring measurement and a beam management measurement;

[0549] a resource for paging message transmission;

[0550] a resource for system information transmission;

[0551] a downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell; or

[0552] an uplink initial BWP of the cell.

[0553] Optionally, the plurality of frequency subbands include a first frequency subband and a second frequency subband, and the transmitting first signaling to the UE comprises:

[0554] transmitting the first signaling to the UE on the first frequency subband, wherein the information related to a state of a frequency subband includes information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband.

[0555] Optionally, the first signaling is carried by at least one of:

[0556] a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a PBCH period in which the PBCH is located;

[0557] a system information block (SIB), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a minimum modification period of the SIB; or

[0558] a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling a paging message, an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a paging period in which the PDCCH is located.

[0559] Optionally, the information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband includes a third bitmap, each bit in the third bitmap corresponds to one second frequency subband, and each bit in the third bitmap is used to indicate a state of a corresponding second frequency subband.

[0560] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0561] transmitting a SIB, the SIB including related information of a state pattern of the at least one second frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic;

[0562] wherein, the first signaling includes information used to activate or deactivate the state pattern.

[0563] Optionally, the method further comprises: transmitting configuration information related to a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a neighboring cell;

[0564] wherein, if PDSCH transmission resources overlap with SSB transmission resources of the neighboring cell, the PDSCH transmission resources used by the UE for PDSCH transmission includes the PDSCH transmission resources after excluding overlapping resources.

[0565] The method performed by the base station according to the embodiment of the present disclosure corresponds to the steps of the method performed by the UE, and has similar implementation principles and corresponding technical effects. For detailed function descriptions of the method performed by the base station, refer to the descriptions in the method performed by the UE shown in the foregoing, and details are not described herein again.

[0566] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device that comprises a processor, and optionally, may further include a transceiver and / or a memory coupled to the processor, where the processor is configured to perform the steps of the method according to any optional embodiment of the present disclosure. Optionally, the electronic device may refer to a UE, and the processor is configured to implement the steps of the method embodiments performed by the UE, and the detailed functional description and the beneficial effects thereof may refer to the description in the method embodiments performed by the UE above, which will not be repeated here. Optionally, the electronic device may refer to a base station, and the processor is configured to implement the steps of the method embodiments performed by the base station, and the detailed functional description and the beneficial effects thereof may refer to the description in the method embodiments performed by the base station above, which will not be repeated here. In actual applications, the UE or the base station may be understood as different network nodes.

[0567] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, comprising at least one transceiver, and at least one processor coupled with the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to perform the method provided in any one of optional embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0568] FIG. 9 shows a schematic structure diagram of an electronic device to which the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure is applied. As shown in FIG. 9, the electronic device 4000 shown in FIG. 9 may include a processor 4001 and a memory 4003. The processor 4001 is connected to the memory 4003, for example, through a bus 4002. Optionally, the electronic device 4000 may further include a transceiver 4004 that can be used for data exchange, for example, transmission and reception of data, between the electronic device and other electronic device. It should be noted that, in practical applications, the number of transceiver 4004 is not limited to one, and the structure of the electronic device 4000 does not constitute any limitations to the embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the electronic device may be a first network node, a second network node or a third network node.

[0569] The processor 4001 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure. The processor 4001 may also be a combination for realizing computing functions, for example, a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0570] The bus 4002 may include a path to transfer information between the components described above. The bus 4002 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 4002 may be an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of presentation, the bus is represented by only one thick line in FIG. 9. However, it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of buses.

[0571] The memory 4003 may be, but not limited to, read only memories (ROMs) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, random access memories (RAMs) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, may be electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), compact disc read only memories (CD-ROMs) or other optical disk storages, optical disc storages (including compact discs, laser discs, discs, digital versatile discs, blue-ray discs, etc.), magnetic storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by computers.

[0572] The memory 4003 is used to store computer program for executing the solutions of the present disclosure, and is controlled by the processor 4001. The processor 4001 is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory 4003 to implement the solution provided in any method embodiment described above.

[0573] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 10 corresponds to the example of the terminal or UE of FIG. 3.

[0574] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0575] Referring to FIG. 10, the UE 1000 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1001, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1002, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1003. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 of the UE 1000 may operate. However, components of the UE 1000 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 10. In another embodiment, the UE 1000 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, or the memory 1003 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0576] The transceiver 1001 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1000 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1001 may enable the UE 1000 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1001 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1001) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0577] According to an embodiment, the UE 1000 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1000 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1000 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1000 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0578] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1001 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1001 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1001 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1002 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1002.

[0579] The processor 1002 may control general operations of the UE 1000 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1002 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1002 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1003, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1002 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0580] The processor 1002 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1001 to control the transceiver 1001.

[0581] The processor 1002 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1002 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1002 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1002 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1001 or the memory 1003.

[0582] The processor 1002 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1000 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1002 may control operations of the UE 1000 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1002 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1003, so as to control other components of the UE 1000 to enable execution of various operations.

[0583] The memory 1003 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1003 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0584] The memory 1003 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1002 and may be accessed by the processor 1002.

[0585] The memory 1003 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1002. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1002 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1003, the processor 1002 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0586] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1000 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1003 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0587] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 11 corresponds to the example of the RAN node of FIG. 2.

[0588] The BS 1100 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1100 through a wireless channel. The BS 1100 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication.

[0589] Referring to FIG. 11, the BS 1100 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1101, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1102, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1103. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 of the BS 1100 may operate. However, components of the BS 1100 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 11. In another embodiment, the BS 1100 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1101, the processor 1102, or the memory 1103 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0590] The transceiver 1101 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1100 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1101 may enable the BS 1100 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE X00 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1101 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1101) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1101 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1101 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1101 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1102 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1102.

[0591] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1100 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1100 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 11, when the BS 1100 performs wired communication, the BS 1100 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1101. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0592] The processor 1102 may control general operations of the BS 1100 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1102 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1102 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1103, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1102 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0593] The processor 1102 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1101 to control the transceiver 1101.

[0594] The processor 1102 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1102 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1102 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1101 or the memory 1103.

[0595] The processor 1102 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1100 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1102 may control operations of the BS 1100 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1100 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1102 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1103, so as to control other components of the BS 1100 to enable execution of various operations.

[0596] The memory 1103 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1103 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0597] The memory 1103 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1102 and may be accessed by the processor 1102.

[0598] The memory 1103 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1103, the processor 1102 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0599] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1100 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1103 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0600] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), rtc.) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0601] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0602] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a network entity 1200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0603] The network entity 1200 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1200.

[0604] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0605] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN), etc.

[0606] Referring to FIG. 12, the network entity 1200 may include at least one network interface 1201, at least one processor 1202 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 1203 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1200, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 12. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0607] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1201, the processor 1202, and the memory 1203 of the network entity 1200 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1200 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 12. In another embodiment, the network entity 1200 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1201, the processor 1202, or the memory 1203 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0608] The network interface 1201 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1200 and a receiver part of the network entity 1200, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1201 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1201 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1201 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0609] The processor 1202 may control general operations of the network entity 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1202 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1202 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1203, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1202 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0610] According to an embodiment, the processor 1202 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1201 to control the network interface 1201.

[0611] The processor 1202 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1202 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1202 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1201 or the memory 1203.

[0612] The processor 1202 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1200 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1202 may control operations of the network entity 1200 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1202 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1203, so as to control other components of the network entity 1200 to enable execution of various operations.

[0613] The memory 1203 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1203 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0614] The memory 1203 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1202 and may be accessed by the processor 1202.

[0615] The memory 1203 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1203, the processor 1202 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0616] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1200 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1203 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0617] According to one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system comprises receiving first signaling, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; and determining the state of the frequency subband based on the first signaling, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed: not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event; not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or not transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

[0618] In another embodiment, the first signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) or a medium access control control element (MAC CE).

[0619] In another embodiment, the method further comprises receiving second signaling, the second signaling including information related to a state pattern of the frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic; wherein, the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate the state pattern; wherein, the second signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0620] In another embodiment, the second signaling includes information related to a plurality of state patterns, and the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate one of the plurality of state patterns.

[0621] In another embodiment, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of: a size of a period; a duration of the activated state of the frequency subband in the period, the activated state of the frequency subband starting from a starting position of the period; information related to the starting position of the period; or information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0622] In another embodiment, the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of: a size of a period; information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units in the period, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1; information related to a starting position of the period; or information about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.

[0623] In another embodiment, the information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units in the period includes a first bitmap, each bit in the first bitmap corresponds to every N time units in the period, and each bit in the first bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units.

[0624] In another embodiment, the starting position of the period of the activated state pattern indicated by the first signaling includes at least one of: a first time unit after receiving the first signaling; a first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling; a starting position of a first period that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling; a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; a first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or a starting position of a first period that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted, wherein, the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling.

[0625] In another embodiment, the first signaling includes information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1.

[0626] In another embodiment, the information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window includes a second bitmap, each bit in the second bitmap corresponds to every N time units within the first window, and each bit in the second bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units; wherein, a length of the first window is predefined, or preconfigured by RRC signaling.

[0627] In another embodiment, the first signaling includes information for starting a second window, and the second window is an activated state window or a deactivated state window; wherein, the frequency subband is in the activated state within the activated state window, and is in the deactivated state within the deactivated state window; wherein, a length of the second window is preconfigured by RRC signaling, or the length of the second window is indicated by the first signaling.

[0628] In another embodiment, a starting position of the first window or the second window includes at least one of: a first time unit after receiving the first signaling; a first time unit that satisfies a third gap after receiving the first signaling; a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; or a first time unit that satisfies a fourth gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted.

[0629] In another embodiment, the method further comprises at least one of: receiving, within the activated state window, third signaling for indicating to terminate the activated state window, and determining that the frequency subband enters the deactivated state; or receiving, within the deactivated state window, fourth signaling for indicating to terminate the deactivated state window, and determining that the frequency subband enters the activated state.

[0630] In another embodiment, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, the method further comprises at least one of the following acts: not performing a mobility measurement based on a reference signal on the frequency subband, and performing the mobility measurement based on a reference signal on a default frequency subband; not transmitting PRACH on the PRACH resource of the frequency subband; not transmitting at least one of channel state information (CSI), the HARQ-ACK, and the SR on the PUCCH resource of the frequency subband; not transmitting at least one of a periodic sounding reference signal (SRS), a semi-persistent SRS, and an aperiodic SRS on an SRS resource of the frequency subband; stopping monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a control resource set (CORESET) of the frequency subband; stopping PDCCH monitoring related to the frequency subband; not receiving a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) on a downlink assignment resource of the frequency subband; not transmitting an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) on an uplink grant resource of the frequency subband; terminating or clearing a configured downlink assignment and a Type 2 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband; terminating or clearing a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource configured on the frequency subband for semi-persistent CSI reporting; terminating or clearing a Type 1 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband; excluding the frequency subband from a scheduling bandwidth of the PDSCH or the PUSCH to obtain an available scheduling bandwidth, and determining a payload size of scheduling DCI of the PDSCH or the PUSCH based on the available scheduling bandwidth; in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, not performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant; in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a ratio of available resources other than the resources on the frequency subband in the transmission resources to the transmission resources is greater than a first threshold, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant based on the available resources; or in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a priority corresponding to the transmission of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant is higher than a second preset priority, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.

[0631] In another embodiment, the frequency subband cannot be deactivated if at least one of the following cases is configured on the frequency subband: a PUCCH resource; a PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is configured by system information; a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK reporting; a PUCCH resource for SR transmission; a PRACH resource; a PRACH resource, and the PRACH resource is configured by system information; a CORESET resource; a CORESET resource, and the CORESET resource is configured by system information; a CORESET resource, and the number for the CORESET is zero, or the CORESET is configured for at least one of a Type 0 common search space, a Type 0A common search space, a Type 1 common search space, and a Type 2 common search space; a reference signal for the mobility measurement, the mobility measurement including at least one of a radio resource management measurement, a radio link monitoring measurement, or a beam management measurement; a resource for paging message transmission; a resource for system information transmission; a downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell; or an uplink initial BWP of the cell.

[0632] In another embodiment, the plurality of frequency subbands include a first frequency subband and a second frequency subband, and the receiving first signaling comprises: receiving the first signaling on the first frequency subband, wherein the information related to a state of a frequency subband includes information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband.

[0633] In another embodiment, the first signaling is carried by at least one of: a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a PBCH period in which the PBCH is located; a system information block (SIB), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a minimum modification period of the SIB; or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling a paging message, an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a paging period in which the PDCCH is located.

[0634] In another embodiment, a method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprises transmitting first signaling to a user equipment (UE), the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed by the UE: not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event; not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; or not transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

[0635] In another embodiment, a user equipment in a communication system, comprises a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any embodiment performed by the user equipment.

[0636] In another embodiment, a base station in a communication system, comprises a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any embodiment performed by the base station.

[0637] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps and corresponding contents of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0638] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computer program product including a computer program, the computer program when executed by a processor realizing the steps and corresponding contents of the preceding method embodiments.

[0639] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", "1", "2", etc. (if present) in the specification and claims of this disclosure and the accompanying drawings above are used to distinguish similar objects and need not be used to describe a particular order or sequence. It should be understood that the data so used is interchangeable where appropriate so that embodiments of the present disclosure described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described in the text.

[0640] It should be understood that while the flow diagrams of embodiments of the present disclosure indicate the individual operational steps by arrows, the order in which these steps are performed is not limited to the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, in some implementation scenarios of embodiments of the present disclosure, the implementation steps in the respective flowcharts may be performed in other orders as desired. In addition, some, or all of the steps in each flowchart may include multiple sub-steps or multiple phases based on the actual implementation scenario. Some or all of these sub-steps or stages can be executed at the same moment, and each of these sub-steps or stages can also be executed at different moments separately. The order of execution of these sub-steps or stages can be flexibly configured according to requirements in different scenarios of execution time, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0641] The above-mentioned description and the drawings are provided merely as examples to help readers to understand the present disclosure, and they should not be interpreted or aim to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although some embodiments are provided, it is apparent for those skilled in the art to adopt other similar implementation means based on the technical idea of the present disclosure without departing from the technical concept of the solution of the present disclosure.

[0642] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1.A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:receiving first signaling, the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive; anddetermining the state of the frequency subband based on the first signaling,if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed:not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; ornot transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the first signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) or a medium access control control element (MAC CE).3.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving second signaling, the second signaling including information related to a state pattern of the frequency subband, the state pattern being periodic;wherein, the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate the state pattern;wherein, the second signaling includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling.4.The method of claim 3, wherein the second signaling includes information related to a plurality of state patterns, and the first signaling is used to activate or deactivate one of the plurality of state patterns.5.The method of claim 3, wherein the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:a size of a period;a duration of the activated state of the frequency subband in the period, the activated state of the frequency subband starting from a starting position of the period;information related to the starting position of the period; orinformation about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.6.The method of claim 3, wherein the information related to a state pattern includes at least one of:a size of a period;information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units in the period, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1;information related to a starting position of the period; orinformation about whether the state pattern is activated or deactivated.7.The method of any one of claims 3, wherein the starting position of the period of the activated state pattern indicated by the first signaling includes at least one of:a first time unit after receiving the first signaling;a first time unit that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;a starting position of a first period that satisfies a first gap after receiving the first signaling;a first time unit after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted;a first time unit that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted; ora starting position of a first period that satisfies a second gap after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first signaling is transmitted,wherein, the starting position of the first period is determined based on information related to a period position in the second signaling.8.The method of claim 2, wherein the first signaling includes information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window, where N is equal to 1, or N is a preconfigured positive integer greater than 1.9.The method of claim 8, wherein the information related to the state of the frequency subband on every N time units within a first window includes a second bitmap, each bit in the second bitmap corresponds to every N time units within the first window, and each bit in the second bitmap indicates that the frequency subband is in the activated state or the deactivated state on the corresponding N time units;wherein, a length of the first window is predefined, or preconfigured by RRC signaling.10.The method of claim 2, wherein the first signaling includes information for starting a second window, and the second window is an activated state window or a deactivated state window;wherein, the frequency subband is in the activated state within the activated state window, and is in the deactivated state within the deactivated state window;wherein, a length of the second window is preconfigured by RRC signaling, or the length of the second window is indicated by the first signaling.11.The method of claim 1, wherein, if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, the method further comprises at least one of the following acts:not performing a mobility measurement based on a reference signal on the frequency subband, and performing the mobility measurement based on a reference signal on a default frequency subband;not transmitting PRACH on the PRACH resource of the frequency subband;not transmitting at least one of channel state information (CSI), the HARQ-ACK, and the SR on the PUCCH resource of the frequency subband;not transmitting at least one of a periodic sounding reference signal (SRS), a semi-persistent SRS, and an aperiodic SRS on an SRS resource of the frequency subband;stopping monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a control resource set (CORESET) of the frequency subband;stopping PDCCH monitoring related to the frequency subband;not receiving a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) on a downlink assignment resource of the frequency subband;not transmitting an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) on an uplink grant resource of the frequency subband;terminating or clearing a configured downlink assignment and a Type 2 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband;terminating or clearing a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource configured on the frequency subband for semi-persistent CSI reporting;terminating or clearing a Type 1 configured uplink grant on the frequency subband;excluding the frequency subband from a scheduling bandwidth of the PDSCH or the PUSCH to obtain an available scheduling bandwidth, and determining a payload size of scheduling DCI of the PDSCH or the PUSCH based on the available scheduling bandwidth;in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, not performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant;in case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a ratio of available resources other than the resources on the frequency subband in the transmission resources to the transmission resources is greater than a first threshold, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant based on the available resources; orin case that transmission resources of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant overlap with resources on the frequency subband, and a priority corresponding to the transmission of the downlink assignment or the uplink grant is higher than a second preset priority, performing a transmission corresponding to the downlink assignment or the uplink grant.12.The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency subband cannot be deactivated if at least one of the following cases is configured on the frequency subband:a PUCCH resource;a PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is configured by system information;a PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK reporting;a PUCCH resource for SR transmission;a PRACH resource;a PRACH resource, and the PRACH resource is configured by system information;a CORESET resource;a CORESET resource, and the CORESET resource is configured by system information;a CORESET resource, and the number for the CORESET is zero, or the CORESET is configured for at least one of a Type 0 common search space, a Type 0A common search space, a Type 1 common search space, and a Type 2 common search space;a reference signal for the mobility measurement, the mobility measurement including at least one of a radio resource management measurement, a radio link monitoring measurement, or a beam management measurement;a resource for paging message transmission;a resource for system information transmission;a downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell; oran uplink initial BWP of the cell.13.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of frequency subbands include a first frequency subband and a second frequency subband, and the receiving first signaling comprises:receiving the first signaling on the first frequency subband, wherein the information related to a state of a frequency subband includes information related to a state of at least one second frequency subband.14.The method of claim 13, wherein the first signaling is carried by at least one of:a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a PBCH period in which the PBCH is located;a system information block (SIB), an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a minimum modification period of the SIB; ora physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling a paging message, an effective duration of the state of the at least one second frequency subband is a paging period in which the PDCCH is located.15.A method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprising:transmitting first signaling to a user equipment (UE), the first signaling including information related to a state of a frequency subband, the state including an activated state or a deactivated state, wherein a serving cell of the UE includes a plurality of frequency subbands, each frequency subband includes a segment of consecutive frequency resources, and the plurality of frequency subbands are inconsecutive;if the frequency subband is in the deactivated state, at least one of the following acts is performed by the UE:not transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) on a PRACH resource of the frequency subband, unless a higher layer indicates that an emergency service or a random access procedure is triggered by a first event;not transmitting a scheduling request (SR) on an SR resource of the frequency subband, unless an SR procedure is triggered by a second event; ornot transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledge (HARQ-ACK) feedback on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource of the frequency subband, unless a priority of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the HARQ-ACK is higher than a first preset priority.

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